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 end of the primary season, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday will highlight the research stories from the public universities in each of the states having primary or special elections for federal or state office this year plus stories from all research universities in major cities having municipal elections as listed in the Green Papers or the 2014 Daily Kos Elections Calendar. Tonight's edition features the research and outreach stories from Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Vermont, and Wyoming.
This week's featured story comes from LiveScience.
Subglacial Eruption Begins at Iceland's Bardarbunga Volcano (Updated)
By Becky Oskin, Senior Writer
August 23, 2014 01:25pm ET
One week after an earthquake swarm first warned of magma on the rise, a volcanic eruption has started near Iceland's Barðarbunga volcano, the Icelandic Met Office announced today (Aug. 23).
The small-scale eruption is taking place northeast of Barðarbunga, underneath the Dyngjujökull glacier. Scientists estimate 492 to 1,312 feet of ice (150 to 400 meters) covers the emerging lava, the Met Office said in a statement. Even though no one can see the eruption, seismic signals indicate that ice is flashing into steam. This suggests lava has broken through to the surface, beneath the glacier.
Update at 9:30 p.m. ET: Volcano experts in Iceland are not convinced that an eruption is underway. Earthquakes continue, including a magnitude-5.3 this evening, but the tremors that signaled steam blasts from lava have decreased, the Met Office said. Nor is meltwater draining from the glacier. "Presently there are no signs of ongoing volcanic activity," the Met Office said in an update. "The aviation color code for the Barðarbunga volcano remains red as an imminent eruption can not be excluded."
ETA: Also read
Bárðarbunga: Eruption! by Rei and
Code Red: Bárðarbunga Volcano Erupts? Updated M5.3 Quake Confirmed, Largest Quake Yet by FishOutofWater.
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
WATCH THIS SPACE!
Pandemic -- A poem
by Dylan Brody
Business as Usual
by Robocop
Women in Science: Dorothy Hodgkin 1910-1994
by Desert Scientist
Sierra Leone joins Liberia in threatening to arrest anyone hiding Ebola patients
by HoundDog
Shocking photos: This is what drought looks like
by Jen Hayden
Spotlight on green news & views: Renewables transition, People's Climate March, volcanic eruptions
by Meteor Blades
Western USA drought: 63 trillion gallons of groundwater lost, and the surface of the Earth is rising
by Laurence Lewis
This week in science: fire and ice-land
by DarkSyde
Slideshows/Videos
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Discovery News: How Tear Gas Affects Your Body
The use of tear gas on crowds by police in Ferguson, Missouri has made recent headlines. SourceFed’s Reina Scully explains what tear gas does to your body and how treatment works after tear gas exposure.
NASA: Orion’s protective backshell installed on This Week @NASA
Engineers at Kennedy Space Center have finished installing the Orion spacecraft’s backshell – the black protective tiles on the cone-shaped sides of NASA’s new deep space capsule. The backshell tiles are the same type that protected the underside of space shuttles -- and will not only provide protection from debris while in space but from extreme temperatures in that area of the spacecraft as it returns from space – which could exceed 31-hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Also, SLS anti-geyser testing, Webb’s replica backplane, Arctic Sea ice loss, Ancient Earth, Alien Earths and more!
Science at NASA: ScienceCasts: Sizing up an Exoplanet
Astronomers are not only discovering planets around distant suns, they are also starting to measure those worlds with astonishing precision. The diameter of a super-Earth named Kepler 93B is now known to within an accuracy of 148 miles.
JPL: Sailing Past Neptune's Moon Triton
Sail past Neptune's moon Triton, with data obtained from NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989. The historical footage has been restored and used to construct the best-ever global color map of the strange moon.
The new Triton map has a resolution of 1,970 feet (600 meters) per pixel. The colors have been enhanced to bring out contrast but are a close approximation to Triton's natural colors. Voyager's "eyes" saw in colors slightly different from human eyes, and this map was produced using orange, green and blue filter images.
In 1989, most of the northern hemisphere was in darkness and unseen by Voyager. Because of the speed of Voyager's visit and the slow rotation of Triton, only one hemisphere was seen clearly at close distance. The rest of the surface was either in darkness or seen as blurry markings.
Discovery News: How Does Google Maps Work?
Google Maps is an incredibly convenient tool to search for places across the globe! How do websites like this work? Trace is here to discuss how satellites are able to show us maps of the world in great detail.
Astronomy/Space
University of Arizona: UA Optics at Heart of Telescope Poised to Catch the Action in the Universe
The National Science Foundation has agreed to fund the construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which is built around a revolutionary optical mirror setup designed at the UA.
By Daniel Stolte, University Relations - Communications
August 6, 2014
The National Science Foundation agreed on Friday to fund the construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope project, the first observatory capable of scanning large swaths of night sky very quickly and capture exploding stars, passing asteroids and other highly variable, dynamic or short-lived phenomena in the universe.
Mirrors developed at the University of Arizona will form the heart of the revolutionary instrument, which will provide time-lapse digital imaging of faint astronomical objects across the entire sky, promising a deep and changing view of the cosmos.
LSST is the top-ranked major ground-based facility recommended by the National Research Council's Astronomy and Astrophysics decadal survey committee in its 2010 report "New Worlds, New Horizons." It is being carried out as an NSF and Department of Energy partnership, with NSF responsible for the telescope and site – Cerro Pachón in Chile – plus education and outreach and the data management system, and DOE providing the camera and related instrumentation. With the approved start occurring now, LSST will see first light in 2019 and begin full science operations in 2022.
Arizona State University: New star catalog reveals unexpected 'solar salad'
August 18, 2014
An Arizona State University alumna has devised the largest catalog ever produced for stellar compositions. Called the Hypatia Catalog, after one of the first female astronomers who lived ~350 AD in Alexandria, the work is critical to understanding the properties of stars, how they form, and possible connections with the formation and habitability of orbiting planets. And what she found from her work is that the compositions of nearby stars aren’t as uniform as once thought.
Since it is not possible to physically sample a star to determine its composition, astronomers study of the light from the object. This is known as spectroscopy, and it is one of the most important tools that an astronomer has for studying the universe. From it, researchers can often get information about the temperature, density, composition, and important physical processes of an astronomical object.
The digital catalog is a compilation of spectroscopic abundance data from 84 literature sources for 50 elements across 3,058 stars in the solar neighborhood, within 500 lightyears of the Sun. It essentially lists the compositions of stars, but only stars that are like the Sun – or F-, G-, or K-type (the Sun is a G-type star) – that are relatively near to the Sun.
Arizona State University: Class of 2018 welcomed with unique meteorite gift
Posted: August 21, 2014
To welcome this year’s incoming freshmen, the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) and the Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University have dedicated a meteorite to the Class of 2018.
Meteorites are remnants of processes that occurred in the earliest history of the solar system, approximately 4.5 billion years ago.
The Class of 2018’s meteorite, a 381 gram slice of the Seymchan pallasite, was found in Russia in 1967. It is a stony-iron meteorite (pallasite) composed mostly of nickel-rich iron metal and olivine (a yellowish-green silicate mineral). It is thought to have formed at the core-mantle boundary of an asteroid that later broke apart such that pieces then fell to Earth as meteorites.
Climate/Environment
Arizona State University: ASU professor studies impact of increased sugarcane production
August 20, 2014
The growing demand for bioethanol fuel, combined with a growing demand for sugar, means that sugarcane is being grown in increasing quantities around the world.
In some countries, lands previously used for subsistence agriculture are being converted to large industrial-scale sugarcane fields. In other countries, cane fields are replacing native vegetation.
"The transition from diverse vegetation to vast fields of a single crop is likely to have many impacts," explains ASU professor Matei Georgescu, who will be investigating these impacts as part of a team of researchers from the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Brazil, South Africa and Australia.
Arizona State University: Room to grow: agriculture in urban spaces
August 21, 2014
In recent years, many people have taken an increased interest in finding out where their food comes from – perhaps that’s because the sources of what we eat aren’t so obvious anymore.
While intensive, industrialized farming has allowed for huge amounts of food to be produced at a fraction of the price, the real cost lies in what may be seen as a literal and figurative distancing between people and their food.
The term “food miles” refers to how far food must travel from where it’s grown, or raised, to where it is consumed. The average is about 1,500 miles, Greg Peterson says, adding that we ship in 4 billion pounds of food each year from China. To put that into perspective, some salmon that’s caught in the Pacific Northwest is shipped nearly 6,000 miles to be processed in China, and then shipped back for sale in the U.S.
“Does that speak to sustainability in your mind?” Peterson asks.
Arizona State University: Curbing urban sprawl to make cities more sustainable
August 13, 2014
Automobile. Spread-out. Sprawl.
These were just a few of the most common words used to describe Phoenix in a study conducted by Arizona State University’s Global Classroom. Students in the class interviewed local residents about how they perceive Phoenix. Participants were also asked to draw a map of the metro area from memory. The answers people gave and the maps they drew were analyzed to figure out how residents perceive Phoenix, and how that perception relates to the reality.
Some of the findings? Phoenix is big. But much of it is unmemorable, unconnected, blank space on the maps in peoples’ minds. This is the reality known as sprawl.
Northern Arizona University: Repeat photography partnership to aid scientists in understanding climate change
August 20, 2014 0 Comments
A new partnership between Cline Library and the Southwest Experimental Garden Array will use repeat photography to document earlier ecological and environmental conditions at garden sites distributed throughout northern Arizona to research how species respond to climate change and land-use management.
“By comparing historical and contemporary photos, researchers can literally see how the plant community is changing over time, which is tremendously valuable,” said Thomas Whitham, SEGA’s principal investigator and NAU Regents’ Professor. “For example, repeat photography allows us to identify plants that were historically present that may now be gone and new plants that have moved into a site.”
Cline Library’s extensive photographic collection, which includes images that date back to the late 1800s, will be searched to identify photographs of the garden sites. Once historical images are identified, repeat photographs will be taken of the garden sites and their surroundings.
University of Michigan: Climate clues: Sunlight controls the fate of carbon released from thawing Arctic permafrost
August 21, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Just how much Arctic permafrost will thaw in the future and how fast heat-trapping carbon dioxide will be released from those warming soils is a topic of lively debate among climate scientists.
To answer those questions, scientists need to understand the mechanisms that control the conversion of organic soil carbon into carbon dioxide gas. Until now, researchers believed that bacteria were largely responsible.
But in a study scheduled for online publication in Science on Aug. 21, University of Michigan researchers show for the first time that sunlight, not microbial activity, dominates the production of carbon dioxide in Arctic inland waters.
Michigan State University: Project serves up big data to guide managing nation's coastal waters
August 20, 2014
When it comes to understanding America’s coastal fisheries, anecdotes are gripping – stories of a choking algae bloom, or a bay’s struggle with commercial development. But when it comes to taking action, there’s no beating big data.
In this week’s edition of Estuaries and Coasts, a MSU doctoral student joins with others to give a sweeping assessment to understand how human activities are affecting estuaries, the nation’s sounds, bays, gulfs and bayous. These are places where freshwater flows into the oceans, and the needs of the people blend with a wide variety of fish and shellfish that support both commercial and recreational fishing.
This first comprehensive look at changes in land cover, river flow, pollution and nutrient levels offers a comprehensive look at the state of America’s estuaries.
Biodiversity
Arizona State University: Change in critical grasslands diminishing cattle production
August 18, 2014
Half of the Earth’s land mass is made up of rangelands, which include grasslands and savannas, yet they are being transformed at an alarming rate. Woody plants, such as trees and shrubs, are moving in and taking over, leading to a loss of critical habitat and causing a drastic change in the ability of ecosystems to produce food – specifically meat.
Researchers with Arizona State University’s School of Life Sciences led an investigation that quantified this loss in both the United States and Argentina. The study’s results are published in today’s online issue of the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“While the phenomenon of woody plant invasion has been occurring for decades, for the first time, we have quantified the losses in ecosystem services,” said Osvaldo Sala, Julie A. Wrigley Chair and Foundation Professor with ASU’s School of Life Sciences and School of Sustainability. “We found that an increase in tree and shrub cover of 1 percent leads to a 2 percent loss in livestock production.” And, woody-plant cover in North America increases at a rate between 0.5 and 2 percent per year.
Northern Arizona University: NSF-funded research to examine long-term effects of invasive shrub
August 21, 2014 0 Comments
Northern Arizona University’s Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research received a three-year, $720,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to examine the persistent effects of invasive Scotch broom on the survival and growth of Douglas fir trees, an economically important Pacific Northwest species.
Scotch broom, an invasive species native to Europe, proliferates rapidly after disturbances such as timber harvesting and creates dense stands that crowd out native plants, inhibit reforestation and negatively affect wildlife habitat. Scotch broom also leaves behind a complex legacy of soil chemistry changes that persist long after it is gone. These changes directly affect the survival and growth of Douglas fir.
“This project will examine how chemical changes resulting from Scotch-broom invasions influence beneficial soil organisms and soil-borne tree diseases, with the goal of understanding how long these changes persist and if they can be reversed,” said Karen Haubensak, the project’s principal investigator and assistant research professor in NAU’s Department of Biological Sciences.
Biotechnology/Health
University of Alaska: Biological clocks: Where arctic ground squirrels meet ‘social jet lag’
August 20, 2014
Arctic ground squirrels may seem like little more than a brief thrill for your dog on a hike up Flat Top, but scientists are convinced they’re worth a serious second look.
Ongoing research at UAA, funded jointly with UAF through a National Science Foundation grant, has documented their amazing biological clocks—unique among vertebrates—and prompted questions about how human health might benefit if we better understood their almost obsessive-compulsive adherence to their daily and annual routines.
It’s fact; these squirrels have their schedule down.
Arizona State University: How lizards regenerate their tails: researchers discover genetic 'recipe'
August 20, 2014
By understanding the secret of how lizards regenerate their tails, researchers may be able to develop ways to stimulate the regeneration of limbs in humans. Now, a team of researchers from Arizona State University is one step closer to solving that mystery. The scientists have discovered the genetic “recipe” for lizard tail regeneration, which may come down to using genetic ingredients in just the right mixture and amounts.
An interdisciplinary team of scientists used next-generation molecular and computer analysis tools to examine the genes turned on in tail regeneration. The team studied the regenerating tail of the green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis), which, when caught by a predator, can lose its tail and then grow it back.
The findings are published today in the journal PLOS ONE.
Arizona State University: New research shows seals, sea lions likely spread tuberculosis to humans
August 20, 2014
Tuberculosis is one of the most persistent and deadliest infectious diseases in the world, killing one to two million people each year.
Scientists who study tuberculosis have long debated its origins. New research shows that tuberculosis likely spread from humans in Africa to seals and sea lions that brought the disease to South America and transmitted it to Native people there before Europeans landed on the continent.
The paper, “Pre-Columbian Mycobacterial Genomes Reveal Seals as a Source of New World Human Tuberculosis,” was published in Nature.
University of Arizona: Testing Water for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an important concern for disease prevention in the future. UA doctoral candidate Victoria Obergh is testing Tucson-area wastewater systems to find out where these bacteria can be found.
By Haley Anderson, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
August 18, 2014
In the lab, Victoria Obergh transfers bacterial DNA samples into a tray. A graduate student in the University of Arizona's Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Obergh works with the samples under a sterile hood sporting an ultraviolet light to kill any unwanted DNA.
Obergh is assisting on a project led by Jean McLain, an associate research scientist and associate director of the UA's Water Resources Research Center, with the help of associate professor Channah Rock and other graduate students. The team tests for the presence or absence of antibiotic resistance bacterial genes in wastewater.
In McLain's lab are test tubes. One is cloudy, which she says means it contains antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
She's been finding a lot of that in local water sources. But what exactly does this mean?
Arizona State University: ASU experts follow gut reaction in autism treatment study
August 18, 2014
About half of all children and adults with autism suffer from chronic gastrointestinal problems, causing frequent pain, discomfort and irritability. Research out of Arizona State University suggests these gastrointestinal (GI) complications may be due, in part, to abnormal gut bacteria.
A new study approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and led by Arizona State University will examine a novel treatment – called fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) – for GI problems in children with autism. The treatment involves transferring about 1,000 different species of live gut bacteria from a healthy donor that then act like a broad-spectrum probiotic treatment to restore normal gut bacteria.
FMT has been used to treat serious Clostr[id]ium difficle infections that kill up to 15,000 people each year in the United States. Determining the safety and tolerability of using FMT to treat GI problems in children with autism is driving the study.
University of Arizona: Treating Ebola Patients is 'Difficult Ethical Decision' for Doctors and Nurses, Says UA Global Health Expert
Treating patients with infectious diseases presents an ethical dilemma for health care workers, says Dr. David Beyda. They want to help but place themselves at risk by doing so.
By Al Bravo, UA College of Medicine – Phoenix
August 11, 2014
Dr. David Beyda has been in the trenches, treating patients around the world. So it is easy to believe him when he says health professionals face a moral dilemma when asked to help in an outbreak such as the one occurring in western Africa.
"Being a physician or a nurse caring for those patients with Ebola, knowing that they may, with one slip of a glove, that they may get it, and now they have compromised themselves and they've compromised their families," said Beyda, chairman of the Department of Bioethics and Medical Humanism at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. "It's an extremely difficult ethical decision that we as physicians and nurses face on a daily basis when we are asked to care for those who have an infectious disease."
Beyda, a pediatric critical care specialist at Phoenix Children's Hospital, is also the director of the global health program at the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix. He has received numerous humanitarian awards for his service and has led several groups of students to far-off lands to serve and see health care in developing nations.
University of Arizona: Can We Really Eradicate Polio?
In a world that is constantly changing, attempts to eradicate disease may be unrealistic, according to a commentary published by a UA geography expert.
By Daniel Stolte, University Relations - Communications
August 11, 2014
Efforts at eradicating diseases may be doomed because of a mismatch between the ways humans structure the world and the ways pathogens move through the world, a team of University of Arizona geography experts writes in a commentary published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals.
"The 2013 deadline for the worldwide goal to eradicate polio has come and gone, with a new endgame set for 2018," the authors note. They are Vincent Del Casino, Melinda Butterworth and Georgia Davis, all in the UA School of Geography and Development.
In 1988, the 41st World Health Assembly adopted a resolution for the worldwide eradication of polio. It marked the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by national governments, the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF with support from key partners including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The commentary uses the deadline, and a resurfacing of the virus, as a springboard to addresses the big picture of how to understand and manage infectious diseases in a complex and changing world.
University of Florida: Magnesium surgical implants can be designed to biodegrade, promote bone growth
August 19, 2014
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Ask anyone who has a surgical pin in their body, and they likely will tell you they wish it would just go away.
In the future, it just might, with help from research by Michele Manuel, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Florida.
Manuel has developed a surgical pin made from magnesium and is working to control the rate at which the pin degrades in the body. In laboratory tests, the pin offers several advantages over the plastic and stainless steel or titanium pins currently used.
University of Michigan: Many patients don't understand electronic lab results
August 20, 2014
ANN ARBOR—While it's becoming commonplace for patients to see the results of lab work electronically, a new University of Michigan study suggests that many people may not be able to understand what those numbers mean.
Research conducted by a team at the U-M schools of Public Health and Medicine found that people with low comprehension of numerical concepts—or numeracy—and low literacy skills were less than half as likely to understand whether a result was inside or outside the reference ranges. They also were less able to use the data to decide whether or not to call their doctor.
As more medical professionals and facilities have adopted electronic health record keeping, increasing numbers of patients can see their test results outside of a doctor's visit. One goal of giving patients access to the data is to help them become partners in managing their own care, said Brian Zikmund-Fisher, associate professor of health behavior and health education at the U-M School of Public Health.
University of Michigan: Reduced testosterone tied to chemical exposure
August 18, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Adults and young boys exposed to high levels of phthalates—chemicals found in plastics and some personal care products—tend to have reduced levels of testosterone in their blood compared to those with lower chemical exposure, according to a new University of Michigan study.
Testosterone, the main sex hormone in men, contributes to a variety of functions in both sexes, including physical growth and strength, brain function, bone density and cardiovascular health. In the last 50 years, research has identified a trend of declining testosterone in men and a rise in related health conditions, including reduced semen quality in men and genital malformations in newborn boys.
Animal and cellular studies have found that some phthalates block the effects of testosterone on the body's organs and tissues. Researchers set out to examine whether these chemicals, which are widely used in flexible PVC plastics and personal care products, had a similar effect in humans.
"We found that reduced levels of circulating testosterone were associated with increased phthalate exposure in several key populations, including boys ages 6-12, and men and women ages 40-60," said John Meeker, associate professor of environmental health science at the U-M School of Public Health.
Michigan State University: MSU expert: Protect yourself from floodwater contamination
August 20, 2014
Recent torrential rainfall across the United States has led to flash flooding, filling basements with water and sewage that can contain hundreds of pathogens. Joan Rose, Michigan State University's Homer Nowlin Chair in water research, advises that residents should assume floodwaters are contaminated and that exposure to these waters may raise the risk of diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis, skin and eye infections, and respiratory disorders.
The first step is to remove floodwater and sewage and dry the affected area, according to Rose. Fans and enhanced ventilation are helpful tools for drying damp structural surfaces. Disinfecting these areas also is important.
“It is important to evaluate items contacted by floodwaters, deciding what to discard and what to keep,” Rose said. “Whenever possible, a disinfecting solution of water and chlorine bleach should be applied to the surfaces of saved items.”
Michigan State University: Scanning babies’ fingerprints could save lives
August 19, 2014
Each year 2.5 million children die worldwide because they do not receive life-saving vaccinations at the appropriate time.
Anil Jain, Michigan State University professor, is developing a fingerprint-based recognition method to track vaccination schedules for infants and toddlers, which will increase immunization coverage and save lives.
To increase coverage, the vaccines must be recorded and tracked. The traditional tracking method is for parents to keep a paper document. But in developing countries, keeping track of a baby’s vaccine schedule on paper is largely ineffective, Jain said.
"Paper documents are easily lost or destroyed,” he said. "Our initial study has shown that fingerprints of infants and toddlers have great potential to accurately record immunizations. You can lose a paper document, but not your fingerprints.”
Psychology/Behavior
University of Alaska: Confronting crises that emerge from the brain
August 20, 2014
What would you do if you saw a man clutching his chest, gasping, sweating and turning pale? You’d probably think he was having a heart attack, so you’d probably help him sit, call 911, and stay with him.
If your friend slipped on a rock while hiking, slicing open an artery in her leg, what would you do? You’d grab the closest available clean cloth, apply direct pressure to her wound and get her to an emergency room as quickly as possible.
It’s not as easy to see mental or emotional wounds, but the Mental Health First Aid program—run through UAA’s Center for Human Development—aims to help people learn to spot warning signs of depression, substance abuse, panic attacks and other anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and other mental disorders. Trust Training Cooperative (TTC) coordinates the program.
Florida State University: Let it go: Rumination makes what's bad a whole lot worse
Barbara Ash
08/21/2014 9:48 am
What causes some employees to focus on the future while others seem stuck in the past? How does this choice affect work, stress and interactions with others?
A new study of more than 600 employees in both blue- and white-collar professions, developed by Wayne Hochwarter, Jim Moran Professor of Business Administration in the Florida State University College of Business, and co-author Christopher Rosen of the University of Arkansas, compared individuals more prone to think about past transgressions at work to those focusing more directly on the future. It was published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 124, 2014, pages 177-189.
Approximately 20 percent of surveyed employees could be considered “ruminators” while 40 percent were classified as “forward thinkers,” according to the researchers. The rest of those surveyed were a combination of both to varying degrees. Results indicated that ruminators reported a myriad of less desirable outcomes, including:
- 30 percent experienced higher job stress levels
- 40 percent experienced greater sleep difficulties/disruptions
- 25 percent were less proactive at work
- 35 percent had more frequent strained relations with co-workers
- 50 percent experienced higher levels of depressed mood at work, such as sadness or isolation
Florida State University: Tick-tock: Sound of ticking clock can affect women's attitudes about reproductive timing
Jill Elish
08/14/2014 1:11 pm
The metaphor of a ticking biological clock is often used to refer to a woman’s growing urge to conceive before her childbearing years are over.
Now, two Florida State University researchers have discovered that there’s more truth to the phrase than one might think: The sound of a ticking clock can affect reproductive timing attitudes and lead some women to want to start a family at an earlier age.
Psychology graduate student Justin H. Moss and former Florida State professor Jon K. Maner completed two experiments to test the influence of a subtle environmental factor — the ticking of a small white kitchen timer — on people’s attitudes about reproductive timing. They outlined their findings in a paper, “The Clock Is Ticking: The Sound of a Ticking Clock Speeds Up Women’s Attitudes on Reproductive Timing,” published in the Springer journal Human Nature.
University of Michigan: Purchases 'to have in order to do' make people just as happy as life experiences
August 18, 2014
ANN ARBOR—If you want to be happier, buy life experiences instead of material items.
However, if you are going to buy material items, spend your money on those that provide you with experiences, according to a new University of Michigan and San Francisco State University study.
Previous research compared how happy people feel from obtaining material items—purchases made in order "to have"—and from life experiences—purchases made in order "to do." But this latest study examined consumers' reactions to "experiential" products—purchases that combine material items and life experiences—on their well-being.
In other words, purchases that people make "to have in order to do" would include video games, sports equipment or musical instruments.
Wayne State University: Wayne State study shows cognitive-behavioral coping skills training has positive effects on rheumatoid arthritis
August 22, 2014
DETROIT – Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a complex autoimmune disease that affects 1 to 2 percent of adults, requires patients to not only cope with pain, disability and joint disfigurements, but also other stressors such as disrupted work, family life and marital functioning. While many pharmacological advances help some RA patients, residual pain and disability is common. In addition, some patients avoid newer medications due to their high cost or side effects. Because of this, there is interest in psychosocial interventions for RA such as cognitive-behavioral and emotional processing approaches.
A team of researchers from Wayne State University and collaborators from Duke University Medical Center recently published a paper in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology that explores two psychological interventions separately and in combination to determine their effectiveness in offering relief to RA patients.
The study, “The Effects of Written Emotional Disclosure and Coping Skills Training in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” led by Mark A. Lumley, Ph.D., professor of psychology in Wayne State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, revealed cognitive-behavioral coping skills training (CST) had positive effects on the pain and mood of patients that lasted for at least one year, whereas written emotional closure (WED) — expressive writing about stress — had only temporary and inconsistent benefits on patients’ joints and functioning, and did not help with pain or mood. The combination of CST and WED had had no unique benefits.
Archeology/Anthropology
Arizona State University: Study examines wage disparity among obese workers in China
August 18, 2014
New research that analyzes economic disparity among obese Chinese adults shows that there is no wage disparity for obese women in China, but there is pay inequality among obese men.
Women in China make less on average than men, but the study results showed no disparity in wages because of body weight. Results of the study for men showed increasing wage disparities by occupation when gaining weight.
The study, “The Obesity Pay Gap: Gender, Body Size, and Wage Inequalities: A Longitudinal Study of Chinese Adults, 1991-2009,” which will be presented at the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, shows that obese manual laborers especially earn less money in China.
University of Michigan: Marriage means faster wage growth for men, but not for women
August 15, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Saying "I do" at a young age isn't always the best career option for women.
After the wedding vows are said, gender inequality with wages begin as marriage is associated with fast wage growth for men but slow growth for women, a new University of Michigan study found.
Indeed, the cumulative effects of marriage are driven by different factors. For men, the positive wage link is attributed to increased participation in productivity-enhancing work experience. Women's negative association between marriage and wage growth is usually caused by childbearing, said Siwei Cheng, the study's author and graduate student in the U-M Department of Sociology.
"Marriage in today's American society operates as a de-equalizing force that drives up the gender wage gap over individuals' lives," said Cheng, who will present her findings Saturday (Aug. 16) at the annual American Sociological Association in San Francisco.
Florida State University: Excavation of ancient well yields insight into Etruscan, Roman, and medieval times
Jeffery Seay
08/07/2014 3:40 pm
During a four-year excavation of an Etruscan well at the ancient Italian settlement of Cetamura del Chianti, a team led by a Florida State University archaeologist and art historian unearthed artifacts spanning more than 15 centuries of Etruscan, Roman and medieval civilization in Tuscany.
“The total haul from the well is a bonanza,” said Nancy de Grummond, the M. Lynette Thompson Professor of Classics at Florida State. De Grummond, who has performed work at the site since 1983, is one of the nation’s leading scholars of Etruscan studies.
“This rich assemblage of materials in bronze, silver, lead and iron, along with the abundant ceramics and remarkable evidence of organic remains, create an unparalleled opportunity for the study of culture, religion and daily life in Chianti and the surrounding region,” she said of the well excavation that began in 2011, which is part of a larger dig encompassing the entire Cetamura settlement.
Michigan State University: Busting Biases
An MSU instructor and a team of journalism students debunk stereotypes to increase understanding of cultural differences.
August 20, 2014
We live in an age in which people are hyper connected, with massive amounts of information about other cultures a click away, and yet the lives and backgrounds of our neighbors, coworkers, classmates and even friends often remain a mystery.
Despite our close proximity, there is still a lot people can learn about other cultures, races and religions.
That’s where Joe Grimm comes in. An instructor and visiting-editor-in-residence in MSU’s acclaimed School of Journalism, Grimm has made it his mission to bring people together, open lines of communication and help them see that people are not that different.
Michigan State University: Abusive leadership infects entire team
August 20, 2014
Supervisors who are abusive to individual employees can actually throw the entire work team into conflict, hurting productivity, finds new research led by a Michigan State University business scholar.
The study, conducted in China and the United States, suggests the toxic effect of nonphysical abuse by a supervisor is much broader than believed. Published online in the Journal of Applied Psychology, it’s one of the first studies to examine the effect of bad bosses in employee teams. Teams are increasingly popular in the business world.
Lead investigator Crystal Farh said supervisors who belittle and ridicule workers not only negatively affect those workers’ attitudes and behaviors, but also cause team members to act in a similar hostile manner toward one another.
“That’s the most disturbing finding,” Farh said, “because it’s not just about individual victims now, it’s about creating a context where everybody suffers, regardless of whether you were individually abused or not.”
My able assistant annetteboardman is taking a well-deserved week off.
Paleontology/Evolution
University of Arizona: Galápagos Hawks Hand Down Lice Like Family Heirlooms, Study Finds
A UA-led study provides some of the first evidence for the hypothesis of co-divergence between parasites and hosts acting as a major driver of biodiversity.
By Daniel Stolte, University Relations - Communications
August 6, 2014
Say what you will about the parasitic lifestyle, but in the game of evolution, it's a winner.
Given that about half of all known species are parasites, biologists have long hypothesized that the strategy of leeching off other organisms is a major driver of biodiversity. Studying populations of Galápagos hawks (Buteo galapagoensis) and feather lice that live in their plumage (Degeeriella regalis), a group led by University of Arizona ecologists and evolutionary biologists has gathered some of the first field evidence suggesting that a phenomenon called co-divergence between parasites and hosts is indeed an important mechanism driving the evolution of biodiversity.
"The idea is really simple," said the study's lead author, Jennifer Koop, who is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Noah Whiteman in the UA's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. "Each time a host population splits into separate populations that potentially become different species, we predict that their parasites could do the same thing."
University of Wyoming: UW Scientist Studies How Ancestors of Today’s Mammals Responded to Climate Change
By Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
August 22, 2014
About 10 million years into the current Cenozoic Era, or roughly 56 million years ago, during a climate that was hot and wet, two groups of mammals moved from land to water. These were the cetaceans, which include whales, dolphins and porpoises, and the sirenians, with its sea cows, manatees and dugongs.
Over time, their bodies began to adapt to their new environment. They lost their hind limbs, and their forelimbs began to resemble flippers. Their nostrils moved higher on their skulls. The cetaceans became carnivores, eating fish and squid, while the sirenians became herbivores, living on sea grasses and algae.
“It's an interesting example of evolution, and a natural experiment you don't normally have,” says Mark T. Clementz, an associate professor of paleontology in the University of Wyoming's Department of Geology and Geophysics. “The changes are so extreme, you can't really ignore them. By studying these groups, we can tease out the main environmental factors that affect mammalian groups as they move into a new environment, and a new ecosystem.”
Geology
Discovery News: Oklahoma Has 20 earthquakes in One Day
by Patrick J. Kiger
Aug 22, 2014 04:48 PM ET
Oklahoma has been a little shaky lately. On Aug. 19, the Sooner State was rattled by 20 earthquakes in one day, according to data from Oklahoma’s Geology Survey. It’s the latest manifestation of a significant increase in seismic activity in Oklahoma, which scientists believe is being caused by hydraulic fracturing, AKA fracking, to tap into oil and gas under the surface, and by the injection of wastewater from oil-gas wells into brine reservoirs underground.
While most of the quakes were so small — below a magnitude of 3 — that Oklahoma residents may barely have noticed them, the 10,000 inhabitants of Guthrie, Okla. definitely felt the 4.3 quake that rattled their small city at 7:45 a.m. The vibrations caused a local newscaster to raise her hands in the midst of a segment and shout, “earthquake!”
Energy
University of Michigan: Nuclear reactor reliability: Fast test proves viable
August 20, 2014
ANN ARBOR—A speedy way to mimic the aging of materials inside nuclear reactors has matched all aspects of the damage sustained by a real reactor component for the first time.
The method could help the U.S. and other countries stay ahead of potential problems in reactors that run for 40 years or more and also test materials for building advanced reactors.
"Compared to test reactors, ion beams are quick and cheap," said Gary Was, the Walter J. Weber, Jr. Professor of Sustainable Energy, Environmental and Earth Systems Engineering at the University of Michigan. "They offer the opportunity to address problems on an accelerated timescale."
Michigan State University: Solar energy that doesn’t block the view
August 19, 2014
A team of researchers at Michigan State University has developed a new type of solar concentrator that when placed over a window creates solar energy while allowing people to actually see through the window.
It is called a transparent luminescent solar concentrator and can be used on buildings, cell phones and any other device that has a clear surface.
And, according to Richard Lunt of MSU’s College of Engineering, the key word is “transparent.”
Physics
University of Arizona: Laser 'Lightning Rods' Channel Electricity Through Thin Air
Near-term applications could include remote detonation of land mines.
University Relations - Communications
August 18, 2014
By zapping the air with a pair of powerful laser bursts, researchers at the University of Arizona have created highly focused pathways that can channel electricity through the atmosphere.
The new technique can potentially direct an electrical discharge up to 10 meters (33 feet) away or more, shattering previous distance records for transmitting electricity through air. It also raises the intriguing possibility of one day channeling lightning with laser power.
Described in a paper published in The Optical Society’s new open-access journal Optica, the current system may have near-term, lifesaving applications in areas such as the remote detonation of land mines, the researchers speculate. The laser system could easily pinpoint an active land mine and then carry an electric pulse strong enough to safely discharge harmful explosives from afar.
Chemistry
University of Alaska: Research: Designing ‘home’ on Mars and the moon
August 6, 2014
When life gets tense down here on Earth—climate change, civil unrest, the next election cycle—Alaskans can take comfort knowing one of their own is hard at work discovering what our future houses on Mars and the moon might look like.
That would be Nathaniel Cox, a May 2014 civil engineering graduate from UAA doing research this summer on a fellowship provided by NASA’s Alaska Space Grant Program. His mission: Mix, pour and test the strength of a unique formula for concrete that could potentially shape the walls and ceilings of our extraterrestrial homes. Scientists and engineers actually call it lunarcrete.
One NASA video I watched explained that during the Apollo era’s manned space missions, the agency accumulated a half ton of lunar soil. Even then, scientists realized that space travelers would one day be residents off of planet Earth. What would they live in? How would those structures be built? Hauling everything from planet Earth would be too expensive. Could building blocks be made on the moon?
Michigan Tech: Breakthrough Understanding of Biomolecules Could Lead to New and Better Drugs
August 22, 2014
There’s a certain type of biomolecule built like a nano-Christmas tree. Called a glycoconjugate, it’s many branches are bedecked with sugary ornaments.
It’s those ornaments that get all the glory. That’s because, according to conventional wisdom, the glycoconjugate’s lowly “tree” basically holds the sugars in place as they do the important work of reacting with other molecules.
Now a biochemist at Michigan Technological University has discovered that the tree itself—called the scaffold—is a good deal more than a simple prop.
Science Crime Scenes
University of Michigan: Sneak attack through smartphone shared memory
August 21, 2014
ANN ARBOR—A weakness believed to exist in Android, Windows and iOS operating systems could be used to obtain personal information from unsuspecting users, research at the University of Michigan has shown. The team demonstrated the hack in an Android phone.
The method was successful between 82 percent and 92 percent of the time on six of the seven popular apps they tested. Gmail, CHASE Bank and H&R Block were among those easily compromised.
The hack is particularly dangerous because it allows attackers to time the moment that they present the user with a fake screen to when the user is expecting to enter sensitive data.
University of Vermont: Race Geographies Expert on Ferguson
By Lee Ann Cox
August 21, 2014
As the hashtag #Ferguson trends on Twitter more than a week following Michael Brown’s deadly shooting by a police officer in this suburb of St. Louis, Mo., UVM Today noted @RashadShabazz deeply engaged in the conversation. It’s a topic that Shabazz, UVM assistant professor of geography and protégé of renowned activist Angela Davis, understands well -- his current research looks at issues surrounding the policing of black communities, the projection of young black men as criminals and the geographies of race and racism. His latest book, Spatializing Blackness, examining the prisonization of living spaces in Chicago, will be released next year from the University of Illinois Press.
With the persistent images suggestive of a war zone in a small American town, and a frenzy of both social and mainstream media reporting the story, we sat down with Shabazz for an academic perspective on what these events mean.
Science, Space, Health, Environment, and Energy Policy
University of Arizona: New Initiative Puts UA Research to Work for Small Businesses
A new UA initiative aims to drastically increase the region's economic competitiveness by putting the power of research behind new and small businesses.
August 20, 2014
The University of Arizona has launched an initiative focused on drastically increasing the region's economic competitiveness by putting the power of research behind new and small businesses with the help of federal funding and regional partnerships.
The SBIR/STTR Competitiveness Initiative will identify and pursue opportunities offered through two federally funded efforts designed to stimulate small business growth and economic development: the Small Business Innovation Research program and the Small Business Technology Transfer program.
The SBIR program supports technology innovation by providing federal funds to help grow small technology-based businesses, which then contribute to a strong economy. The STTR program cultivates public-private partnerships by encouraging collaboration between small businesses and nonprofit research institutions, such as the UA.
University of Arizona: UA Program Promotes Smart Water Use in Arizona and Beyond
The UA’s Conserve to Enhance program is helping people save millions of gallons of water across the desert Southwest.
By Shelley Littin, University Relations - Communications
August 13, 2014
Tucson residents have saved 3.6 million gallons of water while contributing to community enhancement projects through Conserve to Enhance, a program started at the University of Arizona.
And now the effort has expanded beyond state boundaries, into Colorado and California, to help people there start their own water conservation and community enhancement programs under the umbrella of the UA-based sustainability endeavor.
Known as C2E, Conserve to Enhance is a program within the Water Resources Research Center in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and is run by UA employees who oversee outreach, manage the websites and provide guidance to startup C2E groups on other locations. It focuses on helping residents and businesses to conserve water by providing participants with access to an online dashboard that charts and tracks their water usage. Conservation tips and strategies also are provided.
University of Arizona: Through Innovative Partnership, 'Hot Shot' Team Tackles Yuma Produce Perils
The new Center for Excellence in Desert Agriculture will aid growers with science and information to address threats to agriculture.
By Gabrielle Fimbres, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
August 11, 2014
Agriculture is big business in Arizona, and industry leaders in Yuma County are teaming up with the University of Arizona to arm growers with science and information they need to swiftly tackle threats to their profitability.
The recently launched Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture - YCEDA – will provide the latest research and information in pest management, food safety, plant diseases, water conservation and more.
Yuma, the winter vegetable capital of the world, is home to more than 175 different crops, with an annual gross economic return of $3.2 billion. About 90 percent of leafy greens consumed in the United States and Canada in the winter come through Yuma.
Yuma and the state depend on this economic engine that can fall prey to diseases, pests, drought, frost, labor, wildlife and even public relations challenges. The public-private partnership was created to provide rapid response to issues important for desert crop production systems and the sustainable, responsible practices of local farmers.
University of Florida: Floridians passionate about, but puzzled by, endangered and invasive species, survey finds
August 18, 2014
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Floridians would likely support a 1 percent sales tax bump to prevent and eradicate disruptive invasive species, a new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences public opinion survey shows.
The survey also shows that residents say they’re not as up to speed on endangered and invasive species as they would like to be.
An online survey in July of 515 Floridians found respondents believe environmental conservation is an important issue and ranked it sixth of 10 public-interest topics: well behind the economy and health care, but ahead of immigration and climate change.
University of Michigan: FDA approves U-M invented drug for Gaucher disease
August 20, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Cerdelga, a treatment for Gaucher disease type 1 licensed by the University of Michigan to Genzyme Corp., has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The company said it expected to make Cerdelga available to patients within the month.
Cerdelga represents the first class of chemical entities conceived and developed at U-M to achieve FDA approval. Cerdelga offers an alternative to the other approved Gaucher disease treatment – an intravenous enzyme replacement. Cerdelga is administered orally and could become a treatment for Gaucher type 1 disease.
University of Wyoming: New Paper Calls for More Carbon Capture and Storage Research
August 21, 2014
Federal efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions must involve increased investment in research and development of carbon capture and storage technologies, according to a new paper published by the University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources (SER) Institute for Carbon Management.
But proposed regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency aimed at restricting emissions from fossil-fueled power plants actually discourage the development of the essential and internationally needed technologies to achieve large global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, through capture and storage of carbon dioxide from power plants and other large stationary sources of CO2, writes SER consultant L.D. Carter.
The paper notes that reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have concluded that strategies to achieve large global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are only practical with effective and affordable carbon capture and storage technologies. But such technologies are not ready for commercial application at coal-fired power plants, and a move to natural gas power generation wouldn’t generate sufficient CO2 emissions reductions.
A more effective approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions would be to ramp up federal spending on carbon capture research and development, Carter argues. The paper suggests several ways to generate revenue for such research.
Science Education
University of Alaska: UAA professor uses Ebola drill to teach virology
August 20, 2014
Ebola creates a human death only Hollywood could love. The stealth of infection followed by a feverish body puddled in blood—it’s the stuff of a nightmare. Storylines from movies like “Outbreak” and “Hot Zone” linger long after the popcorn, seeding pandemic scenarios that haunt.
So no, Eric Bortz, an assistant professor in biological science at UAA, is never surprised when undergraduates arrive in his virology class, all schooled up on Ebola. They’ve watched the big screen, scanned the headlines; they’re interested.
Bortz sends them to discover the facts. This fall, his students will run an outbreak detection exercise not unlike the World Health Organization’s current effort in West Africa. One of the first things they learn about the filovirus is that transmission is through contact with infected body fluids. It’s not airborne, as fictionalized movies suggest.
Michigan State University: Breaking down barriers to improve patient health
August 21, 2014
Nursing, osteopathic medicine and pharmacy graduate students at Michigan State University and Ferris State University will be learning about each other’s specialties to expand their knowledge and bring better care to a rapidly growing patient population.
Kathy Dontje, an assistant professor in MSU’s College of Nursing, is helping to lead efforts on effectively managing care for patients, specifically those with multiple chronic conditions and mental health issues. Students across disciplines will learn how to manage this complex level of care by working in teams to help them become more effective health practitioners.
“Each health profession often has worked in their own silos, communicating in their own languages, and not even really knowing what the other related professions do,” Dontje said, who is also the director of Graduate Clinical Programs for the college. “This program looks to break down these barriers and improve patient care in a collaborative setting at the most efficient cost.”
Science Writing and Reporting
University of Alaska: Researchers, park managers create climate change guide
Yuri Bult-Ito
8/13/2014
A new guide that describes climate change in Alaska’s national parks seeks to engage both state residents and the parks’ two million annual visitors.
“State of Change” is the fruit of a three-year collaboration between University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers and the National Park Service. The 24-page booklet presents a set of complex and interwoven facts about climate change, along with stories told from the perspectives of individuals such as road engineers, scientists and subsistence hunters.
The guide covers a wide range of topics, such as the effects of thawing on archaeological treasures and on the erosion of land under coastal communities. It reports on actions that individuals and parks are taking to learn, adapt and make a difference.
Science is Cool
Florida State University: Doodles for food: Professor's art cart offers organic edibles
Kate Mueller
08/18/2014 10:58 am
A Florida State University artist is on the road this summer offering free organic produce to those that participate in his Doodle Cart Tour.
“Do A Doodle And Get A Free Organic Fruit Or Vegetable” is the banner on Professor Paul Rutkovsky’s Doodle Cart that is filled with watercolor pens, colored pencils and doodle paper. All are invited to draw a doodle and, in exchange, receive a free organic fruit or vegetable.
The tour has made stops throughout Tennessee and Kentucky this summer visiting college campuses, food co-ops and community events. Much of the schedule has been determined on the spur of the moment, and it “just keeps going on,” he said. His tour will continue in the fall with stops at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Ga., and Young Harris College in Young Harris, Ga.
Rutkovsky, an associate professor of studio art at Florida State, insists that he isn’t the art police; participants can draw whatever they wish.
University of Michigan: Study identifies factors that contribute to food trucks' fast spread
August 16, 2014
ANN ARBOR—They're not your father's lowbrow roach coaches serving up greasy burgers and bad dogs. Today's gourmet food trucks peddle sushi, hybrid Korean tacos and other dishes that combine different types of cuisine to create a highbrow dining experience for foodies in search of eclectic, local eats.
That's the take of researchers from the University of Michigan and Northwestern University who harvested Twitter data to conduct a de facto census of upscale U.S. food trucks, invented in Los Angeles in 2008.
"Virtually all these trucks are online and use Twitter to connect with customers, especially if they change locations," said Todd Schifeling, a doctoral candidate in sociology at U-M. "So we were able to avoid the sampling errors that often happen as a result of using social media as data."
Michigan State University: Reading ‘Fifty Shades’ linked to unhealthy behaviors
August 21, 2014
Young adult women who read “Fifty Shades of Grey” are more likely than nonreaders to exhibit signs of eating disorders and have a verbally abusive partner, finds a new study led by a Michigan State University researcher.
Further, women who read all three books in the blockbuster “Fifty Shades” erotic romance series are at increased risk of engaging in binge drinking and having multiple sex partners.
All are known risks associated with being in an abusive relationship, much like the lead character, Anastasia, is in “Fifty Shades,” said Amy Bonomi, the study’s lead investigator. And while the study did not distinguish whether women experienced the health behaviors before or after reading the books, it’s a potential problem either way, she said.
