Aug 7, 2010
SONGBIRDS MAY CARRY AVIAN FLU
The migratory patterns of birds can give scientists data on future
avian flu outbreaks. Analyzing more than 225 species of songbirds and
perching birds, researchers found that 22 varieties are carriers of
low-pathogenicity avian influenza, meaning they carry a strain of the
bug that isn't dangerous enough to kill the bird but could mutate into
something more lethal. The research supported by the National Science
Foundation was recently published in the journal BMC Infectious
Diseases.
Avian influenza or bird flu is most commonly associated with poultry
and water fowl like chicken and ducks, but perching and songbirds--also
called passerines--typically share the same habitats and may be more
effective transmitters of the disease.
By mapping such factors as a location's minimum temperature, date of
spring thaw, and particularly the amount of land that's been converted
into cropland, researchers hope to predict increases of avian flu
cases. "Agricultural activity reduces the amount of natural habitat
available to avian migrants," says Trevon Fuller, lead author of the
paper and a biologist at the Center for Tropical Research at UCLA. When
birds have less habitat, they crowd together more, which helps
communicable diseases spread faster.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation,
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=117236&org=NSF&from=news
avian flu outbreaks. Analyzing more than 225 species of songbirds and
perching birds, researchers found that 22 varieties are carriers of
low-pathogenicity avian influenza, meaning they carry a strain of the
bug that isn't dangerous enough to kill the bird but could mutate into
something more lethal. The research supported by the National Science
Foundation was recently published in the journal BMC Infectious
Diseases.
Avian influenza or bird flu is most commonly associated with poultry
and water fowl like chicken and ducks, but perching and songbirds--also
called passerines--typically share the same habitats and may be more
effective transmitters of the disease.
By mapping such factors as a location's minimum temperature, date of
spring thaw, and particularly the amount of land that's been converted
into cropland, researchers hope to predict increases of avian flu
cases. "Agricultural activity reduces the amount of natural habitat
available to avian migrants," says Trevon Fuller, lead author of the
paper and a biologist at the Center for Tropical Research at UCLA. When
birds have less habitat, they crowd together more, which helps
communicable diseases spread faster.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation,
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=117236&org=NSF&from=news
HIGHEST ATMOSPHERIC CARBON IN 800,000 YEARS
The choice to curb--or not to curb--carbon emissions in the near term
will affect populations across the globe for centuries to come, says a
new report from the National Research Council. The amount of carbon in
the atmosphere is currently higher than at any point in the last
800,000 years.
CO2 doesn't displace easily. The amount could triple by the end of the
century depending on the sorts of emissions reductions choices
individuals and policy makers enact today. Even if emissions stabilize,
CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere would continue to increase as the
amount in the air already exceeds what the earth can absorb.
The report details how small changes in temperature would change
rainfall patterns and water availability: Rain in the North American
southwest and the Mediterranean would decrease by as much as 10%, and
crop yields could decrease by 15% for every one degree (Celsius) of
warming according to the report.
SOURCE: National Research Council
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12877
will affect populations across the globe for centuries to come, says a
new report from the National Research Council. The amount of carbon in
the atmosphere is currently higher than at any point in the last
800,000 years.
CO2 doesn't displace easily. The amount could triple by the end of the
century depending on the sorts of emissions reductions choices
individuals and policy makers enact today. Even if emissions stabilize,
CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere would continue to increase as the
amount in the air already exceeds what the earth can absorb.
The report details how small changes in temperature would change
rainfall patterns and water availability: Rain in the North American
southwest and the Mediterranean would decrease by as much as 10%, and
crop yields could decrease by 15% for every one degree (Celsius) of
warming according to the report.
SOURCE: National Research Council
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12877
CLOAKING WITH GLASS AND CERAMICS
Using a type of glass that does not conduct electricity, researchers at
Michigan Tech and Penn State report discovering a way to capture and
route rays of visible light around objects, rendering the objects
invisible.
Previous attempts to build an "invisibility cloak" have used metals and
wires. In the research by Michigan Tech engineer Elena Semouchkina and
colleagues, tiny glass metamaterials were arranged in a cylinder shape
that produced the magnetic resonance required to bend light waves
around an object. These resonators are artificial materials with
properties that do not exist in nature, born of the marriage between
materials science and electrical engineering.
The researchers are experimenting with other materials, such as ceramic
resonators, and with other frequencies, such as microwave. The goal is
to find applications that work at visible light frequencies, says
Semouchkina.
Michigan Tech and Penn State report discovering a way to capture and
route rays of visible light around objects, rendering the objects
invisible.
Previous attempts to build an "invisibility cloak" have used metals and
wires. In the research by Michigan Tech engineer Elena Semouchkina and
colleagues, tiny glass metamaterials were arranged in a cylinder shape
that produced the magnetic resonance required to bend light waves
around an object. These resonators are artificial materials with
properties that do not exist in nature, born of the marriage between
materials science and electrical engineering.
The researchers are experimenting with other materials, such as ceramic
resonators, and with other frequencies, such as microwave. The goal is
to find applications that work at visible light frequencies, says
Semouchkina.
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