Earth

Geophysicists from Potsdam have established a mode of action that can explain the irregular distribution of strong earthquakes at the San Andreas Fault in California. As the science magazine Nature reports in its latest issue, the scientists examined the electrical conductivity of the rocks at great depths, which is closely related to the water content within the rocks. From the pattern of electrical conductivity and seismic activity they were able to deduce that rock water acts as a lubricant.

Cambridge, Mass. – November 30, 2011 – From targeted cancer chemotherapy to the guarantee of successful organ transplants, the 21st century may prove to be the age of big ideas in medicine.

The drugs themselves, though, will be miniscule.

Experts in chemistry, applied physics, materials science, and pharmaceutical science are gathering this week for the BASF Advanced Research Initiative at Harvard University's symposium on pharmaceutical nanoformulations.

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered a way to control how tiny flat molecules fit together in a seemingly random pattern.

The researchers have been studying molecules which resemble tiny rhombus/diamond shaped tiles, with a side length of around 2 nanometres — 2 billionths of a metre.

The fundamental research, published in the prestigious journal Nature Chemistry, has shown that they can prompt the 'tiles' to form a range of random patterns by adjusting the conditions in which the experiment is conducted.

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Christian Lienhardt from the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland and colleagues announce that the Stop TB Partnership and the WHO Stop TB Department have launched the TB Research Movement.

In the article the authors describe the development of the Research Movement strategic plan, highlighting progress in its two key components: (1) the analysis of the global funding landscape for TB research, and (2) the development of a global TB research agenda.

Hawaii's main volcano chains -- the Loa and Kea trends -- have distinct sources of magma and unique plumbing systems connecting them to the Earth's deep mantle, according to UBC research published this week in Nature Geoscience, in conjunction with researchers at the universities of Hawaii and Massachusetts.

This study is the first to conclusively relate geochemical differences in surface lava rocks from both chains to differences in their deep mantle sources, 2,800 kilometres below the Earth's surface, at the core-mantle boundary.

HOUSTON – (Nov. 29, 2011) – The future brightened for organic chemistry when researchers at Rice University found a highly controllable way to attach organic molecules to pristine graphene, making the miracle material suitable for a range of new applications.

Alice and Bob have broken up and have moved as far away from each other as possible. But they still have something to sort out: who gets to keep the car. Flipping a coin while talking on the phone to decide who gets to keep it just won't work. There's no trust. Neither believes each other's result.

Researchers from the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) have discovered electronic stripes, called 'charge density waves', on the surface of the graphene sheets that make up a graphitic superconductor. This is the first time these stripes have been seen on graphene, and the finding is likely to have profound implications for the exploitation of this recently discovered material, which scientists believe will play a key role in the future of nanotechnology. The discovery is reported in Nature Communications, 29th November.

Australian scientists have reconstructed the past six thousand years in estuary sedimentation records to look for changes in plant and algae abundance. Their findings, published in Global Change Biology, show an increase in microalgae relative to seagrass in the past 60 years. This shift could diminish the ability of estuaries, which are natural global carbon sinks, to mitigate climate change.

Negative ions play an important role in everything from how our bodies function to the structure of the universe. Scientists from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have now developed a new method that makes it possible to study how the electrons in negative ions interact in, which is important in, for example, superconductors and in radiocarbon dating.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Warmer, drier summers and extreme weather events considered possible as the climate changes would be especially troublesome - possibly fatal - for walnut trees, according to research at Purdue University.

Increased petrol taxation is a very effective instrument to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A common argument against such a measure is that it hits poor people the hardest. Yet a new study by researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, – the largest ever of its kind – shows that it is middle- and high-income earners who are generally affected the most by petrol taxes, especially in poor countries.

One hundred years ago, two teams of explorers raced to be the first to reach the South Pole. Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen reached the South Pole on December 14, 1911.

Thirty-three days later on 17 January 1912 the Terra Nova Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott arrived at the Pole in second place. At the same time in East Antarctica, the Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by Douglas Mawson was searching for the South Magnetic Pole.

A major transformation in the food system is needed to address future threats to food security according to experts from some of the world's leading science organisations.

The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change (CSACC) – an independent global commission of eminent scientists – has released a blueprint for urgent action to deal with the global challenge of feeding the world in the face of climate change, population growth, uneven food distribution, volatile markets and degraded ecosystems.

A new report presents the most comprehensive scientific analysis to date of climate change in the Pacific region.

New research providing critical information about how climate change is affecting Australia's Pacific island neighbours and East Timor has been released today by the Australian Government's Pacific Climate Change Science Program (PCCSP).

The landmark, peer-reviewed publication, Climate Change in the Pacific: Scientific Assessment and New Research, presents the most comprehensive scientific analysis to date of climate change in the Pacific region.