Heavens

Tropical Cyclone Jack had weakened to a tropical depression when NASA and JAXA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite passed above on April 22, 2014 at 1120 UTC/7:20 a.m. EDT.

This news release is available in German.

Inverse Effects of Midlife Occupational and Leisure Time Physical Activity on Mobility Limitation in Old Age

Strenuous occupational physical activity in midlife increases the risk of mobility limitation in old age, whereas leisure-time physical activity decreases the risk. This is found in a study which followed up 5,200 public sector employees for 28 years. The study was conducted at the Gerontology Research Center in Finland and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

One of the most influential ecological disturbances is fire. Fire can spread so rapidly and for such far distances that its impact on land is for the most part far greater than any other factor. Less than optimal logging practices in the Primorksy region worsen the problems of human-caused fires in this area. Abandoned fields with dry grasses provide the detritus that can fuel an out of control blaze with a single spark.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two independent studies use two very different approaches to reach the same conclusion: some online retailers really do have an advantage over traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

The studies find evidence from investors, analysts and consumers themselves that suggest online stores have a competitive edge when they don't have to collect sales tax from shoppers.

Both studies were conducted by researchers at the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and their colleagues.

When TRMM first passed over Jack, the storm had estimated sustained winds of 90 knots (103.6 mph/166.7 kph). The second time TRMM gathered data about Jack's rainfall, the storm's maximum sustained winds had dropped to 75 knots (86.3 mph/138.9 kph). Rainfall from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) were used to create images of rainfall rates. Rain was found by TRMM PR to be falling at a maximum rate of over 197 mm/hr. (7.8 inches) with the first pass and still falling at a rate of over 167 mm/hr. (6.6 inches) at the later time.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Nearly 7 in 10 Americans support mandated coverage of birth control medications, according to a new national survey by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System.

Women, blacks, Hispanics, parents with children under the age of 18 at home, and adults with private or public insurance were significantly more likely than other adults to support universal coverage of birth control medications, according to the findings that appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

A new solar material that has the same crystal structure as a mineral first found in the Ural Mountains in 1839 is shooting up the efficiency charts faster than almost anything researchers have seen before—and it is generating optimism that a less expensive way of using sunlight to generate electricity may be in our planet's future.

Recent projects in two Minnesota cities demonstrate how communities can protect themselves from worsening storms. These projects continue a ten year program in New England and the Midwest providing practical and affordable plans tailored to local conditions.

Mysteries of one of the most fascinating nearby planetary systems now have been solved, report authors of a scientific paper to be published by the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in its early online edition on 22 April 2014.

What looked at first like a sort of upside-down planet has instead revealed a new method for studying binary star systems, discovered by a University of Washington student astronomer.

Blue-footed Boobies are on the decline in the Galápagos.

A new study appearing in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology indicates numbers of the iconic birds, known for their bright blue feet and propensity to burst into dance to attract mates, have fallen more than 50 percent in less than 20 years.

Tropical Cyclone Jack may have hurricane-force winds today, April 21, but strong vertical wind shear is expected to weaken the storm. NASA's TRMM satellite passed overhead and saw that the bulk of the storm's rainfall was being pushed south of the center from the wind shear.

Tropical Cyclone Jack formed on Sunday, April 20, near 13.4 south and 91.1 east, and began moving to the south at 6 knots/6.9 mph/11.1 kph. Jack strengthened quickly and hours after its birth, the storm already had maximum sustained winds near 55 knots/63.2 mph/101.9 kph.

Advances in the technology frontier have resulted in major disruptions and transformations in the massive data processing infrastructures. For the past three decades, classical database management systems, data warehousing and data analysis technologies have been well recognized as effective tools for data management and analysis. More recently, data from different sources and in different format are being collected at unprecedented scale. This gives rise to the so-called 3V characteristics of the big data: volume, velocity and variety.

The wetlands of the Mississippi River Delta are slowly sinking and rapidly eroding, but new research from Rice University and the University of South Carolina has found the river's supply of sand -- the material engineers most need to rebuild the delta -- will stay constant for centuries.