Earth | Page 981 | Science Codex

Don't trust liposomes in your beauty products

Liposomes are small fat capsules, often added to beauty products.

According to the beauty industry liposomes are capable of transporting active ingredients deep into the skin and release the active ingredients so that they can alter the skin´s structure by rejuvenating and smoothing the skin.

Research from University of Southern Denmark now shows that liposomes are not capable of transporting themselves deep into the skin, and thus they are not capable of transporting active ingredients deep into the skin.

Russian fireball largest ever detected by CTBTO's infrasound sensors

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Jurassic records warn of risk to marine life from global warming

Researchers at Plymouth University, UK, believe that findings from fieldwork along the North Yorkshire coast reveal strong parallels between the Early Jurassic era of 180 million years ago and current climate predictions over the next century.

Through geology and palaeontology, they've shown how higher temperatures and lower oxygen levels caused drastic changes to marine communities, and that while the Jurassic seas eventually recovered from the effects of global warming, the marine ecosystems that returned were noticeably different from before.

Solar sponge' soaks up CO₂ emissions

CSIRO scientists have created a 'solar sponge' which captures and then releases carbon dioxide using the power of natural sunlight.

The breakthrough presents a new way to recycle CO2 emissions using renewable energy. The 'sponge' which is made from a new smart material called a MOF - metal organic framework - adsorbs carbon dioxide, but when exposed to sunlight, instantaneously releases it.

Nesting site protection 'key to save turtles from climate change'

International marine scientists today warned it will be vital to protect key marine turtle nesting grounds and areas that may be suitable for turtle nesting in the future to ensure that the marine reptiles have a better chance of withstanding climate change.

A new study reveals that some turtle populations in the West Indian Ocean, Northeast Indian Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, East Atlantic Ocean and the East Pacific Ocean are among the least likely to recover from the impacts of climate change. Mariana_19feb_2

Top predators also have sway over climate

University of British Columbia researchers have found that when the animals at the top of the food chain are removed, freshwater ecosystems emit a lot more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

"Predators are disappearing from our ecosystems at alarming rates because of hunting and fishing pressure and because of human induced changes to their habitats," says Trisha Atwood, a PhD candidate in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC.

Blood is thicker than water -- and blood plasma is, too

The results are significant because they can help to improve our understanding of medical conditions, such as thrombosis, aneurysms and arteriosclerosis. The research team is publishing its results in Physical Review Letters and the American Physical Society has highlighted the work on its Physics website, placing it on the Focus List of important physics news.

Reduced sea ice disturbs balance of greenhouse gases

The widespread reduction in Arctic sea ice is causing significant changes to the balance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is shown in a new study conducted by researchers from Lund University in Sweden, among others.

According to the study, the melting of sea ice in the Arctic has a tangible impact on the balance of greenhouse gases in this region, both in terms of uptake and release. The researchers have studied the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane both in the tundra and in the Arctic Ocean.

Lake-effect snow sometimes needs mountains

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 19, 2013 – University of Utah researchers ran computer simulations to show that the snow-producing "lake effect" isn't always enough to cause heavy snowfall, but that mountains or other surrounding topography sometimes are necessary too.

The role of landsliding and implications for salmonid habitat

Most of the highly productive habitat for salmon occurs in low gradient streams with broad valleys, yet there is limited understanding of what controls the width of valleys in mountainous landscapes.

C. May and colleagues used high-resolution topographic data in the Oregon Coast Range to explore controls on valley width and couple these findings with models of salmon habitat potential.

Environmental tolerance, range offset of Treptichnus pedumand and the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary

New research by an international team of scientists led by the University of Saskatchewan has revealed novel information about the most important transition in the history of life: the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary.

The Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary (about 541 million years ago) represents a major divide in the history of the biosphere. Ediacaran biotas were dominated by soft-bodied organisms that are now considered for the most part to be unrelated to modern metazoans.

Tracing the origin of Arctic driftwood

Tracking the origin of driftwood samples could help scientists to reconstruct past currents in the Arctic Ocean, a new study suggests. Arctic currents are likely to be affected by changing climate, but there are few observations that provide evidence on past current dynamics.

Assessing the Great Whirl (now with additional pirates!)

Each year, the powerful southwest monsoon ramps up in midsummer, bringing life-giving rains to the Indian subcontinent. The monsoon winds also drive dramatic changes in the regional ocean currents, including a reversal in the circulation of the Arabian Sea, an energetic eddy field, and strong coastal upwelling. Off the east coast of Somalia, a large (300 to 550 kilometer wide, or 186 to 342 mile wide) anticyclone appears—known since 1876 as the Great Whirl—with surface currents as strong as 2.5 meters per second (8.2 feet per second).

Using volcano-tectonic earthquakes to track post-eruptive activity at Redoubt Volcano, Alaska

Redoubt Volcano erupted for 3 months in 2009, generating spectacular ash clouds and producing a large lava dome that remains in place today. Both this eruption and the last eruption in 1989 were preceded by bursts of earthquake activity -- known as earthquake swarms-- that provided scientists with early warning of the imminent eruption.

When more earthquake swarms occurred around the vent in the year after the eruption, the alert levels were raised in anticipation of eruptive activity.

Non-hotspot volcano chains produced by migration of shear-driven upwelling toward the East Pacific Rise

Most volcanism on Earth reflects plate-tectonic processes, occurring along the boundaries between the moving plates.

Volcanism occurring within plate interiors is instead typically explained by deep-rooted "plumes" that transport hot material upward to feed stationary "hotspots" of volcanism.

As the plate moves above them, these hotspots produce chains of volcanoes, such as the Hawaiian Islands. One volcano chain, with the exotic name "Pukapuka," submerged beneath the southeastern Pacific, lacks a characteristic hotspot feature: Its source of volcanism is not stationary.