Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew, consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, side pocket, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, Bentliberal, Oke, jlms qkw, Interceptor7, and ScottyUrb, guest editors annetteboardman and Doctor RJ, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, health, energy, and the environment.
Between now and the general election, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday will highlight the research stories from the public universities in states with competitive contests for the U.S. Senate and Governor. Competitive states will be determined based on the percentage chance to win at Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight blog. Those that show the two major party candidates having probabilities to win between 20% and 80% inclusive will count as swing states. Also, for the last time this year, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday will highlight the research stories from the public universities in states having primary or special elections for federal or state office this week as listed in the Green Papers.
Tonight's edition highlights the science, space, environment, health, and energy stories from Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Massachussets, Michigan, and New York.
This week's featured story comes from Reuters.
U.S. skygazers could get rare glimpse of northern lights
By Victoria Cavaliere
SEATTLE Fri Sep 12, 2014 7:58pm EDT
(Reuters) - Stargazers across a wide swath of the United States could get a rare view on Friday of the northern lights, a colorful cosmic display normally only visible in far northern latitudes.
The northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, was expected to be visible after dark on the East Coast from Maine to as far south as Maryland, and across large parts of Michigan and Iowa.
Forecasters said northwestern states including Idaho and Washington were expected to get the best view of the phenomenon, in which the sky is illuminated with streaks and swirls of green, red, blue and yellow.
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
WATCH THIS SPACE!
Mumps vaccine effectiveness and waning immunity
by SkepticalRaptor
Success and Failure of Anti-Vaccine Legislative Efforts, 1998-2012
by SkepticalRaptor
Spotlight on green news & views: Cape Wind takes step forward, Bardarbunga bubbles, saving red wolf
by Meteor Blades
Audubon Society: Nearly half of North American bird species 'severely threatened' by global warming
by Laurence Lewis
The Daily Bucket--Break Like the Wind
by 6412093
This week in science: start your Interocitors!
by DarkSyde
Slideshows/Videos
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Colorado State University: The Azolla Project at Colorado State University
People have been growing algae-seaweed for a long time. But when scientist and engineers get involved they ultimately want to optimize growth and build systems that offer higher yields. What Jason Prapas (Research Scientist-The Energy Institute at Colorado State University) intends to do with The Azolla Project is to create a low-cost growth environment that regulates temperature and relative humidity and produce an environment where Azolla can grow at the highest yield possible.
With growing concerns about dwindling resources, growing populations, and increased needs for protein sources, Azolla is a really elegant solution to a lot of these problems because it offers two solutions: 1. Azolla acts as a feed for cattle and poultry. 2. It’s also a fertilizer.
Also read the related article under Energy.
Colorado State University: Colorado State University Team Researches Arctic Soils and Climate Change
Colorado State University Associate Professor Matthew Wallenstein and his research team are studying how soil carbon storage is likely to respond to rapid environmental change.
Also read the related story under Environment/Climate.
University of Massachusetts Medical Center: Pediatrician explains enterovirus D68 illness
The Centers for Disease Control is warning of a spike in cases of a rare respiratory illness identified as enterovirus D68 that is sickening children in about a dozen states, though none have yet been reported in New England.
More in
Expert’s Corner: UMMS pediatrician explains rare respiratory illness outbreak in parts of country By Bryan Goodchild on September 11, 2014.
“Enterovirus D68 is not a new virus,” said pediatrician Christina Hermos, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics. “What is different about this outbreak is that it seems to be larger than previous outbreaks. There are reports out of Denver and Kansas City of several hundred children presenting for care and a good proportion of them needing respiratory support until they are able to fight off the virus.”
University of Massachusetts Medical Center: Prescribing farm fresh food
Three UMass Medical School students launched a “prescription” program for free, fresh produce for patients at Family Health Center of Worcester, according to an article in the Telegram & Gazette.
More in
Telegram: UMMS students write ‘prescription’ program for fresh produce.
Second-year medical students Elizabeth Rosen, Kathryn Bailey and Rachel Erdil started the Farm to Health Center Initiative in July, offering free vegetables and fruits to hundreds of families on Thursday mornings at the health center to help address the high level of food insecurity among patients. The Community Harvest Project in Grafton, a non-profit farm that grows food for area food banks, has provided thousands of pounds of fresh vegetables and fruit for the program.
"The less-expensive food tends to be calorie dense and nutritionally poor. You get a lot of fat and sugar, but not a lot of vitamins," Rosen told the Telegram.
The program has been enormously successful, with hundreds of families turning out for the food. This past Thursday alone, 1,200 pounds of food was distributed in just 35 minutes.
NASA: Rocket welding tool ready on This Week @NASA
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, other NASA officials and representatives from The Boeing Company participated in a September 12 ribbon cutting for the new 170-foot-high Vertical Assembly Center at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The Vertical Assembly Center is a new tool that will be used to assemble parts of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that will send humans to an asteroid and Mars. The administrator also visited Stennis Space Center in nearby Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where engineers plan to test the RS-25 engines that will power the core stage of SLS. Also, Orion moved for fueling, Curiosity to climb Martian mountain, Possible geological activity on Europa, Expedition 40 returns, Earth Science on ISS and Hurricane-hunting aircraft!
Astronomy/Space
University of Colorado: CU-Boulder alum and NASA astronaut Steve Swanson set for return to Earth
September 9, 2014
After spending nearly six months on the International Space Station, University of Colorado Boulder astronaut-alumnus Steve Swanson is slated to drift back to Earth in a Russian space capsule Sept. 10 before banging down on the steppe of Kazakhstan.
Swanson, who earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from CU-Boulder in 1983, launched to the International Space Station, or ISS, March 26 aboard a Russian Soyuz TMA-12 rocket and served as flight engineer for Expedition 39. Since late May, Swanson -- who considers Steamboat Springs, Colo., his hometown -- served as space station commander for Mission 40 on the ISS.
Swanson’s return will end 169 days in space, a mission that covered almost 72 million miles in orbit. The return journey from the ISS to Earth is expected to take about three and a half hours.
Cornell University: 'Hot Jupiters' provoke their own host suns to wobble
"Hot Jupiters," those large, gaseous planets outside our solar system, can make their suns wobble after they wend their way through their own solar systems.
By Blaine Friedlander
September 11, 2014
Blame the “hot Jupiters.”
These large, gaseous exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) can make their suns wobble after they wend their way through their own solar systems to snuggle up against their suns, according to new Cornell research published in Science, Sept. 12.
“Although the planet’s mass is only one-thousandth of the mass of the sun, the stars in these other solar systems are being affected by these planets and making the stars themselves act in a crazy way,” said Dong Lai, Cornell professor of astronomy and senior author on the research, “Chaotic Dynamics of Stellar Spin in Binaries and the Production of Misaligned Hot Jupiters.”
Climate/Environment
Colorado State University: Researcher, UN panel find ozone layer on the mend
by Kortny Rolston
September 10, 2014
For years, experts have warned that the Earth’s protective ozone layer is shrinking.
This week, CSU professor A.R. “Ravi” Ravishankara delivered some good news about the fragile shield of stratospheric gas: The ozone layer appears to be recovering.
The discovery was made by a panel of 300 scientists appointed by the United Nations to assess ozone depletion. Ravishankara helped lead the group, which has spent the past four years sifting through and analyzing ozone data and studies.
The panel attributed the turnaround to the “concerted international action” that took place in the wake of the 1987 Montreal Protocol. The agreement called for phasing out the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) such as Freon and other harmful chemicals in refrigerators, air conditioners, aerosols, foam manufacture, etc., around the world.
Colorado State University: Fargreen wins 200,000 euro in Green Challenge
September 12, 2014
Fargreen, a startup founded as part of the College of Business’s Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise MBA program, took home €200,000 (more than $250,000 USD) in the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge 2014 on Sept. 11.
CEO Trang Tran accepted the prize after pitching her company against four other finalists, selected from more than 300 entrants from 57 countries, in a weeklong competition in Amsterdam. Fargreen works with local rice farmers in Tran’s home country of Vietnam to divert leftover rice straw from burning to a growing medium for edible gourmet mushrooms. This process not only reduces air pollution and stops the release of greenhouse gases, it also gives farmers an additional crop to increase their income by 50 percent.
Tran expects Fargreen mushrooms to be available in Vietnamese grocery stores by the end of the year, where they will be the first branded mushrooms on the market and sell for a premium. The Green Challenge prize will help the company expand operations and eventually enter other countries, such as India, facing similar environmental challenges.
Colorado State University: Is global warming being accelerated in the Arctic?
by Jennifer Dimas
4 Sep, 2014
The soils in the Arctic have banked more carbon over thousands of years than the carbon contained in all of the world’s vegetation and the earth’s atmosphere combined. Why is that important? The Arctic has been taking carbon out of our atmosphere and storing it away in the soil lockbox for tens of thousands of years, until now.
CSU Associate Professor Matthew Wallenstein and his research team are studying how soil carbon storage is likely to respond to rapid environmental change.
“The climate is changing rapidly in the Arctic,” said Wallenstein. “Warming is occurring twice as fast here as in the rest of the world. And the results are visible from space. The short growing season is getting longer, and the plants are getting bigger and greener. What you can’t see from space is that the microbes and other critters that live beneath the surface are waking up too. This “biotic awakening” sounds like a good thing, and it probably is if you are a microbe, but could be bad for us. That’s because these microbes could open this carbon lockbox, releasing some of that banked soil carbon back to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and methane. Because both of these are greenhouse gasses, that could further accelerate climate warming. There is some evidence that this is already happening. But there is a lot we don’t know, and we can’t really predict how this will play out in the future. That is why we are here.”
Georgia Tech: Sharks in Acidic Waters Avoid Smell of Food
The increasing acidification of ocean waters caused by rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could rob sharks of their ability to sense the smell of food, a new study suggests.
September 9, 2014
Elevated carbon dioxide levels impaired the odor-tracking behavior of the smooth dogfish, a shark whose range includes the Atlantic Ocean off the eastern United States. Adult sharks significantly avoided squid odor after swimming in a pool of water treated with carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide concentrations tested are consistent with climate forecasts for midcentury and 2100. The study suggests that predator-prey interactions in nature could be influenced by elevated carbon dioxide concentrations of ocean waters.
“The sharks’ tracking behavior and attacking behavior were significantly reduced,” said Danielle Dixson, an assistant professor in the School of Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. “Sharks are like swimming noses, so chemical cues are really important for them in terms of finding food.”
The study is the first time that sharks’ ability to sense the odor of their food has been tested under conditions that simulate the acidity levels expected in the oceans by the turn of the century. The work supports recent research from Dixson and other research groups showing that ocean acidification impairs sensory functions and alters the behavior of aquatic organisms.
Biodiversity
University of Georgia: University of Georgia, Orianne Society form partnership for research, conservation
September 10, 2014
Athens, Ga. - An international nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of imperiled reptiles and amphibians has partnered with the University of Georgia to collaborate on conservation efforts for these species and their habitats.
The Orianne Society, a worldwide conservation organization, is now working with researchers from UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources on several projects that focus on the conservation of reptiles and amphibians and their habitats. Mike Clutter, dean of the Warnell School, said that by combining resources, UGA and the Orianne Society are able to collaborate more effectively on a global conservation initiative.
"We both have a serious and sincere interest in the conservation of these species," he said.
University of Georgia: UGA Marine Extension releases loggerhead sea turtle
September 10, 2014
Savannah, Ga. - Ossabaw was a little unsure of the sandy beach and the clicking cameras Sept. 8, but the loggerhead turtle that has lived at the University of Georgia Aquarium since 2011 finally made it home to the ocean.
"It went pretty smoothly," said Devin Dumont, the curator at the aquarium, operated by the UGA Marine Extension Service, a unit of the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. "It was a little distracted by the media trying to capture the moment, but once Ossabaw saw the ocean, its instincts kicked in. It kept going, and once it made it to the breakers it went on its way."
...
"Ossabaw was a champ," said Lisa Olenderski, assistant curator at UGA Aquarium. "We watched it swim away for a little while and I waited to see its head pop up for air a few times. It was a nice moment."
University of Georgia: UGA’s SREL scientists give desert tortoises in California a head start
September 9, 2014
Aiken, S.C. - Research scientists from the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory participated in the recent dedication ceremony of the Ivanpah Desert Tortoise Research Facility in Mountain Pass, California.
The 67,300-square-foot facility allows SREL scientists Tracey Tuberville and Kurt Buhlmann to collaborate with Brian Todd, an assistant professor at the University of California, Davis and SREL alumnus, in conducting groundbreaking research to give the local desert tortoise population a head start.
The team began recovery efforts in 2011 after being awarded the Chevron-funded project. Constructed by Chevron on land previously owned by Molycorp Inc., it is the first desert tortoise research facility located outside of a military installation.
Cornell University: State of the Birds report shows success and need for conservation
By Hugh Powell and Krishna Ramanujan
September 10, 2014
The 2014 State of the Birds Report – an assessment of the health of the nation’s birds by some of the country’s leading experts released Sept. 9 – came with good news and bad news.
The good news is that conservation works, with bird populations recovering in areas where people have made strong conservation efforts, such as wetlands.
The bad news is that populations are down in many key habitats where conservation has lagged, with the steepest population declines occurring in arid land habitats of the West, followed by grassland and forest species. Arid land birds of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, for example, have declined by 46 percent since 1968.
Biotechnology/Health
Georgia Tech: Platelet-like particles augment natural blood clotting for treating trauma
September 7, 2014
A new class of synthetic platelet-like particles could augment natural blood clotting for the emergency treatment of traumatic injuries – and potentially offer doctors a new option for curbing surgical bleeding and addressing certain blood clotting disorders without the need for transfusions of natural platelets.
The clotting particles, which are based on soft and deformable hydrogel materials, are triggered by the same factor that initiates the body’s own clotting processes. Testing done in animal models and in a simulated circulatory system suggest that the particles are effective at slowing bleeding and can safely circulate in the bloodstream. The particles have been tested with human blood, but have not undergone clinical trials in humans.
Supported by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the American Heart Association, the research was reported September 7, 2014, in the journal Nature Materials. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Arizona State University collaborated on the research.
University of Iowa: Silver-based coating may reduce germs on hospital surfaces
September 9, 2014
While it may not be a silver bullet for eradicating germs that live on surfaces, a new coating that contains silver nanoparticles does appear to reduce the number of germs that survive on surfaces, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
The findings suggest that the coating, which is known as NG3982 and is manufactured by Deck2Walls, may be potentially useful for preventing infections in hospital settings.
"The results of our study suggest that this coating can decrease the number of germs—particularly Staph bacteria—contaminating surfaces in hospital rooms," says Dr. Loreen Herwaldt, UI professor of internal medicine and director of hospital epidemiology at UI Hospitals and Clinics. "This finding is important because environmental surfaces may be a source of infectious agents for hospitalized patients, and products that limit surface contamination might be a useful measure for preventing infections."
University of Massachusetts Medical Center: New UMMS study shows medications of questionable benefit used in advanced dementia
By Lisa M. Larson
September 08, 2014
Nursing home residents with advanced dementia often receive medications of questionable benefit with costly consequences, according to a new study by researchers at UMass Medical School, published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine on Sept. 8.
In the nationwide study of 5,406 nursing home residents with advanced dementia, researchers found the majority (54 percent) were prescribed at least one medication of questionable benefit during the 90-day observation period between 2009 and 2010. The mean 90-day expenditure for medications with questionable benefit was $816, accounting for 35 percent of total average 90-day medication expenditures for residents with advanced dementia prescribed these medications.
Data for the cross-sectional study were derived from the prescription dispensing database of a national long-term care pharmacy that serves approximately half of the 1.3 million long-term care facility residents in the United States.
University of Michigan: Almost half of older adults have care needs
September 8, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Nearly half of older adults—18 million people—have difficulty or get help with daily activities, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of Michigan and the Urban Institute analyzed data from a national sample of older adults drawn from Medicare enrollment files. In all, 8,245 people were included in the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study. The analysis was published in the current (September 2014) issue of the Milbank Memorial Quarterly.
"Although 51 percent reported having no difficulty in the previous month, 29 percent reported receiving help with taking care of themselves or their households or getting around," said U-M researcher Vicki Freedman, co-author of the report with the Urban Institute's Brenda Spillman. "And another 20 percent said they had difficulty carrying out these activities on their own."
University of Michigan: Fighting lung cancer: Faster image processing for low-radiation CT scans
September 11, 2014
In December 2013, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommended lung cancer screens for everyone between 55 and 80 years old who has been a smoker within the past 15 years. Roughly 90 percent of cases are related to smoking, and the health care costs are approximately $12 billion per year in the U.S.
Unfortunately, the CT scans that reliably identify tumors by creating 3D images of the lungs also expose the patient to an X-ray dose comparable to about five to eight months' worth of natural background radiation.
"It's known that a radiation dose can increase the risk of cancer, but nobody knows exactly how much," said Jeffrey Fessler, U-M professor of electrical and computer engineering who leads the project.
Michigan State University: Boosting armor for nuclear-waste eating microbes
September 12, 2014
A microbe developed to clean up nuclear waste and patented by a Michigan State University researcher has just been improved.
In earlier research, Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist, identified that Geobacter bacteria’s tiny conductive hair-like appendages, or pili, did the yeoman’s share of remediation. By increasing the strength of the pili nanowires, she improved their ability to clean up uranium and other toxic wastes.
In new research, published in the current issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Reguera has added an additional layer of armor to her enhanced microbes.
Cornell University: Study tracks who dengue-carrying mosquitoes bite
By Krishna Ramanujan
September 9, 2014
Most people bitten by dengue fever-transmitting mosquitoes in four northwestern Thai villages weren’t residents but visitors, a finding that provides new clues about the spread of the dengue virus.
According to a new study, larger people and adults are bitten significantly more often than smaller people and children.
The study matched human DNA in mosquito blood meals collected from the villages to DNA of 676 village residents, whose cheeks were swabbed for their genetic profiles. Of 3,677 blood-fed Aedes aegypti mosquitoes collected and 1,186 complete DNA profiles, only 420 meals matched people from the study area; mosquitoes mostly fed on people who were passing through, reports the study published Aug. 7 in the journal Public Library of Science Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Psychology/Behavior
University of Georgia: UGA study explores connections between romantic relationships, health
Researchers find interracial couples tend to report worse health
September 9, 2014
Athens, Ga. - Having a supportive, committed partner in a relationship is beneficial for health no matter whether the status of the couple is dating, living together or married, according to a new study from University of Georgia sociologists.
Published in the Journal of Family Psychology in August, the research explores the connection between romantic relationships and health. Using data from primarily African-American couples, the researchers' significant findings include support for the importance of positive partner behavior in predicting health. The study also found that interracial couples—whether dating, cohabiting or married—tend to report worse health than monoracial couples.
"There is a great body of research that says romantic relationship quality matters, though much of that research is on married couples," said Ashley Barr, a recent doctoral graduate in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of sociology and lead author on the study. "We approached the question from a different angle, asking how romantic relationships, in their varied forms, matter for young people in the transition to adulthood."
University of Michigan: Happy Wife, Happy Life: New study finds some truth for older couples
September 10, 2014
ANN ARBOR—A husband who's unhappy with his marriage is still likely to be happy with his life—if his wife gives their marriage high marks, a new study shows.
"Older husbands and wives in better marriages are more satisfied with their lives," said Vicki Freedman, a research professor at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.
"But overall life satisfaction for an unhappily married man depends on how his wife describes their relationship. If she describes their marriage as higher quality, his life satisfaction is buoyed—even if he gives the marriage a less glowing assessment."
University of Iowa: Sometimes, adolescents just can't resist
University of Iowa study finds teenagers are far more sensitive than adults to the immediate effect or reward of their behaviors.
By: Sara Agnew
September 9, 2014
Don’t get mad the next time you catch your teenager texting when he promised to be studying.
He simply may not be able to resist.
A University of Iowa study found teenagers are far more sensitive than adults to the immediate effect or reward of their behaviors. The findings may help explain, for example, why the initial rush of texting may be more enticing for adolescents than the long-term payoff of studying.
Michigan State University: Exercise before school may reduce ADHD symptoms in kids
September 9, 2014
Paying attention all day in school as a kid isn’t easy, especially for those who are at a higher risk of ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
A new study from Michigan State University and University of Vermont researchers shows that offering daily before-school, aerobic activities to younger at-risk children could help in reducing the symptoms of ADHD in the classroom and at home. Signs can include inattentiveness, moodiness and difficulty getting along with others.
The study can be found in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.
Archeology/Anthropology
University of Iowa: PhD candidate's research in lesser-studied Lao language furthers advancement in field
September 5, 2014
How is language represented in the mind, and how can it be modeled? When people put sounds together to form words, how do these words combine to form sentences, and furthermore, what does this process tell us about cognition? These are the questions Douglas Cole, a PhD candidate in linguistics at the UI from Cedar Rapids, asks in his research to advance data in the lesser-studied Lao language. During a four-week stay in Vientiane, Laos, Douglas worked with native speakers to elicit sentences containing multiple verbs, then transcribed and categorized them in a database based on their structure. By focusing on what speakers actually say versus what is considered “proper” speech, one can gain a better understanding of how language is actually used, and ultimately how it is organized in the brain. Read on for Douglas’ account of the trip.
University of Massachusetts: New Research from UMass Amherst Sociologists Questions Legitimacy of Corporate Ratings and ‘Best-Of’ Lists
September 11, 2014
AMHERST, Mass. – New research published by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Labor Center raises questions about the legitimacy of popular corporate ratings systems and industry “best-of” lists. In “The Corporate Rating Sham: The Case of T-Mobile,” Tom Juravich, professor of sociology, evaluated the various awards and recognitions received by the mobile telephone carrier from 2011-13. Upon examining these award programs’ selection and evaluation criteria, the quality of the data used, and the independence of the rating programs, Juravich and research assistant and co-author Essie Ablavsky concluded that these ratings and awards cannot be seen as objective measures of corporate performance. Instead, they believe that they are best viewed as marketing promotions operating in the guise of contests and competitions.
“The U.S. market has witnessed an explosion of corporate rating programs in the last 20 years,” Juravich says. “T-Mobile received at least 47 ‘best of’ awards from 2011 to 2013, making the company an excellent candidate for our study.”
Juravich and Ablavsky found that the majority of corporate recognition contests are based on self-nomination and company self-reports with little independent verification of data, and very few awards are transparent about how firms are actually selected. Programs often lack transparency in terms of the criteria used for evaluation, so consequently several questionable firms are included in awards, and many of the firms conducting national evaluations also provide consulting services to the very companies they are rating. This creates a strong potential for conflict of interest, the authors write.
Paleontology/Evolution
Michigan State University: A single evolutionary road may lead to Rome
September 8, 2014
A well-known biologist once theorized that many roads led to Rome when it comes to two distantly related organisms evolving a similar trait. A new paper, published in Nature Communications, suggests that when it comes to evolving some traits – especially simple ones – there may be a shared gene, one road, that’s the source.
Jason Gallant, MSU zoologist and the paper’s first author, focused on butterflies to illustrate his metaphorical roadmap on evolutionary traits. Butterfly wings are important biological models. While some butterflies are poisonous and notify their predators via colorful wing markings, others are nontoxic but have evolved similar color patterns to avoid being eaten.
Many scientists, including the famed Ernst Mayr, favored the “many roads” theory. This was largely attributed to being unable to identify a shared gene for such traits. Gallant, Sean Mullen, co-author and Boston University biologist, and their collaborators, however, were able to pinpoint the single gene responsible for two different families of butterflies’ flashy markings.
MSU shares Gallant's personal story of discovery in
Jason Gallant: The Rogue Butterfly.
Georgia Tech: Sequencing of five African fishes reveals diverse molecular mechanisms underlying evolution
September 4, 2014
Researchers have sequenced the genomes and transcriptomes of five species of African cichlid fishes and uncovered a variety of features that enabled the fishes to thrive in new habitats and ecological niches within the Great Lakes of East Africa.
The study helps explain the genetic basis for the incredible diversity among cichlid fishes and provides new information about vertebrate evolution. The genomic information from the study will help answer questions about human biology and disease.
"Our study reveals a spectrum of methods that nature uses to allow organisms to adapt to different environments,” said co-senior author Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, scientific director of vertebrate genome biology at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, a biomedical and genomic research center. “These mechanisms are likely also at work in humans and other vertebrates, and by focusing on the remarkably diverse cichlid fishes, we were able to study this process on a broad scale for the first time.”
Geology
Colorado State University: The Earth Sciences need women!
By Kortny Rolston
September 2, 2014
In the United States, men outnumber women in many science and engineering fields by nearly 3 to 1. In fields like physics or the geosciences, the gender gap can be even wider.
Emily Fischer, professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, is the lead investigator on a $1.7 million National Science Foundation grant to close that gap in the geosciences, which encompass mining and geology, atmospheric sciences, issues related to natural resource management, natural disaster forecasting, and oceanography.
Energy
Colorado State University: A fern, a fertilizer, a feed and a fuel
September 7, 2014
Inside Jason Prapas’s backyard sit two blue kiddie pools covered in plastic, each filled with thousands of aquatic ferns the width of a dime growing in a mixture of water and waste. Colorado State University
Prapas, a researcher at the Energy Institute at Colorado State University, checks the plants, known as azolla, several times a week to monitor their growth and to add water and nutrients. He logs information from his backyard experiment and compares it to data gathered by Ken Reardon, a CSU professor and an Energy Institute colleague, whose students are raising azolla in tubs of water in a lab on campus.
The two are trying to understand the saltiest conditions in which the aquatic fern can grow, how much light and phosphorous it needs to flourish, and whether human or animal waste can provide required nutrients for speedy growth.
With more research, they say, the fern could become a valuable biofertilizer and source of animal feed in developing countries.
Physics
Cornell University: Defying physics, engineers prove a magnetic field for light
By Anne Ju
September 10, 2014
In electronics, changing the path of electrons and manipulating how they flow is as easy as applying a magnetic field.
Not so for light. “We don’t have such a thing for light,” said Michal Lipson, professor of electrical and computer engineering. “For the majority of materials, there is no such thing as something I can turn on, and apply this magic field to change the path of light.”
Until now. Lipson, a leader in the emerging field of silicon photonics – sending light through waveguides instead of currents through wires – and colleagues have shown that an equivalent field for light does exist. Experiments led by graduate student Lawrence Tzuang, in collaboration with Paulo Nussenzveig of University of Sao Paulo and Kejie Fang and Shanhui Fan from Stanford University, are described in a recent issue of Nature Photonics.
Chemistry
Michigan State University: In the beginning, there were three elements
September 10, 2014
In the beginning, or at least following the Big Bang more than 14 billion years ago, there was hydrogen, some helium and a little bit of lithium. A grand total of three elements.
Today, there are nearly 100 known naturally occurring elements, with hundreds of variants.
...
In a process that continues today, stars create more and more complex elements, then explode as supernovas or gamma ray bursts, scattering the newly created elements into space for another generation of stars to use. Cycle after stellar cycle, stars become steadily richer in heavier and more complex elements.
"Chemical tracers found in very old stars form a 'fossil' record of chemical evolution and reveal how nature has, step by step, built up the elements that now form the basic building blocks of our world," [Hendrik] Schatz [of MSU's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory] said. "We hope to find more of these chemical fossils through astronomical observations."
Science Crime Scenes
Iraq Heritage: IRAQ’S HERITAGE IS FACING A NEW WAVE OF DESTRUCTION (PDF)
By Abdulameer al Hamdani
8th September 2014
Since early June, extremist armed groups, including ISIS, have controlled most of north-west of Iraq, from Mosul downward to Falouja on the Euphrates and Tikrit on the Tigris.
According to ISIS law, archaeological sites, museums and artifacts, shrines and tombs, non-Islamic, and even non-Sunni worship places, modern statues and monuments, and libraries should not be existed and must be demolished.
More than 4000 archaeological sites that are located in areas that have been controlled by ISIS are facing a serious threatening either by looting or destruction. The staff, as well as the archaeological sites' guards, of the antiquities' inspectorate of Ninawa province and other districts can't do their daily work in visiting and observing sites because both the security issues and the lack of fuel and vehicles to be used.
The well-preserved fascinating Assyrian capitals of Nineveh, Nimrud, Khorsabad, and Ashur, as well as hundreds of ancient Mesopotamian sites, are targets that are going to be stolen and destroyed by ISIS. ISIS wants to diversify and expand its financial resources to include the lucrative trade of antiquities.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Michigan: Military makes progress with sexual assault training, but more can be done
September 11, 2014
ANN ARBOR—The U.S. military has made progress by conducting sexual assault training, but a new University of Michigan study raises questions about the effectiveness of those efforts.
Sexual assault has been a problem in the military for years, resulting in the Department of Defense in 2005 creating a Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. This office oversees sexual assault training conducted by the five branches. However, their training had undergone little evaluation by outside researchers.
U-M psychology and women's studies researchers analyzed responses from more than 24,000 active duty personnel from all five branches (Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, and Coast Guard) who completed the Department of Defense's own workplace and gender relations survey. They tested whether exposure to sexual assault training fostered accurate knowledge about the resources and protocols among personnel.
University of Michigan: Parenting programs in jail could be positive for mothers, children
September 8, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Mothers in jail would benefit from participation in parenting programs, which could help their children avoid negative outcomes down the road, say researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health Prevention Research Center.
Over the last two decades increasing numbers of women have been incarcerated, leaving young children without their primary caregiver, according to the U-M researchers, who studied incarcerated women in Flint, Mich.
These women reported stress with parenting in the first place but found increased difficulty trying to cope with raising children while behind bars. Parenting programs can be found in prisons, yet even those are few and far between, but they are not offered in jails, the researchers say.
University of Michigan: College students' use of marijuana on the rise, some drugs declining
September 8, 2014
ANN ARBOR—More college students nationwide have added illicit drugs, such as marijuana and amphetamine, to their back-to-school supply lists.
Illicit drug use has been rising gradually among American college students since 2006, when 34 percent indicated that they used some illicit drug in the prior year; that rate was up to 39 percent by 2013. Most of this increase is attributable to a rising proportion using marijuana, according to the University of Michigan scientists who conduct the nationwide Monitoring the Future study.
Daily marijuana use is now at the highest rate among college students in more than three decades. Half (51 percent) of all full-time college students today have used an illicit drug at some time in their lives; roughly four in 10 (39 percent) have used one or more such drugs in just the 12 months preceding the survey.
Michigan State University: Ray Rice video highlights realities of domestic violence
September 8, 2014
TMZ released a video Monday showing NFL star Ray Rice knocking his then fiancée, Janay, unconscious.
"Inside the elevator it's apparent he strikes first ... she hits back ... and then Rice delivers the knockout blow," according to TMZ.
After the video surfaced, Rice was cut by the Baltimore Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the National Football League.
Amy Bonomi, an expert in domestic violence who has studied the Rice incident, said the video should be used to highlight the realities of domestic violence -- including the realities of mutual conflict in relationships -- but not mutual instigation.
Science, Space, Health, Environment, and Energy Policy
University of Georgia: UGA Public Health Leadership Academy aims to create a culture of health in communities
September 10, 2014
Athens, Ga. - What do playgrounds, school lunches, vaccinations, sidewalks and wheelchair ramps have in common? They all contribute to a community's ability to help its residents get healthy and stay healthy, sometimes called a culture of health.
At the State of Public Health Conference held at UGA on Sept. 10, UGA's College of Public Health and J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development unveiled a joint initiative designed to engage community leaders in creating and sustaining a culture of health in their communities.
In announcing the program, Marsha Davis, director of the Public Health Training Center, said, "We decided to focus on engaging stakeholders from throughout a community in the idea of developing a culture of health. With the Fanning Institute's focus on community and nonprofit leadership development, the institute is a logical partner in the development and implementation of this new initiative."
University of Massachusetts: New ‘Green Growth’ Report Shows How the U.S. Can Cut Carbon Pollution by 40 Percent While Creating 2.7 Million New Jobs
Summary of Report Co-Authored by the UMass Amherst Political Economy Research Institute and the Center for American Progress Now Available Online
September 8, 2014
AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and the Center for American Progress have announced a groundbreaking report that quantifies the investment and technology deployment needed for the United States to do its part to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. Released as climate leaders and policymakers meet in Nevada for the seventh annual National Clean Energy Summit, the executive summary for “Green Growth: A U.S. Program for Controlling Climate Change and Expanding Job Opportunities” shows that the United States can cut its carbon pollution by 40 percent from 2005 levels and create a net increase of 2.7 million clean energy jobs in the process, reducing the unemployment rate by 1.5 percentage points.
The complete report, which is scheduled for release in the coming weeks, also provides analysis showing the need for a substantial new wave of mostly private investment in advanced energy technology and higher performing buildings, as well as public and private investment in efficient infrastructure.
“Our work shows that the fundamental imperative of climate stabilization is not an outlandish fantasy, but is truly within reach,” says Robert Pollin, co-director of PERI and distinguished professor of economics at UMass Amherst, and lead author of the report. “By investing about $200 billion annually on energy efficiency and clean renewable energy for the next 20 years—meaning 1.2 percent of current U.S. gross domestic product—we can cut overall U.S. energy consumption by 30 percent relative to today, as well as expand by 400 percent the production of solar, wind and other clean renewable sources. These clean energy investments will drop U.S. CO2 emissions by 40 percent while also generating 2.7 million net new jobs. The opportunity is right before us and needs to be seized.”
University of Michigan: Pennsylvanians less likely than New Yorkers to view fracking negatively
September 8, 2014
ANN ARBOR—The word "fracking" evokes negative reactions from two out of three New Yorkers, but from fewer than half of Pennsylvania residents, according to a University of Michigan poll.
The neighboring states sit atop a portion of 141 trillion cubic feet of natural gas known as the Marcellus Shale deposit. Getting to the fossil fuel through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is encouraged untaxed in Pennsylvania, while a six-year freeze is active in New York.
The issue has risen in the race for governor in both states. Both New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, get low marks for their handling of the shale gas issue in their states, according to the National Surveys on Energy and Environment.
Cornell University: Accelerated climate neutrality proposal presented to faculty
By Blaine Friedlander
September 10, 2014
At the Sept. 10 Faculty Senate meeting, the Climate Neutrality Acceleration Working Group presented its proposal to change the university’s climate neutrality target date to 2035 from 2050.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Mike Hoffmann, associate dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Brian Chabot, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology; Todd Cowen, professor of civil and environmental engineering; and Katherine McComas, chair of the Department of Communication, shared ideas that have been presented to Cornell President David Skorton.
The group outlined first-step priorities for the next year to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. The report will be presented to the college deans, as well as to the Cornell University Board of Trustees, which will hear a presentation in October. The Climate Neutrality Acceleration Working Group will continue to assess the viability of changing the target date until mid-2015, when the new date may be folded into an updated Climate Action Plan.
Science Education
Iowa State University: Iowa State University class will help with crowd-sourcing effort to fight antibiotic resistance
September 8, 2014
AMES, Iowa – A class of microbiology students at Iowa State University hopes that the next big discovery in the fight against antibiotic-resistant diseases is right below their feet.
The students will take part in the Small World Initiative, an effort led by Yale University that allows science students at universities all over the world to seek out novel microorganisms that produce antimicrobial compounds – or compounds with the potential to kill the pathogens that make humans sick. The 24 students enrolled in the course will collect soil samples from spots around campus and screen them for the antimicrobial-producing organisms.
This semester will mark the first time ISU students will participate in the initiative as one of more than 60 universities selected for the program worldwide. Students at other institutions last year discovered around 60 new species of bacteria while taking part in the program. One of those species is currently being studied by a pharmaceutical company to determine if it could become the basis for a new antibiotic drug, said Claudia Lemper, a lecturer in plant pathology and microbiology and the instructor of the course at Iowa State.
Michigan State University: High-stakes testing, lack of voice driving teachers out
September 9, 2014
Contrary to popular opinion, unruly students are not driving out teachers in droves from America’s urban school districts. Instead, teachers are quitting due to frustration with standardized testing, declining pay and benefits and lack of voice in what they teach.
So finds a Michigan State University education scholar – and former high school teacher – in her latest research on teacher turnover, which costs the nation an estimated $2.2 billion a year.
Alyssa Hadley Dunn, assistant professor of teacher education, conducted in-depth interviews with urban secondary teachers before they quit successful careers in teaching. In a pair of studies, Dunn found that despite working in a profession they love, the teachers became demoralized by a culture of high-stakes testing in which their evaluations are tied to student scores and teachers have little say in the curriculum.
Many policymakers say the dominant emphasis on standardized testing is needed to make U.S. students more globally competitive. But “preparing students to answer multiple choice questions,” Dunn argues, is not true learning.
Science Writing and Reporting
University of Massachusetts: UMass Amherst Geographer’s New Book Calls for Expanded Role of Indigenous Peoples in Worldwide Conservation Planning
September 8, 2014
AMHERST, Mass. – A just-published book edited by University of Massachusetts Amherst human geographer Stan Stevens presents the latest original research and surveys transformative new approaches now being considered to enhance the rights of indigenous peoples worldwide to have a stronger voice in shaping conservation and park management policies that affect their traditional lands.
The book, “Indigenous Peoples, National Parks and Protected Areas,” released this month by the University of Arizona Press, documents past practices, presents case studies from North and South America, Asia and Australia, and outlines new directions for an expanded future role for indigenous communities in the management of national parks and other conservation lands and cultural heritage sites.
As Stevens explains, “In the past, national parks were created and land set aside for wildlife and other conservation needs without the consent of indigenous peoples and without regard to the fact that it often destroyed their traditional ways and means of livelihood. Indigenous peoples came to see parks as a threat to their culture, and the dispossession of their lands and loss of sacred sites as a new colonialism.”
Cornell University: Book uncovers challenges for Indonesian mine
By Linda B. Glaser
September 8, 2014
What is a corporation? To whom is it responsible? Marina Welker, associate professor of anthropology, explores these and related questions in her new book, “Enacting the Corporation: An American Mining Firm in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia,” an ethnographic study of the Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp. and its Batu Hijau Copper and Gold Mine in Sumbawa, Indonesia.
Welker, of the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Southeast Asia Program, explores the ethical relationship between business and society. In her book, she examines Newmont’s practices in light of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) industry, which advocates for voluntary social and environmental codes of conduct and practices among corporations. Her project examines the competing ways in which corporate managers, Sumbawan village residents, NGOs and government officials negotiate the social responsibilities of a mining corporation.
For her fieldwork in Denver, Welker had access to the company’s intranet and sat in on senior executive meetings where corporate strategies and projects were decided. “I felt as if I were in the very heart of the corporation,” says Welker—unusual access for an anthropologist.
Science is Cool
University of Colorado: CU-Boulder to host free event Sept. 21 to watch orbit insertion of Mars spacecraft
September 10, 2014
The public is invited to attend a watch party at the University of Colorado Boulder on Sunday, Sept. 21, when NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft, designed to understand past climate change on Mars, inserts itself into orbit after a 10-month journey to the planet.
The orbital insertion, the most important maneuver of the mission, will involve firing six thruster engines to shed velocity from the spacecraft, allowing it to be captured into Mars orbit. Televised by NASA, the event will be shown at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) Space Technology Building on the East Campus.
CU-Boulder is leading NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN mission. The event is free and open to the public, although seating will be limited. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and there is free parking. The orbit insertion, expected to last 34 minutes, will begin at 7:50 p.m. and end at 8:24 p.m.
University of Michigan: Art exhibit marks 100-year extinction of passenger pigeon, adds to events planned at U-M
September 11, 2014
ANN ARBOR—When artists across the country were invited to be part of a traveling exhibit to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the extinction of the passenger pigeon, many had no idea of the story they were about to hear.
"As I began my research about the passenger pigeon, and rapidly began to understand the radical, abrupt and total demise of this beautiful bird, my heart ached," wrote Karen Rand Anderson of Connecticut in her artist statement, upon hearing about how the actions of man had killed off this bird that once roamed the continent freely, in abundant numbers.
"The facts are stunning: a population in the billions eliminated in a few decades. This is an idea I am still processing," said Eileen Hout of New York.
Wayne State University: Wayne State University to host astronomy lecture, Neutron Stars: Humanity in a Sugar Cube
September 12, 2014
In a lecture to accompany the “Here, There, Everywhere” NASA traveling exhibit that is currently on display in the David Adamany Undergraduate Library (UGL), Wayne State University astronomer Ed Cackett will deliver a lecture titled “Neutron Stars: Humanity in a Sugar Cube,” 2:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 17, in the Community Room of the UGL on the main campus of Wayne State University.
Cackett will discuss neutron stars, a type of stellar remnant that can result from the gravitational collapse of a massive star during a supernova event. Neutron stars and black holes are among the most exotic objects in the universe; studying neutron stars and black holes gives us access to exotic realms that we can’t explore on Earth. A lump of neutron star matter the size of a sugar cube would weigh as much as all humanity, and the stars have magnetic fields a trillion times Earth’s. Since we can’t reproduce such conditions in laboratories, we have to observe neutron stars with telescopes to figure out their properties.
