Global warming isn’t the only reason why Antarctic ice shelves are falling apart
Posted: December 31, 2009 Filed under: climate change, Glaciers, Global Warming Leave a comment »
Slow tsunami-like waves are rolling into the waters off Antarctica. Generated by storms churning as near as the Patagonia coast and as far away as the Gulf of Alaska, these waves jostle the continent’s giant floating ice shelves.According to a new study appearing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the rumbling may account for some of the decade’s most dramatic ice breakups, which may only get worse as the planet’s climate changes.
read it here
Proplyds in the Orion Nebula
Posted: December 30, 2009 Filed under: Space Leave a comment »
Click to Enlarge
A collection of 30 never-before-released images of embryonic planetary systems in the Orion Nebula are the highlight of the longest single Hubble Space Telescope project ever dedicated to the topic of star and planet formation. Also known as proplyds, or protoplanetary discs, these modest blobs surrounding baby stars are shedding light on the mechanism behind planet formation.
click here to read
Chavez seeks to rename Venezuela’s Angel Falls
Posted: December 28, 2009 Filed under: Countries, News Leave a comment »
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called for the world’s highest waterfall, Angel Falls, to be given back its indigenous name.
The falls, which drop nearly 1km (0.6 miles) from a flat-topped mountain in the south of Venezuela, are currently named after a 1930s US aviator.
Jimmy Angel is believed to have been the first outsider to see them.
Mr Chavez said they should be called Kerepakupai-Meru, the name used by the indigenous Pemon people of the area.
Climate Change:Record-breaking snow across the US Record-breaking snow across the US
Posted: December 28, 2009 Filed under: climate change 3 Comments »
Over the past few weeks the United States has been pounded by a number of big snow storms. A week ago Washington DC received 18 inches of snow, setting a number of records.Oklahoma City hit a record with 14 inches of snow. Dallas-area received its first snowfall on Christmas Eve since records began in 1898. The snowfall also broke Christmas Eve records for Minnesota’s Twin Cities by over two inches. Twenty-three people were killed so far due to the extreme weather across the middle of the country.
While scientists say that it is not possible to link a single extreme weather-event—such as one record snowfall—directly to climate change, a pattern of increased heavy precipitation is expected due to climate change in the US.
Ecosystem is Moving
Posted: December 27, 2009 Filed under: Archaeology, Ecosystem Leave a comment »
Earth’s various ecosystems, with all their plants and animals, will need to shift about a quarter-mile per year on average to keep pace with global climate change, scientists said in a study.How well particular species can survive rising worldwide temperatures attributed to excess levels of heat-trapping “greenhouse” gases emitted by human activity hinges on those species’ ability to migrate or adapt in place.
read it here
Track Santa on Google Earth
Posted: December 26, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized 2 Comments »click here
Herschel Space Telescope Uncovers Sources of Cosmic Infrared Background
Posted: December 25, 2009 Filed under: Space Leave a comment »
A weak cosmic infrared radiation field that reaches Earth from all directions contains not yet deciphered messages about the evolution of galaxies. Using first observations with the PACS Instrument on board ESA’s Herschel Space Telescope, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and other institutions have for the first time resolved more than half of this radiation into its constituting sources. Observations with Herschel open the road towards understanding the properties of these galaxies, and trace the dusty side of galaxy evolution.
read the article here
A TREE ALMOST OLDER THAN DIRT
Posted: December 24, 2009 Filed under: BIODIVERSITY Leave a comment »
A newly discovered Palmer’s oak (Quercus palmeri) that researchers estimate is over 13,000 years old, making it one of the oldest plants on Earth.Researchers, led by Michael May of the University of California, Davis, found the tree a decade ago during a routine survey of local plant life.
US Geological Survey Study of Oceanic Circulation
Posted: December 22, 2009 Filed under: oceans, Uncategorized 1 Comment »
USGS released an important study of the deep ocean’s temperature variability and circulation system .According t this study the deep ocean is apparently affected more by surface warming than previously thought, and this understanding allows for more accurate predictions of factors such as sea level rise and ice volume changes.Higher ocean surface temperatures have been found to result in a more vigorous deep ocean circulation system. This increase results in a faster transport of large quantities of warm water, with possible impacts including reduction of sea ice extent and overall warming of the Arctic.
read it here
Indian state to deploy GPS to curb road accidents
Posted: December 22, 2009 Filed under: GPS Leave a comment »In an effort to reduce the number of road accidents in the hill state, primarily due to “human error”, an Indian state government (Himachal Pradesh) is contemplating to install GPS in state-run and private buses.
Read Here
