Earth | Page 1276 | Science Codex

Missing link in cloud formation uncovered--dihydroxyepoxides

The discovery of an unknown hitherto chemical compound in the atmosphere may help to explain how and when clouds are formed. The discovery of the so called dihydroxyepoxides (an aerosol-precursor), is reported in this week's issue of Science by a team comprising of researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of Copenhagen.

Professor Henrik Kjærgaard from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen calls the new compounds a missing link in the formation of clouds.

New light-emitting biomaterial could improve tumor imaging, study shows

A new material developed at the University of Virginia – an oxygen nanosensor that couples a light-emitting dye with a biopolymer – simplifies the imaging of oxygen-deficient regions of tumors. Such tumors are associated with increased cancer aggressiveness and are particularly difficult to treat.

Oxygen nanosensors are powerful new research tools that one day may also be used for the diagnosis and detection of diseases and for planning treatment strategies.

Weak interactions and exploring the Standard Model without a high-energy collider

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US, have performed sophisticated laser measurements to detect the subtle effects of one of nature's most elusive forces - the "weak interaction". Their work, which reveals the largest effect of the weak interaction ever observed in an atom, is reported in Physical Review Letters and highlighted in the August 10th issue of APS's on-line journal Physics (physics.aps.org).

SLAC to receive additional $21.8M in recovery act funding for new research instruments

Menlo Park, Calif.—The Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory will receive $21.8 million in new funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funding will catalyze instrumentation construction and improvements at the laboratory's two light source research facilities, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL).

Hurricane Felicia eyes Hawaii, getting weaker all the time

NASA satellite imagery has helped forecasters watch Hurricane Felicia run into cooler waters and increasing wind shear, two things that have taken her strength "down a peg or two." Felicia will continue to weaken further over the weekend as she heads to Hawaii where landfall isn't expected until late Monday or early Tuesday.

Deadly Typhoon Morakot slamming Taiwan

The latest satellite image from NASA's Aqua satellite shows the giant Typhoon Morakot's center about to cross Taiwan. Morakot has already caused problems in Taiwan on its approach and has proven deadly in the Philippines.

Warming Tasmanian seas not good news

Tasmania's east coast is recording its highest-ever winter water temperatures of more than 13ºC – up to 1.5ºC above normal – due to a strengthening of an ocean current originating north of Australia.

Satellites have given oceanographers an insight into a remarkable phenomenon. It is a significant extension of the Leeuwin Current curling around the southern tip of Tasmania and reaching as far north as St Helens.

Tiny crystals may protect plants from animal threats

Keeping certain poisonous houseplants, such as Dieffenbachia (dumbcane), Philodendron, peace lily, and pothos, away from pets is common knowledge, but the reason is not. For houseplants like these, the problem may not just be a poison, but the presence of tiny crystals throughout the plant.

Researchers to study rebirth of an island after volcanic eruption

When Alaska's Kasatochi Volcano erupted on Aug. 7, 2008, it virtually sterilized Kasatochi Island, covering the small Aleutian island with a layer of ash and other volcanic material several meters thick. The eruption also provided a rare research opportunity: the chance to see how an ecosystem develops from the very first species to colonize the island.

Caltech researchers show how organic carbon compounds emitted by trees affect air quality

PASADENA, Calif.—A previously unrecognized player in the process by which gases produced by trees and other plants become aerosols—microscopically small particles in the atmosphere—has been discovered by a research team led by scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Their research on the creation and effects of these chemicals, called epoxides, is being featured in this week's issue of the journal Science.

Crafty orchids wear the scent of hornet's prey

Orchids are famous for their deceptions. Most of those with nothing of value to offer their pollinators lure them instead with the scents of more rewarding flowers or potential mates. Now, a report published online on August 6th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, reveals for the first time that a species of orchid, which lives on the Chinese island of Hainan, fools its hornet pollinator by issuing a chemical that honeybees use to send an alarm.

Climate-caused biodiversity booms and busts in ancient plants and mammals

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A period of global warming from 53 million to 47 million years ago strongly influenced plants and animals, spurring a biodiversity boom in western North America, researchers from three research museums report in a paper published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

New experiment could reveal make-up of the universe

The detectors will become part of the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array (AGATA) experiment, currently based in Italy, which aims to create a 'fingerprint' of the inside of the atomic nucleus to understand the structure of all matter in the Universe, including human beings and the stars.

University of Hawaii at Manoa researchers reveal ocean acidification at Station ALOHA

The burning of fossil fuels has released tremendous amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, significantly impacting global climate. Were it not for the absorption of CO2 by the oceans, the alarming growth of atmospheric CO2 concentration would be substantially greater than it is. However, this beneficial role of the oceans as a CO2 "scrubber" does not come without undesired consequences. When dissolved, CO2 acts as an acid, and lowers seawater pH.

Symposium to discuss geoengineering to fight climate change at the ESA Annual Meeting

Geoengineering techniques aim to slow global warming through the use of human-made changes to the Earth's land, seas or atmosphere. But new research shows that the use of geoengineering to do environmental good may cause other environmental harm. In a symposium at the Ecological Society of America's Annual Meeting, ecologists discuss the viability of geoengineering, concluding that it is potentially dangerous at the global scale, where the risks outweigh the benefits.