A study published in the latest issue of Restoration Ecology finds that in coastal Louisiana, oyster reefs help to deter erosion. Oyster reefs are self-sustaining, and are additionally attractive because they use native materials, have the potential for long-term growth, and contribute to overall ecosystem stability and quality. Oyster larvae move in groups and water-borne chemicals stimulate the oysters’ settlement; reefs are therefore able to maintain themselves as new recruits settle and grow

Largest-known group ever photographed in Asia

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists, working in conjunction with Iran’s Department of Environment (DOE) in an isolated region in the Dar-e Anjir Wildlife Refuge, recently discovered that a remote camera set out to survey wildlife had photographed an entire family of extremely rare Asiatic cheetahs. The pictures show an adult female and her four youngsters resting in the shade of a tree, marking the largest-known group of

More rapid and accurate test results may translate to better quality products

Researchers at the University of Minnesota, working in collaboration with scientists at the USDA, have used genomic information to develop tests that can rapidly detect and differentiate the bacteria that causes Johne’s disease, a chronic wasting disease found in cattle and other ruminant animals such as sheep, goats and deer. This research, scheduled to be published in the Aug. 30 issue of the Proceed

ESA’s multi-sensor Envisat satellite has gathered a unique view of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico. While an optical image shows characteristic spiralling cloud patterns, a simultaneous radar observation pierces through the clouds to show how Katrina’s 250-kilometre-an-hour an hour winds scour the sea surface.

Envisat simultaneously acquired these images at 1550 UTC (1150 US Eastern Daylight Saving Time) on 28 August, with its Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrom

For the first time, scientists have produced images of the oceanic crust and found that the upper and lower layers of the crust are likely formed from different magma pools. The images begin to answer some lingering questions about where new ocean crust comes from and whether it is all formed the same way.

Geophysicists Robert Detrick and Juan-Pablo Canales of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and colleagues used reflected seismic, or sound, waves to successfully image t

Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have created a computer simulation showing Earth’s climate in unprecedented detail at the time of the greatest mass extinction in the planet’s history. The work gives support to a theory that an abrupt and dramatic rise in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide triggered the massive die-off 251 million years ago. The research appears in the September issue of Geology.

“The results demonstrate how rapidly rising tem

Scientists have ended a 9-year-old debate by proving that Earth’s core rotates faster than its surface, by about 0.3 to 0.5 degree per year.

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof,” said Xiaodong Song, a professor of geology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and corresponding author of a paper to appear in the Aug. 26 issue of the journal Science. “We believe we have that proof.”

Earth’s iron core consists of a solid inner core about 2,400 kilo

Scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have ended a nine-year debate over whether the Earth’s inner core is undergoing changes that can be detected on a human timescale. Their work, which appears in the August 26 issue of the journal Science, measured differences in the time it took seismic waves generated by nearly identical earthquakes up to 35 years apart to travel through the Earth’s inner core.

The American Geological Institute (AGI), in conjunction with the American Geophysical Union (AGU), released an analysis of employment patterns and demographics of 2003 PhD recipients in the earth and space sciences.

Results from the survey show that employment opportunities remain stable for geoscientists going into the workforce, with 87 percent of respondents finding work directly related to their field. Starting salaries also remained steady or increased slightly in 2003, com

Researchers from Queen’s University and the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered a new environmentally-friendly way to make chemicals for pharmaceutical and other industries, such as plastics, pesticides, dyes and fragrances.

The team, led by Queen’s chemist Dr. Philip Jessop, has developed new solvents (liquids that dissolve other substances) that are both cleaner and cheaper when used in the production of many chemicals. Because each step in a chemical process o

Top British ecologists will gather at Kingley Vale Nature Reserve in West Sussex on Tuesday 30 August to celebrate the life and work of Sir Arthur G. Tansley, widely regarded as the father of modern ecology and one of the 20th century’s most important conservationists. The event coincides with the 50th anniversary of Tansley’s death in 1955.

Present at the event, which will include the unveiling and rededication of a memorial stone to Tansley at Kingley Vale, will be vice presid

H.E. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria, concluded a four-day NEPAD-Fish for All Summit by announcing adoption of the Abuja Declaration on Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture in Africa at the Secretariat of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The Declaration was agreed at an assembly of high-level government leaders that included the Vice President of The Gambia, Ministers of Fisheries from Mozambique, Ghana, The Gambia, Niger, Malawi, Egypt, C

BU geographer shows dual approach informs farmers’ decisions, yields better harvests

It’s not enough just to let subsistence farmers in Zimbabwe know it will be a dry or wet growing season, says new research from a team led by Boston University’s Anthony Patt. You should back up that information with opportunities for the farmers to meet together and ask questions about the forecasts. The study’s findings could aid farmers in regions strongly influenced by large glob

New images suggest that the Earth’s lower oceanic crust is generated from multiple magma sources

Some of the highest quality images ever taken of the Earth’s lower crust reveal that the upper and lower crust form in two distinctly different ways. A team led by researchers from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory will publish the results of their work in the August 25 issue of the journal Nature.

The Earth’s oceanic crust is formed from magma bodies lo

New databases give researchers a look into processes inside the Earth’s mantle

Researchers at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory recently resolved a long-standing contradiction about the workings of the deep Earth. For years, many geochemists have argued that parts of the deep mantle remain unchanged since the formation of the Earth, whereas many geophysicists and geodynamicists have held that the entire mantle has been convecting (moving and mixing) over geo

The current warming trends in the Arctic may shove the Arctic system into a seasonally ice-free state not seen for more than one million years, according to a new report. The melting is accelerating, and a team of researchers was unable to identify any natural processes that might slow the de-icing of the Arctic. Such substantial additional melting of Arctic glaciers and ice sheets will raise sea level worldwide, flooding the coastal areas where many of the world’s people live.