The time is here once again. Time to gather around and take a well deserved hiatus from all the politics of the day. Science talk is here. New discoveries, new takes on old knowledge, and other bits of news are all available for the perusing in today's information world. Over the fold are selections from the past week from a few of the many excellent science news sites around the world. Today's tidbits include Spitzer Telescope spots colorful mix of asteroids, ripples in the cosmic background, termites foretell climate change in Africa's savannahs, irrigation's cooling effects may mask warming in some regions, more hurricanes in greener seas, and the first discovery of bilirubin in a plant. Pull up that beach chair and relax. There is plenty of room for everyone. Settle in for one more session of Dr. Possum's science education and entertainment.
Featured Stories
As research continues with NASA's Spitzer telescope more is being learned about asteroids and other near Earth bodies in space.
The data show that some of the smaller objects have surprisingly high albedos (a measurement of how much sunlight an object reflects). Since asteroid surfaces become darker with time due to exposure to solar radiation, the presence of lighter, shinier surfaces for some asteroids may indicate that they are relatively young. This is evidence for the continuing evolution of the near-Earth object population.
In addition, the asteroids observed so far have a greater degree of diversity than expected, indicating that they might have different origins. Some might come from the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, and others could come from farther out in the solar system. This diversity also suggests that the materials that went into creating the asteroids—the same materials that make up our planets—were probably mixed together like a big solar-system soup very early on in its history.
The cosmic microwave background is seen as light which is now known to have ripples.
These ripples reflect the architecture of the universe when the light was freed, and the subsequent cosmic structures (galaxies and clusters of galaxies) as the light passed by them on its journey through space and time. These ripples hold clues, therefore, to the early universe and how it has evolved, and are consequently among the top priorities of modern astronomy research.
Satellite images of termite mounds on the African savannahs reveal a distribution tied to vegetation and landscape patterns associated with rainfall.
The advantage of monitoring termite mounds in addition to vegetation is that mounds are so tightly coupled with soil and hydrological conditions that they make it easier to map the hill slope seeplines. Furthermore, vegetation cover varies a lot between wet and dry season, while the mounds are not subject to these fluctuations.
Irrigation of large areas of farmland allows more people to be fed around the world and the cooling effect may alleviate warming at least for a time.
In warm, dry regions, irrigation increases the amount of water available for plants to release into the air through a process called evapotranspiration. When the soil is wet, part of the sun's energy is diverted from warming the soil to vaporizing its moisture, creating a cooling effect. The same process explains why drying off in the sun after a swim at the beach can be so refreshing.
But some major groundwater aquifers, a source of irrigation water, are projected to dry up in coming decades from continuing overuse, and when they do, people may face the double whammy of food shortages and higher temperatures.
Hurricane formation depends on a recipe of warm water and converging winds. But a new study suggests ocean color may contribute to the process.
More hurricanes may form in greener waters, where sunlight tends to be absorbed at shallower depths, than in clear seas, according to new research that draws a link between ocean color and the formation and movement of tropical cyclones.
Ocean color varies around the globe. In the northern Pacific Ocean, the sea surface is dark green because it is packed with sediment and microscopic plants known as phytoplankton that absorb sunlight and keep the ocean’s surface warm. But the crystal-clear waters around the Bahamas lack biological material near the surface, and sunlight is absorbed much deeper. The depth of absorption is important because it affects ocean circulation, and ocean circulation redistributes heat throughout the world’s oceans, thereby affecting sea-surface temperatures.
Once thought to be an animal only protein, bilirubin has now been discovered in a bird of paradise flower.
Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and HPLC/electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry, the research team discovered bilirubin to be the primary aril pigment of Strelitzia reginae and found low concentrations of bilirubin in the plant’s sepals. In mature aril tissue, bilirubin was present as granular bodies irregularly distributed throughout the cell. In mature sepal tissue, the researchers observed elongate structures that were previously identified as containing carotenoids.
Other Worthy Stories of the Week
Six times more insect species in tropical mountains than predicted
Research shows the continued decline of Oregon's largest glacier
NASA satellite data aids ability to determine global fire hotspots
Turkey genome sequenced more than 90 percent
New super strong alloy discovered
The reindeer and the mammoth already lived on the Iberian Peninsula 150,000 years ago
Galactic tendrils shed light on evolution of spiral galaxies
New class of black hole possibly confirmed
Most penguin populations continue to decline
Study adds new clue to how last ice age ended
Computer model predicts path of lost hikers
Flying fish glide as well as birds
For even more science news:
General Science Collectors:
Alpha-Galileo
BBC News Science and Environment
Eureka Science News
LiveScience
New Scientist
PhysOrg.com
SciDev.net
Science/AAAS
Science Alert
Science Centric
Science Daily
Scientific American
Space Daily
Blogs:
A Few Things Ill Considered Techie and Science News
Cantauri Dreams space exploration
Coctail Party Physics Physics with a twist.
Deep Sea News marine biology
Laelaps more vertebrate paleontology
List of Geoscience Blogs
ScienceBlogs
Space Review
Techonology Review
Tetrapod Zoologyvertebrate paleontology
Science Insider
Scientific Blogging.
Wired News
Science RSS Feed: Medworm
The Skeptics Guide to the Universe--a combination of hard science and debunking crap
Daily Kos regular series:
Daily Kos University, a regular series by plf515
This Week in Science by DarkSyde
This Week in Space by nellaselim
Overnight News Digest:Science Saturday by Neon Vincent. OND tech Thursday by rfall.
Weekend Science by AKMask
All diaries with the DK GreenRoots Tag.
All diaries with the eKos Tag
NASA picture of the day. For more see the NASA image gallery or the Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive.
Spitzer Image, NASA, Public Domain