Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Natural Laboratory in the Mediterranean Sea is revealing the effects of rising carbon dioxide levels on life in the ocens

A unique 'natural laboratory' in the Mediterranean Sea is revealing the effects of rising carbon dioxide levels on life in the oceans. The results show a bleak future for marine life as ocean acidity rises, and suggest that similar lowering of ocean pH levels may have been responsible for massive extinctions in the past.
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Monday, August 30, 2010

El Niños Are Growing Stronger, NASA/NOAA Study Finds

A relatively new type of El Niño, which has its warmest waters in the central-equatorial Pacific Ocean, rather than in the eastern-equatorial Pacific, is becoming more common and progressively stronger, according to a new study by NASA and NOAA. The research may improve our understanding of the relationship between El Niños and climate change, and has potentially significant implications for long-term weather forecasting.
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Sunday, August 29, 2010

And Now Electricity from Lightning


A group of chemists from the University of Campinas in Brazil presented research on Wednesday claiming they've figured out how electricity is formed and released in the atmosphere.

Based on this knowledge, the team said it believes a device could be developed for extracting electrical charges from the atmosphere and using it for electricity.

The team, led by Fernando Galembeck, says they discovered the process by simulating water vapor reactions in a laboratory with dust particles common to the atmosphere.
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New Online Tool Monitors Endangered Species Trading

A new interactive tool that enables users to view trade data about wildlife and plants in 175 countries is now offered online by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES, to mark its 35th anniversary.
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Friday, August 27, 2010

Planetary Scientists To Find Out Composition, Structure Of Asteroids

A NASA mission to two asteroids, one formed of lava and the other potentially containing water, will help find clues about the formation of our solar system...
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Carbon menace? Indian man's device to help the world go green

Virendra Kumar Sinha, who runs a workshop in East Champaran in Bihar, was ignorant about the possibilities of his pollution control device that can be attached to generators or other diesel engines to reduce noise and air pollution. With emissions of carbon dioxide forecasted to touch 43 percent by 2035, Virendra's device could go a long way in making a big difference in the world, which requires a cleaner and greener environment.
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Monday, August 23, 2010

Ancient Galaxy Cluster Still Producing Stars

In ongoing observations of one of the universe's earliest, most distant cluster of galaxies using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, an international team of researchers led by Texas A&M's Dr. Kim-Vy Tran has discovered that a significant fraction of those ancient galaxies are still actively forming stars.
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Sunday, August 22, 2010

Massive oil plume discovered in the Gulf


Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have detected a plume of hydrocarbons that is at least 22 miles long and more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, a result of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, reports a study published in Science.

The 1.2-mile-wide, 650-foot-high plume of trapped hydrocarbons provides a clue on where all the oil has gone as oil slicks on the surface disappear.
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Saturday, August 21, 2010

Galactic 'Super-Volcano' in Action

A galactic "super-volcano" in the massive galaxy M87 is erupting and blasting gas outwards, as witnessed by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and NSF's Very Large Array. The cosmic volcano is being driven by a giant black hole in the galaxy's center and preventing hundreds of millions of new stars from forming.
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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Evolution May Have Pushed Humans Toward Greater Risk for Type 1 Diabetes

Gene variants associated with an increased risk for type-1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis may confer previously unknown benefits to their human carriers, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. As a result, the human race may have been evolving in the recent past to be more susceptible, rather than less, to some complex diseases, they conclude.
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Sunday, August 15, 2010

BlackBerry assures India on access to services

 Research In Motion has promised India a technical solution for decoding encrypted BlackBerry data, a senior official said on Friday, a step that could allay Indian security concerns about the smartphone and avert a shutdown.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Infosys distressed at 'chop shop' slur by US senator

Software giant Infosys on Monday took strong objection to a United States senator describing it as a 'chop shop' and asserted that the company was a responsible corporate that creates jobs and provides high quality services across the world
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Indian engineer designs matchbox-sized inverter

Bangalore: Subrata Datta, a Hyderabad-based engineer, has invented a matchbox-sized device that can power homes even during power cuts. The inverter can power TV, computer or fridge.

France's 'Mysterious Island' Now Threatened by Ravers

In January of 2009, a hellish storm packing 125-mile per hour winds raked the Gironde estuary in western France, whipped the sea into a frenzy, leveled trees on land, and killed 26 people.

And in its wake, a strange new island was born.

Storms often pile sand and sediment high enough to form small protrusions from the waves -- but they are usually swept away by tides or the next squall. But this island is something else; its 11 acres (250 at low tide) are still intact after weathering another fierce storm, cyclone Xynthia, earlier this year. Locals call it "l'ile mysterieuse" -- "the mysterious island," after the Jules Verne novel -- but it remains officially unnamed, and does not appear on any maps.

But scientists have ventured out to the island, watching fascinated as plants, birds, insects, and other life forms colonize its pristine shores. According to an article in The Guardian .

There's just one problem: people are so transfixed by the island that tourists are flocking to it. A rave was even held there. Needless to say, this doesn't bode well for newly-established wildlife.

Local activists are struggling to get it protected. But the entire estuary is due to become a protected zone next year, which would include the still unnamed stretch of land.

Human Noise Pollution in Ocean Can Lead Fish Away from Good Habitats and Off to Their Death

The growing amount of human noise pollution in the ocean could lead fish away from good habitat and off to their death, according to new research from a UK-led team working on the Great Barrier Reef.
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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Galaxies Can Return From the Dead

Did you know that galaxies can die? They are apparently declared dead by astronomers when they stop making new stars. But a recent finding suggests that this kind of death is not the end of the road for at least some galaxies.
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Monday, August 9, 2010

GIS proving good friend of paramilitary force

Gandhinagar, India: Integration of GIS into Indian Border Security Force's (BSF) planning processes is turning out to be of great value for the paramilitary force as its decisions now show both the required alacrity and vision. Waterlogging along the international border in Gujarat's Kutch and Rajasthan's Barmer was proving the huge challenge for the troop.

According to Gujarat Frontier BSF inspector general AK Sinha, the BSF has been able to respond quickly to the situation because of the recent integration of GIS into BSF's overall scheme of things. It is comparatively easier for the paramilitary force to maintain command control and ensure a better logistics management due to GIS in an unusual situation like this.

The primary reason behind waterlogging of the border outposts is rains and release of water from the dams in Pakistan's Sindh province. Torrential rains have wreaked havoc in some parts of Pakistan and water of rivers in spate has overflowed into Indus which meanders through Sindh on way to the Arabian Sea.
 

Sunday, August 8, 2010

NASA releases image of two tangled galaxies

A new image of two tangled galaxies has been released by NASA's Great Observatories. The Antennae galaxies, located about 62 million light-years from Earth, are shown in a new composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), the Hubble Space Telescope (gold and brown), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (red). The Antennae galaxies take their name from the long, antenna-like arms seen in wide-angle views of the system. These features were produced in the collision.
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Reinventing urban wind power

With the environmental movement gathering momentum, many are thinking of installing wind turbines to generate their own electricity. Unfortunately, wind speeds in urban areas are usually too slow and turbulent to make micro wind generation cost-effective.

So while the strict planning regulations that have prevented homeowners from erecting domestic turbines in the UK are expected to be relaxed next month, city-dwellers may find manufacturers reluctant to sell them their turbines for fear that poor performance will reflect badly on a young and vulnerable industry.

However, researchers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, believe that the problem is not with the low wind speeds after all, but with the methods used to harvest wind power. Cities have plenty of wind energy we can use, they say, but to harness it requires a different tack. It's time to reinvent the urban wind turbine.
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Friday, August 6, 2010

Cloudburst in Leh Causes Flash Flood in Ladakh Region

It is a disaster in Jammu Kashmir really as most of the things are not going well in the valley. It was a horrific disaster in Leh, Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir state when Cloudburst caused as flash flood in region killing 59 people in an instant. There are some Army and CRPF officials too who are being killed by this attack of nature on them. This news came from Jammu and Kashmir DGP who confirmed the toll of killed persons in this outraged flood.

The massive power production of Niagara Falls

At one time, it was the largest producer of hydroelectric power on the planet. That was in 1961. Today, it is still New York State's preeminent hydropower facility, and it shares some of the glory of one of the most awesome spectacles in the world.
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Ecuador Agrees to Keep Amazon Eco-Treasure Free of Oil Drilling

The government of Ecuador and the United Nations Development Programme have agreed to establish a trust fund to protect an ecologically unique site in the Ecuadorian Amazon from oil development.
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