News Articles

Current models of global climate change predict warmer temperatures will increase the rate that bacteria and other microbes decompose soil organic matter, a scenario that pumps even more heat-trapping carbon into the atmosphere. But a new study led by a University of Georgia researcher shows that while the rate of decomposition increases for a brief period in response to warmer temperatures, elevated levels of decomposition don't persist.

An international team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the University of Basel in Switzerland have issued a report on the mechanism of toxicity of a chemical compound called Dibutyltin (DBT). DBT is part of a class of high toxic and widely distributed chemical compounds called organotins, DBT is most commonly used as an anti-fouling agent in paint, for example in the fishing and shipbuilding industries. It is also used in the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic tubes and bottles.

The thickness of sea ice in large parts of the Arctic declined by as much as 19% last winter compared to the previous five winters, according to data from ESA's Envisat satellite.Using Envisat radar altimeter data, scientists from the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at University College London (UCL) measured sea ice thickness over the Arctic from 2002 to 2008 and found that it had been fairly constant until the record loss of ice in the summer of 2007. Unusually warm weather conditions were present over the Arctic in 2007, which some scientists have said explain that summer ice loss. However, this summer reached the second-lowest extent ever recorded with cooler weather conditions present. 

Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwall, Texas, earned $350,000 in NASA prize money during the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge in Las Cruces, N.M. The challenge is a two-level, $2 million competition designed to accelerate commercial space technology and is sponsored by NASA's Centennial Challenges program. After Armadillo's $350,000 first place win for level one this year, $1.65 million remains as available prize money for future competitions. 

It seems not everyone can forget the "Friends" television show.   Angelina Jolie may have gotten Brad Pitt but Jennifer Aniston is the one with her own namesake neuron.Professor Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, neuroscientist and bio-engineer, whose research was recently cited among the top papers in the world, is to reveal details of his studies into what has been dubbed the ‘Jennifer Aniston neuron’ during a public presentation at the University of Leicester.

Political polls show Barack Obama ahead in the minds of confirmed voters but a nebulous grey area, the 'undecided' voter, coupled with margin of error, means anything can happen
Political parties spend a great deal of money trying to appeal who declare themselves undecided and there is a great deal of research that goes into figuring them out. The biggest question for psychologists; do undecided voters actually make their choices before they realize? University of Virginia psychology professor Brian Nosek and colleagues set out to find an answer.

Rising carbon dioxide levels in the world's oceans could deliver a disastrous blow to the ability of coral reefs to withstand climate change.A major new investigation by Australian scientists has revealed that acidification of the oceans from human CO2 emissions has the potential to worsen the impact of the bleaching and death of reef-building organisms expected to occur under global warming.The study, by a team led by Dr Ken Anthony of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and the University of Queensland, published in this week's Proceedings of the (US) National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) concludes that earlier research may significantly understate the likely damage to the world's reefs caused by man-made change to the Earth's atmosphere.

Methylmercury is a chemical compound formed in the environment from released mercury. Unfortunately, the methylmercury can be transported quickly around the body and may enter the brain. In a pregnant mother, serious problems will ensue if important developmental processes are blocked.  There's only one chance for a baby brain to develop.Recent studies hint that exposure to the toxic chemicals such as methylmercury can cause harm at levels previously considered safe. A new analysis of the epidemiological evidence in the International Journal of Environment and Health suggests that we should take a precautionary approach to this and similar compounds to protect unborn children from irreversible brain damage.

Patients treated for their prolonged seizures with the sedative propofol may be at high risk for complications and even death. New research presented at CHEST 2008, the 74th annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that the use of propofol as an antiepileptic agent in patients with refractory status epilepticus (RSE), prolonged seizures that do not respond to initial treatment, was associated with significant mortality and morbidity. 

Childhood obesity can lead to type 2 diabetes, asthma, hypertension, sleep apnea and emotional distress. Obese children and youth are likely to be obese as adults, experience more cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and stroke and incur higher healthcare costs. In an article published in the December 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers report that children living in inner city neighborhoods with higher "greenness" experienced lower weight gains compared to those in areas with less green space.

While general wisdom says that you look at the eyes first in order to recognize a face, UC San Diego computer scientists now report that you look at the nose first.The nose may be the where the information about the face is balanced in all directions, or the optimal viewing position for face recognition, the researchers from UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering propose in a paper recently published in the journal Psychological Science.

A study by two University of Rochester psychologists in  the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology adds color, literally and figuratively, to the age-old question of what attracts men to women.Through five psychological experiments, Andrew Elliot, professor of psychology, and Daniela Niesta, post-doctoral researcher, demonstrate that the color red makes men feel more amorous toward women. And men are unaware of the role the color plays in their attraction.