Earth

In ancient Earth history, the sun burned as much as 30 percent dimmer than it does now. Theoretically that should have encased the planet in ice, but there is geologic evidence for rivers and ocean sediments between 2 billion and 4 billion years ago.

Scientists have speculated that temperatures warm enough to maintain liquid water were the result of a much thicker atmosphere, high concentrations of greenhouse gases or a combination of the two.

Scientists working at the Institut Laue-Langevin, one of the world's leading centres for neutron science, have carried out the first investigation of two-dimensional fermion liquids using neutron scattering, and discovered a new type of very short wave-length density wave. The team believe their discovery, published in Nature, will interest researchers looking at electronic systems, since high temperature superconductivity could result from this type of density fluctuations.

Quantum theory describes the world of atoms very precisely. Still, it defies our macroscopic conception of everyday's world due to its many anti-intuitive predictions. The wave-particle dualism probably is the best known example and means that matter may spread and interfere like waves. Now, an international team of researchers has recorded the interference process of individual molecules. The recordings were published by the journal Nature Nanotechnology online.

Los Angeles, CA -- While government officials have argued that "enhanced interrogation techniques" are necessary to protect American citizens, the effectiveness of such techniques has been debated. According to a recent study, when torture is used to elicit information, it is likely to be unexpectedly harsh yet ineffective. This study was published in a new article in Political Research Quarterly (PRQ) published by SAGE on behalf of the Western Political Science Association.

LONDON (28 March 2012) — Nearly one billion people in the world are undernourished, while millions suffer from chronic disease due to excess food consumption. Global demand is growing for agricultural products and food prices are rising, yet roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. Climate change threatens more frequent drought, flooding and pest outbreaks, and the world loses 12 million hectares of agricultural land each year to land degradation.

Modern methods for mass production of biological agents and fine chemicals require precise control of pH. However within these systems it is not always possible to use traditional methods for measuring acidity and alkalinity. Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Biotechnology describes a new and user friendly method for measuring pH, which uses luminescent dual life-time referencing (DLR), to provide real-time characteristics of enzyme reactions.

A three-arm randomized trial conducted by Ivo Mueller of the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Madang, Papua New Guinea, and colleagues among infants in Papua New Guinea estimates the preventive effect against malaria episodes of intermittent preventive treatment, in an area where children are exposed to both falciparum and vivax malaria.

In this week's PLoS Medicine, the PLoS Medicine editors discuss new research studies on the risks associated with mode of childbirth following caesarean section. In the first, Caroline Crowther and colleagues found that the risks of very severe outcomes—such as fetal or infant death—were lower among women who planned a repeat caesarean section than among women who planned a vaginal birth.

Boulder, Colo., USA - Lithosphere topics include Deccan volcanism; river profiles in Eastern Papua, New Guinea; significant seismic hazard in the Camarillo fold belt, Southern California; mechanics of the San Jacinto and southern San Andreas faults; new evidence from the SAFOD core; chalcedony of the White River Group, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Colorado; and using seismic data to study the crust and upper mantle beneath the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina.

Impact of Indus River discharge on productivity and preservation of organic carbon in the Arabian Sea over the twentieth centuryAndreas Lückge et al., Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), 30655 Hannover, Germany. Posted online 26 March 2012; doi: 10.1130/G32608.1.

Depending on the weather, wind turbines can face whispering breezes or gale-force gusts. Such variable conditions make extracting the maximum power from the turbines a tricky control problem, but a collaboration of Chinese researchers may have found a novel solution in human-inspired learning models.

Common material such as polyethylene used in plastic bags could be turned into something far more valuable through a process being developed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

In a paper published in Advanced Materials, a team led by Amit Naskar of the Materials Science and Technology Division outlined a method that allows not only for production of carbon fiber but also the ability to tailor the final product to specific applications.

The unique electrical properties of graphene have enticed researchers to envision a future of fast integrated circuits made with the one-carbon-atom-thick sheets, but many challenges remain on the path to commercialization. Scientists from the University of Florida have recently tackled one of these challenges – how to reliably manufacture graphene on a large scale.

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A new study examining nearly 40 years of satellite imagery has revealed that the floating ice shelves of a critical portion of West Antarctica are steadily losing their grip on adjacent bay walls, potentially amplifying an already accelerating loss of ice to the sea.