Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment. In keeping with the theme of the past three months, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday is featuring science and other news from the major public research universities in the midwestern states where Republican governors and legislatures are threatening the collective bargaining rights of public employees.
This week's featured story comes from Examiner.com.
'Doomsday' has arrived
Dennis Bodzash
Space News Examiner
May 21st, 2011 11:43 am ET
Today is May 21, 2011, which means that, at least according to preacher Harold Camping, today will bring Judgment Day, the rapture, and this the beginning of the end of the world. So, with all of the excitement being stirred up by Camping's 'prediction' of the apocalypse, online queries into potential Doomsday scenarios have skyrocketed over the past week.
Now, while Camping's predictions are certainly in error (he originally predicted Judgment Day for 1994), there are some very real end of the world scenarios, some close to home and others from far off space. However, we need not die in all of them as, with our current technology, we are on the verge of being able to escape Earth should something go horribly wrong on our planet.
The key to our survival: the exploration of space.
I posted my personal take on the Rapture that didn't materialize at
Crazy Eddie's Motie News. I obviously didn't take it very seriously.
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
Watch this space!
The Daily Bucket - Another Heron Count
by enhydra lutris
Heaven? A Fairy Story ? Hawking
by jim in IA
This week in science
by DarkSyde
Bracing For A Massive Asian Carp Invasion
by Muskegon Critic
Green diary rescue: Will tiny Denmark show the way?
by Meteor Blades
Slideshows/Videos
Wired: Toolkit: How One Archaeologist Gears Up for Digs
By Aaron Rowe
Ginessa Mahar, a lab manager at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, knows the ups and downs of archaeology. “I’ve done high-altitude surveying in Nevada and underwater archaeology along the Jersey Shore,” says the 30-year-old digger, who uses everything from metal detectors to portable x-ray fluorescence machines to uncover relics. Mahar took a break from excavating 500-year-old Spanish artifacts on an island off the Georgia coast to tell us about her favorite gear.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
From University of Michigan News Service on YouTube:
University of Michigan is hosting a two day conference "Developing Global Sustainability: US/China Partnerships". It addresses water, transportation and energy sustainability issues for the two countries.
University of Michigan: U-M researchers explain how tiny roundworms sense different kinds of touch
May 19, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is the very long name of a very small creature, and one of the most commonly used animals in biological research.
Researchers at the University of Michigan report new findings on how the tiny roundworm senses and differentiates between innocuous (gentle) and noxious (harsh) touch.
Gentle touch: Experiments using C. elegans show the worm retreating for an instant after gentle touch is applied and then continuing to move forward on its path.
Harsh touch: When harsh touch is applied to the worm, it retreats and changes direction entirely. This illustrates the ability to sense both kinds of touch.
Michigan State University: Smart phones and steaks
May 19, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Unless your steak was purchased from the farmer down the road, it can be hard to tell exactly where it came from, even if the sticker on the package says local.
Thanks to a new pilot program being conducted at Michigan State University, though, the day may soon be approaching where a quick barcode scan with a smart phone could tell the exact animal and farm where the steak originated.
University of Wisconsin: Slide show: New Horizons of Discovery
May 20, 2011
Although they arrived from all 50 states, the thousands of students, educators and parents who are participating in the National Science Olympiad Tournament May 18–21 share a common trait: the thrill of discovery. They are flooding the UW–Madison campus for the 27th year of a competition for middle school and high school students that is considered one of the most prestigious in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Teams that won state-level competitions are going head to head in more than two dozen scientific and engineering events. The tournament kicks into high gear on Saturday, May 21, and the public is invited to watch and learn.
From NASA Television on YouTube:
Scientists from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France and Italy were at NASA Headquarters in Washington to discuss their upcoming international spacecraft mission, Aquarius/SAC-D. Scheduled to launch June 9th, the spacecraft's primary instrument will scan the world's oceans to measure surface salinity, important to ocean circulation and climate. Also, Atlantis' final rollover; Bolden checks out Juno; lowering the booms; astronauts as aquanauts; Houston's hero; a new STORRM on station; Goddard open house; and remembering JFK's challenge to America.
Astronomy/Space
United Press International: Astronomers in light battle in Arizona
TUCSON, May 20 (UPI) -- Astronomers in Arizona say their work is being hampered by light pollution from an unexpected source -- the drug war and smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Astronomers at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory near Mount Hopkins sometimes see drug smugglers and illegal immigrants making their way north through the surrounding rough, wooded terrain. They say it's not the outlaws that affect their work as much as the authorities who pursue them, The New York Times reported Friday.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Evolution/Paleontology
Brown University via Science Daily: On Prehistoric Supercontinent of Pangaea, Latitude and Rain Dictated Where Species Lived
ScienceDaily (May 13, 2011) — More than 200 million years ago, mammals and reptiles lived in their own separate worlds on the supercontinent Pangaea, despite little geographical incentive to do so. Mammals lived in areas of twice-yearly seasonal rainfall; reptiles stayed in areas where rains came just once a year. Mammals lose more water when they excrete, and thus need water-rich environments to survive. Results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Biodiversity
University of Florida via Science Daily: Oceanic Land Crab Extinction Linked to Colonization of Hawaii
ScienceDaily (May 16, 2011) — University of Florida researchers have described a new species of land crab that documents the first crab extinction during the human era.
The loss of the crab likely greatly impacted the ecology of the Hawaiian Islands, as land crabs are major predators, control litter decomposition and help in nutrient cycling and seed dispersal. Their disappearance was caused by the arrival of humans to the islands and resulted in large-scale changes in the state's ecosystem. Researchers said the full impact of the extinction on Hawaii is unknown, but they are certain it led to changes in the diversity of the food web, a continuing concern to conservationists studying species loss in other habitats. The study will be published online May 16 in PLoS ONE.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Biotechnology/Health
University of Michigan via Science Daily: Half of Prostate Cancers Could Potentially Benefit from New Type of Cancer Drugs
ScienceDaily (May 19, 2011) — About half of prostate cancers have a genetic anomaly that appears to make tumor cells responsive to a new class of cancer-fighting drugs, a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds.
The drugs, called PARP inhibitors, are currently being tested in breast cancer patients with mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are found in up to 10 percent of all breast cancers.
Half of prostate cancers have a genomic rearrangement that causes the fusion of two genes called TMPRSS2 and ERG. This gene fusion, believed to be the triggering event of prostate cancer, was initially discovered in 2005 by U-M researchers led by Arul Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Michigan via Science Daily: Curcumin Compound Improves Effectiveness of Head and Neck Cancer Treatment, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (May 19, 2011) — A primary reason that head and neck cancer treatments fail is the tumor cells become resistant to chemotherapy drugs. Now, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that a compound derived from the Indian spice curcumin can help cells overcome that resistance.
When researchers added a curcumin-based compound, called FLLL32, to head and neck cancer cell lines, they were able to cut the dose of the chemotherapy drug cisplatin by four while still killing tumor cells equally as well as the higher dose of cisplatin without FLLL32.
The study appears this week in the Archives of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery.
American Thoracic Society via Science Daily: Study Evaluates Parents' Reluctance to Vaccinate Asthmatic Kids
ScienceDaily (May 16, 2011) — Concern over vaccine safety is one of the primary factors preventing parents from having their asthmatic children vaccinated for influenza, or flu, according to Michigan researchers. Parents who do not vaccinate their children are also less likely to view flu as a"trigger" for their child's asthma, the researchers noted.
The study was presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver.
"When school starts in the fall, and during the winter season, many parents start dreading the cold and flu season," said lead author Toby Lewis, MD, MPH, assistant professor of pediatric pulmonology at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich. "This is particularly true for parents of children with asthma, who recognize that 'a little cold' can quickly trigger an asthma attack. Fortunately, there is something that can be done to reduce the chances of getting sick from influenza, one of the common winter viruses, and that is getting a vaccination to help prevent this infection."
Mott Hospital is part of the University of Michigan Health System.
Michigan State University: Noninvasive baby reflux monitor among funded MSU innovations
May 19, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Acid reflux is a painful nuisance for most who suffer symptoms such as heartburn, but it can lead to pneumonia and worse for infants. Just detecting it – often by inserting a tube through the nose into the esophagus – can be traumatic.
But Michigan State University neonatologist Ira Gewolb is testing a far less invasive diagnostic method he developed for babies, supported by a university technology commercialization partnership.
Preemies and their parents are accustomed to invasive procedures, Gewolb said, “but if you try to put a tube down a one-and-a-half-year-old’s nose for 24 hours, it’s not a pretty picture.” X-rays often are used instead, he added, but aren’t always reliable.
Wayne State University: Wayne State University study finds super bacteria in local meat
May 17, 2011
DETROIT - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that the June 2011 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the CDC's monthly peer-reviewed public health journal, will feature work by researchers at Wayne State University and Henry Ford Health System who have identified antibiotic-resistant strains of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) - known as MRSA - in meat and poultry for sale in Metro Detroit grocery stores.
The group, led by Yifan Zhang, Ph.D., assistant professor of nutrition and food science in WSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and resident of Detroit, Mich., collected 289 samples of raw beef, chicken and turkey from local stores. Of those samples, 65 yielded S. aureus, a common type of bacteria that normally live on the skin and sometimes in the nasal passages of healthy people. Six of the samples were positive for MRSA, S. aureus strains that do not respond to some of the antibiotics used to treat Staph infections.
University of Wisconsin: Wound-dressing idea enters international business-plan competition
by David Tenenbaum
May 17, 2011
Having been selected from 78 competitors from around the world, two University of Wisconsin-Madison students will travel to London for the finals of the LES (Licensing Executives Society) Foundation international business plan competition, held June 4.
The UW-Madison business plan concerns an advanced wound dressing, containing ultra-fine silver particles, that is intended to help heal persistent wounds due to diabetes, burns or other causes. Silver has antibacterial properties, but current silver dressings are also harmful to regenerating skin cells, says plan author Ankit Agarwal, a postdoctoral fellow in chemical and biological engineering.
The polymer dressing would use only 1 percent as much silver as other silver antibacterial dressings and could remain in contact with the wound for a longer time, reducing painful dressing changes.
The proposal bested others from Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale and prestigious foreign universities, says Agarwal, who has worked with engineering professor Nicholas Abbott to develop a simple way to embed silver into polymer films thin enough to be applied with a rubber stamp.
Ohio State University: COMMON ANTI-INFLAMMATORY COAXES LIVER CANCER CELLS TO COMMIT SUICIDE
May 16, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib, known by the brand name Celebrex, triggers liver cancer cell death by reacting with a protein in a way that makes those cells commit suicide, according to a new study.
Researchers also found that the combination of celecoxib with each of two chemotherapy drugs killed more liver cancer cells in culture, making those combinations more effective than either drug on its own.
“Each chemotherapy drug alone will reduce the growth of cancer cells, but when each single drug is combined with Celebrex, a greater growth suppression effect was observed,” said Jiayuh Lin, senior author of the study and an associate professor of pediatrics at Ohio State University. “For clinicians, this research suggests the possibility of a new therapeutic strategy.”
Climate/Environment
Michigan State University: The incredible, sustainable egg
May 1 ,2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University researchers will use a $6 million grant to improve the sustainability of egg production in the United States.
The three-year grant, which was awarded by the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply and will be shared with the University of California, Davis, will study the sustainability of laying-hen housing and explore the interactions and trade-offs among food safety, worker safety, environmental impact, hen health and welfare and food affordability.
Information generated by the research is expected to help consumers and producers make objective, science-based decisions as the egg industry evolves in response to consumer needs and desires, said Janice Swanson, MSU’s director of animal welfare and professor of animal science.
“Our goal is to thoroughly understand the full range of sustainability factors,” she said. “We will examine seasonal shifts, bird lifecycles, bird health and behavior, environmental impacts, human health and other factors affecting the sustainability of the egg-production system.”
Geology
University of Adelaide (Australia) via Science Daily: Mass Extinction of Marine Life in Oceans During Prehistoric Times Offers Warning for Future
ScienceDaily (May 17, 2011) — The mass extinction of marine life in our oceans during prehistoric times is a warning that the same could happen again due to high levels of greenhouse gases, according to new research.
Professor Martin Kennedy from the University of Adelaide (School of Earth & Environmental Sciences) and Professor Thomas Wagner from Newcastle University, UK, (Civil Engineering and Geosciences) have been studying 'greenhouse oceans' -- those that have been depleted of oxygen, suffering increases in carbon dioxide and temperature.
Miller-McCune: Comet Theory Comes Crashing to Earth
An elegant archaeological hypothesis, under fire for results that can’t be replicated, may ultimately come undone.
By Rex Dalton
It seemed like such an elegant answer to an age-old mystery: the disappearance of what are arguably North America’s first people. A speeding comet nearly 13,000 years ago was the culprit, the theory goes, spraying ice and rocks across the continent, killing the Clovis people and the mammoths they fed on, and plunging the region into a deep chill. The idea so captivated the public that three movies describing the catastrophe were produced.
But now, four years after the purportedly supportive evidence was reported, a host of scientific authorities systematically have made the case that the comet theory is “bogus.” Researchers from multiple scientific fields are calling the theory one of the most misguided ideas in the history of modern archaeology, which begs for an independent review so an accurate record is reflected in the literature.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Indiana University: IU-led project will help scientists see into North America's rocky innards
May 18, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A new project led by Indiana University researchers and funded by the National Science Foundation will strategically position 120 seismometers placed to image a key part of the deep roots of North America.
The $1.3 million, four-year undertaking is part of NSF's EarthScope program, which seeks to cover the entire U.S. with a grid of seismometers, strainmeters, and GPS devices for the purpose of better understanding seismic activity and predicting earthquakes.
"The stable part of the Earth's mantle in our part of the world is the very basis for our continent, yet we know so little about it," said Principal Investigator Gary Pavlis, an IU Bloomington geophysicist. "This is about seeing the un-seeable, using brand new imaging tools and techniques. EarthScope is essentially an upside-down telescope that will allow us to look inside the Earth."
Psychology/Behavior
Michigan State University: Virtual workout partners spur better results
May 18, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Can't find anyone to exercise with? Don't despair: New research from Michigan State University reveals working out with a virtual partner improves motivation during exercise.
The study led by Deborah Feltz, chairperson of MSU's Department of Kinesiology, is the first to investigate the Kohler effect on motivation in health video games; that phenomenon explains why inferior team members perform better in a group than they would by themselves.
The research, to be published in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, was funded by a $150,000 grant from Health Games Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Pioneer Portfolio.
"Our results suggest working out with virtually present, superior partners can improve motivation on exercise game tasks," Feltz said. "These findings provide a starting point to test additional features that have the potential to improve motivational gains in health video games."
Association for Psychological Science via Science Daily: True Love May Wait -- But Waiting Won't Make You a Safer Lover Later on
ScienceDaily (May 18, 2011) — Whether sex education focuses only on abstinence or teaches students about contraception and other topics as well, it all shares one main message: Wait. In abstinence-only, students are exhorted to wait for sex until they're married. In "comprehensive" or "abstinence-plus," the idea is to delay sexual relations until . . . later.
"The underlying assumption is that delay reduces sexual risk-taking" -- and with it unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, says University of South Florida psychologist Marina A. Bornovalova. "If they just wait, then they'll be less likely to have multiple partners or get pregnant early."
"But until now, no one had tested this assumption."
Bornovalova and her colleagues -- Brooke M. Huibregtse, Matt McGue, and William Iacono of University of Minnesota and Brian Hicks of the University of Michigan -- tested it. Their finding, published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, should spark serious rethinking wherever sex educators are seeking the facts as their guide.
Purdue University: Study: Young children's interest in reading relates to behavior
May 19, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Preschoolers who enjoy spending time with a good book are more likely to behave better in the classroom, according to research from Purdue University.
"A child's interest in literacy can tell us a lot about that child's behavior," said Jennifer Dobbs-Oates, an assistant professor of developmental studies. "We found that the child who is interested in literacy-related activities is more likely to show positive, adaptive behavior than negative, disruptive kinds of behavior.
"We also found that girls were more interested in books compared to boys, and girls also were more likely to be better behaved. This study is a reminder that adults should encourage young children to spend time with books, especially books that appeal to individual children. A child's interest and level of enjoyment is key to this connection, but we also need to learn more about the cause and effect of this relationship."
The findings of this study, which focused on 61 predominantly low-income preschoolers ages 3-5, are published in the April edition of Early Child Development and Care.
Ohio State University: NOT ALL VIEWERS OF ARAB TV NETWORKS DEVELOP ANTI-AMERICAN FEELINGS
May 18, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Despite the fears of some Americans, Arab television networks such as Al Jazeera do not promote anti-American feelings among all their viewers, according to a new study.
Research based on surveys of nearly 20,000 residents of six Arab countries suggests that while watching networks like Al Jazeera fuels anti-American feelings in some viewers, it actually reduces such sentiment in others.
The results suggest that it is too simplistic to blame the Arab media for stoking resentment and hatred of America, said Erik Nisbet, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University.
“Arab TV viewers aren’t getting a single, unified anti-American message from networks like Al Jazeera,” Nisbet said.
Ohio State University: WHAT’S IN A SIMPLE LINE DRAWING? QUITE A LOT, OUR BRAINS SAY
May 16, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study using sophisticated brain scans shows how simple line drawings can capture the essence of a beach or a mountain for viewers just as well as a photograph would.
Researchers found that viewing a “beach” scene depicted in a line drawing activated nearly the same patterns of brain activity in study participants as did viewing an actual color photograph of a beach. The same was true when people viewed line drawings and photographs of other natural scenes including city streets, forests, highways, mountains and offices.
Even when researchers removed up to 75 percent of the pixels in a line drawing, people still did better than chance at determining what the lines represented -- as long as the remaining lines showed the broad contours of the scene.
“Our results suggest that our brains can recreate whole detailed scenes from just a few lines, said Dirk Bernhardt-Walther, lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University.
The creator of XKCD and his readers could have told you this.
Archeology/Anthropology
CNRS (France) via Science Daily: Last Neanderthals Near the Arctic Circle?
ScienceDaily (May 13, 2011) — Remains found near the Arctic Circle characteristic of Mousterian culture(1) have recently been dated at over 28,500 years old, which is more than 8,000 years after Neanderthals are thought to have disappeared. This unexpected discovery by an international multi-disciplinary team, including researchers from CNRS(2), challenges previous theories. Could Neanderthals have lived longer than thought? Or had Homo sapiens already migrated to Europe at that stage?
The results are published in Science of 13 May 2011.
Current Anthropology via EurekAlert: Archaeologists uncover oldest mine in the Americas
Archaeologists have discovered a 12,000-year-old iron oxide mine in Chile that marks the oldest evidence of organized mining ever found in the Americas, according to a report in the June issue of Current Anthropology.
A team of researchers led by Diego Salazar of the Universidad de Chile found the 40-meter trench near the coastal town of Taltal in northern Chile. It was dug by the Huentelauquen people—the first settlers in the region—who used iron oxide as pigment for painted stone and bone instruments, and probably also for clothing and body paint, the researchers say.
The remarkable duration and extent of the operation illustrate the surprising cultural complexity of these ancient people. "It shows that [mining] was a labor-intensive activity demanding specific technical skills and some level of social cooperation transmitted through generations," Salazar and his team write.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Aboriginal population 'grew exponentially'
By Anna Salleh for ABC Science Online
Updated Wed May 11, 2011 4:22pm AEST
Dr Christopher Johnson says the the amount of sites occupied by Aboriginal people in the past 10,000 years is higher than first thought. (iStockphoto: Pamspix)
A new mathematical model could fuel a long-standing debate over the nature of Aboriginal population growth in Australia, prior to European settlement.
The model supports the idea that there was a marked increase in the growth of the continent's Aboriginal population towards the end of the Holocene epoch, ecologist Professor Christopher Johnson of the University of Tasmania said.
Dr Johnson says radiocarbon dating shows an increase in the number of sites occupied by Aboriginal people in the past 10,000 years, particularly in the past 4,000 years.
China Economic Net: Cultural relics discovered under sea
Last Updated(Beijing Time):2011-05-17 08:31
At a depth of 27 meters, archaeological diver Ruan Youhao found the baseline he laid along a shipwreck last July. He took a tool from his diving partner to mark several cabins in the beam of an underwater flashlight.
A few minutes later, Ruan looked at his submersion watch and gave a "go up" sign to his partner. The two divers had hit their limit for non-decompression diving. The divers finished their 25-minute dive at 9:35 am on April 27.
It was the first day of the fourth excavation of Nan'ao No 1, a sunken merchant vessel of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) that was found in 2007 in the South China Sea near Nan'ao Island, Guangdong province, after local fisherman netted porcelain ware.
By the time the project ends, probably in mid-July, the underwater archaeology team and the Guangzhou Salvage Bureau are expected to confirm the size of the shipwreck and the salvage of its cultural relics.
United Press International: Ancient Hawaiian agriculture studied
COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 16 (UPI) -- Archaeologists say a pattern of earthen berms on the big island of Hawaii shows how ancient Hawaiians farmed long before Europeans arrived in the islands.
Ohio State University anthropologist Julie Field, working with colleagues from California and New Zealand, said their findings suggest simple, practical decisions made by individual households were eventually adopted by the ruling class as a means to improve agricultural productivity, a university release reported Monday.
You can read the Ohio State University press release
here.
University of Gothenburg (Sweden) via Science Daily: New Power Elite Emerged in Medieval Iceland as the Island Became Norwegian
ScienceDaily (May 16, 2011) — As Iceland became part of the Norwegian kingship 1262, a new power structure in the shape of an Icelandic aristocracy appointed by the king of Norway was established. This development is discussed in a doctoral thesis in History from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, that sheds light on a period in the Icelandic history that previously has not received its due attention.
'The 14th century has never received a great deal of attention in Icelandic history writing. This is surprising since this period is at least as important as the considerably more frequently discussed so-called Free State period (around 930 to 1262/64) when Iceland was autonomous, especially considering the country's state formation process,' says the author of the thesis Sigríður Beck.
Before becoming Norwegian, the country consisted of a number of territories ruled by chiefs who were constantly competing for power.
Current Anthropology via Science Daily: 40-Year-Old Document Sheds New Light on Native Population Decline Under Spanish Colonial Rule
ScienceDaily (May 20, 2011) — Analysis of a 440-year-old document reveals new details about native population decline in the heartland of the Inca Empire following Spanish conquest in the 16th century.
According to the analysis, the native Andean population in the Yucay Valley of Peru showed a remarkable ability to bounce back in the short term from the disease, warfare, and famine that accompanied the initial Spanish invasion. However, it was the repetition of such disasters generation after generation, along with overly rigid colonial administration, that dramatically reduced the population over the long term.
The Northern Echo (UK): Ruins of forgotten castle discovered by volunteers
By Helen Smithson » Reporter (Wear Valley)
THE ruins of a forgotten castle that once provided the gateway to the Bishop of Durham's park have been uncovered by a team of archaeologists.
Fifty volunteers from the North Pennines AONB Partnership's Altogether Archaeology project discovered the remains of Westgate Castle, in Weardale, County Durham, which was used as offices for the Bishop's extensive estate from the 13th Century through to the early 17th Century.
Several decades later, the disused castle had fallen into a state of disrepair and its masonry was quarried for new buildings.
University of Washington via Science Daily: Risking One's Neck for Better Grog: Mutinies Reveal Tipping Points for Collective Unrest
ScienceDaily (May 13, 2011) — Films depicting the 1787 mutiny aboard the British ship HMS Bounty show sailors living cheek by jowl, being forced to dance, enduring storm-ridden Cape of Good Hope crossings to satisfy the ship captain's ego and being flogged for trivial reasons.
We may not think that these harsh conditions have much relevance today. But mutinies continue to occur, especially in the armed forces of developing nations. And mutinies have similarities to other types of rebellions, including worker strikes, riots, prison rebellions and political uprisings.
American University via Science Daily: Freedom in the Swamp: Unearthing the Secret History of the Great Dismal Swamp
ScienceDaily (May 16, 2011) — It's the year 1800. You're a slave in southeast Virginia. You manage to escape. Your freedom is only going to last as long as you can hide. Where do you go? Would you believe the Great Dismal Swamp? According to Dan Sayers, assistant professor of anthropology and an historical archaeologist at American University, that's exactly where you could have gone for immediate sanctuary.
"There are interesting parallels. What was once more of a human refuge is now a natural refuge," said Sayers of the swamp, which officially became the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in the 1970s.
Since 2001, Sayers has been researching and exploring the presence of maroons (African-Americans who permanently escaped enslavement) and other communities in the swamp's approximately 200 square miles of undeveloped, densely wooded wetlands in southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman, who sent in the above articles.
Physics
Wayne State University: Wayne State University researcher receives NSF CAREER Award to redesign wireless networking
Central to feasibility of wireless vehicular control and other mission-critical applications
May 20, 2011
DETROIT - The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated in a 2009 report that each year more than 1.2 million people die of road traffic injuries, which may become the fifth leading cause of death worldwide by 2030. To combat this trend, the WHO encourages stricter enforcement of more comprehensive traffic laws. At Wayne State University, one researcher is working on another emerging idea: helping vehicles avoid collisions.
To make this idea, known as "active safety," a reality, Hongwei Zhang, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science in WSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and resident of Troy, Mich., was awarded a $425,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award to develop a central component of active safety - wireless networks systems.
Wireless network systems are common in cellphones and Wi-Fi. But the wireless networks that make these everyday applications possible are not always reliable, as users whose calls drop daily can attest. And this unreliability can stunt the development of other wireless applications, like wireless vehicular control.
Chemistry
University of Wisconsin: Liquid crystal droplets discovered to be exquisitely sensitive to an important bacterial lipid
by David Tenenbaum
May 19, 2011
In the computer displays of medical equipment in hospitals and clinics, liquid crystal technologies have already found a major role. But a discovery reported from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that micrometer-sized droplets of liquid crystal, which have been found to change their ordering and optical appearance in response to the presence of very low concentrations of a particular bacterial lipid, might find new uses in a range of biological contexts.
Detecting endotoxin, a lipid-polysaccharide combination that is found in the outer membranes of many types of bacteria, is a standard way to establish the presence of bacterial contamination in a wide range of drugs, medical supplies and equipment. The current technology is based on a complex mixture of proteins isolated from the blood of a horseshoe crab, says Nicholas Abbott, a professor and the chair of chemical and biological engineering at UW-Madison.
...
In a paper published Friday, May 20, in Science, Abbott and colleagues showed that concentrations of endotoxin in the picogram/milliliter range were enough to trigger a change in the appearance of liquid crystalline droplets visible in a light microscope.
Purdue University: Temperature, humidity affect health benefits of green tea powders
May 18, 2011
Catechins are the source of antioxidants thought to fight heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other health problems. Green tea powders are often used as ingredients in products that are flavored like green tea or tout the health benefits of the tea. U.S. imports of green tea increased more than 600 percent from 1998 to 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Mauer found that increased temperature – and humidity, to a smaller degree – speed catechin degradation. She said it had been believed that the powders were stable below the glass transition temperature, the temperature at which an amorphous solid changes from a rigid, glassy state to a rubbery, viscous state. In that rubbery state, compounds may start reacting with each other faster due to increased molecular mobility, leading to significant chemical degradation.
But Mauer's findings, reported in the early online version of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, showed that green tea powder degrades at lower temperatures, even below the glass transition temperature.
Energy
Reuters: Leak from Japan reactor 100 times more than permitted
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO | Sat May 21, 2011 3:58am EDT
A water leak from Japan's tsunami-crippled nuclear power station earlier this month resulted in about 100 times the permitted level of radioactive material flowing into the sea, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said Saturday.
TEPCO said the leak discovered on May 11 at a storage pit outside the No.3 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi had started in the early hours of the previous day and lasted for 41 hours, releasing 250 cubic meters of contaminated water into the sea.
An estimated 20 terabecquerels of radioactive material escaped as a result, a company spokesman told a news conference.
Science, Space, Environment, and Energy Policy
China People's Daily: Thirst for profits risks historic sites
09:09, May 20, 2011
The way China treats its cultural relics has come under fire in the wake of allegations that important historical sites have been misused.
Reports of the existence of an exclusive club for wealthy people within the Forbidden City's Jianfu Palace stirred up the emotions of many Chinese netizens. Membership of the club reportedly costs 1 million yuan ($154,000).
However, the apparently inappropriate use of cultural landmarks does not stop at the Forbidden City's impressive walls.
The villa residence of Soong May-ling (wife of Chiang Kai-shek, the late leader of the Kuomintang) in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, which was listed as a historical and cultural site under State protection in 2001, has reportedly been turned into a high-end restaurant that hosts elite wedding banquets.
The high-profile allegations have triggered an outcry from many people and caused critics to question whether China's cultural sites are under threat from those who want to squeeze a profit from them.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Science Education
University of York (UK): Student Archaeologists on Trail of Yorkshire Gem's Hidden Past
ScienceDaily (May 10, 2011) — Archaeologists from the University of York are revealing intriguing traces -- hidden for more than two centuries -- of the forerunner of one of Yorkshire's great country houses.
In the shadow of Harewood House, a team of undergraduate students is carrying out the painstaking task of unearthing the remnants of Harewood's predecessor, Gawthorpe Hall, which was demolished in 1773.
The excavation, led by Dr Jonathan Finch, of the University's Department of Archaeology in partnership with York Archaeological Trust, is providing important new insights into the rise of the Lascelles family which owns Harewood to this day.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Wayne State University: School of Medicine institution Dr. Robert Frank to address largest graduating class in school history
May 16, 2011
Dr. Robert Frank, who graduated from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1968 and then spent more than four decades as a faculty member and administrator at the school, will deliver the keynote address at the School of Medicine commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 24, 2011, at the Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave. His retirement party is planned for June 10.
At the ceremony, 317 candidates will receive degrees, the largest graduating class in WSU School of Medicine history.
In caring for the ill and serving in several key leadership positions over the past 43 years, Dr. Frank has played an integral role in cementing the school's reputation for producing the nation's finest physicians and researchers.
Indiana University: 2011 Sustainability Course Development Fellowship recipients announced
May 20, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Two Sustainability Course Development Fellowships have been awarded to Indiana University Bloomington faculty by the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs.
This year's recipients are Catherine Tucker, associate professor, Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences, with "Exploring the Challenges of Sustainability: Ecology & Society"; and Scott Shackelford, assistant professor, Department of Business Law and Ethics, Kelley School of Business, with "Sustainability Law & Policy."
"These two projects show the incredible range of topics and problems that are connected to sustainability," said Tom Gieryn, vice provost for faculty and academic affairs. "Professors Tucker and Shackelford should be commended for developing exciting courses that will give their students opportunities to wrestle with real-world problems of immense magnitude."
Science Writing and Reporting
University of Michigan: U-M experts on impact of Mississippi River flood
May 18, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The current record-breaking flood of the Mississippi River Basin has left millions of acres of land underwater in several states that border the "Great River."
Experts at the University of Michigan are available to discuss a range of issues pertaining to the flooding, from the efficacy of the levees to the role weather and climate change play in contributing to such catastrophes to the impact on residents, business and the economy.
Michigan State University: MSU collects eight awards at Michigan Emmys
May 17, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University won eight Emmy awards this past weekend from the Michigan Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The winners included several students and a documentary examining MSU’s efforts to fight malaria in Africa.
"Malawi and Malaria: Fighting to Save the Children" collected two awards – one for best documentary-cultural and one for best writing.
Science is Cool
New Scientist (UK): Art and archaeology reveal addicted underworld London
Tiffany O'Callaghan, CultureLab editor
17:19 20 May 2011
Buried beneath the present day St Giles area of central London lie remnants of its past as one of the city's most notorious slums. An archaeological dig that unearthed this history helped inspire artist Jane Palm-Gold - and prompted a unique exhibition that includes her new paintings as well as historic artworks, 17th and 18th century artefacts and insights into the area from a cast of characters including Charles Dickens and journalist and 19th-century social researcher Henry Mayhew.
When Palm-Gold first moved to St Giles in 2003, she remembered feeling as though she'd arrived at the centre of the crack trade. "Any time you went to the window, day or night, there was someone smoking crack." The crime associated with the drug trade made residents wary. "It was absolutely wild, aggravated assault, attempted murder," Palm-Gold says.
Yet instead of making her fearful, the tumultuous streets around her home became a source of inspiration. "There was just such a lot going on. I thought, this is such an opportunity to observe and draw life from my window." And as she began to paint the present day, she also began studying the area's history.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Michigan State University: MSU students get Wikipedia attention and honors
May 18, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Most students use Wikipedia to help with homework or fact checking. However, some Michigan State University students have turned the tables, helping Wikipedia by editing content and, more importantly, getting published as part of a class project.
The students recently participated in the Wikipedia Public Policy Initiative, which allows students to edit and produce detailed Wikipedia articles on public policy topics within their classrooms.
Out of 33 university classes from across the nation participating in the initiative, MSU was one of the top contributors this spring. The 94 undergraduate students in Telecommunications 210 – Media and Communication Policy course – ranked first in total bytes added to Wikipedia articles. The 11 graduate students in Telecommunications 850 – Telecommunications Policy Analysis – ranked third in average number of characters added to Wikipedia per student.
“Writing for Wikipedia and in a collaborative environment was a new experience for the students,” said Johannes Bauer, who taught the graduate level-course. “It provided a strong incentive to produce a high-quality term project. The fact that the information remains available added considerable satisfaction.”