| Title | Description |
| Scientists explore roots of future tropical rainfall |
(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) How will rainfall patterns across the tropical Indian and Pacific regions change in a future warming world? Climate models generally suggest that the tropics as a whole will get wetter, but the models don't always agree on where rainfall patterns will shift in particular regions within the tropics. |
| Heat-related deaths in Manhattan projected to rise |
(The Earth Institute at Columbia University) Researchers say deaths in Manhattan linked to warming climate may rise some 20 percent by the 2020s, and, in some worst-case scenarios, 90 percent or more by the 2080s. Higher winter temperatures may partially offset heat-related deaths by cutting cold-related mortality -- but even so, annual net temperature-related deaths might go up a third. |
| Sea level influenced tropical climate during the last ice age |
(University of Hawaii ‑ SOEST) The Indo-Pacific warm pool was much dryer during the last ice age than today, because lower sea level exposed the Sunda Shelf. The large landmass, in place of the warm ocean, altered the atmospheric circulation, shifting convection further west into the Indian Ocean. These findings by scientists at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Woods Hole Institute of Oceanography, appear in the May 19, online edition of Nature Geoscience. |
| RNA capable of catalyzing electron transfer on early earth with iron's help, study says |
(Georgia Institute of Technology) A new study shows how complex biochemical transformations may have been possible under conditions that existed when life began on the early Earth. The study shows that RNA is capable of catalyzing electron transfer under conditions similar to those of the early Earth. |
| Engineered microbes grow in the dark |
(American Society for Microbiology) Scientists at the University of California, Davis have engineered a strain of photosynthetic cyanobacteria to grow without the need for light. They report their findings today at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. |
| Bacteria use hydrogen, carbon dioxide to produce electricity |
(American Society for Microbiology) Researchers have engineered a strain of electricity-producing bacteria that can grow using hydrogen gas as its sole electron donor and carbon dioxide as its sole source of carbon. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst report their findings at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. |
| Shifts in global water systems -- markers of a new geological epoch: The Anthropocene |
(Global Water System Project) A suite of disquieting global phenomena have given rise to the "Anthropocene," a term coined for a new geologic epoch characterized by humanity's growing dominance of the Earth's environment and a planetary transformation as profound as the last epoch-defining event -- the retreat of the glaciers 11,500 years ago.In Germany May 21-24, experts will focus on how to mitigate key factors contributing to extreme damage to the global water system being caused while adapting to the new reality. |
| Front-row seats to climate change |
(United States Geological Survey) Increasingly erratic rainfall patterns can lead to declines in southeastern frog and salamander populations, but protecting ponds can improve their plight. |
| Attacking MRSA with metals from antibacterial clays |
(Arizona State University) Shelley Haydel, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute has a new approach to developing effective, topical antibacterial agents -- one that draws on a naturally occurring substance recognized since antiquity for its medicinal properties: clay. |
| Satellite sees Tropical Storm Alvin's life end quickly |
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) The first tropical storm of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season was short-lived. Satellite imagery revealed that Tropical Storm Alvin became a remnant low pressure area 36 hours after it was named. |
| NASA sees Cyclone Mahasen hit Bangladesh |
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as TRMM measured Cyclone Mahasen's rainfall rates from space as it made landfall on May 16. Mahasen has since dissipated over eastern India. |
| First Atlanta Science Festival set for 2014 |
(Georgia Institute of Technology) Atlanta residents of all ages will celebrate the science and technology of the region and its impact on our daily lives during the inaugural Atlanta Science Festival, March 22-29, 2014. With scientists, engineers and educators from local museums, corporations, K-12 schools and universities, the festival will host more than 40 different events for children and adults at venues across the city. |
| The genome sequence of Tibetan antelope sheds new light on high-altitude adaptation |
(BGI Shenzhen) The genome sequence of Tibetan antelope sheds new light on high-altitude adaptation. |
| GPS solution provides 3-minute tsunami alerts |
(European Geosciences Union) Researchers have shown that, by using global positioning systems (GPS) to measure ground deformation caused by a large underwater earthquake, they can provide accurate warning of the resulting tsunami in just a few minutes after the earthquake onset. For the devastating Japan 2011 event the analysis of the GPS data and issue of a detailed tsunami alert would have taken no more than three minutes. The results are published in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. |
| New X-ray method shows how frog embryos could help thwart disease |
(DOE/Argonne National Laboratory) An international team of scientists using a new X-ray method recorded the internal structure and cell movement inside a living frog embryo in greater detail than ever before.This result showcases a new method to advance biological research and the search for new treatments for genetic diseases. |
| Climate change may have little impact on tropical lizards |
(Dartmouth College) A new Dartmouth College study finds human-caused climate change may have little impact on many species of tropical lizards, contradicting a host of recent studies that predict their widespread extinction in a rapidly warming planet. |
| How should geophysics contribute to disaster planning? |
(American Institute of Physics) Earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters often showcase the worst in human suffering -- especially when those disasters strike populations who live in rapidly growing communities in the developing world with poorly enforced or non-existent building codes. This week in Cancun, researchers present a comparison between large-scale earthquakes and tsunamis in different parts of the world, illustrating how nearly identical natural disasters can play out very differently depending on where they strike. |
| NASA sees Eastern Pacific get first tropical storm: Alvin |
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's Aqua satellite and NOAA's GOES-15 satellite captured imagery of the Eastern Pacific Ocean's first named tropical storm, Alvin. |
| NASA sees heavy rainfall as Cyclone Mahasen made landfall |
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's TRMM satellite identified areas of heavy rainfall as Cyclone Mahasen made landfall today, May 16, in southern Bangladesh. |
| LLNL scientist finds topography of Eastern Seaboard muddles ancient sea level changes |
(DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) The distortion of the ancient shoreline and flooding surface of the US Atlantic Coastal Plain are the direct result of fluctuations in topography in the region and could have implications on understanding long-term climate change, according to a new study. |
| Art of Science exhibit celebrates the 'unpredictability of beauty' |
(Princeton University, Engineering School) The Princeton University Art of Science 2013 exhibit can now be viewed in a new online gallery. The gallery features aesthetically intriguing images produced during the course of scientific research. |
| NASA satellite data helps pinpoint glaciers' role in sea level rise |
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) A new study of glaciers worldwide using observations from two NASA satellites has helped resolve differences in estimates of how fast glaciers are disappearing and contributing to sea level rise. |
| Team wins cubesat berth to gather earth energy imbalance measurements |
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) A team of scientists has won a berth on a tiny satellite to explore one of NASA's most important frontiers in climate studies: The imbalance in Earth's energy budget and the extent to which fast-changing phenomena, like clouds, contribute to that imbalance. |
| Research into carbon storage in Arctic tundra reveals unexpected insight into ecosystem resiliency |
(University of California - Santa Barbara) When UC Santa Barbara doctoral student Seeta Sistla and her advisor, environmental studies professor Josh Schimel, went north not long ago to study how long-term warming in the Arctic affects carbon storage, they had made certain assumptions. |
| Artificial forest for solar water-splitting |
(DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Berkeley Lab researchers have created the first fully integrated artificial photosynthesis nanosystem. While "artificial leaf" is the popular term for such a system, the key to this success was an "artificial forest." |
