Despite tremendous technological advances in earthquake seismology, many fundamental mysteries remain. The critical question of whether earthquakes will ever be predictable continues to plague seismologists – in part because there is no way to directly observe what goes on miles below the surface where earthquakes occur.
All of that is about to change, however, as a team of scientists led by Stanford University and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) finally begins construction of the long-a
Black bears living in and around urban areas are up to a third less active and weigh up to thirty percent more than bears living in wild areas, according to a recent study by scientists from the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
The study, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Zoology says that black bears are spending less time hunting for natural food, which can consist of everything from berries up to adult deer. Instead, they are choosing to forage in dumpste
Recent conclusions that the storied Vinland Map is merely a clever forgery are based on a flawed understanding of the evidence, according to a scientist at the Smithsonian Institution. Results from last year’s study debunking the map’s authenticity can also be construed to boost the validity of its medieval origins, the scientist claims.
The report will appear in the Dec. 1 edition of Analytical Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scient
While breathalyzers help police crack down on drunk driving, a similar new device is helping a University of Rhode Island graduate student analyze the dietary changes of migrating songbirds.
Just as human breathalyzers measure an individual’s blood-alcohol level, David Podlesak says that his bird breathalyzer measures the “carbon signature” of a bird’s last meal.
“We measure the ratio of the isotopes of carbon 12 to carbon 13, and this carbon signature in their breath can
The hassles and frustration of commuting and road trips may not seem so bad if you drive down scenic, tree-lined streets, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that people who viewed a videotape of a drive down a scenic parkway scored lower on a test of frustration than did others who viewed a drive through a metro area cluttered with buildings and utility poles.
While commuters may not get to choose their views as they drive to work, the results suggest that nature can have a ca
Labeled “bird-friendly” but may accelerate tropical forest clearing
While shade coffee is promoted as protecting tropical forests and birds, conservationists are split on whether it actually works. The December issue of Conservation Biology has the latest on the debate: one side says shade coffee can give farmers a reason to preserve tropical biodiversity while the other side fears it can actually encourage farmers to clear more forest.
Shade coffee is a traditional farming
Keeping predators at bay with flashing lights and loud noises instead of bullets
When wolves and other large carnivores threaten people and livestock, wildlife managers often resort to killing them. But now there’s hope for a non-lethal solution to controlling carnivores. New research shows that movement-activated guards with strobe lights and sound recordings can help keep wolves and bears away.
“High-technology devices are much more expensive, complicated and limited
Genetic test of ivory source could help thwart elephant poachers
Despite the international ban on selling African elephant ivory, poaching is still widespread. Law enforcers may soon have a new tool for cracking down on elephant poachers: a genetic analysis of ivory can help show which part of Africa it came from.
“[This method] enables determination of where stronger antipoaching efforts are needed and provides the basis for monitoring the extent of the trade,” say Kenine
Desktop manufacturing for home desks seen
A University of Southern California inventor has created a machine that can produce 3-dimensional “printouts” in plastic and even metal more quickly and cheaply than widely-used existing systems.
The new machine is a significant improvement on the laser sintering machines now widely used around the world to build complex 3D forms from computer files, according to its creator, Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis of the USC School of Enginee
UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers have shown that the absence of a key oxygen-sensing molecule can lead to multiple developmental defects – from an enlarged heart to eye problems.
The researchers generated the first mouse model that lacks entirely a member of an important family of proteins involved in sensing hypoxia, a state of reduced oxygen in the body’s cells that is associated with conditions such as heart attacks, stroke and lung disease.
This new mode
Children with unusually delayed speech tend to listen with the right side of the brain rather than the left side of the brain, according to a study published in the December issue of the journal Radiology. Preliminary study results were presented at the Radiological Society of North America’s (RSNA) Annual Meeting in 2002.
The research represents the first time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been used to investigate brain activity associated with speech delay. “With t
Brain researchers would dearly love to reliably identify changes in brain structure and metabolism associated with early Alzheimer’s disease — before symptoms emerge.
Such information would buy precious time and perhaps permit potential therapies to delay or even prevent the memory-robbing disease. Now, a new study by NYU School of Medicine researchers brings this goal one step closer to being realized.
Using a new technique to measure the volume of the brain, they were able
A 33-year study of all births by women in Norway with Myasthenia Gravis (MG) confirms that MG is associated with an increased risk for complications during pregnancy, including a threefold higher incidence of preterm rupture of the amniotic membranes, and twice the occurrence of delivery by cesarean section. The study is reported in the November 25 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Data for the study was collected from the Medical Birth Registry
Iban Rodríguez Barbarin, a telecommunications engineer from Pamplona, has carried out a study on processing seismic waves emanating from the ocean’s floor. The study is the subject of his graduate thesis, ’Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) processing with refraction seismology’.
The study was carried out within a wider research and development project by investigators at Navarre Public University, jointly with scientists from the Vilanova i la Geltru Centre for Technology, part of the Polytec
Duke University Medical Center researchers have shown an association between changes in nitrate, a biochemical marker of nitric oxide production, and physiological changes in arteries’ reaction to stress. They hope their discovery could eventually lead to a non-invasive method of determining which patients are at risk for developing cardiovascular disease.
Such a simple diagnostic is important, they said, because up to half of patients who develop heart disease do not have the typical risk
A study by Duke University Medical Center researchers has found that women do not derive the same long-term quality-of-life benefits as men following coronary artery bypass surgery. This conclusion was evident even after the researchers statistically adjusted their data to allow for the greater number of preoperative risk factors in women than in men.
The researchers speculate that there may be two reasons for this clear gender discrepancy – either women may not experience the same level of
Feedback
