Heavens | Page 33 | Science Codex

20 cent school intervention stops unhealthy weight gain in children

Rome, Italy - 27 Aug 2016: A school intervention costing less than 20 cents per child has stopped unhealthy weight gain. The randomised study is presented at ESC Congress 2016 today by Ms Daniela Schneid Schuh, a nutritionist at the Institute of Cardiology of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil.1

"Obesity has reached a plateau in developed countries but continues to rise in many developing countries, such as Brazil," said Ms Schneid Schuh. "Thus, it is necessary to develop low-cost methods to prevent people become overweight, starting in childhood."

Sunflowers move from east to west, and back, by the clock

It's summertime, and the fields of Yolo County, Calif., are filled with rows of sunflowers, dutifully facing the rising sun.

At the nearby University of California, Davis, plant biologists have now discovered how sunflowers use their internal circadian "clocks," acting on growth hormones, to follow the sun during the day as they grow.

Allergy research: Response to house dust mites is age-dependent

In adults with a house dust mite allergy, a cascade of inflammatory signals on the surface of the airways leads to airway remodeling. This process cannot be influenced by standard cortisone therapy. Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich have reported these findings in the latest issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

NASA's GPM examines Tropical Storm Lester

The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite analyzed Tropical Storm Lester after it became the 12th named storm of the 2016 eastern Pacific Ocean on Aug. 25.

GPM, a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, analyzed Lester's rainfall rates and cloud heights.

Lester was far away from the Mexican coast and headed toward the west-northwest. Low vertical wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures are expected to assist in Lester's intensification to hurricane status today, Aug. 26.

NASA examines System 99L over Hispaniola in infrared light

When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the tropical low pressure area known as System 99L it was located over Hispaniola. The AIRS instrument aboard Aqua analyzed the low pressure area in infrared light.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard Aqua provided temperature data on System 99L on Aug. 25 at 1:47 p.m. EDT (1747 UTC) . AIRS infrared data showed that the depression had some powerful thunderstorms with high cold cloud tops (as cold as -63F/-53C). NASA research has shown that storms with cloud top temperatures that cold can generate heavy rainfall.

Typhoon Lionrock threatening Japan

Depending on the intensity track of Typhoon Lionrock, it could pass over Japan with the strength of a lion or or the weakness of a lamb. The intensity track is not clear as yet and some forecasters have it remaining a stronger storm while others have it downgrading significantly in intensity. Lionrock is still a distance away from Japan, currently 307 miles southeast of Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan, and is moving east northeast at 9 knots per hour. Maximum sustained winds are 105 knots gusting to 130 knots. Further movement will definitely lock in the forecast in the next 24 hours.

Structural, regulatory and human error were factors in Washington highway bridge collapse

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- When an important bridge collapsed on Interstate 5 near Mount Vernon, Washington, in 2013, questions were raised about how such a catastrophic failure could occur. A new analysis by a team of civil engineering faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign outlines the many factors that led to the collapse, as well as steps that transportation departments can take to prevent such accidents on other bridges of similar design.

Sensor systems identify senior citizens at risk of falling within 3 weeks

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Each year, millions of people--especially those 65 and older--fall. Such falls can be serious, leading to broken bones, head injuries, hospitalizations or even death. Now, researchers from the Sinclair School of Nursing and the College of Engineering at the University of Missouri found that sensors that measure in-home gait speed and stride length can predict likely falls. This technology can assist health providers to detect changes and intervene before a fall occurs within a three-week period.

Two NASA satellites take a bead on Gaston's movements

Gaston is currently sitting smack in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean churning away. Currently it is not near any landmasses and is at tropical storm status having weakened slightly from hurricane force.

The Lancet: Baby simulator program may make teenage girls more, not less, likely to become pregnant

Similar programmes reportedly used in schools in 89 countries, including the USA
Authors of the randomised trial warn that the intervention is likely to be an ineffective use of public funds

NASA examines threatening tropical disturbance in eastern Caribbean Sea

NASA analyzed the rainfall and cloud heights in an area of low pressure designated as System 99L that bringing rains and gusty winds to Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Turks and Caicos and other islands in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea today, Aug. 25.

On Aug. 25 at 3:16 a.m. EDT (0716 UTC) the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite had an excellent look at an area of low pressure associated with a tropical wave moving past the northern Dominican Republic.

Tropical Depression 14W gets absorbed by system 92W

Tropical Depression 14W was absorbed by another nearby tropical low pressure system in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean as NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued the final bulletin on Tropical Depression 14W on Aug. 24 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) when it was about 349 nautical miles east of Iwo To Island, Japan. At that time it had maximum sustained winds only near 23 mph (20 knots/37 kph) and was moving to the north-northeast at 33.3 mph (29 knots/53.7 kph).

Typhoon Lionrock's intensification seen by NASA's GPM

Typhoon Lionrock's rainfall rates and cloud heights were analyzed as it continued to intensify when the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed overhead.

NASA sees examines new tropical storm in infrared light

When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the eastern Pacific Ocean it looked at a newly developed tropical depression that would later strengthen into Tropical Storm Lester. Aqua analyzed the depression with an infrared eye and saw indications it was strengthening.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard Aqua provided temperature data on Tropical Depression 13E on Aug. 24 at 4:17 p.m. EDT (2017 UTC). AIRS infrared data showed that the depression had some powerful thunderstorms with high cold cloud tops (as cold as -63F/-53C).

NASA sees heavy rain in Gaston as it fights wind shear

Gaston was a hurricane when the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed overhead and found heavy rain occurring in the storm. GPM imagery also showed that wind shear was stretching the storm out and making it appear elongated from space.

Gaston became the 3rd hurricane of the season early this morning, Aug. 25 (just after midnight EDT) as the storm was moving northwestward into the Central Atlantic about midway between the Leeward Islands and the Cape Verde Islands before weakening back into a tropical storm less than 12 hours later.