Heavens

Future Internet aims to sever links with servers

Researchers have taken the first step towards a radical new architecture for the internet, which they claim will transform the way in which information is shared online, and make it faster and safer to use.

The prototype, which has been developed as part of an EU-funded project called "Pursuit", is being put forward as a proof-of concept model for overhauling the existing structure of the internet's IP layer, through which isolated networks are connected, or "internetworked".

Bright eyes: Study finds reindeers' eyes change colour with Arctic seasons

Researchers have discovered the eyes of Arctic reindeer change colour through the seasons from gold to blue, adapting to extreme changes of light levels in their environment and helping detect predators.

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) funded team from UCL (University College London), and the University of Tromsø, Norway, showed that the colour change helps reindeer to see better in the continuous daylight of summer and continuous darkness of Arctic winters, by changing the sensitivity of the retina to light.

Interventions by non-mental health specialists may improve perinatal mental health disorders

In middle-income countries such as China, interventions that have a psychological or social component (often referred to as psychosocial interventions) delivered by health workers who are not mental health specialists could help women during the perinatal period*, according to a study published this week in PLOS Medicine.

NASA sees Tropical Storm Raymond fading fast

Satellite data showed some recent convective activity within Tropical Storm Raymond on Oct. 28 but southwesterly wind shear and cooler ocean temperatures are predicted by the National Hurricane Center to weaken the tropical storm to a remnant low on Wednesday October 30, 2013.

NASA sees newborn twenty-ninth Depression in the Philippine Sea

NASA infrared imagery revealed that bands of thunderstorms have been wrapping into the center of newborn Tropical Depression 29W, indicating it's organizing and strengthening in the Philippine Sea.

The Philippine Sea is located within the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It's located east and north of the Philippines and covers about 2 million square miles (5 million square kilometers).

UCSB researcher documents the enduring contaminant legacy of the California gold rush

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– An unintended legacy of California's gold rush, which began in 1848, endures today in the form of mercury-laden sediment. New research by Michael Singer, associate researcher at UC Santa Barbara's Earth Research Institute, shows that sediment-absorbed mercury is being transported by major floods from the Sierra Nevada mountains to Central Valley lowlands. The findings appear today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

An eye-opener: NASA sees Hurricane Raymond reborn for a brief time

Tropical Storm Raymond moved away from western Mexico and into warmer waters with less wind shear over the weekend of Oct. 26-27, where it strengthened into a hurricane again. NASA's Aqua satellite captured an eye-opening image of Raymond before it ran into strong wind shear.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Hurricane Raymond that showed its eye had re-developed and opened after it re-strengthened in the Eastern Pacific. The image was taken on Oct. 27 at 21:15 UTC/5:15 p.m. EDT.

NASA catches glimpse of the brief life of Southern Indian Ocean's first tropical cyclone

The first tropical cyclone of the Southern Indian Ocean season lasted about one day. Tropical Cyclone 01S was born on Oct. 27 and by Oct. 28 had become a remnant low.

The first tropical cyclone of the Southern Indian Ocean cyclone season formed on Oct. 27 near 13.1 south and 63.4 east, about 570 nautical miles northeast of Port Louis, Mauritus. It was moving to the west-southwest at 7 knots. Maximum sustained winds were near 35 knots.

Sun continues to emit solar flares

After emitting its first significant solar flares since June 2013 earlier in the week, the sun continued to produce mid-level and significant solar flares on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28, 2013.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

GVSU study on gender: Who counts as a man and who counts as a woman

ALLENDALE, Mich. — Gender is no longer determined solely by biological factors, according to a new study by a Grand Valley State University researcher whose article, "Doing Gender, Determining Gender: Transgender People, Gender Panics, and the Maintenance of the Sex/Gender/Sexuality System," was recently published in Gender & Society.

Extra-Tropical Storm Lekima weakens in Northern Pacific

Once a typhoon now an extra-tropical cyclone in the far northern Pacific Ocean, Lekima is weakening over cool waters. NASA's Aqua satellite captured the last image of Lekima as a typhoon before it weakened.

Poor motor performance linked to poor academic skills in the first school years

Children with poor motor performance at the school entry were found to have poorer reading and arithmetic skills than their better performing peers during the first three years of school. However, no relationship was found between cardiovascular fitness and academic skills, according to a new study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Many bushfires in New South Wales, Australia

NASA's Terra satellite detected dozens of bushfires continued raging in the Australian state of New South Wales, outside of Sydney. Sydney is the state capital and the most populated city in Australia.

According to CNN, emergency managers in New South Wales declared a state of emergency. On Oct. 22, CNN reported that New South Wales was battling 62 fires on Oct. 22. More than 116,167 hectares (~287,000 acres) have already burned.

Nanomaterials database improved to help consumers, scientists track products

Nanomaterials are the heart of the smaller, better electronics developed during the last decade, as well as new materials, medical diagnostics and therapeutics, energy storage, and clean water. However, exposure to nanomaterials may have unintended consequences for human health and the environment.

GVSU students contribute to growing medical field

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A group of students and faculty at Grand Valley State University have been working with Van Andel Institute to develop new methods to further a growing medical field that aims to improve early detection of cancer and disease.

A group of four Grand Valley students and graduates, and Anthony Chang from VAI, presented three years worth of research at the World Molecular Imaging Congress, one of the largest meetings in the medical imaging field, September 18-21 in Savannah, Georgia.