| April 20, 2007 |  |
life as we know it |
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Scientists And Polar Explorers Brave The Elements In Support Of Cryosat-2
Paris, France (ESA) Apr 20, 2007It is perhaps an unlikely combination - an international team of scientists stationed in Svalbard, Norway and two polar explorers crossing the North Pole on foot. Both teams, however, are currently part of a common effort to collect vital data on the ground and from the air in support of ESA's ice mission CryoSat-2. The CryoSat-2 mission, due for launch in 2009, will provide highly accurat ... more Mystery Of Fossilized Trees Is Solved 
Cardiff UK (SPX) Apr 20, 2007An international research team has found evidence of the Earth's earliest forest trees, dating back 385 million years. Upright stumps of fossilised trees were uncovered after a flash flood in Gilboa, upstate New York, more than a century ago. However, until now, no-one has known what the entire trees looked like. Two years ago, two fossils were found near Gilboa of trees which had fallen s ... more 1 In 3 Chance Of Record Low Sea Ice In 2007 
Boulder CO (SPX) Apr 20, 2007University of Colorado at Boulder researchers are forecasting a one in three chance that the 2007 minimum extent of sea ice across the Arctic region will set an all-time record low. The researchers at CU-Boulder's Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research also say there is a 57 percent chance the 2007 sea-ice minimum will be lower than the 2006 minimum of 2.27 million square miles, now th ... more Polish PM Appeals To Brussels To Let His Country Develop 
Brussels (AFP) April 18, 2007Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski appealed to the European Commission Wednesday to stop making decisions that might slow down development in the former communist state. "I come to Brussels with kind of an appeal: let us develop rapidly. Avoid decisions that will increase our development costs," he told reporters travelling with him. "Several decisions of this kind have been ta ... more HIV Treatment Goal Elusive 
Washington (UPI) April 17, 2007The world has made great strides toward its pledge of getting HIV treatment to everyone who needs it, but there is still a long way to go, a new report says. "In many ways we are still at the beginning of this commitment," said Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization, which released a report on the state of anti-retroviral treatment access with UNAIDS and UNICEF Tu ... more |
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Australian Scientist Says Cremation Should Meet A Timely Death
Sydney (AFP) April 18, 2007An Australian scientist called Wednesday for an end to the age-old tradition of cremation, saying the practice contributed to global warming. Professor Roger Short said people could instead choose to help the environment after death by being buried in a cardboard box under a tree. The decomposing bodies would provide the tree with nutrients, and the tree would convert carbon dioxide into life-giving oxygen for decades ... read more Results Of First Systematic Study Of China One-Child Policy 
Irvine CA (SPX) Apr 19, 2007The first systematic examination of China's fertility policy and practice reveals that, despite government exemptions in rural areas, 63 percent of Chinese couples are strictly limited to one child. Furthermore, the policy has proven remarkably effective, with actual birth rates decreasing nearly to the mandated levels. The study, which involved researchers in the United States and China, ... more Swedish Scientific Breakthrough On Planting Blooming Was Faked 
Stockholm (AFP) Apr 18, 2007A major Swedish scientific breakthrough in plant physiology that was published in the journal Science in 2005 was based on false data, the research group at Umeaa University said Wednesday. "A guest researcher from China who had been invited to join our team manipulated the data to get false results," professor Ove Nilsson from the Faculty of Science and Agriculture at Umeaa University tol ... more Soybean Planting Hastens Drying Of Amazonia 
Paris (AFP) April 18, 2007Chopping down Amazonian rainforest to plant soybeans is even more damaging to the environment than using the land for cattle pasture, according to a study reported on Wednesday. Soybean fields in Brazil reduce local rainfall by four times as much as pasture land, the British weekly New Scientist said. The reason: soybean fields are light in colour, which means they reflect a lot of solar radiation. As a result, the surface of the field is heated less, which in turn reduces the amount of warm air convected from the ground. That means fewer clouds form, and ultimately less precipitation falls ... more |
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Bird Flu Genome Study Shows New Strains As new Infections Spread
College Park, MD (SPX) Apr 18, 2007In a paper in the May issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, an international team of researchers report the first ever large-scale sequencing of western genomes of the deadly avian influenza virus, H5N1. Their study of 36 genomes of the virus collected from wild birds in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMA), and Vietnam confirms not only that the virus has very recently spread west from Asia, but that two of the new western strains have already independently combined, or "reassorted," to create a new strain ... read more Scientists Meet To Review Envisat Results After Five Years Of Operations 
Paris, France (ESA) Apr 13, 2007From 23 to 27 April in Montreux, Switzerland, over 900 scientists from around the world will attend the Envisat Symposium 2007 to review and present results of ESA's Earth Observation satellites and in particular Envisat. The main objective of the Symposium, organised by ESA with the support of the Swiss Space Office, is to present the results of ESA Earth Observation missions by providing ... more The Latest Dirty Little Secret Of Terra Nullis 
Seattle, WA (SPX) Apr 18, 2007Throughout history civilizations expanded as they sought new soil to feed their populations, then ultimately fell as they wore out or lost the dirt they depended upon. When that happened, people moved on to fertile new ground and formed new civilizations. That process is being repeating today, but in a new book a University of Washington geomorphologist argues the results could be far more ... more Security Council Holds Landmark Debate On Climate Change 
United Nations (AFP) April 17, 2007The Security Council held a groundbreaking debate on the security implications of climate change Tuesday, but several UN members questioned whether the 15-member body was the appropriate forum. British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, whose country chairs the powerful council this month, opened the debate, stressing the need for shared understanding of the linkage between energy, climat ... more MORE HEADLINES |
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Ancient Amphibians Evolved A Bite Before Migrating To Dry Land
Cambridge MA (SPX) Apr 17, 2007Ancient aquatic amphibians developed the ability to feed on land before completing the transition to terrestrial life, researchers from Harvard University report this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ... read more Climate Change Could Trigger Boom And Bust Population Cycles Leading To Extinction 
Santa Cruz CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2007Climate change could trigger "boom and bust" population cycles that make animal species more vulnerable to extinction. , according to Christopher C. Wilmers, an assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Favorable environmental conditions that produce abundant supplies of food and stimulate population booms appear to set the stage for populati ... more Ebola Outbreaks Killing Thousands Of Gorillas And Chimpanzees 
Chicago IL (SPX) Apr 17, 2007Why have large outbreaks of Ebola virus killed tens of thousands of gorillas and chimpanzees over the last decade? Observations published in the May issue of The American Naturalist provide new clues, suggesting that outbreaks may be amplified by Ebola transmission between ape social groups. The study provides hope that newly developed vaccines could control the devastating impact of Ebola on wi ... more Facing Tanning Booth Cancer Risk 
Washington (UPI) April 16, 2007Spring has arrived and with it the desire for a good tan, but getting one won't be so guilt-free this year. Half of all states have passed legislation that requires indoor tanning salons to notify their customers tanning causes skin cancer, a disease affecting one out of every five Americans. "I guess I kind of liken it to the warnings that are on cigarettes." said Diane Baker, president o ... more MORE HEADLINES |
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Zeppelin Airship Expedition Will Survey Sea Ice In The Arctic
Bremerhaven, Germany (SPX) Apr 16, 2007In 2008, scientists will, for the very first time, create a continual profile of ice thickness in the Artic, extending from the Canadian coast across the North Pole to Siberia. At the core of the project lies the crossing of the North Pole by zeppelin. The airship will be equipped with an electromagnetic sensor developed at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, one of the 1 ... read more Satellite Images Aid Implementation Of Agricultural Reforms 
Paris, France (SPX) Apr 16, 2007An ESA-backed project has demonstrated how Earth observation satellites can assist in the cross compliance measures - a set of environmental and animal welfare standards that farmers have to respect to receive full funding from the European Union - included in the 2003 reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy. Using very high resolution (VHR) satellite images for monitoring whether land i ... more Dusty Hurricanes 
Huntsville AL (SPX) Apr 16, 2007Throw gasoline on a fire, and the flames swell to a raging inferno. Throw dirt on a fire, and the flames suffocate. But what happens when you throw dirt on a hurricane? It's a serious question. Hurricanes are born in Atlantic waters just off the west coast of Africa. Thunderstorms gather there and, sometimes, for reasons no one fully understands, they merge into swirling monster storms tha ... more DigitalGlobe And GeoEye Partner With The USGS In Support Of International Charter 
Reston VA (SPX) Apr 16, 2007For people caught in the throes of natural or technological disasters, rapid and accurate assessments of conditions on the ground are critical to saving lives and protecting property. Making such assessments just got easier. Two American commercial satellite imagery firms - DigitalGlobe and GeoEye - have joined forces with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in support of the global team of space ... more |
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