(Edmonton) University of Alberta led research reveals that Microraptor, a small flying dinosaur was a complete hunter, able to swoop down and pickup fish as well as its previously known prey of birds and tree dwelling mammals.
U of A paleontology graduate student Scott Persons says new evidence of Microrpator's hunting ability came from fossilized remains in China. "We were very fortunate that this Microraptor was found in volcanic ash and its stomach content of fish was easily identified."
Cambridge, Mass. - April 22, 2013 - A Harvard-led team of researchers has created a new type of nanoscale device that converts an optical signal into waves that travel along a metal surface. Significantly, the device can recognize specific kinds of polarized light and accordingly send the signal in one direction or another.
DURHAM, N.H. -– Running two computer models in tandem, scientists from the University of New Hampshire have detailed for the first time how thermoelectric power plants interact with climate, hydrology, and aquatic ecosystems throughout the northeastern U.S. and show how rivers serve as "horizontal cooling towers" that provide an important ecosystem service to the regional electricity sector — but at a cost to the environment.
Recent progress in the engineering of plasmonic structures has enabled new kinds of nanometer-scale optoelectronic devices as well as high-resolution optical sensing. But until now, there has been a lack of tools for measuring nanometer-scale behavior in plasmonic structures which are needed to understand device performance and to confirm theoretical models.
A new review of insect pollinators of crops and wild plants has concluded they are under threat globally from a cocktail of multiple pressures, and their decline or loss could have profound environmental, human health and economic consequences.
Globally, insects provide pollination services to about 75% of crop species and enable reproduction in up to 94% of wild flowering plants. Pollination services provided by insects each year worldwide are valued at over US$200 billion.
BOSTON — Heart disease and approximately half of all strokes are the results of advanced atherosclerosis with damaged endothelium, the inner lining of blood vessels. In 2009, the direct and indirect annual cost of heart disease and stroke was approximately $312.6 billion. Projections are for the total cost of heart disease to increase from $523 to $1.126 billion from 2013 to 2030. And by 2030, it is expected that there will be more than 148 million of the US population would have heart disease.
Salt Lake City, Utah – The greatest threat of a tsunami for the U.S. east coast from a nearby offshore earthquake stretches from the coast of New England to New Jersey, according to John Ebel of Boston College, who presented his findings today at the Seismological Society of America 2013 Annual Meeting.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- In the global aftershock zone that followed the major April 2012 Indian Ocean earthquake, seismologists noticed an unusual pattern. The magnitude (M) 8.6 earthquake, a strike-slip event at intraoceanic tectonic plates, caused global seismic rates of M≥4.5 to rise for several days, even at distances thousands of kilometers from the mainshock site. However, the rate of M≥6.5 seismic activity subsequently dropped to zero for the next 95 days.
Salt Lake City, Utah -- The entire world becomes an aftershock zone after a massive magnitude (M) 7 or larger earthquake—but what hazard does this pose around the planet? Researchers are working to extend their earthquake risk estimates over a global scale, as they become better at forecasting the impact of aftershocks at a local and regional level.
Smart electronics are taking the world by storm. From techno-textiles to transparent electronic displays, the world of intelligent technology is growing fast and a revolutionary new device has just been added to its ranks. Researchers at the University of Exeter have developed a new photoelectric device that is both flexible and transparent. The device, described in a paper in the journal ACS Nano, converts light into electrical signals by exploiting the unique properties of the recently discovered materials graphene and graphExeter.
University of Melbourne researcher and practising GP, Associate Professor Kelsey Hegarty from the Department of General Practice is leading research into domestic violence and primary care.
The study "Effect of screening and brief counseling for abused women on quality of life, safety planning and mental health : A primary care cluster randomized controlled trial Associate Professor Hegarty and her collaborators wanted to test if support and counselling from the GP could lead to positive changes in women leading to safety planning and improved mental health and quality of life.
"Increased hearing sensitivity could improve a fish's ability to use sound for navigation, predator avoidance, and communication. However, it could also increase their sensitivity to common background noises, which may disrupt the detection of more useful auditory information," said Bignami, who recently completed his PhD in Marine Biology and Fisheries at UM.
When Sandy turned and took aim at New York City and Long Island last October, it wasn't a hurricane, but it had too much media attention to be ignored, and so a "super storm" was born.
But it wasn't just midtown media company vanity. The waves actually rattled the seafloor and much of the United States. We couldn't feel any of that but the shaking was detected by seismometers across the country, University of Utah researchers found.
José M. González-Jiménez et al., ARC Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems (CCFS), and GEMOC, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia. Published online ahead of print on 4 April; DOI:10.1130/G34003.1.
A new report on the potential effects of climate change on NOAA's Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary uses existing observations and science-based expectations to identify how climate change could affect habitats, plants and animals within the sanctuary and adjacent coastal areas.
It also outlines new management recommendations for the sanctuary, and sanctuary officials called it the first step toward addressing them.