Yale scientist helps pinpoint threats to life in world's rivers
The food chain - the number of organisms that feed on each other - in the world's streams
and rivers depends more upon the size of the stream and whether the waterways flood or run
dry than the amount of available food resources, Yale University and Arizona State
University (ASU) researchers report online in the Oct. 14 issue of the journal Science
Express. The findings suggest that large predators in river systems will be threatened by
increased variability in water flow induced by climate change. The research also helps
settle an old debate among ecologists about what determines the length of nature's food
chains, which sustain all life on earth.
'Old' information theory makes it
easier to predict flooding
Many different aspects are involved in predicting high water and floods, such as the type
of precipitation, wind, buildings and vegetation. The greater the number of variables
included in predictive models, the better the prediction will be. However, the models will
inevitably become increasingly more complex. Steven Weijs from TU Delft, the Netherlands,
uses basic insight from the information theory (Shannon's Information Theory) to
demonstrate the cohesion between this added complexity, the information from observational
data and the uncertainty of predictions.
Test shows dinosaurs survived mass
extinction by 700,000 years
University of Alberta researchers determined that a fossilized dinosaur bone found in New
Mexico confounds the long established paradigm that the age of dinosaurs ended between
65.5 and 66 million years ago.
TV - Sociale onrust door explosieve
bevolkingsgroei
De roep om verandering klinkt steeds sterker door in het Midden Oosten. Vorig jaar in
Iran, en nu in Tunesië en Egypte komt de bevolking massaal de straat op om verandering te
eisen. Over de aanleidingen wordt druk gespeculeerd. Zo zou de onrust veroorzaakt worden
door de hoge voedselprijzen, of door het gebruik van Social Media. Maar moet de oorzaak
niet gezocht worden in de enorme bevolkingsaanwas in het Midden Oosten in de afgelopen 25
jaar?
Researchers offer alternate theory
for found skull's asymmetry
A new turn in the debate over explanations for the odd features of LB1--the specimen
number of the only skull found in Liang Bua Cave on the Indonesian island of Flores and
sometimes called "the hobbit"--is further evidence of a continued streak of
misleading science regarding the development of new species, says Penn State researcher
Robert Eckhardt.
Separation between Neanderthal and
Homo sapiens might have occurred 500,000 years earlier
Spanish scientists have analyzed the teeth of almost all species of hominids that have
existed during the past four million years. Thus, they achieved to identify Neanderthal
features in ancient European populations. Dental fossils suggest that the separation
occurred at least a million years ago, while DNA-based analyses suggest that this occurred
much later.
For the first time, KIT scientists have successfully measured in the ozone layer the
chlorine compound ClOOCl which plays an important role in stratospheric ozone depletion.
The doubts in the established models of polar ozone chemistry expressed by American
researchers based on laboratory measurements are disproved by these new atmospheric
observations. The established role played by chlorine compounds in atmospheric ozone
chemistry is in fact confirmed by KIT's atmospheric measurements.
As humidity rises, sweating cools us less, so we suffer heat stress at lower air
temperatures. For now, no place on Earth exceeds the human threshold for heat tolerance,
with the exception of a few caves like the Naica cave in Mexico.
Cool rainforests store more carbon per acre than tropical rainforests, according to a new
book that synthesizes the work of 30 international scientists, a finding that could shift
the way policymakers approach climate policy.
Basic information as a slideshow about the scientific biophysical discovery by Swiss
scientist Guido Ebner, which may allow free access to seeds and nutrition to the most
needy in the world. The discovery allows organsims to tab in their genetical memory and
thus poses fundamental cultural and philosophical questions beyond the production benefit.
The Guido Ebner Institute promotes knowledge and research about the discovery on a non for
profit open source basis. Please visit us at geinstitute.org
1 December - Hanze Lezing -
UFO’s - Waanbeelden of signalen van buitenaards leven?
UFO's worden in de volksmond nog gemakkelijk terzijde geschoven als onzinnige fantasieën,
spinsels van idioten en fantasten, maar feit is dat er veel betrouwbare bronnen zijn die
'iets' gezien hebben. Wat voor 'iets'? Over welke feiten hebben we het precies? Hoe kunnen
we feiten van fictie onderscheiden? Bijna dagelijks claimt er ergens op de wereld iemand
een UFO te hebben gezien. Ufologen zijn ervan overtuigd: het zijn buitenaardse wezens die
onze planeet bezoeken. De meeste mensen doen deze observaties af als waanbeelden of
geheime defensieprojecten. Maar zijn UFO's allemaal te verklaren met aardse
verschijnselen? Of zijn er wel degelijk aanwijzingen van buitenaardse origine? En wat
kunnen we zeggen over de gebruikte technologie?
A study on the effect of global warming on African ape survival suggests that a warming
climate may cause apes to run ‘out of time’. The research, published today in
Journal of Biogeography, reveals that rising temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns
have strong effects on ape behavior, distribution and survival, pushing them even further
to the brink of extinction.
‘Nature’s batteries’
may have helped power early lifeforms
Researchers at the University of Leeds have uncovered new clues to the origins of life on
Earth. The team found that a compound known as pyrophosphite may have been an important
energy source for primitive lifeforms. There are several conflicting theories of how life
on Earth emerged from inanimate matter billions of years ago - a process known as
abiogenesis. "It's a chicken and egg question," said Dr Terry Kee of the
University of Leeds, who led the research. "Scientists are in disagreement over what
came first - replication, or metabolism. But there is a third part to the equation - and
that is energy." All living things require a continual supply of energy in order to
function. This energy is carried around our bodies within certain molecules, one of the
best known being ATP*, which converts heat from the sun into a useable form for animals
and plants.
The icy Arctic waters around Norway's archipelago of Svalbard may seem pristine and clear,
but like the rest of the world's oceans, they are facing the threat of growing acidity.
Half the tropical forests in the world - the lungs of our ecosystems - are gone; by 2030,
at the current rate of harvest, only 10% will be left standing. Ninety percent of the big
fish in the sea are gone, victim to wanton predatory fishing practices.
Veranderingen aardmagnetisch veld
beïnvloeden zowel fysiek als emotioneel
Veranderingen in het aardmagnetisch veld kunnen niet alleen aardbevingen en
vulkaanuitbarstingen helpen voorspellen, ook hebben ze invloed op bijvoorbeeld
hersengolven en het zenuwstelsel van aardbewoners.
Soil-borne pathogens drive tree
diversity in forests, study shows
Researchers have identified soil-borne pathogens as one important mechanism that can
maintain species diversity and explain patterns of tree abundance in a forest.
Rare plant species are much more negatively affected by the presence of their own species
as neighbors than are common species. This may explain how biodiversity arises and is
maintained.
Kunstenaar Peter Westerveld was jarenlang wildparkbeheerder in Afrika. Het oprukken van de
woestijn en de snelle ontbossing zag hij met lede ogen aan. Jarenlang werkte hij
stilletjes aan een revolutionair plan om woestijnen weer groen te maken en het tij te
keren. Hij kwam met zo'n simpele oplossing dat je denkt, waarom is dit niet eerder
bedacht: 'sleuven graven'.
Tel Aviv University archaeologists have discovered evidence that places Homo sapiens in
Israel as early as 400,000 years ago -- the earliest evidence for the existence of modern
man anywhere in the world.
Onderzoekers brengen eeuwenoude
bacteriën tot leven
Onderzoekers van de Binghamton University hebben onlangs eeuwenoude bacteriën nieuw leven
ingeblazen die duizenden jaren in waterdruppels (ook wel vloeistofinsluitsels) in
zoutkristallen ingesloten zaten. Geologen vroegen zich al decennia lang af of uit deze
waterdruppels microben konden worden onttrokken. In zoutkristallen zijn dergelijke
vloeistofinsluitsels gevonden van duizenden tot honderden miljoenen jaren oud, en altijd
bleef de vraag of de organismen die gecultiveerd konden worden uit deze zoutkristallen nu
echt oud materiaal zouden zijn of een verontreiniging uit de moderne tijd, zegt Tim
Lowenstein, professor in geologische wetenschappen en milieustudies van Binghamton.
Lowenstein en Binghamton-collega J. Koji Lum, professor in antropologie en biologische
wetenschappen, denken dat ze een antwoord hebben op deze vraag. En ze hebben 400.000
dollar van de National Science Foundation ontvangen om hier verder onderzoek naar te doen.
[Annelies]
Studie zou kunnen betekenen -
grotere opwarming van de aarde dan verwacht
De huidige state-of-the-art mondiale klimaatmodellen voorspellen een aanzienlijke
opwarming in reactie op de toename van de broeikasgassen zoals co2. De modellen
verschillen in grote mate en omvang in de opwarming die we kunnen verwachten. De
onenigheid tussen de modellen is voornamelijk te wijten aan de verschillende
vertegenwoordiging van wolken. Sommige modellen voorspellen dat de mondiale
gemiddeldebewolking zal toenemen in een warm klimaat en dat toenemende reflectie van
zonnestraling de voorspelde mondiale opwarming zal beperken. Andere modellen voorspellen
verminderde bewolking en verhoogde opwarming. In een recente uitgave van "Journal of
Climate" hebben onderzoekers van de Universiteit van Hawai de prestatie beoordeeld
van huidige modellen voor bewolkingssimulaties en hebben een nieuwe benadering
gepresenteerd om de verwachtte wolken feedback te bepalen in een warm klimaat.
On the edge of one of the planet's most ice-covered regions, an Alaska glacier is ignoring
all climate signals as it advances to the sea. Scientists aim to find out why - and what
it means for sea levels around the world.
Superinvesteerder en grondstoffengoeroe Jim Rogers ziet de wereld steeds meer worden zoals
hij altijd voorspelde. Daarom is zijn laatste voorspelling uit Agenda 2009 nu wellicht
actueel 'It is going to get worse'. Jos de Putter ontmoet oude bekende Rogers in Newark,
in transit tussen twee vluchten. Rogers pendelt heen en weer tussen de VS en Azië, waar
het volgens hem nu allemaal aan het gebeuren is. Europa kan hij gevoeglijk overslaan, want
hij voorspelde in 1999 namelijk al de val van de Euro.
Groot Brittannië en Europa gaan een winter tegemoet die extremen kent omdat de golfstroom
vertraagd is. Het is voor u lezer, belangrijk kennis te nemen van deze informatie die
nooit bedoeld is om paniek te zaaien maar u van informatie te voorzien die de normale
media niet geven. Wellicht kunnen we een lange en koude winter tegemoet zien. [Naft]
Business will pay the costs of
depleting natural resources
The rapid degradation of the natural world by humans, therefore, has a very real and
detrimental impact on the ability of people to support themselves and their families, and
hits the bottom line of businesses in every sector of the economy.
Secret Space program Conferentie 3
April Amsterdam
Connecting the Dots ... Richard Hoagland, Peter Levenda, Timothy Good, Richard Dolan en
Jay Weidner ontrafelen het duurste, meest geheime en invloedrijkste programma verborgen
voor onze samenleving... “the secret space program”. Deze toonaangevende
sprekers komen samen om ons verborgen verleden, heden en toekomst in een nieuw daglicht te
zetten. Waar gaat het heen met de menselijke samenleving en wie is de drijvende kracht
hierachter? Hoe zien de aardse veranderingen eruit in deze dreigende afsplitsing van onze
wereldbeschaving?
A positive link between the strength of selection and the expression of genetic variance
in a wild songbird population of great tits in the Netherlands suggests that changing
environmental conditions could exert a strong influence on the pace at which populations
respond to selection.
De voorbije eeuw is de hoeveelheid natuurlijk stof in de atmosfeer verdubbeld, mede door
de verwoestijning. Dat heeft een invloed op het milieu en op de klimaatverandering, zo
blijkt uit onderzoek van de Universiteit van Cornell.
Reforestation Projects Capture More
Carbon Than Industrial Plantations, Reveals New Research
Australian scientists researching environmental restoration projects have found that the
reforestation of damaged rainforests is more efficient at capturing carbon than
controversial softwood monoculture plantations. The research, published in Ecological
Management & Restoration, challenges traditional views on the efficiency of industrial
monoculture plantations.
The estimated number of chronically hungry people in the world has dipped considerably
below the one billion mark, thanks to good harvests and a drop in food prices from the
spikes that sparked rioting just a few years ago, according to figures released Tuesday by
the United Nations.
Ocean Acidification in the Arctic -
EU EPOCA Project investigates the consequences of carbon dioxide increase on marine
ecosystems
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions not only lead to global warming, but also cause another,
less well-known but equally disconcerting environmental change: ocean acidification. A
group of 35 researchers of the EU-funded EPOCA project have just started the first major
CO2 perturbation experiment in the Arctic Ocean. Their goal is to determine the response
of Arctic marine life to the rapid change in ocean chemistry. Ocean acidity has increased
by 30% since preindustrial times due to the uptake of anthropogenic CO2. It is projected
to rise by another 100% before 2100 if CO2 emissions continue at current rates. Polar seas
are considered particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification because the high solubility
of CO2 in cold waters results in naturally low carbonate saturation states. CO2 induced
acidification will easily render these waters sub-saturated, where seawater becomes
corrosive for calcareous organisms. By the time atmospheric CO2 exceeds 490 parts per
million (2040 to 2050, depending on the scenario considered), more than half of the Arctic
Ocean is projected to be corrosive to aragonite. Arctic waters are home to a wide range of
calcifying organisms, both in benthic and pelagic habitats, including shell fish, seas
urchins, coralline algae, and calcareous plankton. Many of these are key species providing
crucial links in the Arctic food web, such as the planktonic pteropods, which serve as
food for fishes, seabirds and whales.
Evenals vorige jaren maakte Manuela van der Knaap weer een boel tijd vrij voor een gedegen
bestudering van de horoscoop voor 2011. Veel van wat je hier in haar artikel kunt lezen
daarover, zul je intuïtief mogelijk al gevoelsmatig bevestigd zien.. Een degelijk stukje
vakwerk van Manuela, waar we je hier van laten meegenieten! Veel plezier met de horoscoop
2011! [Geert]
Sweden's government weather agency reported on Friday that the ozone layer over southern
Sweden reached its thickest levels at the end of last year, surpassing the previous record
set in 1991.
Middle to Late Paleolithic -
Neanderthals Consumed Grains and Legumes
Approximately 50,000 yrs ago, definitely before the end of the middle paleolithic era,
evidence for Neanderthals collecting phytic acid rich legumes and small-grain grasses
exists.
Emory University scientists have discovered that simple peptides can organize into
bi-layer membranes. The finding suggests a "missing link" between the pre-biotic
Earth's chemical inventory and the organizational scaffolding essential to life.
Spending time in nature makes
people feel more alive, study shows
Being outside in nature makes people feel more alive, finds a series of studies published
in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of Environmental Psychology. And that sense of
increased vitality exists above and beyond the energizing effects of physical activity and
social interaction that are often associated with our forays into the natural world.
Sewage water bacteria fills
‘missing link’ in early evolution of life on earth
A common group of bacteria found in acid bogs and sewage treatment plants has provided
scientists with evidence of a ‘missing link’ in one of the most important steps
in the evolution of life on earth - the emergence of cells with a nucleus containing DNA
(eukaryotic cells). For billions of years, bacteria (single celled organisms without a
nucleus) were the only cellular life form on earth. Then, about 1.6 - 2.1 billion years
ago, eukaryotic cells emerged. These cells (with a nucleus) heralded the evolution of
multi-cellular life on earth including: plants, insects, animals and humans.
What future for biodiversity?
Scenarios for action
The loss of biodiversity will continue in the 21st Century. Global-scale extinctions will
increase strongly, the average species abundance1 will decline and their distribution will
be disturbed. Scientists thought until recently that the complexity of biodiversity made
it unfeasible to predict future trends. Now, however, like the climatologists, life
science specialists are able to predict future situations. A group of international
experts2, including several IRD researchers, have just published a compilation of
global-scale quantitative scenarios depicting possible changes in biodiversity. In spite
of a degree of uncertainty in the models elaborated, the possible trends converge. If the
processes of human and economic development do not change radically, the Earth is heading
for disaster. With changes in land use, in climate and overexploitation of natural
resources, humans activities are central to the major threats to biodiversity. The
scenarios developed nevertheless point to possible lines of action.
Helping feed the world without
polluting its waters
A growing global population has lead to increasing demands for food. Farmers around the
world rely, at least in part on phosphorus-based fertilizers in order to sustain and
improve crop yields. But the overuse of phosphorus can lead to freshwater pollution and
the development of a host of problems, such as the spread of blue-green algae in lakes and
the growth of coastal ‘dead zones’.
Variable southeast summer rainfall
linked to climate change
A doubling of abnormally wet or dry summer weather in the southeastern United States in
recent decades has come from an intensification of the summertime North Atlantic
Subtropical High (NASH), or "Bermuda High." And that intensification appears to
be coming from global warming, according to a new analysis by a Duke University-led team
of climate scientists. The NASH is an area of high pressure that forms each summer near
Bermuda, where its powerful surface center helps steer Atlantic hurricanes and plays a
major role in shaping weather in the eastern United States, Western Europe and
northwestern Africa.
Pollutants in aquifers may threaten
future of Mexico's fast-growing 'Riviera Maya'
Pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, shampoo, toothpaste, pesticides, chemical run-off from
highways and many other pollutants infiltrate the giant aquifer under Mexico's
"Riviera Maya," research shows. The wastes contaminate a vast labyrinth of
water-filled caves under the popular tourist destination on the Yucatan Peninsula. The
polluted water flows through the caves and into the Caribbean Sea. Land-sourced pollution
may have contributed, along with overfishing, coral diseases, and climate change, to the
loss since 1990 of up to 50% of corals on the reefs off the region's coast. And, with a
10-fold increase in population through 2030 expected, the problems are likely to worsen,
according to research published today in the journal Environmental Pollution.
UN Scientists Say Ozone Layer
Depletion Has Stopped
The protective ozone layer in the earth's upper atmosphere has stopped thinning and should
largely be restored by mid century thanks to a ban on harmful chemicals, UN scientists
said on Thursday.
A team of environmental engineers, who might better be called "archeologists of the
air," have, for the first time, isolated aerosol particles in near pristine
pre-industrial conditions. Working in the remote Amazonian Basin north of Manaus, Brazil,
the researchers measured particles emitted or formed within the rainforest ecosystem that
are relatively free from the influence of anthropogenic, or human, activity.
Al weer bijna vier jaar geleden loofden Richard Branson en Al Gore een prijs van 25
miljoen dollar uit voor degene met het beste plan om enorme hoeveelheden broeikasgas uit
de atmosfeer te halen. Afgelopen week werd bekend van Olaf Schuiling een van de tien
kanshebbers is op die prijs. Zijn plan: het mineraal olivijn CO2 laten opslurpen. Een
gesprek met de geochemicus van de Universiteit Utrecht.
The mystery of how an abundance of fossils have been marvellously preserved for nearly
half a billion years in a remote region of Africa has been solved by a team of geologists
from the University of Leicester's Department of Geology. They have established that an
ancient wind brought life to the region - and was then instrumental in the preservation of
the dead. Sarah Gabbott, Jan Zalasiewicz and colleagues investigated a site near the Table
Mountains in South Africa. Their findings are published in the latest issue of the journal
Geology.
Dennis maakt zijn ultieme jongensdroom waar: met vier jongens langs de westcoast van
Australië. In drie weken tijd rijdt Dennis samen met de 3 op Reis crew van Broome naar
Darwin. De mannen leggen de reis van tweeduizend kilometer af in een 4x4, omdat ze bijna
de helft van de trip offroad zijn. Slapen gebeurt in de tent op het dak van de wagen of in
de buitenlucht. Het eten wordt bereid op een vuurtje. Tijdens de trip maken de jongens van
alles mee: van een lekke autoband in the middle of nowhere tot een vlucht met een
propellervliegtuigje over de mooiste watervallen. En van een ontmoeting met Aboriginals
tot het zien van een krokodil die midden in de nacht vleermuizen uit de lucht hapt: Down
Under kan het allemaal.
Amazonian biodiversity much older
than originally thought
Amazonia's huge biodiversity originated with the formation of the Andes and, as such,
dates back further than previously realised, claims an article written by an international
research group, headed by a researcher from the University of Gothenburg, published in the
journal Science. "With the results we present in this article, we've rewritten the
entire history of Amazonia in terms of the development of its biodiversity," says
Alexandre Antonelli from the University of Gothenburg's Department of Plant and
Environmental Sciences, and scientific curator at the Gothenburg Botanical Garden
(Sweden).
Animal and plant species are being killed off faster than ever before as human populations
surge and people consume more, a United Nations report is expected to say this week.
Deze tekst gaat over het ontstaan van zowat alle mistoestanden op deze planeet. Over hoe
een aantal (opzettelijke?) misvattingen geleidt hebben tot her verliezen van onze eerlijk
zelfbewustzijn. Over wat je kan doen en hoe je kan beginnen bij het aangenamer maken van
alle leven. [Geert]
Over the last 10 years, reports of feminized wildlife have fueled chilling headlines. Most
of these reports have focused on the many ways that estrogen in sewage effluent can
distort normal male development. Now a reveals that too much estrogen causes subtle
changes in female fish's courting behavior.
Warming Of Planet Will Affect
Storms Differently In Northern And Southern Hemispheres
Weather systems in the Southern and Northern hemispheres will respond differently to
global warming, according to an MIT atmospheric scientist's analysis that suggests the
warming of the planet will affect the availability of energy to fuel extratropical storms,
or large-scale weather systems that occur at Earth's middle latitudes. The resulting
changes will depend on the hemisphere and season, the study found.
Ancient gardens are the stuff of legend, from the Garden of Eden to the Hanging Gardens of
Babylon. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with Heidelberg
University in Germany, have uncovered an ancient royal garden at the site of Ramat Rachel
near Jerusalem, and are leading the first full-scale excavation of this type of
archaeological site anywhere in the pre-Hellenistic Levant.
UBC researchers part of Planck
satellite team that uncovers secrets of the universe
University of British Columbia researchers are part of European Space Agency's Plank
satellite mission that is revealing thousands of "exotic" astronomical objects,
including extremely cold dust clouds, galaxies with powerful nuclei and giant clusters of
galaxies.
Polar bears, the icon of the Arctic, are under threat from the twin challenges of climate
change and chemicals that are not breaking down in the region's cold waters.
Greenland glacier calves island 4
times the size of Manhattan
A University of Delaware researcher reports that an "ice island" four times the
size of Manhattan has calved from Greenland's Petermann Glacier. The last time the Arctic
lost such a large chunk of ice was in 1962.
Radio - Dit is niet vergelijkbaar
met de ontdekking van buitenaards leven
Over de persconferentie van de NASA werd al veel gespeculeerd. Gisteravond was die dan
eindelijk. Er werd bekend gemaakt dat er een arseen-bacterie is ontdekt, hier op aarde. In
een giftig meer in Californië.
The worst impact of climate change
may be how humanity reacts to it
The way that humanity reacts to climate change may do more damage to many areas of the
planet than climate change itself unless we plan properly, an important new study
published in Conservation Letters by Conservation International's Will Turner and a group
of other leading scientists has concluded.
Biodiversity and poverty reduction
- Who controls the seeds?
In many developing countries the right of farmers to use and exchange farm-saved seed is a
form of life insurance. Ensuring that farmers have this right is an important means of
alleviating poverty and is crucial to maintaining crop genetic diversity throughout the
world.
Solar flares could paralyse
Britain's power and communications, Liam Fox says
Britain’s electrical system, financial networks and transport infrastructure could
all be paralysed by a solar flare or a nuclear attack, Liam Fox will warn next week.
Industrial Farming and
Globalization - Responsibly Destroying the World's Peasantry
Hunger and malnutrition are not primarily the result of insufficient food production; they
are the result of poverty and inequality, particularly in rural areas, where 75% of the
world’s poor still reside.
We richten ons al jaren op de zoektocht naar leven op andere planeten, maar wat als een
voor ons vreemde levensvorm al die tijd ongezien tussen ons leeft?
Chemical Agri-Business Farm Bureau
Demands its Right to Pollute U.S. Groundwater and Atmosphere
AP writer Ray Henry reported yesterday that, "A sweeping plan to control water
pollution in the Chesapeake Bay must be challenged because it will ruin regional
agriculture and become the model for similar restrictions nationally, the head of the
nation's largest farm lobbying group said Sunday.
Extent of corruption in countries
around the world tied to earthquake fatalities
A new assessment of global earthquake fatalities over the past three decades indicates
that 83 percent of all deaths caused by the collapse of buildings during earthquakes
occurred in countries considered to be unusually corrupt.
De NASA heeft een ontdekking gedaan die onze wetenschappelijke kijk op leven ingrijpend
kan veranderen. Er werd altijd gedacht dat al het leven op aarde opgebouwd is uit zes
stoffen: koolstof, waterstof, stikstof, zuurstof, fosfor en zwavel. Dit geldt voor mensen,
dieren, planten en micro-organismen, zoals bacteriën. De NASA heeft nu een bacterie
ontdekt die kan overleven met arseen als bouwstof, in plaats van fosfor.
Polar bear births could plummet
with climate change
University of Alberta researchers Peter Molnar, Andrew Derocher and Mark Lewis studied the
reproductive ecology of polar bears in Hudson Bay and have linked declining litter sizes
with loss of sea ice.
This year’s extreme heat is putting the world’s coral reefs under such severe
stress that scientists fear widespread die-offs, endangering not only the richest
ecosystems in the ocean but also fisheries that feed millions of people.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox has highlighted warnings from scientists that essential
infrastructure could be paralysed by a once-in-a-century solar flare.
Verzuring van de oceanen kan een grotere impact hebben op de dieren die er leven dan tot
nu toe werd gedacht. Schaaldieren zullen waarschijnlijk meer moeite hebben met het vormen
van hun skelet en het anemoonvisje Nemo kan door de verzuring verdwaald raken.
Play was a central element of people's lives as far back as 4,000 years ago. This has been
revealed by an archaeology thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, which
investigates the social significance of the phenomenon of play and games in the Bronze Age
Indus Valley in present-day Pakistan.
The 9 billion people projected to inhabit the Earth by 2050 need not starve in order to
preserve the environment, says a major report on sustainability out this week.
Neanderthals more advanced than
previously thought
For decades scientists believed Neanderthals developed `modern' tools and ornaments solely
through contact with Homo sapiens, but new research from the University of Colorado Denver
now shows these sturdy ancients could adapt, innovate and evolve technology on their own.
The findings by anthropologist Julien Riel-Salvatore challenge a half-century of
conventional wisdom maintaining that Neanderthals were thick-skulled, primitive `cavemen'
overrun and outcompeted by more advanced modern humans arriving in Europe from Africa.
The Earth is expected to be home to roughly 9 billion people by 2050 -- and everyone needs
to eat. But a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme observes that
growing and producing food make agriculture and food consumption among the most important
drivers of environmental pressures, including climate change and habitat loss.
Earth's magnetic pole shift
unleashing poisonous space clouds linked to mysterious bird deaths
Following the unexplained deaths of several thousand birds over the last two weeks, events
are now emerging that may offer a physics-based explanation for the mysterious deaths. It
all begins on a runway in Tampa, where airport officials recently closed that runway in
order to change the numeric designators painted there. Why are those numeric designators
being changed?
Accurately predicting climate change involves a thorough knowledge of how perturbations in
the Earth's radiation balance influence temperature and other climate variables. These
feedbacks alter the Earth's capability to absorb incoming solar radiation, and they
involve water vapor, clouds, and ice and snow effects. Traditionally, changes in
atmospheric chemistry induced by changes in climate have not been fed back into climate
models to further change the climate itself. Thus, studies that evaluate the effect of
reducing emissions typically assume a constant climate state rather than an evolving one,
neglecting the effects of how changing atmospheric compositions influence climate.
Does the ocean influence the
atmosphere's response to ozone depletion?
Southern Hemisphere weather patterns have changed significantly over the past few decades.
Modeling studies have shown that these changes can be mainly attributed to stratospheric
ozone depletion. However, the ozone layer is predicted to slowly recover over the next
several decades, and climate modelers would like to predict how the atmosphere will
respond to this recovery. It is known that the ocean influences the atmosphere:
wind-induced changes to the ocean feed back on the atmosphere, making atmospheric
fluctuations more persistent. It is anticipated that such atmosphere-ocean interaction
will affect the atmosphere's response to ozone changes. The basic question is: do
ocean-atmosphere interactions need to be included in climate models that project the
atmosphere's response to ozone recovery? Currently, the majority of these models do not
include this interaction.
Sterrenkundigen voorspellen dat er in de nabije toekomst twee zonnen aan de hemel staan.
Dat kan volgend jaar al gebeuren. Oorzaak is Betelgeuze (alpha Orionis), een heldere ster
in het sterrenbeeld Orion en de op één na grootste ster in onze melkweg. Betelgeuze, een
zogenaamde rode superreus, is aan het eind van zijn leven en kan op ieder moment een
supernova worden. Als dat gebeurt zal wekenlang een tweede zon aan het firmament
verschijnen. Waarschijnlijk valt in die periode de nacht weg. [Geert]
De ijskap op Groenland is afgelopen zomer flink gesmolten. Meer dan ooit eerder is
gemeten, zelfs. Glacioloog Roderik van der Wal van de universiteit Utrecht is één van de
wetenschappers die dat hebben vastgesteld.
NASA's Kepler Mission Finds
Earth-size Planet Candidates in Habitable Zone, Six Planet System
NASA's Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first
candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's
surface. Five of the potential planets are near Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone
of smaller, cooler stars than our sun. Kepler also found six confirmed planets orbiting a
sun-like star, Kepler-11. This is the largest group of transiting planets orbiting a
single star yet discovered outside our solar system. Located approximately 2,000 light
years from Earth, Kepler-11 is the most tightly packed planetary system yet discovered.
All six of its confirmed planets have orbits smaller than Venus, and five of the six have
orbits smaller than Mercury's.
New evidence for climate impacts on
ancient societies
Annual-resolved European summer climate has, for the first time ever, been reconstructed
over the past 2,500 years. Tree rings reveal possible links between past climate
variability and changes in human history. Climate change coincided with periods of
socioeconomic, cultural and political turmoil associated with the Barbarian Migrations,
the Black Death and Thirty Years’ War. An international research team of
archaeologists, climatologists, geographers and historians led by Willy Tegel (University
of Freiburg, Institute for Forest Growth) and Ulf Büntgen (Swiss Federal Research
Institute WSL) compared variations in European summer climate with conspicuous events and
episodes in human history. Their study, scheduled for publication in the 13 January 2011
online version of the journal Science, provides new evidence that agrarian wealth and
overall economic growth may was impacted by climate change.
Norwegian researcher unlocks
construction secrets of the Pyramids
For thousands of years, scientists from around the world have tried to understand how the
Egyptians erected their giant pyramids. Now, an architect and researcher at the Norwegian
University of Science and Technology (NTNU) says he has the answer to this ancient,
unsolved puzzle. Researchers have been so preoccupied by the weight of the stones that
they tend to overlook two major problems: How did the Egyptians know exactly where to put
the enormously heavy building blocks? And how was the master architect able to communicate
detailed, highly precise plans to a workforce of 10,000 illiterate men?
A massive solar storm, considered an inevitable occurrence by astrophysicists, would wreak
devastation on modern civilization like a Hurricane Katrina across the globe, U.S.
government officials have concluded.
Het Britse Seawater Greenhouse heeft een techniek ontwikkeld om energieneutraal zeewater
te gebruiken voor het irrigeren van de woestijn. Met de techniek is het mogelijk om
woestijnen, die samen eenderde van het totale landoppervlak in beslag nemen, te veranderen
in bronnen van voedsel, energie en drinkwater. [Geert]
It has been a while since Iceland's unpronounceable volcano shut down European airspace
for a week. This could be about to change, because as FromTheOld demonstrates, the seismic
activity at the base of Bárðarbunga stratovolcano, which also happens to be the highest
mountain in Iceland, has picked up materially over the last 48 hours.
From the point of view of many humans, the term "natural disaster" is a
convenient scapegoat because it allow a person (or a whole nation) to blame nature for
their own poor planning. Wherever we find so-called "natural disasters" around
the world (such as Brazil at the moment), we also usually find a large group of people who
have cut down the forests that buffer rainfall, paved over the grasslands that allow rain
to soak into the soil, and built their homes right in the middle of gullies and natural
drainage channels. When the floods come, they look to the sky and curse Mother Nature,
shouting, "We got hit by a natural disaster!"
Global warming researchers says
eating bugs better for environment than eating meat
Researchers from Wageningen University in the Netherlands say that insects produce far
less greenhouse gases than cattle and pigs do, and would thus be a viable alternative to
eating meat. Published in the journal PLoS ONE, the study found that pigs, for instance,
produce up to one hundred times more greenhouse gases than the equivalent weight of
mealworms.
Canadian biologist blames loss of
natural areas for decline in songbird species
A rapid decline in the number of songbirds across North America should serve as a wake-up
call about what is being done to the environment, a Canadian biologist warned Friday.
Hoe werkt winterslaap? En kunnen mensen ook een winterslaap houden? Onderzoekers zijn hard
op weg om de raadselen van de winterslaap te ontrafelen. Zo ontdekte Hjalmar Bouma welke
belangrijke rol het afweersysteem speelt bij winterslaap. Met deze kennis kunnen we straks
veiliger organen transplanteren. En in winterslaap comfortable een lange ruimtereis maken.
Video - Surniname - Importance of
biodiversity for the rainforests to be intact
The tropical forest is important for the global climate: but how does the CO2 storage in
the rainforest exactly work? And how does biodiversity contribute to the survival of the
forest? A research group looked for answers in the jungles of Suriname. The environmental
organization Conservation International regularly invitews research teams to study
ecological diversity in different regions of the world. The latest project is of
particular interest to scientists: flora and fauna in the southern jungles of Suriname has
never yet been studied systematically.
