A group of Dartmouth researchers has evidence that disturbing the land where farms once thrived can mobilize both arsenic and lead that were applied as pesticides in the early 1900s. Once disturbed, these metals can then contaminate nearby surface waters.
“We continue to learn more about how past agricultural practices are affecting our current environment,” says Carl Renshaw, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth. “Unlike some of the pesticides used today, metals l
Study Suggests Climate Models Underestimate Future Warming
Scientists have found evidence that tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures may have once reached 107°F (42°C)—about 25°F (14°C) higher than ocean temperatures today and warmer than a hot tub. The surprisingly high ocean temperatures, the warmest estimates to date for any place on Earth, occurred millions of year ago when carbon dioxide levels in Earth’s atmosphere were also high, but researchers say they may be an indication th
Whether it’s monkeys and AIDS or mosquitoes and the West Nile Virus, we’re used to thinking of wildlife as reservoirs for emerging infectious human diseases. But a Canadian mathematical biologist says that it’s time that we turned the tables – as often as not, it’s humans that are making the wildlife sick, often to our own detriment.
It’s a 180-degree turn in perspective that Dr. Mark Lewis says is critical to our understanding of emerging infectious diseases of both wildlife and h
Data from X-ray observatory surveys show that black holes are much more numerous and evolved differently than researchers would have expected, according to a Penn State astronomer.
“We wanted a census of all the black holes and we wanted to know what they are like,” says Dr. Niel Brandt, professor of astronomy and astrophysics. “We also wanted to measure how black holes have grown over the history of the Universe.”
Brandt and other researchers have done just that by
Cyanobacterium sequenced in just six months
In just six months of collaboration, a Department of Energy grand challenge led by Washington University in St. Louis has resulted in the sequencing and annotation of a cyanobacterium that could yield clues to how environmental conditions influence key carbon fixation processes at the gene-mRNA-protein levels in an organism.
Two of the most critical environmental and energy science challenges of the twenty-first century are b
Inactivating a protein called mammalian Rad9 could make cancer cells easier to kill with ionizing radiation, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The researchers found that Rad9, previously considered a “watchman” that checks for DNA damage, is actually a “repairman” that fixes dangerous breaks in the DNA double helix. They found Rad9 is especially active in telomeres, the protective ends of chromosomes.
Because of this new rol
Physicists at JILA have demonstrated an ultrafast laser technique for “seeing” once-hidden electronic behavior in semiconductors, which eventually could be useful in more predictable design of optoelectronic devices, including semiconductor lasers and white light-emitting diodes.
The work at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado at Boulder, is described in the Feb. 10 issue of Physical Review Letters.
According a worldwide analysis conducted by “Essential Science Indicators”, the GSF – Research Centre for Environment and Health ranks first among European research centres in the field air pollution when counting the number of cited publications from 1995 to 2005. On a worldwide range, the GSF ranks fifth from 3,052 institutions; is is the most frequently cited European research institution in the field of air pollution. The top positions are held by four American institutions.
Among th
One hundred days after beginning its cruise to Venus, ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft successfully tested its main engine for the first time in space.
The main engine test is a critical step in the mission. In fact, it is due to its powerful thrust that Venus Express will be able to ‘brake’ on arrival at Venus. The spacecraft must slow down in order to be captured in orbit around the planet.
The engine was fired during the night of 16/17 February, starting at 01:27 CET
Men in their fifties are more satisfied with their sex lives than men in their thirties and forties, recording similar levels to 20-29 year-olds, according to a survey published in the February issue of BJU International.
A team of experts from Norway and the USA surveyed 1,185 men aged between 20 and 79, asking them about various aspects of their sex life, including drive, erections and ejaculation.
They found that although there was a strong relationship between a m
Diseases May be Early Warning Sign for Humans Say Scientists
St. Louis, MO (AAAS Annual Meeting, Press Conference: Saturday, Feb. 18th, 9 am Central Time) – Leading scientists, physicians, and veterinarians are uncovering new links between land-based pollution and diseases in marine mammals, with implications for human health.
“Marine mammals are providing early clues of our unseen impact on the sea,” says Paul Sandifer, Chief Scientist for the new Oceans and Human Health
Earth System Experts to Speak at IGBP Session on “Vital Organs in the Earth System: What is the Prognosis?” at AAAS Annual Meeting
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting, St. Louis 16-20 February 2006, America’s Center convention site.
SESSION TITLE: Vital Organs in the Earth System: What is the Prognosis?
SESSION DATE: 2/19/2006, 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM
LOCATION: Renaissance Grand Hotel (opposite main conference ve
A new study by a researcher at The University of Nottingham has provided the first observational evidence of how massive galaxies in our universe formed.
The results of this study have major implications for many other areas of research and are being used by astronomers to explain seemingly unrelated processes such as how massive black holes and the universe’s stars came to be.
The research, led by Dr. Christopher J. Conselice of the University’s School of Phy
A leading group of epidemiologists, veterinarians and ecologists report that humans are affecting the oceans in ways that are changing the dynamics of disease. Previously harmless pathogens are becoming killers when combined with contaminants; “good” parasites that invisibly control the balance of species in an ecosystem are disappearing; and changes in sea surface temperature can trigger cholera outbreaks thousands of miles away.
“Human activities are knocking things out of balance,” says
A new optical effect has been created in a London laboratory that means solid objects such as walls could one day be rendered transparent, scientists report today in the journal Nature Materials.
Researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, have pioneered the technique which could be used to see through rubble at earthquake sites, or look at parts of the body obscured by bone.
The effect is based on the development of a new materi
Apple scab and fire blight are two of the most important diseases affecting apple trees. The Venezuelan biologist, Alejandro Martínez Bilbao, has undertaken research into more than 200 types of apple tree, indigenous to Spain, in order to select those varieties resistant to these pathogens. One of the main conclusions of the PhD thesis of this biologist is that, in Navarre, there are 12 apple tree varieties capable of resisting these highly damaging pests. This is the first time in Spain that such
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