Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment. In keeping with the theme of the past three months, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday is featuring science and other news from the major public research universities in the midwestern states where Republican governors and legislatures are threatening the collective bargaining rights of public employees.
This week's featured stories come from Purdue University and University of Michigan, respectively.
First the good news.
Purdue University: Purdue expert: Gasoline likely to stay below $4 this summer
May 24, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Drivers have something worth honking their horns over: Summer gasoline prices likely will remain below $4 a gallon, a Purdue University agricultural economist says.
Market conditions that caused oil prices to shoot past $110 a barrel have improved in recent weeks, pushing oil back under $100 a barrel, said Wally Tyner, an energy policy specialist. He cautioned that pump prices could rise again if oil production is interrupted.
Memorial Day weekend traditionally marks the beginning of the summer driving season.
"If crude oil stays below $100 - meaning that there are no further production disruptions in the Middle East or elsewhere and we have no further weather conditions or other factors that cause refining outages - we have seen the worst," Tyner said. "We can hope for steady or even somewhat falling prices over the next few months."
Now the bad news.
University of Michigan: Out-of-state drivers involved in high rate of crashes out West
May 26, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—With the summer tourist season upon us, out-of-state drivers may want to be extra careful if they're planning to vacation in the American West, say University of Michigan researchers.
A new study by the U-M Transportation Research Institute appearing in the June issue of Traffic Injury Prevention shows that a larger percentage of drivers involved in fatal crashes in several Rocky Mountain and Great Plains states are from out of state compared to other areas of the United States.
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Wyoming has far and away the highest proportion of drivers involved in fatal crashes who are from out of state—41 percent. South Dakota (27 percent) and New Mexico (24 percent) rank second and third, respectively. Montana (23 percent), Nevada (21 percent), Idaho (20 percent), Nebraska (17 percent) and Kansas (16 percent) also rank among the top dozen or so states with the highest percentage of fatal crashes involving drivers from other states.
Drive carefully!
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
Watch this space!
Ancient America: Hovenweep
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Green diary rescue: Memorial Day 2030
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the Daily Bucket - Pacific Wren kids
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This week in science
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Slideshows/Videos
Purdue University: Purdue Rube Goldberg machine shatters Guinness world record, destroys planet
May 27, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University students shattered the Guinness World Record for the largest Rube Goldberg machine ever with a 244-step juggernaut that destroys the planet several times over before restoring hope by watering and growing a flower.
The Purdue Society of Professional Engineers' "Time Machine" traces world history from the Big Bang to an Apocalypse triggered by the Four Horsemen: Bob Barker, Dirty Harry, Darth Vader, and Woody the "Toy Story" cowboy. Along the way, the world is humorously destroyed by a meteor, an ice age, the Great Flood, world war and alien invasion.
NASATelevision on YouTube: Pope Makes Historic Call on This Week @NASA
Pope Benedict XVI greeted the STS-134 and Expedition 27 crews working aboard the International Space Station. It was the first time a pontiff has ever phoned explorers in space. Also, Cady, Paolo, and Dmitry return home; Honor Flag to fly on Atlantis; STEM stars; and Southern U. grads. Plus, JPL open house; Kennedy Center celebration; and NASA notes two anniversaries.
Astronomy/Space
N.Y. Times: After a Silent Spring, NASA Gives Up on Spirit
A composite panoramic image of NASA's Spirit rover from October 2007 showed dust on the solar panels.
By KENNETH CHANG
Published: May 24, 2011
NASA said on Tuesday that it was abandoning efforts to get back in touch with Spirit, one of the two rovers on Mars. Spirit, which has been stuck in a sand trap for two years, fell silent last year as winter arrived and its solar panels could no longer generate enough electricity. Engineers had hoped that the rover would revive when spring returned, but they never heard from it again.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Evolution/Paleontology
Yale University via physorg.com: Fossil of giant ancient sea predator discovered (w/ video)
May 25, 2011
Paleontologists have discovered that a group of remarkable ancient sea creatures existed for much longer and grew to much larger sizes than previously thought, thanks to extraordinarily well-preserved fossils discovered in Morocco.
The creatures, known as anomalocaridids, were already thought to be the largest animals of the Cambrian period, known for the "Cambrian Explosion" that saw the sudden appearance of all the major animal groups and the establishment of complex ecosystems about 540 to 500 million years ago. Fossils from this period suggested these marine predators grew to be about two feet long. Until now, scientists also thought these strange invertebrates—which had long spiny head limbs presumably used to snag worms and other prey, and a circlet of plates around the mouth—died out at the end of the Cambrian.
The latest specimen dates from the Ordovician, 30 million years after the end of the Cambrian.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Biodiversity
Indiana University: 'Policing' stops cheaters from dominating groups of cooperative bacteria
May 26, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- For cooperation to persist in the often violently competitive realm of bacteria, cheaters must be kept in line. Two Indiana University Bloomington biologists have learned that in one bacterium, at least, bacterial cooperators can evolve to "police" the cheaters and arrest their bids for dominance.
"Even simple organisms such as bacteria can evolve to suppress social cheaters," said Gregory Velicer, who with Ph.D. student Pauline Manhes has reported the policing behavior in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Their laboratory experiments suggest that cooperative bacteria in nature may evolve to behave in ways that thwart the increase of selfish cheaters. In complex multicellular organisms such as ourselves, cancer cells can be viewed as cheaters that proliferate at the expense of the larger organism. If cancer cells are not successfully "policed" by our healthy cells (and/or medical intervention), the results can be catastrophic. Similarly, the long-term fate of cooperator lineages can be threatened by neighboring cheater lineages in the same social group unless the cooperators are able to migrate away from cheaters or evolve to suppress them.
Biotechnology/Health
Michigan State University: New study suggests link between estrogen, blood pressure
May 26, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — While recent studies have shown long-term exposure to estrogen can be a danger to women – overturning physicians’ long-held beliefs that the hormone was good for their patients’ hearts – the process by which estrogen induces high blood pressure was unclear.
In a new study, Michigan State University researchers found long-term estrogen exposure generates excessive levels of the compound superoxide, which causes stress in the body. The buildup of this compound occurs in an area of the brain that is crucial to regulating blood pressure, suggesting that the estrogen-induced buildup causes increased blood pressure.
Findings indicated that the anti-oxidant resveratrol reverses the increase in both superoxide and blood pressure.
Michigan State University: Many patients fail to properly take oral chemo
May 25, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — As the use of oral chemotherapy continues to rise, researchers from Michigan State University have discovered many patients fail to properly take the cancer-fighting medication, a significant clinical problem that can result in complications and premature death.
That lack of adherence needs to be addressed by the health care community, said College of Nursing researcher Barbara Given, who led the study that is published in the May edition of Seminars in Oncology Nursing.
"Given the increasing use of oral chemotherapy in treating cancer, patient adherence is critical to successful outcomes," said Given, associate dean for research for the college. "Health care providers need to monitor and facilitate adherence by identifying barriers and implementing strategies to overcome them."
During the past decade, the use of oral cancer-fighting medication is transforming how oncology care is delivered, Given said: About 10 percent of cancer chemotherapy is provided to patients orally, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network predicts that by 2013, the rate will increase to 25 percent.
Michigan State University: Precision-tinted lenses offer real migraine relief, reveals new study
May 25, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — For the first time, researchers have shown why precision-tinted lenses reduce headaches for migraine sufferers, a finding that could help improve treatment options for patients battling the debilitating ailment.
Jie Huang of Michigan State University's Department of Radiology used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to reveal how precision-tinted lenses normalize brain activity in patients with migraine headaches, preventing such attacks.
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While tinted lenses are increasingly used for migraine sufferers, until now the science behind the effects was unclear. The team led by Huang showed how colored glasses - tuned specifically to each migraine sufferer - work by normalizing the activity in the brain's visual cortex, which is responsible for processing visual information and is located in the back of the brain.
Past research has revealed specific, abnormal brain activity, known as hyper-activation, when migraine sufferers saw intense patterns. The precision-tinted lenses considerably reduce the effect.
University of Wisconsin: High-risk Minority Groups Not Being Screened for Diabetes
May 26, 2011
Madison, Wisconsin - Although people from certain ethnic groups are at high risk for getting diabetes and should be screened, a new study suggests that such screenings are not being done as often as they should.
Dr. Ann Sheehy, a hospitalist and clinical assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, was lead author of the findings, which will appear in the June edition of Diabetes Care.
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) says that African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian-Americans, and Pacific Islanders should be screened through fasting blood tests. The research gathered data from more than 15,000 patients between 2003 and 2007.
University of Wisconsin: Human brain’s most ubiquitous cell cultivated in lab dish
By Terry Devitt
May 22, 2011
Pity the lowly astrocyte, the most common cell in the human nervous system.
Long considered to be little more than putty in the brain and spinal cord, the star-shaped astrocyte has found new respect among neuroscientists who have begun to recognize its many functions in the brain, not to mention its role in a range of disorders of the central nervous system.
Now, writing in the current (Sunday, May 22) issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology, a group led by University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell researcher Su-Chun Zhang reports it has been able to direct embryonic and induced human stem cells to become astrocytes in the lab dish.
Indiana University: IUPUI study first to look at early treatment of depression to reduce heart disease risk
May 24, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS -- Jesse Stewart, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology in the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and an Indiana University Center for Aging Research affiliated scientist, has received a $110,000 grant from the American Heart Association to explore whether treatment of depression before one experiences a heart attack can reduce the likelihood of future heart disease.
The research study, Beating the Blues for Your Heart, which commences this spring, will be the first to evaluate whether pre-heart attack treatment of depression can reduce dysfunction in the arteries, thus lowering risk of heart disease in the future. Like high blood pressure or high cholesterol, depression is a risk factor for heart disease, the leading cause of death of American adults.
"Evidence, including our own past research, strongly suggests that depression is an independent risk factor for heart disease. A depressed individual is at greater risk for a future heart attack than someone who is not depressed. Our goal is to treat depression before it contributes to a heart attack," said Stewart, a clinical health psychologist.
Ohio State University: USED FOOTBALL FACESHIELDS ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO BREAKING ON IMPACT
May 23, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Game-worn football faceshields are more susceptible to breaking when subjected to high-velocity impact than are new faceshields, according to recent research.
In the study, researchers used an air cannon to hurl baseballs at new and used polycarbonate faceshields. All of the new shields withstood the strongest impact tested, which was designed to match the force of a kick to the face. More than a third of the game-worn faceshields fractured in response to the testing, which included lower forces of impact as well.
In a related survey of college football equipment managers, the researchers found that 98 percent of football programs allow faceshield use, while 18 percent of the players wear a shield. Of the programs that responded, only 21 percent require the use of a faceshield in players with poor vision in one eye. Half of the respondents reported that their school had established a replacement policy for the shields.
Climate/Environment
Columbia University via Physorg.com: Study finds local temperature influences belief in global warming
May 27, 2011
A study by Columbia Business School Professor Eric Johnson, co-director of the Center for Decision Sciences at Columbia Business School, Ye Li, a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Decision Sciences, and Lisa Zaval, a Columbia graduate student in psychology, found that those who thought the current day was warmer than usual were more likely to believe in and feel concern about global warming than those who thought the day was unusually cold. The study, recently featured in Psychological Science, explains why public belief in global warming can fluctuate, since people can base their thinking off of the day's temperature. The researchers behind this study are also affiliated with Columbia University's Center for Research on Environmental Decisions, CRED.
University of Wisconsin via Phyorg.com: Human impacts of rising oceans will extend well beyond coasts
May 27, 2011
Identifying the human impact of rising sea levels is far more complex than just looking at coastal cities on a map.
Rather, estimates that are based on current, static population data can greatly misrepresent the true extent – and the pronounced variability – of the human toll of climate change, say University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.
"Not all places and not all people in those places will be impacted equally," says Katherine Curtis, an assistant professor of community and environmental sociology at UW-Madison.
In a new online report, which will publish in an upcoming issue of the peer-reviewed journal Population and Environment, Curtis and her colleague Annemarie Schneider examine the impacts of rising oceans as one element of how a changing climate will affect humans. "We're linking economic and social vulnerability with environmental vulnerability to better understand which areas and their populations are most vulnerable," Curtis says.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Purdue University: Cities affect storms, but downwind areas can get the worst of it
May 26, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Urban areas modify thunderstorms that can eventually get stronger and more violent as they leave the cities and move to downwind areas, according to a Purdue University study.
Using 10 years of data from storms around the Indianapolis metropolitan area, Dev Niyogi, an associate professor of agronomy and earth and atmospheric sciences, observed how storms altered as they approached an urban area.
"About 60 percent of the daytime thunderstorms seem to change their characteristics," said Niyogi, lead author of the findings reported in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. "Before the storms approach the urban area, we see them as a more organized line of storm cells. As the storms get past the urban area, there are smaller but more cells, signifying splitting. So, quite often, we see storms approach the city, split around it and come back together on the other side to create a more intense storm."
Ohio State University: TWO GREENLAND GLACIERS LOSE ENOUGH ICE TO FILL LAKE ERIE
May 24, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study aimed at refining the way scientists measure ice loss in Greenland is providing a “high-definition picture” of climate-caused changes on the island.
And the picture isn’t pretty.
In the last decade, two of the largest three glaciers draining that frozen landscape have lost enough ice that, if melted, could have filled Lake Erie.
The three glaciers – Helheim, Kangerdlugssuaq and Jakobshavn Isbrae – are responsible for as much as one-fifth of the ice flowing out from Greenland into the ocean.
Geology
Physorg.com: New explanation for Hawaiian hot spot
May 27, 2011 by Lin Edwards
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in the US have suggested that volcanic activity in Hawaii could be fed by a giant hot rock pool 1,000 kilometers west of the islands and in the Earth’s mantle, rather than being fed by a hot plume of magma as previously thought.
Hawaii’s volcanoes have puzzled scientists for decades because the islands lie in the middle of a tectonic plate rather than at the edge, where volcanic activity would be expected. Until now the prevailing theory has been the mantle plume theory, which suggested the volcanism was fed by a hot plume rising from the Earth’s mantle, but so far efforts to detect a hot plume seismically have remained inconclusive.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Psychology/Behavior
University of Michigan: A brain training exercise that really does work
May 28, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Forget about working crossword puzzles and listening to Mozart. If you want to improve your ability to reason and solve new problems, just take a few minutes every day to do a maddening little exercise called n-back training.
In an award address on May 28 at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science in Washington, D.C., University of Michigan psychologist John Jonides presented new findings showing that practicing this kind of task for about 20 minutes each day for 20 days significantly improves performance on a standard test of fluid intelligence—the ability to reason and solve new problems, which is a crucial element of general intelligence. And this improvement lasted for up to three months.
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According to Jonides, the n-back task taps into a crucial brain function known as working memory—the ability to maintain information in an active, easily retrieved state, especially under conditions of distraction or interference. Working memory goes beyond mere storage to include processing information.
The n-back task involves presenting a series of visual and/or auditory cues to a subject and asking the subject to respond if that cue has occurred, to start with, one time back. If the subject scores well, the number of times back is increased each round. The task can be done with dual auditory and visual cues, or with just one or the other.
University of Michigan: African-American men who feel 'in control' are less likely to experience depressive symptoms
May 24, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A new University of Michigan study found that African American men between the ages of 35 and 54 who experience discrimination also suffer from significant levels of depressive symptoms.
Study participants were asked about daily discrimination within the past year. Responses included "people act as if they think you are dishonest" and "you are followed around in stores." But when African American men of all ages feel in control over their lives, it protects them from depressive symptoms, the study indicated.
A sense of control over one's life, also referred to as "perceived mastery," facilitates positive mental health. Items such as "sometimes I feel that I'm being pushed around in life" or "I can do just about anything I really set my mind to" evoke responses ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree."
Regardless of life stage, a sense of mastery is an important predictor of positive mental health for African American men, said the researchers...
University of Michigan: Love matters: Internet hookups for men don't always mean unsafe sex
May 23, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—If a gay or bisexual man seeks sex or dating online, the type of partner or relationship he wants is a good indicator of whether he'll engage in safe sex, a new study suggests.
Gay men seeking long-term romance online are more likely to engage in safe sex than men who want a sexual encounter only, the study shows. This is valuable information because it helps HIV-prevention counselors design more effective sexual health interventions, says Jose Bauermeister, assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and director of the Sexuality and Health Research Lab.
June marks the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the pneumonia-like illness that later emerged as HIV/AIDS.
Indiana University: Bipolar disorder: Mind-body connection suggests new directions for treatment, research
May 24, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A new study by motor control and psychology researchers at Indiana University suggests that postural control problems may be a core feature of bipolar disorder, not just a random symptom, and can provide insights both into areas of the brain affected by the psychiatric disorder and new potential targets for treatment.
Problems with balance, postural control and other motor control issues are frequently experienced by people with mood and psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and neurological disorders such as Huntington's and Parkinson's disease, but research into the connections is scant.
If problems with postural control -- maintaining balance while holding oneself upright -- are a core component of bipolar disorder, as the study indicates, the researchers say it is possible that the motor abnormalities could appear before other symptoms, signaling an increased risk for the disorder.
Archeology/Anthropology
The Daily Mail (UK): There's medieval gold in them there hills: The stunning array of artefacts found by Britain's amateur archaeologists
By Lee Moran
Britain is bursting at the seams with ancient buried artefacts - with 250 pieces being found every single day.
A medieval gold ring, a Bronze Age gold bracelet and a set of gold dentures were just three of the 90,146 amateur archaeological discoveries made in 2010.
The British Museum said the 'massive jump' of reported findings by a third was 'testament to the tremendous success' of the government's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS).
Bridport News (UK): Archaeologists to excavate Golden Cap burial mounds
10:00am Saturday 21st May 2011
ARCHAEOLOGISTS are to excavate historic burial mounds at Golden Cap before they are lost to the sea.
A team from the National Trust is holding a dig at the Bronze Age monument on the cliff top.
They will probe the three of the five earthworks – which are 4000 years old – amid fears that they will fall victim to landslips.
New Scientist (UK): First images from Great Pyramid's chamber of secrets
25 May 2011 by Rowan Hooper
THEY might be ancient graffiti tags left by a worker or symbols of religious significance. A robot has sent back the first images of markings on the wall of a tiny chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt that have not been seen for 4500 years. It has also helped settle the controversy about the only metal known to exist in the pyramid, and shows a "door" that could lead to another hidden chamber.
BBC: Early Bronze Age battle site found on German river bank
By Neil Bowdler Science reporter, BBC News
Fractured human remains found on a German river bank could provide the first compelling evidence of a major Bronze Age battle.
Archaeological excavations of the Tollense Valley in northern Germany unearthed fractured skulls, wooden clubs and horse remains dating from around 1200 BC.
The Daily Telegraph (UK): Mummy, skulls found in mailed package
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The shipping label said the mailed package contained replicas of Peruvian ceramics. An X-ray machine used by customs agents discovered it really held three skulls and a mummy more than 2,000 years old.
Times and Star (UK): Volunteers will help unearth answers to Maryort Roman mysteries
Last updated at 20:00, Thursday, 26 May 2011
Excited volunteers are gearing up for a major Roman dig at Maryport to shed more light on an age-old mystery.
Next month, 28 volunteers from all over West Cumbria will help excavate an area near to the town’s Senhouse Roman Museum, where a unique cache of 17 Roman altars was discovered in 1870.
It is thought the altars were buried in pits but no one knows when, why or by whom.
Jane Laskey, Senhouse Roman Museum curator, said: “There is this huge mystery around these altar stones. Were they buried? Was there something else going on? Why were they buried? We need to untangle all that information.”
The Scotsman (UK): Stirling Castle's Amazon warrior revealed
Published Date: 27 May 2011
By Frank Urquhart
THE discovery of the remains of an aristocratic Scottish "Amazon", killed in battle during the Wars of Independence, is set to rewrite the history books.
Her skeleton was among the remains of five "high status" individuals - all of whom had suffered violent deaths - found beneath the paved floor of the "lost" Royal Chapel at Stirling Castle.
The woman - simply known as "skeleton 539" - was a robust and muscular female, standing 5ft 4in tall. Archaeologists had previously suspected she had been a courtier at the Royal palace during the reign of Alexander 11. But detailed forensic tests have now shown that she was ruthlessly killed by a warhammer during one of the key conflicts during the Wars of Independence.
Carteret County News-Times: Anchor retrieved from shipwreck
Published: Friday, May 27, 2011 3:22 PM EDT
BEAUFORT — On a fine sunny morning Friday the first anchor to be recovered from the shipwreck presumed to be Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge was hoisted aboard the research vessel Dan Moore and bathed in sunlight for the first time in nearly 300 years.
A research team led by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources Underwater Archaeology Branch directed the lift of the nearly 3,000-pound artifact from 20 feet of water just off the coast. It is one of three anchors at the site.
Business-Standard: Room with no view
Debaleena Sengupta / Kolkata May 22, 2011, 0:36 IST
The secret of the “mysterious room” at National Library is out. And it isn’t as exciting as it was thought to be.
Last year in November, when a team of archaeologists stumbled upon what appeared to be a mysterious room in the 250-year-old National Library building, there were all kinds of speculations about what the “secret chamber” was meant for. Did it hide some treasures from the past? Was it once a torture chamber? Or was it a sealed tomb? The 120 square foot room had no entrance, no trap door. Six months later, the team’s finding have revealed no such fascinating story.
The “secret room” turned out to be “a block stuffed with mud, perhaps constructed by the British architects to strengthen the base of the building,” says Tapan Jyoti Baidya, superintending archaeologist, Kolkata Circle. The discovery had excited architects because the building where the National Library is housed has a history which goes back to the days of the Raj.
News-Miner: Blessing planned for Alaska Native remains at University of Alaska museum
by Jeff Richardson / jrichardson@newsminer.com
FAIRBANKS — A ceremony is planned Saturday to bless hundreds of Alaska Natives whose remains have quietly been stored for decades at the UA Museum of the North.
Candyce Childers, who is organizing the event, said it’s meant to both draw attention to the 340 sets of human remains at the museum and pay tribute to them. She said the fact that remains are being stored away from their burial sites is frustrating to many Alaska Natives.
“For us, our immediate family goes back thousands of years,” said Childers, who grew up in Holy Cross but lives in Anchorage. “It’s kind of an abhorrent practice to us.”
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman, who sent in the above articles.
Michigan State University: Getting the dirt on U.P.’s earliest inhabitants
May 23, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — A 9,000-year-old cutting tool used by the earliest inhabitants of Michigan – recently donated to the Michigan State University Museum – sheds new light on the Paleoindian colonization of the Upper Peninsula, says an MSU anthropologist who analyzed the acquisition.
Found in Hermansville, this is the first reported Paleoindian biface – made from stone and used on both sides – found outside of Marquette County, according to Bill Lovis, professor of anthropology. Resident Dale Kenney found the biface while tilling his garden and a mutual friend brought it to the museum for further investigation. Hermansville is about 100 miles south of Marquette.
“Since the biface was found so far south of Marquette, other kinds of environments must’ve been favorable to Paleoindian occupation,” said Lovis, curator of anthropology for the MSU Museum.
Physics
Science Blogs: Student finds Universe’s missing mass
May 24, 2011
A Monash student has made a breakthrough in the field of astrophysics, discovering what has until now been described as the Universe’s ‘missing mass’. Amelia Fraser-McKelvie, working within a team at the Monash School of Physics, conducted a targeted X-ray search for the matter and within just three months found it – or at least some of it.
What makes the discovery all the more noteworthy is the fact that Ms Fraser-McKelvie is not a career researcher, or even studying at a postgraduate level. She is a 22-year-old undergraduate Aerospace Engineering/Science student who pinpointed the missing mass during a summer scholarship, working with two astrophysicists at the School of Physics, Dr Kevin Pimbblet and Dr Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway.
Chemistry
Purdue University: New electronics material closer to commercial reality
May 25, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Researchers have developed a method for creating single-crystal arrays of a material called graphene, an advance that opens up the possibility of a replacement for silicon in high-performance computers and electronics.
Graphene is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon that conducts electricity with little resistance or heat generation. The arrays could make possible a new class of high-speed transistors and integrated circuits that consume less energy than conventional silicon electronics.
The new findings represent an advance toward perfecting a method for manufacturing large quantities of single crystals of the material, similar to the production of silicon wafers.
Energy
Michigan State University: MSU sees significant energy reduction from Earth Month program
May 27, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University’s participation in the annual “Dim Down” program resulted in the university saving a total of 5,747 kilowatt hours of energy.
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“The program has led to sustained behavior change,” said Jennifer Battle, assistant director of MSU’s Office of Campus Sustainability. “This is one of several efforts helping the university reach its greenhouse gas emission reduction goal of 15 percent by 2015.
“To date, the university has achieved a 9 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the year 2000 baseline.”
Science, Space, Environment, and Energy Policy
USA Today: Obama administration buying 101 Chevrolet Volts
May 24, 2011
The Obama administration is buying 116 Chevrolet Volts and other plug-in electric vehicles -- despite their high cost -- and installing charging stations in five cities.
All but 15 of the electric vehicles will be General Motors' Volt extended-range electric. The General Services Administration didn't say what price it is going to pay, but the Volt compact cars are priced at $41,000 for consumers. Although the move is aimed at spurring electric-car adoption, it's not that the Volt was a slow seller: GM is basically sold out of the car through the end of the year because of limited production.
At least the electrics will be pittance compared to the 650,000 vehicles that the government manages overall in its fleet.
Indiana University: Journal article examines effectiveness of state-level energy policies
May 23, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- States have taken the lead in developing energy policies in the U.S., experimenting with a variety of approaches while the federal government has remained deadlocked over energy and climate policies.
Sanya Carley, an assistant professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, examines the state-level policies and assesses their effectiveness for meeting energy and policy goals in the current issue of Review of Policy Research.
"The states are putting their best foot forward, and that is admirable," Carley said. "But they need to be deliberate and coordinated in their approaches in order to be effective. And there are limitations to what can be accomplished with policies at the state and regional levels."
Science Education
University of Warwick (UK): Research shows a visit to a zoo boosts science and environment knowledge
May 27, 2011
Research from the University of Warwick shows a trip to the zoo can boost your child's science and conservation education more than books or classroom teaching alone.
In research conducted at ZSL London Zoo, more than 3,000 school children aged between seven and 14 were asked about their knowledge of animals, habitat and conservation and then tested again after their trip.
The results show that 53% had a positive change in educational or conservation-related knowledge areas, personal concern for endangered species or new empowerment to participate in conservation efforts. The study proves that their trip around the zoo provided a statistically significant increase in scientific learning about animals and habitats. When zoo visits were supplemented by an educational presentation by zoo staff this increase in learning almost doubled against self-guided visits.
Al Ahram (Egypt): Egyptologists need to dig, too
Instructors hoping to create more professional Egyptian archaeologists are refusing to allow politics to enter the competition. Nevine El-Aref looks at the progress being made in the field
In the cosy garden of a two-storey villa in the Haram (Pyramids) district in Giza, the renowned American Egyptologist Mark Lehner sits on a honey-coloured bamboo chair and welcomes us with a warn smile.
With more than 30 years of experience of excavating in Egypt, Lehner's approach as director of Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA) is to conduct interdisciplinary archaeological investigations. AERA specialists examine every excavated object -- from buildings down to pollen spores -- to help build up an overall picture of an archaeological site. Lehner's international team currently runs the Giza Plateau Mapping Project, excavating and mapping the ancient city of the builders of the Giza pyramid complex which dates from the Fourth Dynasty.
WWJ-TV (CBS Detroit): Saginaw Students Search For Shipwrecks With High Tech Tools
Five students from Saginaw Arthur Hill High School have spent the last week searching for shipwrecks in and around Lake Huron’s Thunder Bay, part of a program sponsored by Sony, Intel and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Project Shiphunt “is focused solely on Thunder Bay and very specifically with five exceptional young people who were tasked with searching for shipwrecks,” said James Delgado, director of the NOAA’s Director of Maritime Heritage.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Wisconsin: Ohio middle, high school teams top National Science Olympiad
By Renee Meiller
May 22, 2011
A team of middle-school students from Solon Middle School, Solon, Ohio, and a team of high-school students from Solon High School, also of Solon, Ohio, took top honors in the 2011 Science Olympiad National Tournament, held Saturday, May 21 on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
An after-school team activity, Science Olympiad is one of the nation's most prestigious and rigorous competitions of science, technology, engineering and math. The national tournament in Wisconsin drew 3,000 students on 120 winning middle- and high-school teams from 47 U.S. states. These teams advanced to the national tournament after winning their state-level competitions this spring.
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At both the state and national level, Science Olympiad teams compete in more than two-dozen scientific and engineering challenges on topics ranging from human health, ecology, chemistry, cell biology, geology and engineering. Awards are given for the best overall team score and individual scores in each event.
Science is Cool
Cracked: The 7 Most Terrifyingly Huge Things in the History of Nature
By:David Dietle, Jacopo della Quercia , Karl Smallwood
May 26, 2011
We may be the undisputed kings of the food chain, but when it comes to being pant-soilingly huge, we come up a bit short. We can hang out with tiny dogs and house cats until we feel like the T-Rex of our home -- but in the back of our mind, we know. Nature has produced terrifyingly huge and horrific organisms that could kill us without noticing, either by stepping on us, accidentally swallowing us the way we might swallow a fly or simply stopping our heart with sheer terror.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
