Earth

Proton pump inhibitors, medications that suppress acid in the stomach, appear to be associated with fractures in postmenopausal women and bacterial infections in many patients, and higher doses do not appear any more beneficial for treating bleeding ulcers, according to a series of reports in the May 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. An additional report finds that introducing guidelines for proton pump inhibitor use into clinical settings may reduce rates of inappropriate prescriptions.

PITTSBURGH – Technology for capturing carbon dioxide and safely storing it underground rather than releasing it to the atmosphere holds significant promise in the U.S. and abroad, according to researchers at the Ninth Annual Conference on Carbon Capture and Sequestration. Researchers from the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington will discuss results from several lines of work: an assessment of where and when carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology might be deployed within the U.S.

Washington, D.C. — The evolution of complex life forms may have gotten a jump start billions of years ago, when geologic events operating over millions of years caused large quantities of phosphorus to wash into the oceans. According to this model, the higher levels of phosphorus would have caused vast algal blooms, pumping extra oxygen into the environment which allowed larger, more complex types of organisms to thrive.

Some people have streets named after them. Warren Piers, a chemistry professor at the University of Calgary, has a catalyst penned after him.

During the yearly General Assembly of the European Geological Union in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Olaf Eisen from the German Alfred Wegener Institute is presenting results from an environmentally friendly measurement method that he and his colleagues used on an Antarctic ice-shelf for the first time in early 2010.

New eruptions from Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull volcano have produced a 1600 km-wide ash cloud over the Atlantic. The brownish plume, travelling east and then south, is clearly visible in stark contrast to white clouds framing this Envisat image from 6 May.

Potential climate change caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide might be better understood by examining fossil plant remains from millions of years ago, according to biogeochemists. The types of carbon within the leaves can serve as a window into past temperatures and environmental conditions.

"Carbon isotopes are really important for understanding the carbon cycle of the past, and we care about the carbon cycle of the past because it gives us clues about future climate change," said Aaron Diefendorf, graduate student in geosciences at Penn State.

A combination of enzymes and fermentation modifies bran structure and changes the bioavailability of the bioactive compound, according to new studies forming part of the European Union's large-scale HEALTHGRAIN project. Bioprocessing of bran has potential for making it a better ingredient for use in manufacturing nutritionally boosted cereal foods withhigh sensory quality.

LIVERMORE, Calif. - Just a few years ago, Dan Farber happened to be doing field work in Peru with students when the 8.0 Pisco earthquake struck. As a scientist working in the active tectonics of the Peruvian Andes - funded through the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics - Farber was asked by colleagues if he could participate in a rapid response team to map the damage of the seismic deformation and install a system of geodetic stations.

The wavy lines and squiggles etched into a slab of limestone found near Fossil Butte National Monument are prehistoric fish trails, made by Notogoneus osculus as it fed along a lake bottom, says Emory University paleontologist Anthony Martin.

The onset of summer in England has been advancing since the mid 1950s, research from a pair of University of Sheffield geographers has shown.

The investigations, conducted by Amy Kirbyshire, a former undergraduate of the University, and Professor Grant Bigg, Head of the Department of Geography at the University, examined records of the first blooming date of early summer flowering plants (phenology) and the timing of first occurrences of warm 'summer' temperatures - events linked with the onset of summer.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---In an achievement that could help enable fast quantum computers, University of Michigan physicists have built a better Rydberg atom trap. Rydberg atoms are highly excited, nearly-ionized giants that can be thousands of times larger than their ground-state counterparts.

Climate and agricultural researchers, policy makers, donors, and development agencies, both governmental and non-governmental, from all over the world just met in Nairobi for a one-day conference, 'Building Food Security in the Face of Climate Change'. The conference was an important part of a big new international Mega Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). The programme's secretariat is based at LIFE- Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen.

In this edition of Science Picks, learn why it seems like the world is experiencing more earthquakes than normal. Also, see how easy it is to become a citizen scientist, and watch a new USGS movie to learn why the Mojave Desert tortoise is endangered. You'll also find information about major flooding this spring, dust from Africa that is potentially harming coral in the Caribbean, how scientists are using satellite technology to track wildlife, and much more!

On May 2-7, 7,000 researchers from all of Europe gather in Vienna for European Geosciences Union. This is a great opportunity to exchange information and experiences on the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano. A scientist from Risoe DTU seized the opportunity and organized a special session at the conference.