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- Satellite methods for monitoring volcanic activity
The central part of the Andes situated between southern Peru and Chile bears 50 active or potentially volcanoes, spread along a 1500 km-long arc. These volcanic structures mostly rise to between 4000 and 7000 m, are very remote with abrupt slopes and are often cloaked in snow. Few studies have been made on them as such conditions make field surveying extremely difficult. A team of IRD scientists working in partnership with the University of Chile (Santiago) and the Observatoire de Physique du Globe of Clermont-Ferrand (1) focused special attention on the Lastarria-Cordon del Azufre volcanic complex. With a surface area of 1600 km, it is situated in the central Andes Cordillera at the border between Argentina and Chile near Antofagasta........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - Taser study results suggest devices are safe
A nationwide study examining the safety of Tasers used by law enforcement agencies suggests the devices are safe, causing a low occurrence of serious injuries. This study is the first large, independent study of injuries linked to Tasers. It is the first injury epidemiology study to review every Taser deployment and to reliably assess the overall risk and severity of injuries in real world conditions, said William Bozeman, M.D., the lead investigator and an emergency medicine specialist at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. The injury rate is low and most injuries appear to be minor. These results support the safety of the devices........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - 'Green' leather is in this season
Fashionistas after the latest in leather bags could soon have a greener selection to choose from. Researchers in India have modified the tanning process making it far more eco-friendly, reports Anne Pichon in Chemistry and Industry, the magazine of the SCI. Tanning is a complex chemical process used to transform perishable raw hides and skins into durable leather. Unfortunately, as a result, high levels of pollution are released into the water. Raghava Rao and his team at the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) in Adyar have modified the process to make it into an eco-friendly, cost-efficient method........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - The Structure Of Microcrystals
Microcrystals take the form of tiny grains, so small that they resemble a powder. How can we determine their structure? Until today, the technique of X-ray diffraction, normally used to study crystals, was not an appropriate solution. For the first time, scientists from the ESRF and the CNRS have used X-ray diffraction to determine the structure of microcrystal grains of only one cubic micrometre in size. They gained a factor of a thousand on the size of the analysable samples thanks to new equipment created at the ESRF. This breakthrough opens up new possibilities of research to chemists, physicists and biologists........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - Starting university may be hazardous to your health
Moving away from home and adapting to a new social environment are just two of the a number of challenges that new students face as they enter university. An innovative new study conducted at the University of Alberta has observed that these challenges can actually have a negative effect on a student's health........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - Can thinking about shopping change the route you take?
Previous research has shown that exposure to business-related objects makes people act more competitively, even though they do not realize it. A fascinating new study by scientists at Stanford extends this research by investigating how different consumers are affected by the same stimuli. The study reveals significant differences between the way men and women subconsciously react after exposure to certain objects........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - What Makes Quantum Dots Blink
In order to learn more about the origins of quantum dot blinking, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Chicago and the California Institute of Technology have developed a method to characterize it on faster time scales than have previously been accessed........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - Earthquake Experts Turn to History for Guidance
The best seismologists in the world don't know when the next big earthquake will hit. But a Tel Aviv University geologist suggests that earthquake patterns recorded in historical documents of Middle Eastern countries indicate that the region's next significant quake is long overdue. A major quake of magnitude seven on the Richter scale in the politically-fragile region of the Middle East could have dire consequences for precious holy sites and even world peace, says Tel Aviv University geologist Dr. Shmulik Marco. In light of this imminent danger, Marco, from the school's Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, has taken an historical approach to earthquake forecasting by using ancient records from the Vatican and other religious sources in his assessment. The past holds the key to the future, he says........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - Majority of Americans want local action on global warming
Nearly three-quarters of Americans are willing to pay more in taxes and other expenses to support local government-led initiatives designed to reduce global warming, as per a first-of-its kind survey conducted by GfK Public Affairs and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. City and local leaders are critical players in the effort to reduce global warming, and its clear that their constituents want action, said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of Yale Project on Climate Change, one of the sponsors of the groundbreaking survey measuring public opinion of local government-led green initiatives. The public is on board and willing to help foot the bill. All thats left to do now is act........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - Light on mysterious 'dark matter'
Weve all been taught that our bodies, the Earth, and in fact all matter in the universe is composed of tiny building blocks called atoms. Now imagine if this werent the case. This mind-bending concept is at the core of the scientific research that one Florida State University professor -- and hundreds of his colleagues all over the world -- are pursuing........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - Ancients engineered sophisticated machines
Move over, Archimedes. A researcher at Harvard University is finding that ancient Greek craftsmen were able to engineer sophisticated machines without necessarily understanding the mathematical theory behind their construction. Recent analysis of technical treatises and literary sources dating back to the fifth century B.C. reveals that technology flourished among practitioners with limited theoretical knowledge........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - Technology To Quickly Find Leaks In Spacecraft
Tiny meteors flash through space. There's spacecraft debris flying around, too. And so there's a risk that objects just a few millimeters across could pierce the thin aluminum skin of spacecraft such as the International Space Station orbiting 220 miles above Earth. A tiny hole means a tiny leak of pressurized air........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - Menace in a bottle
After the plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airlines with liquid explosives was uncovered in London in August 2006, there has been pressure on the airline industry, and Homeland Security, to find new ways to not only detect liquids in baggage and on airline passengers, but also to figure out what they are. Now, the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (SandT) is teaming with researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to find a possible solution........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - Nanotechnology: not just for geeks
Say nanotechnology, and geeks imagine iPhones, laptops and flash drives. But more than 60 percent of the 580 products in a newly updated inventory of nanotechnology consumer products are such un-geeky items as tennis racquets, clothing, and health products. Maintained by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at www.nanotechproject.org/consumerproducts, the updated inventory includes Head NanoTitanium Tennis Racquets, Eddie Bauer Water Shorts with Nano-Dry technology, Nano-In Foot Deodorant Powder/Spray, and Burts Bees sunscreen with natural Titanium Dioxide mineralmicronized into a nano sized particle........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT - Finger Prints at Warp Speed
Scientists at the University of Warwick have devised a means of identifying partial, distorted, scratched, smudged, or otherwise warped fingerprints in just a few seconds. Prior techniques have tried to identify a few key features on a finger print and laboriously match them against a database of templates. The University of Warwick scientists consider the entire detailed pattern of each print and transform the topological pattern into a standard co-ordinate system. This allows the scientists to "unwarp" any finger print that has been distorted by smudging, uneven pressure, or other distortion and create a clear digital representation of the fingerprint that can then be mapped on to an "image space" of all other finger prints held on a database........
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:38 GMT
