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| ©NOAA |
| NOAA DART II buoy system. |
Science & Technology
NOAA deployed the final two tsunami detection buoys in the South Pacific this week, completing the buoy network and bolstering the U.S. tsunami warning system. This vast network of 39 stations provides coastal communities in the Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico with faster and more accurate tsunami warnings.
A startling discovery by scientists at the Carnegie Institution puts a new twist on photosynthesis, arguably the most important biological process on Earth. Photosynthesis by plants, algae, and some bacteria supports nearly all living things by producing food from sunlight, and in the process these organisms release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide.
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| ©Richard W. Castenholz, University of Oregon |
| Sausage-shaped cells are unicellular cyanobacteria (Synechococcus) and filaments are green nonsulfur bacteria. |
It made news around the world: On Sept. 15, 2007, an object hurtled through the sky and crashed into the Peruvian countryside. Scientists dispatched to the site near the village of Carancas found a gaping hole in the ground.
Peter Schultz, professor of geological sciences at Brown University and an expert in extraterrestrial impacts, went to Peru to learn more. Brown graduate student Robert "Scott" Harris collaborated on the research, joined by Jose Ishitsuka, a Peruvian astrophysicist, and Gonzalo Tancredi, an astronomer from Uruguay.
Peter Schultz, professor of geological sciences at Brown University and an expert in extraterrestrial impacts, went to Peru to learn more. Brown graduate student Robert "Scott" Harris collaborated on the research, joined by Jose Ishitsuka, a Peruvian astrophysicist, and Gonzalo Tancredi, an astronomer from Uruguay.
A meteorite that smacked into the Peruvian highlands last September may have punched holes into long-held theories about how such meteorites, called chondrites, interact with Earth's atmosphere.
Chondrites are stony chunks of asteroid, likely common in space, that contain materials similar to those found in Earth's crust.
Chondrites are stony chunks of asteroid, likely common in space, that contain materials similar to those found in Earth's crust.
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| ©Reuters/STR New |
| A meteor slammed into the southern Peruvian town of Carangas on September 16, 2007, leaving a 50-foot-deep (15-meter-deep) crater, seen here two days after the impact.
New investigations of the crash site reveal that the meteor stayed as one piece during its journey through Earth's atmosphere, challenging previous views that such objects break apart and scatter before hitting the ground, experts say. |
Interactions between the stratospheric ozone chemistry and atmospheric air flow lead to significant changes of airflow patterns from the ground up to the stratosphere. Scientists at the Research Unit Potsdam of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research have investigated this fundamental process for climate interactions in the Arctic, and for the first time, incorporated it into climate models. Until now, it was not known what caused the natural variations of atmospheric air flow patterns which have played an important role for climate changes in the last decades.
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| ©Sascha Brand / Alfred Wegener Institute |
| Difference of the sea level pressure between simulations with the new model including interactive stratospheric ozone chemistry relative to the standard model. There is an increase of air pressure above the Arctic (positive difference) and a decrease of air pressure in mid-latitudes (negative difference). This pattern is similar to the air pressure pattern of the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation. |
Astronomers at the University of Rochester, home to one of the world's largest groups of planetary nebulae specialists, have announced that low-mass stars and possibly even super-Jupiter-sized planets may be responsible for creating some of the most breathtaking objects in the sky.
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| ©NASA |
| Ant nebula. |
A brain network linked to introspective tasks - such as forming the self-image or understanding the motivations of others - is less intricate and well-connected in children, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned. They also showed that the network establishes firmer connections between various brain regions as an individual matures.
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| ©Washington University School of Medicine |
| Diagrams map the connections between brain regions involved in the default network, a brain network linked to contemplative thought. Results from brain scans of children, on the left, reveal a less intricate, looser network than that found in adults, shown on the right. The green oval encloses a pair of regions important to the network, the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex. These two regions are highlighted on the brain slices below the diagrams. |
The strongest creature in the world, the Hercules Beetle, has a colour-changing trick that scientists have long sought to understand. New research details an investigation into the structure of the specie's peculiar protective shell which could aid design of 'intelligent materials'.
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| ©Image courtesy of Institute of Physics |
| The Hercules Beetle. |
NASA's Cassini spacecraft will make an unprecedented "in your face" flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wed., March 12.
The spacecraft, orchestrating its closest approach to date, will skirt along the edges of huge Old-Faithful-like geysers erupting from giant fractures on the south pole of Enceladus. Cassini will sample scientifically valuable water-ice, dust and gas in the plume.
The spacecraft, orchestrating its closest approach to date, will skirt along the edges of huge Old-Faithful-like geysers erupting from giant fractures on the south pole of Enceladus. Cassini will sample scientifically valuable water-ice, dust and gas in the plume.
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| ©NASA/JPL |
| This is an artist concept of Cassini flying past Enceladus. |
Thousands of human bones belonging to numerous individuals have been discovered in the Pacific island nation of Palau.
Some of the bones are ancient and indicate inhabitants of particularly small size, scientists announced today. (See pictures of the Palau remains and where they were found.)
The remains are between 900 and 2,900 years old and align with Homo sapiens, according to a paper on the discovery. However, the older bones are tiny and exhibit several traits considered primitive, or archaic, for the human lineage.
"They weren't very typical, very small in fact," said Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Some of the bones are ancient and indicate inhabitants of particularly small size, scientists announced today. (See pictures of the Palau remains and where they were found.)
The remains are between 900 and 2,900 years old and align with Homo sapiens, according to a paper on the discovery. However, the older bones are tiny and exhibit several traits considered primitive, or archaic, for the human lineage.
"They weren't very typical, very small in fact," said Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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| ©Stephen Alvarez |
| A newfound skull from Palau (center) is compared with a model of a modern human female skull (left) and a model of Homo floresiensis' skull (right).
Scientists have discovered thousands of bones of small-bodied humans on the Pacific island nation of Palau. Analysis of the bones suggests they align with modern humans but exhibit similarities to Homo floresiensis, the so-called hobbit found on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003. |
