Game theory shows how tragedies of the commons might be averted
Atlanta GA (SPX) Nov 11, 2016 -
Lake Lanier in Georgia is the primary water reservoir serving suburban and metropolitan Atlanta. When the lake's water level drops below a certain point, calls go out for water conservation and news reports show images of the red mud shoreline. In some affected counties, water restrictions are imposed. The combination of usage restrictions and changes in precipitation eventually averts the crisi ...
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Narwhal echolocation beams may be the most directional of any species
London, UK (SPX) Nov 11, 2016 -
Analysis of some of the first recordings of wintering narwhals showed that they may have the most directional sonar of any species, according to a study published November 9, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jens Koblitz from Bioacoustics Network, Germany, and colleagues.
The narwhal is considered one of the Arctic's most sensitive marine mammals: more than 80 percent winter in ...
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A Box of 'Black Magic' to Study Earth from Space
Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 09, 2016 -
Black magic... That's what radiofrequency engineers call the mysterious forces guiding communications over the air. These forces involve complex physics and are difficult enough to master on Earth. They only get more baffling when you're beaming signals into space.Until now, the shape of choice for casting this "magic" has been the parabolic dish. The bigger the antenna dish, the better it is at ...
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Dinosaurs' rise was 'more gradual,' new fossil evidence suggests
London, UK (SPX) Nov 11, 2016 -
Researchers have discovered two small dinosaurs together with a lagerpetid, a group of animals that are recognized as precursors of dinosaurs. The discovery made in Brazil and reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on November 10 represents the first time that a dinosaur and a dinosaur precursor have ever been found together.
The new lagerpetid (Ixalerpeton) and saurischian din ...
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Climate, human influence conspired in Lake Urmia's decline
Vienna, Austria (SPX) Nov 11, 2016 -
The dramatic decline of Iran's Lake Urmia - once the second-largest hypersaline lake in the world - has both direct human and climatic causes, according to a new study published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research. The study was the first to compare the relative impact of climate and water management on the water flowing into the lake.
"Saving Lake Urmia will require both national actio ...
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NASA small satellites will take a fresh look at Earth
Washington DC (SPX) Nov 09, 2016 -
Beginning this month, NASA is launching a suite of six next-generation, Earth-observing small satellite missions to demonstrate innovative new approaches for studying our changing planet. These small satellites range in size from a loaf of bread to a small washing machine and weigh from a few to 400 pounds (180 kilograms).
Their small size keeps development and launch costs down as they of ...
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Iceberg patrol gains faster updates from orbit
Paris (ESA) Nov 11, 2016 -
The international iceberg patrol service set up after the sinking of the Titanic is now able to track drifting ice from orbit more swiftly through ESA-backed cloud computing. The icebergs drifting in transatlantic shipping lines typically break off from the Greenland ice sheet before being carried into Baffin Bay. From there, they typically either become grounded or continue southwards. Most are ...
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