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Adult stem cells may help repair hearts damaged by heart attack, study suggestsAdult stem cells may help repair heart tissue damaged by heart attack according to the findings of a new study. Results from the Phase I study show stem cells from donor bone marrow appear to help heart attack patients recover better by growing new blood vessels to bring more oxygen to the heart.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:00 pm Young adults who exercise get higher IQ ScoresYoung adults who are fit have a higher IQ and are more likely to go on to university, reveals a major new study.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:00 pm Brain tumor cells made more responsive to radiationResearchers have figured out how stem cells in the malignant brain cancer glioma may be better able to resist radiation therapy. And using a drug to block a particular signaling pathway in these cancer stem cells, they were able to kill many more glioma cells with radiation in a laboratory experiment.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:00 pm Waterpipe tobacco smokers inhale same toxicants as cigarette smokersSmoking tobacco through a waterpipe exposes the user to the same toxicants -- carbon monoxide and nicotine -- as puffing on a cigarette, which could lead to nicotine addiction and heart disease, according to a new study.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:00 pm Suzaku X-ray observatory spies treasure trove of intergalactic metalMost of the universe is made up of hydrogen and helium. These cosmic lightweights fill the first two spots on the famous periodic table of the elements. Less abundant but more familiar to us are the heavier elements. Recently astronomers used the Suzaku orbiting X-ray observatory, operated jointly by NASA and the Japanese space agency, to discover the largest known reservoir of rare metals in the universe.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:00 pm Hidden protein structures are essential for catalysisA new study raises the curtain on the hidden lives of proteins at the atomic level. The study reports that for the first time, researchers used x-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to directly visualize protein structures essential for catalysis at the rare high-energy state. The study also showed how the motions of these rare, or hidden, structures collectively, directly contribute to enzyme catalysis.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:00 pm Synthetic magnetic fields 'trick' neutral atoms into acting as if electrically chargedAchieving an important new capability in ultracold atomic gases, researchers have created "synthetic" magnetic fields for ultracold gas atoms, in effect "tricking" neutral atoms into acting as if they are electrically charged particles subjected to a real magnetic field.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Variable temperatures leave insects with a frosty receptionFor the first time, scientists have shown that insects exposed to repeated periods of cold will trade reproduction for immediate survival.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Latest epidemic? High cholesterol, obesity in fruit fliesHow do fruit flies get high cholesterol and become obese? The same way as people do -- by eating a diet that's too rich in fats.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Ecstasy use may lead to sleep apnea: Illegal 'club drug' poisons neurons involved in control of breathing during sleepRepeated use of the drug popularly known as "ecstasy" significantly raises the risk of developing sleep apnea in otherwise healthy young adults with no other known risk factors for the sleep disturbance, a new study suggests. The finding is the latest highlighting the potential dangers of the amphetamine-style chemical, currently used illegally by millions of people in the United States.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Vine seeds become 'giant gliders'Remarkable footage is captured of falling Alsomitra vine seeds, which use wings to disperse like giant gliders.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:14 am When nature calls: artists respond to climate changeFrom Tracey Emin to Tomás Saraceno – preview two new exhibitions examining earth and the environment, ahead of Copenhagen's climate change summit next week Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:13 am The nation's weather (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:49 am Deadline extended for Jason fundsEuropean nations are given a few more weeks to find the money to fund a key Earth observation satellite.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:29 am China shold adapt to climate change: meteorologist (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 1:31 am Science, atheism and ironed trousers | Adam RutherfordListen to Adam read his contribution to The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, edited by Ariane Sherine. The book is out now in print, audio and on iTunes. The contributors and editor have donated their full share of the profits to the Terrence Higgins Trust Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 3 Dec 2009 | 1:30 am James Hansen tells Suzanne Goldenberg that it would be better if Copenhagen climate conference failsClimate scientist James Hansen tells US environment correspondent Suzanne Goldenberg that it would be better if Copenhagen climate conference fails Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 3 Dec 2009 | 1:12 am SpacemanThe beauty and the budget of Europe's ambitionsSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:38 am Australian PM warns on climate change (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:38 am Bhopal marks devastating gas leakResidents of the Indian city of Bhopal mark 25 years since a gas leak killed thousands and made many more ill.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:31 am Breakfast briefing: LHC hit by power cut, while eBay takes the fight to Craigslist• No sooner had the Large Hadron Collider officially become the world's most powerful particle accelerator than the project - already plagued by a series of technical issues - once again fell foul of problems. Reports suggest a power cut apparently hit Cern's computer centre and caused the atom smasher to go offline, leaving physicists frustrated and end-of-the-worlders cheering themselves by staving off armageddon for another day. • Next week Craigslist and eBay are due to duke it out in court, with the auction giant suing over changes to its 25% shareholding in the classified advertising website. Craigslist has previously after claimed that its rival - but now eBay's coming out punching, with boss John Donahoe announcing yesterday that he planned to expand more aggressively into online ads. • And today's Thursday, so it's time for this week's printed Technology Guardian supplement to hit the streets, including our guide to Christmas gifts, a look at whether Britain's games industry needs tax breaks and a look at the areas that Wikipedia doesn't cover. Plus much more! You can follow our links and commentary each day through Twitter (@guardiantech, or our personal accounts) or by watching our Delicious feed. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 2 Dec 2009 | 11:00 pm China solar panel makers see boost from Copenhagen (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Dec 2009 | 10:23 pm U.S. Approves New Stem Cell Lines for Publicly Funded Research (HealthDay)HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Thirteen stem cell lines have been added to the pool that scientists can use for taxpayer-funded research, and many more such lines will soon be made available, U.S. health officials announced Wednesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Dec 2009 | 9:49 pm My Favorite HackersAs a self-proclaimed hacker, who means you no harm, I stand on the shoulders of giants.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 2 Dec 2009 | 7:55 pm Fears mount over giant carp reaching Great Lakes (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Dec 2009 | 7:39 pm New stem cell lines approved for tax-paid research (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Dec 2009 | 7:09 pm Fund family planning 'to cut CO2'Improving family planning in poor nations is a more effective way to cut CO2 emissions than wind turbines, a new initiative claims.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2009 | 6:56 pm Climate science: Inconvenient truthsBlinded or at least baffled by science, the uninitiated majority imagine it as the sort of impersonal process a robot might carry out. Days before the Copenhagen climate conference – where scientific reasoning will make strenuous demands on everyday life – we have all been reminded that the frontiers of technical knowledge are not in fact advanced by automatons, but by fallible human beings. The emails hacked out of East Anglia University's Climatic Research Unit did not undermine the evidence that mankind is remaking the weather, but some of those who uncover the facts have adopted tribal attitudes. The effect is already evident – "The Big Climate Change 'Fraud'" was splashed on yesterday's Daily Express. The aftermath may also have helped persuade Tory David Davis to break the cross-party climate consensus by railing against the imposition of "hairshirt policies". The research unit's head, Professor Phil Jones, was right to belatedly recognise on Tuesday that he had to stand down while an inquiry got underway. Of course it is true that private correspondence rarely looks great when thrust into full public glare. Perhaps Prof Jones felt initially, too, that his suggestion of "redefining" the peer-review process to prevent a particular paper attracting international attention was an obvious joke. And it is true that another scientist's suggestion of applying "tricks" to the data could have been a shorthand for processing it in a wizardly way, rather than manipulating it to mislead. But like politicians before them, climate scientists are learning the hard way that sticking to the rules is not enough – they must also to be seen to be sticking to them. Data is often viewed through a tribal prism – think of the slant newspapers give to opinion polls, or the way financiers grab on to particular numbers. And climatologists confront particular pressures that encourage tribal thinking. For one thing, as well as the proper scepticism of the inquisitive mind, which all scientists face, they must tackle the talk-show brand of bastardised scepticism that is borne of wilful ignorance. Furthermore, the lessons of social science give reason to fear that raw climate science will not be taken sufficiently seriously. Climate projections are surrounded by margins of error, a vulnerability when humans are poor at grappling with risk and prone to letting self-interest cloud their thinking. Another rule of public life, however, is that the cover-up does more harm than the scandal. Any suggestion that scientists are being less than frank will shred their credibility. The leaked emails are thus profoundly inconvenient for all of us who are concerned to make the world wake up to an inconvenient truth. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 2 Dec 2009 | 5:05 pm Evolution of the Darwin conspiracyThis year we have been celebrating Charles Darwin and his Origin of Species. Sadly, little has been heard of Alfred Wallace, who, according to a recent book by Roy Davies (The Darwin Conspiracy), has a stronger claim to the theory of evolution by natural selection than has Darwin. In 1855, Wallace's first paper on evolution prompted Charles Lyell to warn Darwin that Wallace seemed close to solving the "species problem" and to urge him to publish his own theory. Three years later, while studying the fauna of the Malayan archipelago, Wallace completed his theory and sent it to Darwin from the island of Ternate on 9 March 1858. Sent to England on the same boat was a letter to Frederick Bates, who received it on 3 June. It seems that Darwin wrote to Joseph Hooker on 8 June, saying he had found the "missing keystone" that enabled the completion of his evolution theory, while on 18 June, he wrote that he had just received a letter from Wallace proposing a theory of evolution identical to his own – a very suspicious chronology! Although it initially became known as the Darwin-Wallace theory, Darwin took the glory and Wallace was largely forgotten. Lacking Darwin's establishment connections, Wallace was shabbily treated and should be recognised as at least an equal in the Wallace-Darwin theory of evolution. Dr Alfred Venables, Professor Julian Wimpenny, Professor David Lloyd Cardiff • Alastair Noble (Response, 1 December) proposes the invention of an original entity possessing "intelligence", but the mystery is merely moved one stage further away. Logic requires there must be a super-intelligent designer who crafted our designer, and so on. This argument is clearly futile. Let us all accept that the theory of evolution is the best we can hope for now, and expect it to be refined as human knowledge expands. Robin Keable Shoeburyness, Essex guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 2 Dec 2009 | 5:05 pm Bees Release Deadly Odor That Shortens Sibling Lifespans
Here’s one way to get back at your sibling: Release a deadly odor. Honeybee researchers have discovered the first example of a pheromone that shortens the lifespan of other family members — in this case, older sisters. “Just one little sniff can change your life,” said biologist Gro Amdam of Arizona State University, co-author of a study published Dec. 1 in The Journal of Experimental Biology. “That’s kind of cool.” Previous research has shown that the presence of larvae in colonies reduces adult bees’ energy stores and shortens the honeybee lifespan. Scientists had also found that larvae release what is known as a “brood pheromone,” which causes adults to consume more pollen to keep up with larval food demand. But little else was known about this rare chemical concoction found only in bees. When Amdam and colleagues fed synthetic pheromone-laced syrup to adult bees, they found something surprising: It depleted vital stores of a protein called vitellogenin from bees’ fat tissue and shortened their lives dramatically. The life expectancy of entire colonies dropped below 200 days, making it difficult for honeybees to last through winter. “Just one whiff of the pheromone has the same effect as if the brood were present. That’s pretty mind-boggling,” said University of Arizona entomologist Diana Wheeler, who was not involved in the study.
“It’s the most striking example of colony-level selection I know of,” Wheeler said. Vitellogenin is common across egg-laying species, and its link to health and survival may very well exist in other species. “Nature came up with this protein at some point and stuck with it,” Amdam said. “This tells us it must be important for life in general.” For a long time, scientists thought vitellogenin was a relatively uninteresting protein that only provides nutrients to embryos, Amdam said. But she recently found it acts as an antioxidant and regulates immune responses, aging and foraging behavior in bees. “The direct linkage between the sensory system and aging is absolutely fascinating,” Wheeler said. A vitellogenin expert, Wheeler said it’s not known whether this protein affects aging in other species, or how it works, but this study provides the launch pad for future research. It also serves as a warning for beekeepers, who sometimes use brood pheromone because it increases crop pollination. The study suggests this practice could lead to colony collapse. Images: Gro Amdam Citation: “Brood pheromone suppresses physiology of extreme longevity in honeybees (Apis mellifera),” by B. Smedal, M. Brynem, C.D. Kreibich and G.V. Amdam. Journal of Experimental Biology, vol 212, Dec. 1, 2009. See Also:
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 2 Dec 2009 | 4:35 pm Conquering the Digital Data OverloadComputer scientist seeks to better find and integrate mounds of data available.Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2009 | 3:53 pm Rural America Surprisingly Prosperous, Study Finds (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - For many people "rural" is synonymous with low incomes, limited economic opportunity, and poor schools. However, a recent study found that much of rural America is actually prosperous, particularly in the Midwest and Plains.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Dec 2009 | 3:31 pm US approves 'ethical' stem cellsUS regulators approve 13 new lines of human embryonic stem cells for use in federally funded scientific research.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2009 | 3:23 pm See Venus Before It Bids Farewell (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - If you get up before the sun this week, you will get your last chance for a while to see Venus as a "morning star."Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Dec 2009 | 3:15 pm Experts: Man controlled robotic hand with thoughts (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Dec 2009 | 3:06 pm Google Phone Could Mean Free Mobile Phone ServiceA Google phone is expected as early as January 2010.Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2009 | 3:06 pm Enough posturing politics. Time to let the experts lead | Jeffrey SachsCopenhagen must mark the end of politician-dominated negotiation. The technical stuff has to come out of the shadows We can only marvel at the disarray. Here we are, 17 years after the signing of the UN framework convention on climate change, two years after the decision in Bali to agree a new climate policy, one year after Barack Obama's election, and days out from the Copenhagen conference. Yet a real global strategy to avoid catastrophe remains elusive. Yes, there is some progress. The Obama administration has now offered a 2020 and 2050 target on emissions reduction. China and India have stepped forward with commitments to slow the rise of emissions, and Mexico has tabled creative proposals for climate financing. New technologies offer the possibility of low-cost abatement of greenhouse gas emissions. Through the fog of policy speeches, international meetings and domestic debates, one can begin to see a path to a low-carbon economy. The mayhem, however, is at least as great. Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere continue to mount, and will do so for years or decades to come. The Wall Street Journal, America's biggest circulation paper, rails each day against climate science. Backroom deals in the US Congress with industrial lobbies threaten to eviscerate already watered-down proposals for limiting carbon emissions. A vote on the US legislation has been postponed till next spring at the earliest, and a similar bill has just been defeated in Australia. The truth is that even if we reach a political agreement, we're not yet on track to achieve practical, significant and sustained progress. Whether it's the US debate that ricochets among activists, deniers and lobbyists, or the global debate – which veers between empty agreements and bitter finger-pointing – we've somehow turned a life-and-death challenge into a scrum. After Copenhagen, which probably will be concluded with a patch-up accord, it will be vital to change paths from the one we've been on essentially since before Kyoto in 1997. We've debated for years about who should control emissions, by how much, when, and according to binding or non-binding commitments. Yet we can't settle these issues without also getting into the details about the deployment of low-carbon technologies, social behaviours and the quantitative realities of energy systems, transport technologies, food production, water scarcity, and population trends. We will continue to go around in circles until we are much more systematic in bringing scientific and engineering realities to the table. Our negotiations need much greater grounding in our true options and their costs. These issues are tough and complex. Each nation's plausible choices depend on what technologies will be available and when. It's pretty vacuous to spend a couple of years debating whether the emissions target for 2020 should fall by 20%, 30%, or 40% compared with 1990, or perhaps 2005, without knowing how and with what extra costs and disruptions such targets might be achievable. We will need, in short, a lot more brainstorming than negotiation, at least until the world's plausible options and trade-offs come into view. When can low-carbon power plants truly be brought online? When will electric vehicles be ready for mass sales? Will carbon capture really work and if so, where? Which countries and regions within them have the right kind of geology to store carbon underground, and who is going to monitor it? Dare we advocate a massive revival of the nuclear power industry, in a world fraught with nuclear proliferation? During two years of lead-up to Copenhagen, the official negotiations never gave a place for such questions to be posed, much less answered. Here, then, is a proposal for the post-Copenhagen attempt to square up national and global policies so they add up to something more than more years of empty promises. Let's start by recognising that most of the human-made crisis emerges from a few pivotal human activities: how and what we grow to eat; how we mobilise and distribute energy; how we transport ourselves and our freight; and how we build our buildings and lay out our cities. Each related sector requires its own intensive strategy – to identify the kind of research and development activities, public infrastructure investments and public policy to accompany a positive price on carbon emissions, through permits or taxes. Countries would have a lot to share – for instance in new technological options – and a lot that would distinguish them, according to geography, resource base, development level, and more. We have spent a lot of time debating the merits of tradable permits versus taxation but have failed to understand that operational policies must go far beyond either instrument. The future of nuclear power, for instance, depends not so much on tradable permits as on issues of safety, reliability, and risks of proliferation or terrorism. Similarly emissions trading may eventually spur the use of carbon capture and sequestration, but only after several such plants have been tried on the public expense, to investigate the real engineering and costs of possible technologies, and the real feasibility of safe, long-term storage in geological sites. The scale-up of solar and wind power will depend on land use choices, the future of the power grid, and the ability to store power. The costs of these approaches can only be judged after more thorough testing and analysis. Thus the side payments that rich countries will have to make to poor ones to adopt such technologies can't yet be determined precisely. When the EU or any country announces their contribution to the poorer countries in Copenhagen, the number will be pulled out of the hat, and probably far too low. It's past time to do any of the real financial homework. Perhaps it's no surprise we are stuck. Climate change is the most complicated issue the world has faced. Complex – but not hopeless. It's time to put the expertise at the front table, not to supplant public debate and discussion but finally to inform it. Copenhagen should be the end of negotiation by politicians with technical issues kept in the shadows or ignored. Let's get scientists, engineers and ordinary citizens involved in a true discussion about our common future, and especially the tradeoffs, costs and choices. Together we can prove that our world is still capable of reaching long-range agreements when our children's lives and wellbeing hang in the balance. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 2 Dec 2009 | 2:00 pm Copenhagen climate change talks must fail, says top scientistExclusive: World's leading climate change expert says summit talks so flawed that deal would be a disaster The scientist who convinced the world to take notice of the looming danger of global warming says it would be better for the planet and for future generations if next week's Copenhagen climate change summit ended in collapse. In an interview with the Guardian, James Hansen, the world's pre-eminent climate scientist, said any agreement likely to emerge from the negotiations would be so deeply flawed that it would be better to start again from scratch. "I would rather it not happen if people accept that as being the right track because it's a disaster track," said Hansen, who heads the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. "The whole approach is so fundamentally wrong that it is better to reassess the situation. If it is going to be the Kyoto-type thing then [people] will spend years trying to determine exactly what that means." He was speaking as progress towards a deal in Copenhagen received a boost today, with India revealing a target to curb its carbon emissions. All four of the major emitters – the US, China, EU and India – have now tabled offers on emissions, although the equally vexed issue of funding for developing nations to deal with global warming remains deadlocked. Hansen, in repeated appearances before Congress beginning in 1989, has done more than any other scientist to educate politicians about the causes of global warming and to prod them into action to avoid its most catastrophic consequences. But he is vehemently opposed to the carbon market schemes – in which permits to pollute are bought and sold – which are seen by the EU and other governments as the most efficient way to cut emissions and move to a new clean energy economy. Hansen is also fiercely critical of Barack Obama – and even Al Gore, who won a Nobel peace prize for his efforts to get the world to act on climate change – saying politicians have failed to meet what he regards as the moral challenge of our age. In Hansen's view, dealing with climate change allows no room for the compromises that rule the world of elected politics. "This is analagous to the issue of slavery faced by Abraham Lincoln or the issue of Nazism faced by Winston Churchill," he said. "On those kind of issues you cannot compromise. You can't say let's reduce slavery, let's find a compromise and reduce it 50% or reduce it 40%." He added: "We don't have a leader who is able to grasp it and say what is really needed. Instead we are trying to continue business as usual." The understated Iowan's journey from climate scientist to activist accelerated in the last years of the Bush administration. Hansen, a reluctant public speaker, says he was forced into the public realm by the increasingly clear looming spectre of droughts, floods, famines and drowned cities indicated by the science. That enormous body of scientific evidence has been put under a microscope by climate sceptics after last month's release online of hacked emails sent by respected researchers at the climate research unit of the University of East Anglia. Hansen admitted the controversy could shake public's trust, and called for an investigation. "All that stuff they are arguing about the data doesn't really change the analysis at all, but it does leave a very bad impression," he said. The row reached Congress today, with Republicans accusing the researchers of engaging in "scientific fascism" and pressing the Obama administration's top science adviser, John Holdren, to condemn the email. Holdren, a climate scientist who wrote one of the emails in the UEA trove, said he was prepared to denounce any misuse of data by the scientists – if one is proved. Hansen has emerged as a leading campaigner against the coal industry, which produces more greenhouse gas emissions than any other fuel source. He has become a fixture at campus demonstrations and last summer was arrested at a protest against mountaintop mining in West Virginia, where he called the Obama government's policies "half-assed". He has irked some environmentalists by espousing a direct carbon tax on fuel use. Some see that as a distraction from rallying support in Congress for cap-and-trade legislation that is on the table. He is scathing of that approach. "This is analagous to the indulgences that the Catholic church sold in the middle ages. The bishops collected lots of money and the sinners got redemption. Both parties liked that arrangement despite its absurdity. That is exactly what's happening," he said. "We've got the developed countries who want to continue more or less business as usual and then these developing countries who want money and that is what they can get through offsets [sold through the carbon markets]." For all Hansen's pessimism, he insists there is still hope. "It may be that we have already committed to a future sea level rise of a metre or even more but that doesn't mean that you give up. "Because if you give up you could be talking about tens of metres. So I find it screwy that people say you passed a tipping point so it's too late. In that case what are you thinking: that we are going to abandon the planet? You want to minimise the damage." • James Hansen's book Storms of My Grandchildren is published by Bloomsbury, £18.99 guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 2 Dec 2009 | 1:54 pm Beach vs. Beachfront Property: A Showdown in FloridaAn interesting case came before the U.S. Supreme Court today: Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida. It may sound more like a trendy diet than a case for the nation's highest court, but the issue at stake is a serious ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 2 Dec 2009 | 1:49 pm Man Looks for Aliens, Loses JobA basic human desire is to look for life beyond Planet Earth. We look at the stars wondering if a tentacled creature is gazing back at us and we ponder if life on Earth was spawned by alien bacteria hitching ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 2 Dec 2009 | 1:46 pm New Stem Cell Lines Open Up ResearchHaving a variety of stem cell lines available could help researchers treat a variety of diseases and conditions.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 2 Dec 2009 | 1:15 pm Don't Phone E.T., Just Send a Text MessageThough astronomers have been listening for radio transmissions from extraterrestrial civilizations for 50 years, there have been just a few attempts at transmitting a message to any inquiring alien minds that might dwell among the stars. The most widely popularized ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 2 Dec 2009 | 12:39 pm Sharks Can Be Identified By Their Bite Marks on VictimsHumans have the upper hand over sharks now, with millions of sharks killed each year, often just to become a pricey soup ingredient. You can read about the latest findings concerning shark finning at Discovery News. But it's also fair ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 2 Dec 2009 | 12:16 pm Rural America Surprisingly Prosperous, Study FindsMuch of rural America is prosperous says a study that used criteria such as unemployment to evaluate community successSource: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2009 | 12:11 pm Vodka Pill Good for What Ails YouLike many health-conscious Americans, I take a multi-vitamin every day to supplement my diet. Now, it appears that a new pill could help to supplement my drinking. The Times of India reports: Russian professor Evgeny Moskalev of Saint Petersburg Technological ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 2 Dec 2009 | 12:09 pm U.S. approves first "ethical" human stem cell linesWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government approved the first 13 batches of human embryonic stem cells on Wednesday, enabling researchers using them to get millions of dollars in federal funding as promised by President Barack Obama in March.Source: Reuters: Science News | 2 Dec 2009 | 12:05 pm Blue Whale Song Mystery Baffles Scientists
All around the world, blue whales aren’t singing like they used to, and scientists have no idea why. The largest animals on Earth are singing in ever-deeper voices every year. Among the suggested explanations are ocean noise pollution, changing population dynamics and new mating strategies. But none of them is entirely convincing. “We don’t have the answer. We just have a lot of recordings,” said Mark McDonald, president of Whale Acoustics, a company that specializes in the sonic monitoring of cetaceans. McDonald and his collaborators first noticed the change eight years ago, when they kept needing to recalibrate the automated song detectors used to track blue whales off the California coast. The detectors are triggered by songs that match a particular waveform. Every year, McDonald had to set them lower. Since then, he and Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers Sarah Melnick and John Hildebrand have gathered thousands of blue whale recordings made since the 1960s, spanning populations from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific to the East Indian Ocean. Their analysis, published in October in Endangered Species Research, shows that the songs’ tonal frequency is falling every year by a few fractions of a hertz. “It’s a fascinating finding,” said John Calombokidis, a blue whale expert at the Cascadia Research Collective. “It’s even more remarkable, given that the songs themselves differ in different oceans. There seem to be these distinct populations, yet they’re all showing this common shift.”
It’s also possible the whales are responding to changing dynamics in how sound travels through water that’s become warmer as Earth heats up, absorbing more carbon dioxide and growing more acidic than before. “But those factors are so small, and this is such a huge shift in frequency,” said McDonald. Another explanation involves the recovery of blue whale populations, which were nearly hunted to extinction during the first half of the last century. It’s only since hunting ceased that they’ve been recorded. Maybe songs were higher-pitched when recording started, because the whales had to sing extra-loud in order to reach their scattered brethren. Now that there are more, they can lower their voices and their pitch. But even in populations that escaped the carnage relatively unscathed, where population densities have remained steady, songs are getting lower. “That’s the first place to look for an answer, but it doesn’t fit more-localized patterns. The population of blue whales off the U.S. west coast hasn’t shown a dramatic upwards trend in numbers, but its pitch is declining,” said Calombokidis. Those whales are the best-studied of all blue whale populations, and their song pitch has dropped by 31 percent since the late 1960s. Because only male blue whales sing, the answer may involve mate choice and sexual selection. The researchers hypothesize that as larger, ostensibly more virile whales tend to produce deeper songs, other males may be trying to emulate them, just as human guys might lower their voices when trying to impress a woman. That the largest animals in the world could feel the need to inflate their size is an appealing idea, but Calombokidis warned that very little is known about how blue whales use their songs, or how social dynamics could affect them. “We need a better understanding of the songs, and a better understanding of their reproductive habits,” he said. Hal Whitehead, a Dalhousie University biologist who specializes in cetacean communication, emphasized that whale song is a cultural affair. Humpback whales are known to learn from each other, and whales have extraordinarily large and complex brains. They appear to share many social and cognitive traits with people. “The exciting possibility, I think, is that they’re all listening to each other,” said Whitehead. “This is a worldwide cultural phenomenon, and that’s very cool.” Images: 1) NOAA
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Citation: “Worldwide decline in tonal frequencies of blue whale songs.” By Mark A. McDonald, John A. Hildebrand, Sarah Mesnick. Endangered Species Research Vol. 9 No. 1, published online Oct. 23, 2009. Brandon Keim’s Twitter stream and reportorial outtakes; Wired Science on Twitter. Brandon is currently working on a book about ecosystem and planetary tipping points.
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 2 Dec 2009 | 12:02 pm Migratory Fish in PerilDiscovery News reporter Michael Reilly recently blogged about the sad state of the bluefin tuna. And now there's a new study that indicates it's not just large, predatory fish like bluefin and shark that are suffering. A Dec. 1 article ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 2 Dec 2009 | 11:56 am Poison Planned to Repel Asian Carp InvasionGluttonous Asian carp in the Great Lakes could starve out other species.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 2 Dec 2009 | 11:25 am Tiger Woods: Will Golf for Wildlife ConservationUnless you've been living under a rock, you know that golfer Tiger Woods is in the proverbial doghouse now for admitted "transgressions." Earlier this year, The Tiger Woods Foundation released the below family portrait. The photo shows, from left to ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 2 Dec 2009 | 11:19 am What Went Wrong on Mars?Piecing together an ancient planetary puzzle of life.Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2009 | 11:16 am Harrabin's NotesWhat questions should climate e-mail inquiry ask?Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2009 | 10:52 am Four New Species of King Crabs DiscoveredNew discovery suggests that many more crab species remain to be discovered.Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2009 | 10:35 am Climate change denial is the new article of faith for the far rightDespite a complete lack of evidence, the leaked emails hysteria has encouraged more deniers to emerge from the shadows It is now 12 days since the hacked emails from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia first appeared online, and the propaganda machine for the climate change denial lobby is in overdrive. The University of East Anglia has rightly announced an independent investigation into the hacking episode. It is essential that the investigation examines, thoroughly and transparently, the substance of the email messages and establishes whether there has been any wrongdoing. From what I have seen, there is no evidence of research misconduct, but the only way to clear the air now is through an investigation. Some people have already, and predictably, taken on the role of judge, jury and executioner, and have called for Phil Jones, the director of the unit, to resign. Yesterday Jones announced he would be temporarily standing down while an inquiry is carried out. But such a hysterical witch hunt is a sign of desperation rather than justice. Despite nearly two weeks of frantic brandishing of the "smoking gun", there is still no evidence of the alleged bullets that would constitute an overturning of 200 years of climate research. The greenhouse effect still exists and the Earth is still warming. Nevertheless, the denial lobby – and it is denial rather than scepticism because they reject all of the evidence they don't like and embrace any alternative theory no matter how flaky – is claiming victory. And to some extent they have succeeded – by confusing the public and perhaps reducing public pressure on politicians to reach a strong and effective agreement at Copenhagen climate talks this month. They have been aided in their campaign of disinformation by some feeble media reporting. Take the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a lobby group launched on 23 November, a few days after the stolen emails first appeared on the web. The chairman of its board of trustees, Nigel Lawson, promoted his new group by listing alleged misdeeds by the Climatic Research Unit and calling for a public inquiry by a high court judge. What Lawson neglected to mention and which no journalist sought to quiz him about was a graph featuring prominently at the top of every page on the foundation's website, using data published by the Climatic Research Unit and the Met Office's Hadley Centre. Nor did he reveal that the foundation had "hidden" the temperature record prior to 2001, so that visitors could not tell that eight of the 10 warmest years since the instrumental record began in the 19th century have occurred since 2000. But most damagingly of all, nobody reported that the temperature data in the graph had been inaccurately misrepresented, with 2003 wrongly appearing to be warmer than 2005, and 2006 and 2007 erroneously appearing warmer than 2004. Who knows, maybe the "sceptics" will be evenhanded now and call for a public inquiry into the data on the foundation's website. But don't hold your breath. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the hysterical atmosphere created by the emails has encouraged more of the denial lobby to emerge from the shadows. The British National party leader, Nick Griffin, gave a speech in which he claimed that climate change was a leftwing conspiracy, in much the same way as Lord Christopher Monckton has in his recent speeches in the United States. Monckton and Prof Ian Plimer then helped the UK Independence party to launch its own declaration of climate change denial this week. Suddenly climate change denial has become a new article of faith among the far right. Who knows where this will end. The denial lobby is determined to make this story drag on for as long as possible, and some are even claiming that it contributed to the failure of Australian climate change legislation this week and the ousting of the opposition leader. But when is all is said and done, the climate will still be changing and the risks will be mounting. • Bob Ward is the policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 2 Dec 2009 | 10:30 am Kingdoms of the Giants: Realms of Jupiter & SaturnAmazing Moons and Rings Attend Jupiter and SaturnSource: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2009 | 9:37 am Enceladus: Saturn's Refreshing SecretIcy crystals jet skyward from "tiger stripe" features near the south pole of this small moon. But are these geysers proof of a subterranean ocean?Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2009 | 9:34 am Titan: Gigantic Moon or Dwarf Planet?The second largest moon in our Solar System has one of the supposed primary requirements for life: an active liquid cycle. But Titan's liquid isn't water.Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2009 | 9:32 am The Sun's Cycle and Climate ChangeScience has only just begun to understand how cyclical changes in the Sun effect Earth's weather and climate. But the more technological human society grows, the more vulnerable we may become.Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2009 | 9:31 am The Hellfire Projector: How the Sun WorksHot fusion fires and strong magnetic fields shape massive solar outbursts. Watch how this stellar instrument tunes itself up to serenade its planets with energy.Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2009 | 9:31 am Google May Build Green-Tech Power Plants
SAN FRANCISCO — Google will become directly involved in deploying energy technologies, the company’s director of climate initiatives said Monday. The company has long supported and invested in renewable energy but kept its participation to greening its campus and funding several solar, wind and geothermal companies. In September, Google announced it was internally developing a new mirror for solar thermal plants. Now, the company may wade even further into the energy sector. “We’ll make a step soon into energy projects,” Dan Reicher, director of climate change and energy initiatives at Google, told a group of energy experts assembled in the cafeteria at the company’s swanky San Francisco office. That could mean Google starts directly financing power plants. Throughout the energy innovation event, which also featured energy leaders from Stanford, MIT and UC Berkeley, Reicher stressed the importance of going beyond just research and development to deploying innovative energy technologies. “Energy innovation to me means a real pipeline that goes from basic research to applied research to demonstration projects to the scale up and from there to full commercial deployment,” Reicher said. “It’s a long pipeline and to be honest we don’t do a very good job of moving technologies through this pipeline.”
Reicher said the Googlers have even coined a clever phrase to describe their vision of energy policy: “from light bulb to light bulb.” They want to help move new technologies from the idea (the first light bulb) to the product (the second light bulb). He championed an idea bouncing around Congress to create a Clean Energy Deployment Administration, which would help green tech companies get large power plants built. But with a ballooning federal deficit and rough economy, it’s hard to know where the money will come from. Reicher and the other panelists agreed that energy R&D funding should be around $15 billion a year. MIT physicist Ernie Moniz warned several times that the current increase in energy research came courtesy of the stimulus bill, which won’t be around forever. “We’re going to have to see what happens after these next two years because what we need is not a drop but a further increase in RD&D funding commensurate with the task at hand,” Moniz said. One idea for raising funds is to shift it from other places within government through standard appropriations, but Moniz suggested a different kind of funding base. A small charge could be added to electricity usage, which would add up to a very large sum — the Office Space funding model. Charging about four-tenths of a cent per kilowatt on the 3,669,919 million kilowatt hours of electricity used in the United States would yield the $15 billion dollars the energy researchers want. That would essentially be a 5 percent tax on the average cost of a kilowatt hour. Moniz said the idea had worked before. A successful program taxed natural gas transmission across state lines to fund the non-profit Gas Research Institute, beginning in 1976. Image: A mirror being placed at Brightsource’s Israeli demonstration facility. Google has invested in Brightsource and other solar thermal players like eSolar. See Also:
WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal’s Twitter, Google Reader feed, and green tech history research site; Wired Science on Twitter and Facebook.
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 2 Dec 2009 | 8:42 am Strange Triangular Snowflakes Explained
Flurries of questions about mysterious triangle-shaped snowflakes may soon subside, thanks to new research on snowflake formation. Most snowflakes are hexagons because of the arrangement of hydrogen bonds in the water molecule. But the new study, appearing online at arxiv.org (http://arxiv.org/abs/0911.4267) and in an upcoming issue of The Microscope, suggests that after hexagonal flakes, oddball triangular flakes are the most prevalent.
Snowflake enthusiasts — such as Libbrecht, who photographs snowflakes — have spotted triangular snowflakes in the wild. The snowflake scientific literature, which goes back almost two centuries, is thick with such sightings, Libbrecht adds, but no one has explained why. “People have noticed them for hundreds of years.” To address the mystery, the researchers created snowflakes in the laboratory and recorded the shapes. In conditions that simulate natural snowfall, the vast majority of flakes were the standard hexagons, but more of them were triangular than a statistical model had predicted, the team found. Some of these flakes still have six sides but an overall triangular shape, created by three short edges and three long ones. The abundance of triangle-shaped flakes suggests that they may be more common in nature than chance alone would allow. Tiny impurities, such as dust particles, can cause one edge of the falling snowflake to tilt up as it falls, Libbrecht says. The snowflake sides that are pointed down grow faster as the wind blows by, leading to a stable triangular pattern. Once a triangle shape gets started, the snowflake remains triangular despite any later bumps as it falls, the researchers propose. Image: Kenneth Libbrecht
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 2 Dec 2009 | 8:33 am UK's smart meter scheme looks to save cash and currentEnergy suppliers will be responsible for installing smart meters in all homes in the UK by 2020, under government plans.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2009 | 7:53 am Our Evolutionary Agony AuntA mere 150 years after Darwin published On the Origin of Species, we are proud to introduce the world's first Evolutionary Agony Aunt "I love fools' experiments. I am always making them." Charles Darwin had a wonderful way with words and as a nod to the great man's now infamous comment, we thought we'd try our hand at what you might call our very own fools' experiment. We want to help you with your problems. They don't need to be huge ones and they don't need to involve your love life, though it's fine if they are and they do. There's a catch, though. Our Agony Aunt is only allowed to dispense advice based on current evolutionary thinking. The rest we'll leave to the glossy magazines. Carole Jahme, author of Beauty and the Beasts: Woman, Ape and Evolution, and star of the comedy show Carole Jahme is Sexually Selected, is on hand to agonise over your problems so you don't have to. You can email your questions to Ask Carole here. Please put "Ask Carole" in the subject line. As soon as Carole has enough questions to get her teeth into, we'll post her answers.
We regret that Carole cannot answer all the mails we receive. We cannot provide urgent advice and suggest that if you need such advice you seek it immediately without waiting for a response from Carole. With regards to legal, medical or financial issues, we recommend seeking the advice of a listed professional. We will not be held liable for any loss, damage or injury you incur as a result of using this site or as a result of any advice given. We will not enter into personal correspondence via email. Carole is UK-based and as such any advice she gives is intended for a UK audience only. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 2 Dec 2009 | 7:51 am Female giant pandas 'chirp' to get pregnantFemale giant pandas make chirping sounds to inform males that they are fertile, a study reports.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2009 | 5:46 am Far-out fundsSexy space ideas from Europe - but what's the cost?Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2009 | 4:42 am
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The pheromone causes vitellogenin to move from fat tissue into the blood, where it is transported to the head glands and converted into a jelly that older sisters feed to the larvae. In effect, the adult workers give up their energy stores to rear their replacements. “It’s the group behavior that matters in the colony, not the life of single bees,” Amdam said. “In that way, you can sometimes think of bees as a mob.”
