Earth | Page 1322 | Science Codex

Earth's crust melts easier than thought

Earth's crust melts easier than previously thought, scientists have discovered.

In a paper published in this week's issue of the journal Nature, geologists report results of a study of how well rocks conduct heat at different temperatures. They found that as rocks get hotter in Earth's crust, they become better insulators and poorer conductors.

The findings provide insights into how magmas are formed, the scientists say, and will lead to better models of continental collision and the formation of mountain belts.

Campaign spending affects electoral outcomes

Burnaby, B.C. – March 18, 2009 – In Canada, campaign spending limits for candidates during a federal election are stipulated by the Canada Elections Act. A study recently published in the Canadian Journal of Economics uses these spending limits to evaluate the impact of candidate spending on voting outcomes. Results show that higher spending by candidates is found to lead to better chance of the candidate winning the election, and that spending limits are good for democracy.

Wheat experts from 40 countries gather in Mexico as battle intensifies against plant plague

CIUDAD OBREGÓN, MEXICO (17 March 2009)— The world's leading wheat experts from Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas—invited to Mexico by Nobel Prize Winner Norman Borlaug—today reported significant progress in developing new varieties of wheat capable of resisting a virulent form of an old plant disease that threatens wheat production worldwide.

Carnegie Mellon researchers apply new statistical test

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's Cliff I. Davidson, Joseph B. Kadane and Nanjun Chu have found that polluted air in the highly populated East End areas of Pittsburgh are more affected by major sources to the city's southeast than previously thought.

Because more than three-quarters of particulate matter found in the city originates from outside the Pittsburgh urban area — mainly to the west — the importance of certain air quality sources had not been quantified in the past.

Big and small dents

The Earth explorer satellite GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer), built by the European Space Agency ESA, was successfully launched today at 15:21 GMT from the Russian Cosmodrome Plesetsk. GOCE is the first satellite mission within the framework of the Living Planet Programme of ESA and will map Earth's gravity field in unprecedented detail.

UK robot sub searches for signs of melting 60 km into an Antarctic ice shelf cavity

Autosub, a robot submarine built and developed by the UK's National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, has successfully completed a high-risk campaign of six missions travelling under an Antarctic glacier.

Mighty diatoms: Global climate feedback from microscopic algae

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Tiny creatures at the bottom of the food chain called diatoms suck up nearly a quarter of the atmosphere's carbon dioxide, yet research by Michigan State University scientists suggests they could become less able to "sequester" that greenhouse gas as the climate warms. The microscopic algae are a major component of plankton living in puddles, lakes and oceans.

Europe now has a scientific authority on CO2 storage

CO2GeoNet, Europe's Network of Excellence working on the geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2), will meet in Venice on 18-20th March 2009 to present highlights from five years of research and development carried out by hundreds of scientists and to interact with stakeholders on future needs to be addressed by science.

Carbon sinks losing the battle with rising emissions

The stabilising influence that land and ocean carbon sinks have on rising carbon emissions is gradually weakening, scientists who attended the international Copenhagen Climate Change Conference."Forests, grasslands and oceans are absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere faster than ever but they are not keeping pace with rapidly rising emissions," says CSIRO scientist and co-Chair of the Global Carbon Project, Dr Mike Raupach.

Climate-related changes on the Antarctic peninsula

Scientists have long established that the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming spots on Earth. Now, new research using detailed satellite data indicates that the changing climate is affecting not just the penguins at the apex of the food chain, but simultaneously the microscopic life that is the base of the ecosystem.

Dancing 'adatoms' help chemists understand how water molecules split

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Single oxygen atoms dancing on a metal oxide slab, glowing brighter here and dimmer there, have helped chemists better understand how water splits into oxygen and hydrogen. In the process, the scientists have visualized a chemical reaction that had previously only been talked about. The new work improves our understanding of the chemistry needed to generate hydrogen fuel from water or to clean contaminated water.

Tree species composition influences nitrogen loss from forests

MADISON, WI, MARCH 16, 2009--Throughout the world, nitrogen compounds are released to the atmosphere from agricultural activities and combustion of fossil fuels. These pollutants are deposited to ecosystems as precipitation, gases, and particles, sometimes many hundreds of miles downwind of their release point.

No consistent advantage for planting soybean early

MADISON, WI, March 16, 2009 -- Planting soybean on the optimum date produces maximum yield and profit without increasing production costs. Unfortunately, the optimum planting date is hard to indentify, because it varies from year to year, depending on the weather and how much it rains and when it rains.

Cleaning up oil spills can kill more fish than spills themselves, say Queen's biologists

Kingston, ON – A new Queen's University study shows that detergents used to clean up spills of diesel oil actually increase its toxicity to fish, making it more harmful.

"The detergents may be the best way to treat spills in the long term because the dispersed oil is diluted and degraded," says Biology professor Peter Hodson. "But in the short term, they increase the bioavailability and toxicity of the fuel to rainbow trout by 100-fold."

Sea level rise due to global warming poses threat to New York City

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Global warming is expected to cause the sea level along the northeastern U.S. coast to rise almost twice as fast as global sea levels during this century, putting New York City at greater risk for damage from hurricanes and winter storm surge, according to a new study led by a Florida State University researcher.