Earth

Boulder, Colo., USA – New Lithosphere articles posted online 16 May 2012 report on (1) seismic anisotropy measured beneath 14 broadband stations in southeastern India; (2) why geoscientists should persist in their efforts to reach and study such spectacular sub-sea geologic features as the Mariana Trench (recently explored by film director James Cameron) and how "land geologists" can help this effort by studying on-land equivalents like ophiolites; and (3) pressures and melting temperatures of sediments deeply buried in Earth's mantle.

OTTO, NC--Research by USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists shows that the impacts of recent outbreaks of southern pine beetle further degraded shortleaf pine-hardwood forest ecosystems in the southern Appalachian region. The authors suggest that cutting and burning these sites reduces heavy fuel loads, improves soil nutrient status, and opens the canopy for restoration of these shortleaf pine communities.

Research to be published in Science on May 18, 2012, sheds light on a hot-button political issue: the role and effectiveness of government regulation. Does it kill jobs or protect the public?

MADISON – An international team of researchers has discovered how adding trace amounts of water can tremendously speed up chemical reactions—such as hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis—in which hydrogen is one of the reactants, or starting materials.

Led by Manos Mavrikakis, the Paul A. Elfers professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Flemming Besenbacher, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, the team published its findings in the May 18 issue of the journal Science.

Belmont, MA - An extract of the Chinese herb kudzu dramatically reduces drinking and may be useful in the treatment of alcoholism and curbing binge drinking, according to a new study by McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School researchers.

In the first study of its kind in Australasia, scientists have used 27 natural climate records to create the first large-scale temperature reconstruction for the region over the last 1000 years.

The study was led by researchers at the University of Melbourne and used a range of natural indicators including tree rings, corals and ice cores to study Australasian temperatures over the past millennium and compared them to climate model simulations.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Black carbon aerosols and tropospheric ozone, both manmade pollutants emitted predominantly in the Northern Hemisphere's low- to mid-latitudes, are most likely pushing the boundary of the tropics further poleward in that hemisphere, new research by a team of scientists shows.

Researchers with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Weapons and Materials Research Directorate saw the product of their work toward a new generation of significantly improved materials for advanced Soldier head protection reach the milestone of commercial production on March 12 when Ceradyne, a commercial partner, announced it had received its first Enhanced Combat Helmet order.

The new helmets have 35 percent higher tolerance from fragmenting munitions than previous ballistic helmets.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The early April earthquake of magnitude 8.6 that shook Sumatra was a grim reminder of the devastating earthquakes and tsunami that killed tens of thousands of people in 2004 and 2005.

Now a new study, funded by the National Science Foundation, shows that the residents of that region are at risk from yet another potentially deadly natural phenomenon – major volcanic eruptions.

For the first time, scientists have seen an X-ray-irradiated mineral go to two different states of matter in about 40 femtoseconds (a femtosecond is one quadrillionth of a second).

Using the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford, Stefan Hau-Riege of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and colleagues heated graphite to induce a transition from solid to liquid and to warm-dense plasma.

Alexandria, VA – In continuation of the Geoscience Academic Provenance research series conducted by Houlton (Geoscience Currents 45-48, and 57-58), Geoscience Currents 59 presents quantitative data collected from participants through a Likert-based survey. Participants were asked to rate their feelings toward geoscience on a scale from 1 to 7. The aggregated responses illuminated the changes over time in the students' attitudes toward pursuing geoscience.

Climate change projections indicate a steady increase in temperature progressing through the 21st century, generally resulting in snowpack reductions, changes to the timing of snowmelt, altered streamflows, and reductions in soil moisture, all of which could affect water management, agriculture, recreation, hazard mitigation, and ecosystems across the nation. Despite some widespread similarities in climate change trends, climate change will affect specific water basins in the U.S. differently, based on the particular hydrologic and geologic conditions in that area.

TAMPA, Fla. (May 16, 2012) – Chlorothalonil, one of the world's most common fungicides used pervasively on food crops and golf courses, was lethal to a wide variety of freshwater organisms in a new study, University of South Florida researchers said Wednesday.

Is Earth really a sort of giant living organism as the Gaia hypothesis predicts? A new discovery made at the University of Maryland may provide a key to answering this question. This key of sulfur could allow scientists to unlock heretofore hidden interactions between ocean organisms, atmosphere, and land -- interactions that might provide evidence supporting this famous theory.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — While climate change is likely to alter the spatial distributions of species and habitat types, the nature of those changes is uncertain, making it more difficult for conservationists to implement standard planning models. Research from applied economists at the University of Illinois shows that adapting a theory from the world of finance could help to optimize conservation activities.