For nature, gravel-bed rivers critical feature in western North America
Missoula MT (SPX) Jun 29, 2016 -
Gravel-bed river floodplains are some of the most ecologically important habitats in North America, according to a new study by scientists from the U.S. and Canada. Their research shows how broad valleys coming out of glaciated mountains provide highly productive and important habitat for a large diversity of aquatic, avian and terrestrial species.
This is the first interdisciplinary resea ...
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Beach replenishment helps protect against storm erosion during El Nino
San Diego CA (SPX) Jun 28, 2016 -
A team of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego compared sand levels on several San Diego beaches during the last seven winters. The El Ninos of winter 2009-10 and 2015-16 were the two most erosive. Three San Diego County beaches that received imported sand in 2012 were about 10 meters (33 feet) wider, and one to two meters (three to six fee ...
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Sea star death triggers ecological domino effect
Burnaby, Canada (SPX) Jun 29, 2016 -
A new study by Simon Fraser University marine ecologists Jessica Schultz, Ryan Cloutier and Isabelle Cote has discovered that a mass mortality of sea stars resulted in a domino effect on B.C.'s West Coast Howe Sound marine ecology.
In the summer of 2013, millions of sea stars along the West Coast contracted a wasting disease and died in one of the largest wildlife mass mortality events eve ...
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Fix for 3-billion-year-old genetic error could improve genetic sequencing
Austin TX (SPX) Jun 28, 2016 -
For 3 billion years, one of the major carriers of information needed for life, RNA, has had a glitch that creates errors when making copies of genetic information. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a fix that allows RNA to accurately proofread for the first time. The new discovery, published June 23 in the journal Science, will increase precision in genetic research ...
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New technique settles old debate on highest peaks in US Arctic
Munich, Germany (SPX) Jun 28, 2016 -
Finding out which is the highest mountain in the US Arctic may be the last thing on your mind, unless you are an explorer who skis from the tallest peaks around the globe. Ski mountaineer Kit DesLauriers joined forces with glaciologist Matt Nolan to settle a debate of more than 50 years, while testing a new, affordable mapping technique in a steep mountainous region. Their research is published ...
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'Amazing protein diversity' is discovered in the maize plant
Cold Spring Harbor NY (SPX) Jun 29, 2016 -
The genome of the corn plant - or maize, as it's called almost everywhere except the US - "is a lot more exciting" than scientists have previously believed. So says the lead scientist in a new effort to analyze and annotate the depth of the plant's genetic resources.
"Our new research establishes the amazing diversity of maize, even beyond what we already knew was there," says Doreen Ware, ...
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Future global warming could be even warmer
Copenhagen, Denmark (SPX) Jun 29, 2016 -
Future global warming will not only depend on the amount of emissions from man-made greenhouse gasses, but will also depend on the sensitivity of the climate system and response to feedback mechanisms. By reconstructing past global warming and the carbon cycle on Earth 56 million years ago, researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute among others have used computer modelling to estimate the potent ...
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As Alaska warms, methane emissions appear stable
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 28, 2016 -
Analysis of nearly three decades of air samples from Alaska's North Slope shows little change in long-term methane emissions despite significant Arctic warming over that time period, according to new research published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
Scientists estimate that Arctic permafrost, a thick layer of frozen soil that encircles the glo ...
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Google brings Earth into better focus
San Francisco (AFP) June 28, 2016 -
Google's free online mapping service is bringing the world into better focus with an updated version of Earth that takes advantage of photos from a US Landsat 8 satellite.
The Internet giant introduced a "cloud-free mosaic" of this planet three years ago at Google Earth, and on Monday began rolling out a new version that uses new techniques to process sharper images gathered by the satellite ...
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Researchers discover oldest evidence of farming by insects
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 28, 2016 -
Scientists have discovered the oldest fossil evidence of agriculture - not by humans, but by insects. The team, led by Eric Roberts of James Cook University along with researchers from Ohio University, discovered the oldest known examples of "fungus gardens" in 25 million-year-old fossil termite nests in East Africa.
Some termite species cultivate fungi in "gardens" in subterranean nests o ...
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What did Earth's ancient magnetic field look like
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 28, 2016 -
New work from Carnegie's Peter Driscoll suggests Earth's ancient magnetic field was significantly different than the present day field, originating from several poles rather than the familiar two. It is published in Geophysical Research Letters.
Earth generates a strong magnetic field extending from the core out into space that shields the atmosphere and deflects harmful high-energy partic ...
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Insects were already using camouflage 100 million years ago
Bonn, Germany (SPX) Jun 28, 2016 -
Those who go to a masked ball consciously slip into a different role, in order to avoid being recognized so quickly. Insects were already doing something very similar in the Cretaceous: They cloaked themselves in pieces of plants, grains of sand, or the remains of their prey, in order, for example, to be invisible to predators.
An international research team, with participation from the Un ...
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US fighter planes arrive in Philippines for training mission
Manila (AFP) June 16, 2016 -
US fighter planes have arrived in the Philippines for a training mission and operations to ensure access to the disputed South China Sea, the US Navy said Thursday.
The Philippines' longtime ally deployed the aircraft to train Filipino pilots as Manila remains locked in an increasingly tense maritime dispute with Beijing.
The US Navy made a veiled reference to so-called freedom of navi ...
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Russia building military 'zone of influence': NATO
Berlin (AFP) June 16, 2016 -
Moscow is seeking to create a "zone of influence through military means", NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday, adding that the alliance has observed major and aggressive manoeuvres on the Russian side.
"We are observing massive militarisation at NATO borders - in the Arctic, in the Baltic, from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea," Stoltenberg told Germany daily Bild in an intervi ...
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Indonesia cites error as ASEAN meeting ends in confusion
Jakarta (AFP) June 15, 2016 -
Indonesia said Wednesday that a bold statement from Southeast Asian nations raising concern over Beijing's island-building in the South China Sea was issued in error, as a meeting over the issue ended in confusion.
In a statement released late Tuesday by Malaysia's foreign ministry, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) warned that recent actions in the disputed waterway had "th ...
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Google chief says Israeli tech second only to Silicon Valley
Tel Aviv (AFP) June 14, 2016 -
A top Google official on Tuesday hailed Israel's tech sector, saying it trailed only Silicon Valley in the United States when it comes to "initiatives".
Eric Schmidt, formerly Google chief executive and now executive chairman of its parent company Alphabet, said Israel, a country of only around eight million people, was punching far above its weight in technology.
"For a relatively small ...
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Iran appeals to UN's top court against US block on frozen funds
The Hague (AFP) June 15, 2016 -
Iran has appealed to the UN's highest court against a US Supreme Court ruling that $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets must be paid to American victims of terror attacks blamed on Tehran, the tribunal said Wednesday.
In its filing to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based in The Hague on Tuesday, Tehran argues that "Iran and Iranian state-owned companies are entitled to immunity from ...
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S. Korea holds navy drill near disputed border with North
Seoul (AFP) June 16, 2016 -
South Korea on Thursday kicked off a live-fire naval exercise near its disputed sea border with North Korea - a move likely to fan already elevated military tensions with Pyongyang.
The three-day exercise in the Yellow Sea is aimed at practising responses to simulated incursions by North Korean vessels and aircraft, the South's navy said in a statement.
The manoeuvres will involve 20 na ...
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Less is More: Russia Opts for Lower-Cost but More Capable Navy
Moscow (Sputnik) Jun 17, 2016 -
The Russian Navy has received a welcome boost with the arrival of two of its new series of naval frigates - the Admiral Grigorovich, which arrived at its home base in Sevastopol on Thursday, and the Admiral Essen, scheduled to join the fleet shortly.
b>Small but dangerous br> /b>
The Russian Navy has received a welcome boost with the arrival of two of its new series of naval frigates - t ...
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China blamed for ASEAN U-turn on South China Sea
Manila (AFP) June 16, 2016 -
Chinese pressure was blamed Thursday for a stunning diplomatic U-turn by Southeast Asian Nations that saw them retract a statement sounding alarm over Beijing's island building in the South China Sea.
The chaotic events at the end of a meeting of foreign ministers from China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Tuesday have led to allegations of bullying by Bei ...
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Logos' Serenity threat system now tower mounted
Fairfax, Va. (UPI) Jun 16, 2016 -
Logos Technologies announced Thursday the tower-mounted version of its Serenity hostile fire detection system passed a live fire test last month in Arizona.
Serenity is designed to detect sources of enemy fire and is usually mounted on a high-flying tethered blimp, or aerostat, to provide city-size coverage the company said in a statement.
The latest modifications mean the system ...
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Launch Vehicle Ascent Trajectories and Sequencing
Bethesda MD (SPX) Jun 16, 2016 -
Almost all space launch vehicles liftoff from the ground in the vertical direction and continue to orbit along an ascent trajectory that is usually optimized for the conditions in order to maximize performance while maintaining conservative safety margins. The actual shape of the path to orbit is influenced by a number of factors, including winds and the desired payload injection parameters.
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Dolphins to get coastal sanctuary in US
Washington (AFP) June 16, 2016 -
After years of research on dolphin behavior and under pressure from animal rights groups, the National Aquarium in Baltimore has decided to move the marine mammals to a sanctuary, officials said Wednesday.
It will be the first sanctuary for dolphins in North America.
The transfer from the aquarium in the Atlantic coast port city will not be done before 2020, they said.
The venue for ...
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