Eyes in the sky
University Park PA (SPX) Dec 02, 2016 -
Donald Trump's election is generating much speculation about how his administration may or may not reshape the federal government. On space issues, a senior Trump advisor, former Pennsylvania Rep. Bob Walker, has called for ending NASA earth science research, including work related to climate change. Walker contends that NASA's proper role is deep-space research and exploration, not "politically ...
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Longest-living animal gives up ocean climate secrets
Cardiff, UK (SPX) Dec 07, 2016 -
A study of the longest-living animal on Earth, the quahog clam, has provided researchers with an unprecedented insight into the history of the oceans. By studying the chemistry of growth rings in the shells of the quahog clam, an international team led by experts from Cardiff University and Bangor University have pieced together the history of the North Atlantic Ocean over the past 1000 years an ...
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Secrets of the paleo diet
Jerusalem, Israel (SPX) Dec 07, 2016 -
A tiny grape pip (scale 1mm), left on the ground some 780,000 years ago, is one of more than 9,000 remains of edible plants discovered in an old Stone Age site in Israel on the shoreline of Lake Hula in the northern Jordan valley, dating back to the Acheulian culture from 1.75-0.25 million years ago. The floral collection provides rich testimony of the plant-based diet of our prehistoric ancesto ...
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Illinois researchers discover hot hydrogen atoms in Earth's upper atmosphere
Chicago IL (SPX) Dec 07, 2016 -
A team of University of Illinois researchers has discovered the existence of hot atomic hydrogen (H) atoms in an upper layer of Earth's atmosphere known as the thermosphere. This finding, which the authors report in Nature Communications, significantly changes current understanding of the H distribution and its interaction with other atmospheric constituents.
Because H atoms are very light ...
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Seismically active Katmandu region in store for larger earthquake
Reno NV (SPX) Dec 07, 2016 -
An earthquake much more powerful and damaging than last year's 7.8 magnitude quake could rock Katmandu and the Himalayan Frontal Fault, an international team of seismic experts has concluded. The unsettling news comes after field research and analysis in the year following the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, which killed 9,000 people and destroyed 600,000 structures throughout the region.
Geophysi ...
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Overwhelming evidence of malaria's existence 2,000 years ago
Hamilton, Canada (SPX) Dec 07, 2016 -
An analysis of 2,000-year-old human remains from several regions across the Italian peninsula has confirmed the presence of malaria during the Roman Empire, addressing a longstanding debate about its pervasiveness in this ancient civilization. The answer is in mitochondrial genomic evidence of malaria, coaxed from the teeth of bodies buried in three Italian cemeteries, dating back to the Imperia ...
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Information theory offers new way to read ice cores
Santa Fe NM (SPX) Dec 07, 2016 -
At two miles long and five inches in diameter, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide (WAIS) ice core is a tangible record of the last 68,000 years of our planet's climate. Completed in 2011, the core is packed with information, but it's also packed with noise and error, making the climate story hard to read. Figuring out whether blips in the data are evidence of humans spewing carbon into the atmo ...
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