Mars Ripe for 'Cold Springs' Akin to Canadian Arctic
So-called "cold springs" in Canada's high arctic may be similar to active springs that could potentially exist on Mars, scientists studying the springs suggest.
Researchers probed the makeup of several salt-laden pools in the arctic permafrost, similar to salt environments that spacecraft orbiting Mars have spotted on the Red Planet. The arctic pools contain microbial life, and could give primitive life a haven if they exist on Mars, researchers say. |  |
Mangroves Under Threat from Shrimp Farms
OSLO (Reuters) - Valuable mangrove forests that protect coastlines, sustain sealife and help slow climate change are being wrecked by the spread of shrimp and fish farms, a U.N.-backed study showed on Wednesday.
About a fifth of mangroves worldwide have been lost since 1980, mostly because of clearance to make way for the farms which often get choked with waste, antibiotics and fertilizers, according to the study.
Intact mangroves were almost always more valuable than shrimp farms, said its authors, who drew on forestry and conservation expertise from several U.N. organizations.
About a fifth of mangroves worldwide have been lost since 1980, mostly because of clearance to make way for the farms which often get choked with waste, antibiotics and fertilizers, according to the study.
Intact mangroves were almost always more valuable than shrimp farms, said its authors, who drew on forestry and conservation expertise from several U.N. organizations.
Droughts have not increased since the 1950s
According to a commonly used model of drought patterns, researchers had previously assumed that higher global temperatures were causing greater evaporation of water, and therefore more droughts.
But a more detailed analysis of weather data, including wind speed, humidity and radiation levels, found that in fact there has been "little change" in drought over the past 60 years. |  |
Japan's nuclear dilemma: Is geothermal the answer?
Walking through Tsuchiyu's near-deserted streets on a rainy weekday afternoon, it's hard to imagine that this spa town of 450 could become a standard-bearer in Japan's quest to wean itself off nuclear power.
Until recently, onsen (hot spring) operators were vocal opponents of geothermal power, which, along with other forms of renewable energy, is being considered as a serious alternative to nuclear power: Geothermal plants, they had once feared, would affect the level and quality of water that draws millions of Japanese to onsen resorts every year. |  |
Thermoelectric Material Could Pave the Way for Low-Cost Energy Solutions
Michigan State University is home to one of the most advanced thermoelectric power generation research groups in the world. And now, a new thermoelectric material is on the horizon.
Researchers in MSU's Center for Revolutionary Materials for Solid State Energy Conversion—an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy—are developing a thermoelectric material based on natural mineral tetrahedrites. Their work was recently published in the online journal Advanced Energy Materials. |  |
India's thorium-based nuclear dream inches closer
SINCE India began its nuclear programme in the 1950s, it has aimed to tap the ample thorium reserves that lie within its borders. Construction is finally set to begin on a reactor that will produce electricity from India's most convenient fuel for the first time. But with a checkered past on the subject, the country's promises of a new dawn for nuclear rest on shaky ground.
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Did a Lost Star Torque Earth's Orbit?
One young star may yank another's developing solar system, a new theory suggests, accounting for planets that circle their stars on tilted paths. This idea may also explain a long-standing puzzle close to home: why Earth's orbit is tipped 7° relative to the sun's equator.
In 1995, Swiss astronomers made the shocking discovery of the first "hot Jupiter," a gas giant circling close to its star. To explain the odd find, theorists proposed that the planet formed far from its star but then migrated closer, spiraling through the protoplanetary disk of gas and dust that once swirled around its sun. During this so-called disk migration, the planet remained in the disk, and so the tilt of its orbit matched that of its star. |  |
Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars
When a man tells you about the time he planned to put a vegetable garden on Mars, you worry about his mental state. But if that same man has since launched multiple rockets that are actually capable of reaching Mars—sending them into orbit, Bond-style, from a tiny island in the Pacific—you need to find another diagnosis. That’s the thing about extreme entrepreneurialism: There’s a fine line between madness and genius, and you need a little bit of both to really change the world.
Archaeologists explore site on Syria-Turkey border (Update)
Few archaeological sites seem as entwined with conflict, ancient and modern, as the city of Karkemish.
The scene of a battle mentioned in the Bible, it lies smack on the border between Turkey and Syria, where civil war rages today. Twenty-first century Turkish sentries occupy an acropolis dating back more than 5,000 years, and the ruins were recently demined. Visible from crumbling, earthen ramparts, a Syrian rebel flag flies in a town that regime forces fled just months ago. |  |
Jose Mujica: The world's 'poorest' president
It's a common grumble that politicians' lifestyles are far removed from those of their electorate. Not so in Uruguay. Meet the president - who lives on a ramshackle farm and gives away most of his pay.
Laundry is strung outside the house. The water comes from a well in a yard, overgrown with weeds. Only two police officers and Manuela, a three-legged dog, keep watch outside. This is the residence of the president of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, whose lifestyle clearly differs sharply from that of most other world leaders. |  |
Mathematical proof reveals magic of Ramanujan's genius
PROOFS are the currency of mathematics, but Srinivasa Ramanujan, one of the all-time great mathematicians, often managed to skip them. Now a proof has been found for a connection that he seemed to mysteriously intuit between two types of mathematical function.
The proof deepens the intrigue surrounding the workings of Ramanujan's enigmatic mind. It may also help physicists learn more about black holes - even though these objects were virtually unknown during the Indian mathematician's lifetime. |  |
Newly discovered gene could explain how humans evolved from apes
SCOTS scientists have discovered a new gene which could help explain what makes us human.
The new gene found by researchers at the University of Edinburgh could help explain how humans evolved from apes. Scientists say the gene – called miR-941 – appears to have played a crucial role in human brain development and may shed light on how we learned to use tools and language. They say it is the first time that a new gene – carried only by humans and not by apes – has been shown to have a specific function within the human body. |  |
Rat Kill in Galapagos Islands Targets 180 Million
The unique bird and reptile species that make the Galapagos Islands a treasure for scientists and tourists must be preserved, Ecuadorean authorities say — and that means the rats must die, hundreds of millions of them.
A helicopter is to begin dropping nearly 22 tons of specially designed poison bait on an island Thursday, launching the second phase of a campaign to clear out by 2020 non-native rodents from the archipelago that helped inspire Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
A helicopter is to begin dropping nearly 22 tons of specially designed poison bait on an island Thursday, launching the second phase of a campaign to clear out by 2020 non-native rodents from the archipelago that helped inspire Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
Rising sea forces Panamanian islanders to move to mainland
CARTI SUGDUB, Panama, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Every rainy season, the Guna people living on the Panamanian white sand archipelago of San Blas brace themselves for waves gushing into their tiny mud-floor huts.
Rising ocean levels caused by global warming and decades of coral reef destruction have combined with seasonal rains to submerge the Caribbean islands for days on end. Once rare, flooding is now so menacing that the Guna have agreed to abandon ancestral lands for an area within their semi-autonomous territory on the east coast of the mainland. |  |
Australian blue whales now call Antarctica home
New findings suggest that the ecology of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) – the largest living animal – has recently changed due to human activities. A team lead by researchers at Macquarie University and Flinders University unexpectedly found, in the Antarctic, individuals from the pygmy blue whale subspecies (B. m. brevicauda) that inhabits Australian waters, and hybrids between Australian blue whales and the Antarctic blue whale subspecies (B. m. intermedia).
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The true story of alchemy
The historian Herbert Butterfield once dismissed writers on alchemy as being "tinctured with the kind of lunacy they set out to describe". There is no danger of that slur being cast at Lawrence Principe for his new book, The Secrets of Alchemy.
A historian of science and practising chemist, Principe provides a dazzling account of how scholarly opinion on the relationship between alchemy and chemistry has transformed in the last four decades. In the process he brings chemical knowledge and historical detective work to a subject that has too readily been dismissed as fraudulent nonsense. |   |
Moderate drinking in pregnancy can affect child's IQ
Drinking one or two glasses of wine a week during pregnancy can influence a child's IQ, a new study led by Oxford and Bristol university researchers suggests.
Lead researcher Dr Ron Gray from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford said: 'This is a complex study but the message is simple: even moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can have an effect on future child intelligence. So women have good reason to choose to avoid alcohol when pregnant.' .
Lead researcher Dr Ron Gray from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford said: 'This is a complex study but the message is simple: even moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can have an effect on future child intelligence. So women have good reason to choose to avoid alcohol when pregnant.' .
New England Lawmakers Preparing State Marijuana Legalization Push
State lawmakers across New England are preparing legislation to legalize marijuana for recreational use, building on recent victories for the movement in Colorado and Washington last week.
The Marijuana Policy Project announced Wednesday that state legislators in Rhode Island and Maine, where medical marijuana has already been legalized, are set to announce bills in their respective states that would pave a path for broader legalization of the substance. |  |
Arrested for poppy burning? Beware the tyranny of decency
At 9pm last night, with a knock on the door of a 19-year-old man, Kent police hammered another nail into the coffin of free expression in the UK. Earlier in the day the unnamed man from Aylesham had allegedly posted a photo of a poppy being burned, with a crudely worded (and crudely spelled) caption. He was arrested under the Malicious Communications Act and held in the cells overnight to await questioning.
It is of course just the latest in a succession of police actions against individuals deemed to have caused offence: mocking a footballer as he fights for his life on Twitter; hoping British service personnel would "die and go to hell"; wearing a T-shirt that celebrated the death of two police officers; making sick jokes on Facebook about a missing child, the list goes on. |  |
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