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Scientists at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid reveal the physical phenomenon that explains beer's rapid transformation from a liquid to a foamy state as the result of an impact. This research has applications in the area of naval engineering or in studies related to the prediction of gases in volcanic eruptions.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Images gathered by University of Oregon scientists using seismic waves penetrating to a depth of 300 kilometers (almost 200 miles) report the discovery of an anomaly that likely is the volcanic mantle plume of the Galapagos Islands. It's not where geologists and computer modeling had assumed.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tall buildings, bridges and other long-period structures in Greater Vancouver may experience greater shaking from large (M 6.8 +) earthquakes than previously thought due to the amplification of surface waves passing through the Georgia basin, according to two studies published by the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA). The basin will have the greatest impact on ground motion passing over it from earthquakes generated south and southwest of Vancouver.

The role of the hydrological cycle during abrupt temperature changes is of prime importance for the actual impact of climate change on the continents. In a new study published in Nature Geoscience online (January 19, 2014) scientists from the University of Potsdam, Germany and the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences show that during the abrupt cooling at the onset of the so-called Younger Dryas period 12680 years ago changes in the water cycle were the main drivers of widespread environmental change in western Europe.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have demonstrated broadband terahertz (THz) wave generation using metamaterials. The discovery may help develop noninvasive imaging and sensing, and make possible THz-speed information communication, processing and storage. The results appeared in the Jan. 8 issue of Nature Communications.

Rockville, Md. — Aging gracefully may not be an option for the 40 million people worldwide who are blind or have significant visual impairment. It's reported that 65% of those with visual impairment and 82% of those who are blind are over 50 years of age. In a special issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), ophthalmic leaders from around the world address "the aging eye" to focus attention on unmet needs and accelerate the translation of research findings into effective clinical care.

WASHINGTON, D.C. Jan. 17, 2014 -- From the sleek hulls of racing yachts to Michael Phelps' shaved legs, most objects that move through the water quickly are also smooth. But researchers from UCLA have found that bumpiness can sometimes be better.

Chimpanzees are capable of using gestures to communicate as they pursue specific goals, such as finding a hidden piece of food, according to a new Georgia State University research study.

Researchers at Georgia State University's Language Research Center examined how two language-trained chimpanzees communicated with a human experimenter to find food. Their results are the most compelling evidence to date that primates can use gestures to coordinate actions in pursuit of a specific goal.

Alexandria, VA – It has often been said that individual weather events cannot be attributed to global climate change, but recent advances in the science of attribution are challenging that notion. A recent report from 18 different research teams that analyzed 12 extreme weather events in 2012 suggests that climate change was a contributing factor in about half of them.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Prehistoric shell mounds found on some of Florida's most pristine beaches are at risk of washing away as the sea level rises, wiping away thousands of years of archaeological evidence.

"The largest risk for these ancient treasure troves of information is sea level rise," said Shawn Smith, a senior research associate with the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies at Florida State University.

Because many materials are handled in industrial applications as suspensions, engineers need to understand how to predict their flow properties. However, they have been hard-pressed to understand DST and calculate when it will occur during processing. Since concentrated suspensions are found in everything from consumer products to cement, a range of industries stand to find better ways to manage suspensions.

High levels of natural gas are escaping from the aging pipes beneath the streets of the nation's capital, creating potentially harmful concentrations in some locations, a new study has found. Natural gas leaks pose explosion risks, health concerns and contribute to climate change. The paper, which appears in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, also provides information that could help companies justify additional financial incentives for fixing leaks quickly.

Rice University scientists have found they can control the bonds between atoms in a molecule.

The molecule in question is carbon-60, also known as the buckminsterfullerene and the buckyball, discovered at Rice in 1985. The scientists led by Rice physicists Yajing Li and Douglas Natelson found that it's possible to soften the bonds between atoms by applying a voltage and running an electric current through a single buckyball.

The researchers detailed their discovery this week in the online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Glaciers are important indicators of climate change. Global warming causes mountain glaciers to melt, which, apart from the shrinking of the Greenlandic and Antarctic ice sheets, is regarded as one of the main causes of the present global sea-level rise. Tibet's glaciers are also losing mass clearly, as scientists from the universities of Zurich, Tubingen and Dresden reveal using satellite-based laser measurements.