Urbanization, higher temperatures can influence butterfly emergence patterns

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140428121244.htm

While people everywhere are trying to figure out how to slow down global warming, scientists continue to look at the effects it's having on different species. For example, researchers at North Carolina State University, Case Western Reserve University, the Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas in Brazil, and the University of Maryland study butterflies. It's known that butterflies naturally "emerge earlier in North Carolina than they do in New England, because it's warmer", so these scientists were wondering what would happen if everywhere is getting warmer, specifically urban cities. The results of the study showed that "the combined effect of an urban area and a warmer part of the state appeared to delay emergence in seven of the 20 species" studied. The scientists don't know what the tipping point is, and may never find out. This research is difficult and the species aren't always able to adapt.

Green clouds on the horizon for computing

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140428074644.htm

With new technology developing everyday, it's hard for even a teenager to keep up. But one has to wonder what the environmental impact-positive or negative-of each new invention is. Dietmar Nedbal and Mark Stieninger from the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria in Steyr, Austria researched just that, specifically focusing on the use of "the cloud" by current apple products. According to their research, "small businesses could save up to 62% of energy costs by switching to a cloud computing system". But, as with every research and every new technology, there are controversies. As put in the article, "there have been concerns that cloud computing does not reduce energy demands and emissions, but simply displaces them" or that "increased internet traffic" would increase energy use and pollution. But, according to the research of Stienhinger and Nedbal, cloud usage is a positive thing for the environment, proving that it reduces carbon dioxide emissions and costs by more than half.

Some corals adjusting to rising ocean temperatures

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140424143737.htm

Climate change is having an affect on everything. Steve Palumbi is a scientist at Stanford who led research about corals affected by climate change, actually finding out that some "can quickly switch on or off certain genes in order to survive in warmer-than-average waters". The reason they have to adjust to the new water temperatures is because of climate change. For example, even 86 degree water, while seemingly normal to the human senses, is deadly for coral. So how are they coping with warmer climates every day. So how do they cope? According to Palumbi, "corals, like people, have adaptive genes that can be turned on or off when external conditions change", which is good because corals are essential to fisheries, aquaculture and storm protection, These apparent adaptive qualities found in these corals will help them survive for at least a few more years than they were predicted, according to the harsh effects of climate change.

How costly are natural hazards? Experts link cost assessment with risk management

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140426155351.htm

Risk assessment has always been a fascinating topic to me. Heidi Kreibick is a scientist at the German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ and is leading a group of international scientists in a study looking at how to better assess risk and what it would actually take to educate people more, specifically about the costs of natural hazards, which are now at "historically high levels". One of the major flaws of people's assessments on disaster costs are what are called "indirect damage". Examples of indirect damages would be factories forced to shut down. According to Kreibich, "the cost assessment cycle involved the continuous monitoring of costs associated with the natural risk management, thus enabling the early detection of inefficient risk mitigation strategies". Not only jut everyday people predict risk, but it's more important on the national level where leaders have to make precautionary decisions. In order to do so efficiently, they first must  understand the true risk.

Meeting climate targets may require reducing meat, dairy consumption

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140330193735.htm

Climate change has been a topic discussed over and over again. In the latest study from Chalmers University of Technology, they're exploring a possible cause that has yet to be addressed: dairy and meat consumption, The UN wants to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, but this may not be possible by just eliminating carbon dioxide emissions, because it turns out that's not the only issue. "Because agricultural emissions are difficult and expensive to reduce via changes in production methods or technology, these growing numbers of people, eating more meat and dairy, entail increasing amounts of climate pollution from the food sector". New technology and different food choices may help us see a better, less polluted, future without living in fear of constant climate change.

More male fish 'feminized' by pollution on Basque coast

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140328103039.htm

Scientists have found that some male fish in Spain have in fact become female due to pollution. The scientists were members of the Cell Biology in Environmental Toxicology group and the main areas where it's been proven are Gernika, Arriluze, Santurtzi, Plentzia, Ondarroa, Deba and Pasaia. The researchers have figured out that the pollutants are "acting as estrogens" and are the reason why these males have become females, as in ovocytes (immature ova) have begun appearing in them. Miren P. Cajaraville is the director of the research group and he stresses that "we have a problem with pollutants", which is clear when examining the recent study.

 Looking at the effects of the pollutants from both a chemical and biological perspective, the group ultimately came to the conclusion that "it is the pollutants that are responsible for the feminization of the male fish". Pollution has become more and more serious over the years and this is just another example of the consequences.

Great earthquakes, water under pressure, high risk: Research reveals interactions between plate tectonics, fluids and quakes

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140328075811.htm

Earthquakes have been studied by many scientists, frustrated that they're unpreventable. However, we can learn more about them in order to help cope with the destruction. Scientists from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences and from Liverpool University took a closer look at the formation of earthquakes, focusing on the earthquake in Chile in 2010 that had a magnitude of 8.8. They discovered that "water trapped in the boundary between both plates has a dominant influence on the earthquake rupture process", because "the stress build-up before an earthquake and the magnitude of subsequent seismic energy release are substantially controlled by the mechanical coupling between both plates". The scientists explored an array of scientific fields, form geodesy to seismology to petrology to look at earthquakes from all different angles and come up with their theory that it's the water trapped between tectonic plates that causes such severe destruction form earthquakes.

Temperature fluctuations: Atlantic Ocean dances with the sun and volcanoes

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140331114502.htm

Many things in nature effect one another and can even depend upon each other to keep up with the homeostasis of the environment. A study by researchers at Aarhus University proved this theory by concluding that ocean "fluctuations are the result of a complex dance between the forces of nature". The scientists used the image of a couple dancing in a ballroom to prove how solar energy and volcanic activity coincide. The group examined the sun's energy cycle during a time in which the ocean temperature was greatly fluctuating, to find that it was linked to volcanic activity as well. The study was recently published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

I thought this article was particularly interesting because it reminded me how interconnected everything in nature is, and that it really is possible for science to explain almost anything.

Climate engineering: Minor potential, major risk of side-effects?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140225122519.htm

Scientists from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel have been studying the possible "consequences of several climate engineering methods" that were originally aimed to "limit the effects of climate change through the large-scale manipulation of Earth systems". However well intented, the truth is that these plans might be "unable to significantly reduce global warming if CO2 emissions remain high, or they could not be stopped without causing dangerous climate disruption". While global warming is an important issue that must be addressed every day, it's hard to think of a solution as complex as "artificially" trying to slow it down.

Some examples of this climate engineering have been ideas to "fertilize the oceans, so that stimulated plankton can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere" or to "reduce the Sun's incoming radiation with atmospheric aerosols or mirrors in space". While there may be initial benefits, these scientists are proving that the benefits are limited and the consequences could be lethal. For example, "the fertilization of the oceans allowed plankton to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, but also changed the size of ocean oxygen minimum zones". Maybe what we need to fix isn't the Earth itself. Maybe we need to simply fix the way we treat it, no climate engineering required.

Cyclones and frost: Two climate change myths debunked

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140225101137.htm

Scientists from Wits University performed research that "debunked two big myths around climate change". First, the number of tropical storms is not increasing like many people have assumed. Rather, they are shifting and the place that will experience the effects of this shift the most is South Africa, especially by 2050 according to the research of Jennifer Fitchett, a PhD student in the Wits School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Science (GAES). "We never expected them to move", Fitchett admits of the tropical storms. But that is in fact what's been going on. Instead of an increase in number, we simply have had an increase in accurate technology and therefore automatically have detected more storms than in the past.

Another myth concerned frost. The scientists state, "while global warming is causing frost to be less severe, late season frost is not receding as quickly as flowering is advancing, resulting in increased frost risk which will likely begin to threaten food security". The best example of this is in Kerman, Iran, where "global warming is causing the fruit trees to flower as much as a month earlier than 50 years ago, which is a very rapid shift, changes in last season frost are not happening nearly as quickly". There is a lot of controversy around both of these issues, and more research is to be continuously conducted.

Microbes on floating ocean plastics: Uncovering the secret world of the Platisphere

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140224171658.htm

It has just been discovered that there are "microbes living on floating pieces of plastic marine debris" that can affect the ocean ecosystem big time. Scientists have called this the "Platisphere-an ecological community of microbial organisms living on ocean plastic". With more than a thousand different species, the organisms located in this environment can act as huge threats to other marine animals. According to Tracy Miner who is an associate scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusettes, "bacteria could acquire additional nutrients as they pass through the guts of the fish", only helping it thrive more and continue living in the Plastisphere. Researchers are emphasizing how important it is that we "reduce the impact of plastic pollution" and that "plastics manufacturers learn how to make their products so they degrade at an optimal rate". Studies are still being conducted as far as "how the plastic is colonized and how it interacts with other marine organisms". The fact that there has been so much pollution that scientists needed to come up with a name for the new ecosystem of plastic is ridiculous.

Portable hydrogen fuel cell unit to provide green, sustainable power to Honolulu port

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140225100939.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140225100939.htm


Scientists and engineers are currently working on a technology of "auxiliary power to docked or anchored ships" of clean hydrogen power that will hopefully "lower emissions and reduce energy consumption". It will start initially at the Port of Honolulu and is expected to kick into action in 2015. The main researchers on this project are from Sandia National Laboratories and feel confident that this "portable, self-contained hydrogen fuel cell" will help ports meet their goals of becoming more sustainable and less of an issue for the environment. After the Honolulu Port tries out this technology, the team of scientists will "analyze the project's success and challenges, including the operating and cost parameters needed to make a business case at other ports", hoping to eventually expand into a commercial product.

Los Angeles would experience stronger-than-expected ground motion in major earthquake, virtual earthquake generator shows

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140123141949.htm

Marine Denolle has a PhD in geophysics and is currently leading a group of scientists that are using the "weak vibrations generated by Earth's oceans to produce virtual earthquakes that can be used to predict the ground movement and shaking hazard to buildings form real quakes". As technology is making its way more and more into the science world, some very cool studies are being done worldwide. This group from Stanford realize that "earthquakes aren't the only sources of seismic waves" and are taking advantage of this knowledge to help predict the severity of future earthquakes near fault lines like the major one in California, the San Andreas Fault. The way this works is the scientists use seismographs to pick up "ambient waves" that at first seemed to just interfere when trying to measure real earthquakes, but now allows them to "isolate certain waves" through "mathematical techniques". More specifically, "by studying how the ambient waves moved underground, the researchers were able to predict the actions of much stronger waves from powerful sources", coming to the conclusion that any earthquake in the Lost Angeles area any times soon would be strong and large, with a magnitude of at least 7.0 or greater. What I found most interesting was, thanks to the relatively inexpensive way of making this machine, "it could also be useful for forecasting ground motion in developing countries...you don't kneed large supercomputers to run the simulations". That's really taking advantage of technology and spreading our knowledge the way we should be.

The scent of cancer: Detecting cancer with fruit fly's antenna

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140124082702.htm

Professor Giovanni Galizia is a neurobiologist and zoologist who is leading research on fruit flies' ability to "distinguish cancer cells from healthy cells via their olfactory sense". An international project, the main studies are being conducted at the University of Konstanz and the University La Sapienza in Rome, Italy. Not only are scientists finding that fruit flies are able to separate cancer cells from healthy cells, but they are able to distinguish which kind of cancer cell they are smelling. Experiments have been performed using dogs as test subjects before the scientists will feel confident enough to try it out with people. In their studies, scientists have found that "five different types of breast cancer cell lines were analyzed" by the fruit flies. The importance of the fruit flies identifying these cancerous subgroups is this: "The high sensitivity of the natural olfactory receptors, paired with the quickness with which [scientists] can generate these test results, might lead to the development of a cheap, fast and highly-efficient pre-screeing that can detect cancer cells well before we can discover them with the present diagnostic imaging techniques". Science is always evolving and findings like this are crucial to our future in the medical world.

Rainforests in Far East shaped by humans for the last 11,000 years

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140124082608.htm

Although it has been inferred in the past that "the rain forests of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Thailand and Vietnam" were "largely unaffected by humans", there has been recent evidence suggesting otherwise. Dr. Chris Hunt is Director of Research on Environmental Change at Queen's School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology and his findings support the thought that humans in fact have played a huge role in effecting these forests for the last 11,000 years through "repeated disturbance of vegetation since the end of the last ice age". His research is going to be published in the Journal of Archaeological Science and explains his findings of pollen samples that unlock "historical secrets", that we have actually been disturbing these vegetations for years. He notes that there is no correlation to climate change as an excuse for the destruction of these forests, but rather the indigenous people are to blame. It is ambiguous, however, how harmful or helpful human interaction is to forests, as there is evident that the same people who cut down a forest "planted sources of food in its place". It seems to me there will always be a blurred line between helpful and harmful when it comes to humans' interactions with nature.

Mars could have supported life: Ten years on Mars leads to livable mud

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140124093710.htm

Scientists from Cornell University have been analyzing old minerals found on Mars and recently found evidence that "around four billion years ago Mars had liquid water so fresh it could have supported life". Professor Steven Squyres led the research and confirmed the likeliness that Mars may "have been habitable". Although the temperature on Mars now is so low that there is no way life could form there, the rock analysis proves that there may have in fact been life there once upon a time, although the mud was "as acidic as vinegar". A major source of the gathered information on Mar was taken by "Opportunity Rover, a golf buggy-sized terrain vehicle" whose 10th anniversary was just celebrated this year. Thanks to Oppy we now have a "richer knowledge" of Mars and know "where to focus our future search", with plenty more to learn!