Earth

Alexandria, VA – Buried more than a kilometer beneath the East Antarctica Ice sheet, the Gamburstev Subglacial Mountains have proven to be a geological puzzle for more than 5 decades. How did these mountains form? When did they form? And what makes this ancient mountain range one of the least-understood tectonic features on Earth?

PHILADELPHIA -- In a study of the harsh but beautiful White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, University of Pennsylvania researchers have uncovered a unifying mechanism to explain dune patterns. The new work represents a contribution to basic science, but the findings may also hold implications for identifying when dune landscapes like those in Nebraska's Sand Hills may reach a "tipping point" under climate change, going from valuable grazing land to barren desert.

DURHAM, N.C. – When Hiroaki Matsunami, Ph.D., at Duke set out to study a chemical in male mouse urine called MTMT that attracts female mice, he didn't think he would stumble into a new field of study.

But the research has led scientists at Duke University Medical Center and the University of Albany to the discovery that it's the copper in our bodies that makes mammals recoil from sulfur chemical smells.

DURHAM, N.H. – An ocean mapping expedition has shed new light on deepest place on Earth, the 2,500-kilometer long Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean near Guam. Using a multibeam echo sounder, state-of-the-art equipment for mapping the ocean floor, scientists from the University of New Hampshire Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center found four "bridges" spanning the trench and measured its deepest point with greater precision than ever before.

The deadliest mass extinction of all took a long time to kill 90 percent of Earth's marine life--and it killed in stages--according to a newly published report.

It shows that mass extinctions need not be sudden events.

Thomas Algeo, a geologist at the University of Cincinnati, and 13 colleagues have produced a high-resolution look at the geology of a Permian-Triassic boundary section on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic.

Public concern about climate change has varied widely over the past few decades. For example, Gallup has been polling individuals about how much they personally worry about climate change. In 2004, 26 percent of the respondents stated that they worried "a great deal." By 2007, this proportion had risen to 41 percent. But by 2010, this fraction dropped to 28 percent. Why?

COLUMBUS, Ohio – More than extreme weather events and the work of scientists, it is national political leaders who influence how much Americans worry about the threat of climate change, new research finds.

In a study of public opinion from 2002 to 2010, researchers found that public belief that climate change was a threat peaked in 2006-2007 when Democrats and Republicans in Congress showed the most agreement on the issue.

But public concern has dropped since then, as partisanship over the issue increased.

A painstakingly detailed investigation shows that mass extinctions need not be sudden events. The deadliest mass extinction of all took a long time to kill 90 percent of Earth's marine life, and it killed in stages, according to a newly published report.

Internet information giant Google updated ocean data in its Google Earth application this week, reflecting new bathymetry data assembled by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, NOAA researchers and many other ocean mapping groups from around the world.

The newest version of Google Earth includes more accurate imagery in several key areas of ocean using data collected by research cruises over the past three years.

WASHINGTON -- Super Bowl Sunday? Make that Cheese Bowl Sunday! On the day when people in the U.S. consume more food than any other except Thanksgiving, almost 60 percent (by some estimates), will have cheese on the menu. Pizza, nachos, cheese spreads and dips, cheese fries, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches — not to mention chunks and slices of Swiss, cheddar, Camembert and more.

Most studies have found that binge drinking is associated with a loss of alcohol's protective effect against ischemic heart disease (IHD) and most studies have found an increase of coronary risk among binge drinkers.

This study followed 26,786 men and women who participated in the Danish National Cohort Study in 1994, 2000, and 2005 and sought to see if binge drinking increased the risk of IHD or all-cause mortality among "light-to-moderate" drinkers: (up to 21 drinks/week for men and up to 14 drinks/week for women). A "drink" was 12g.

Around the world coral reefs are facing threats brought by climate change and dramatic shifts in sea temperatures. While ocean warming has been the primary focus for scientists and ocean policy managers, cold events can also cause large-scale coral bleaching events. A new study by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego compared damage to corals exposed to heat as well as cold stress. The results reveal that cool temperatures can inflict more damage in the short term, but heat is more destructive in the long run.

Incandescent light bulbs are energy hogs, but many people prefer them for the cozy quality of light they emit. Scientists from Dresden University of Technology in Germany have set out to build energy efficient organic LED (OLED) lights that could rival incandescent bulbs in white-light color quality. OLEDs consist of many layers of organic materials with different electrical properties. Excited electrons move through the materials and when the electrons are reunited with positive "holes," they emit electromagnetic radiation in the form of visible light.

Though pacemakers require only small amounts of energy (about 1 millionth of a Watt), their batteries have to be replaced periodically, which means multiple surgeries for patients. Researchers have searched for ways to prolong battery life – trying to generate energy to power a pacemaker using blood sugar, or the motion of the hands and legs – but these methods either interfere with metabolism or require a more drastic surgery, such as passing a wire from the limbs to the chest area.