Earth | Page 575 | Science Codex

Tropical Storm Earl forms in Caribbean Sea

The fifth tropical cyclone of the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season formed today in the Caribbean Sea. NOAA's GOES-East satellite provided a look at the storm as hurricane-hunter aircraft confirmed a closed circulation.

Tropical Storm Earl formed in the Caribbean Sea and is forecast to move west over the next couple of days. As a result, the government of Honduras has issued a tropical storm warning for the entire north coast of Honduras from Cabo Gracias a Dios westward to the Honduras-Guatemala border including the Bay Islands.

Scientists model the 'flicker' of gluons in subatomic smashups

UPTON, NY-Scientists exploring the dynamic behavior of particles emerging from subatomic smashups at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC, https://www.bnl.gov/rhic/)-a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility for nuclear physics research at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory-are increasingly interested in the role of gluons. These glue-like particles ordinarily bind quarks within protons and neutrons, and appear to play an outsized role in establishing key particle properties.

Study provides a new method to measure the energy of a lightning strike

TAMPA, Fla. (Aug. 3, 2016) - Florida, often recognized as the "lightning capital of the United States," is a great place to study the amount of energy released by a lightning strike. Just ask University of South Florida School of Geosciences Associate Professor Matthew Pasek and his colleague Marc Hurst of Independent Geological Sciences, Inc. who have developed a unique method to measure the amount energy expended by a bolt of cloud-to-ground lightning.

The search for the earthquake nucleus

Where a tectonic plate dives under another, in the so-called subduction zones at ocean margins, many strong earthquakes occur. Especially the earthquakes at shallow depths often cause tsunamis. How exactly are such earthquakes initiated? Which rock composition favours a break in the earth's interior that can lead to such natural disasters? Scientists at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the University of Utrecht (NL) published a study in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience which points to earthquake nucleation in calcareous sediments.

Iron catalysts can modify amino acids, peptides to create new drug candidates

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.-- For medicinal chemists, making tweaks to peptide structures is key to developing new drug candidates. Now, researchers have demonstrated that two iron-containing small-molecule catalysts can help turn certain types of amino acids -- the building blocks of peptides and proteins -- into an array of potential new forms, even when part of a larger peptide, while preserving a crucial aspect of their chemistry: chirality, or "handedness."

Study finds no link between sleep apnea and joint pain

Consistent with previous reports, poor sleep quality was linked with joint pain in a recent Arthritis Care & Research study of the general population, but the study found no association between obstructive sleep apnea and pain or daytime sleepiness. This lack of association between pain and sleep apnea is surprising given the established link between pain and poor sleep quality.

Study shows heat dangers of inflatable bounce houses

Heat safety issues in bounce houses can put children in danger, says a new University of Georgia study.

Expanding on the concept of microclimates like those in parked vehicles that cause serious injuries to children, the study investigated potential heat-related risks associated with bounce houses, which create a microclimate environment similar to automobiles but one that had not been previously examined.

Examining embryo-like fossils from the Ediacaran Doushantuo formation, South China

Boulder, Colo., USA - The origin and early evolution of animals have been a fascinating topic since Charles Darwin. Definite early animal fossils largely appear from early Cambrian, so the fossil records are often interpreted as documenting a "Cambrian explosion" of animals. The phosphatized embryo-like fossils displaying cellular and subcellular structures from Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation, South China, provide an unparalleled snapshot of life before the Cambrian.

Restoring prairie and fighting wildfire with (drone launched) fire(balls)

Ecologist Dirac Twidwell wants to change the way we think about prescribed burns.

Unlocking the secrets of creeping concrete

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 2, 2016 -- College students have used it to make cheap furniture, China has had shortages of it, and main character Michael Scott of "The Office" once famously buried his face in it. Concrete is everywhere -- a ubiquity owed to its strength as a building material. Despite its strength, however, it has a pernicious but inescapable tendency to "creep," or deform progressively under mechanical stress, which leads to crumbling bridges and cracked roads.

Crystallization frustration predicts metallic glass formation

DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers have discovered a way to predict which alloys will form metallic glasses. The research could pave the way for new strong, conductive materials.

Proton pinball on the catalyst

The function of fuel cells is to transform chemical energy into electricity through a chemical reaction. When this technology is mature enough it will be possible to use a fuel like hydrogen without emitting CO2 into the atmosphere. In the fuel cell, the chemical reaction is facilitated by a catalyst, typically platinum nanoparticles dispersed onto the surface of a durable and reactive material, such as cerium oxide, for example.

Bridging the gap between the quantum and classical worlds

In the quantum world, physicists study the tiny particles that make up our classical world - neutrons, electrons, photons - either one at a time or in small numbers because the behaviour of the particles is completely different on such a small scale. If you add to the number of particles that are being studied, eventually there will be enough particles that they no longer act quantum mechanically and must be identified as classical, just like our everyday world. But where is the line between the quantum world and the classical world?

Trees on farms: The missing link in carbon accounting

While tropical forests continued to decline, a remarkable change is happening: tree cover on agricultural land has increased across the globe, capturing nearly 0.75 Gigatonnes carbon dioxide every year. A new study titled "Global Tree Cover and Biomass Carbon on Agricultural Land: The contribution of agroforestry to global and national carbon budgets" provides insights into the patterns of this tremendous change at global, regional and national scales.

Researchers study impact of extreme weather events on striped bass

SOLOMONS, MD (August 2, 2016) -- Striped bass are known to have favorite summer swimming spots to which they return every year. They are creatures of habit. However, when a hurricane hits, everything can change very quickly. The water level rises rapidly. Runoff floods the river with sediment and chokes off the oxygen. Heavy rains create rushing currents and a sudden drop in water temperature. And the fish leave the area in a hurry. Scientists call it "evacuating" to better conditions.