Yellow sub finds clues to Antarctic glacier’s thaw

June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – A yellow submarine has helped to solve a puzzle about one of Antarctica’s fastest-melting glaciers, adding to concerns about how climate change may push up world sea levels, scientists said Sunday.

Science | Green Business

The robot submarine, deployed under the ice shelf floating on the sea at the end of the Pine Island Glacier, found that the ice was no longer resting on a subsea ridge that had slowed the glacier’s slide until the early 1970s.

Antarctica is key to predicting the rise in sea levels caused by global warming — it has enough ice to raise sea levels by 57 meters (187 ft) if it ever all melted. Even a tiny thaw at the fringes could swamp coasts from Bangladesh to Florida.

The finding from the 2009 mission “only adds to our concern that this region is indeed the ‘weak underbelly’ of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet,” co-author of the study Stan Jacobs at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory said in a statement.

West Antarctica’s thaw accounts for 10 percent of a recently observed rise in sea levels, with melting of the Pine Island glacier quickening, especially in recent decades, according to the study led by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Loss of contact with the subsea ridge meant that ice was flowing faster and also thawing more as sea water flowed into an ever bigger cavity that now extended 30 km beyond the ridge. The water was just above freezing at 1 degree Celsius (33.80F).

SATELLITE BUMP

Satellite photographs in the early 1970s had shown a bump on the surface of the ice shelf, indicating the subsea ridge. That bump has vanished and the 7 meter (22 foot) submarine found the ridge was now up to 100 meters below the ice shelf.

Adrian Jenkins, lead author at BAS, said the study raised “new questions about whether the current loss of ice from Pine Island Glacier is caused by recent climate change or is a continuation of a longer-term process that began when the glacier disconnected from the ridge.”

Pierre Dutrieux, also at BAS, said the ice may have started thinning because of some as yet-unknown mechanism linked to climate change, blamed mainly on mankind’s use of fossil fuels.

“It could be a shift in the wind, due to a change in climate, that pushed more warm water under the shelf,” he told Reuters.

The U.N. panel of climate scientists projected in 2007 that world sea levels could rise by between 18 and 59 cm (7-24 inches) by 2100, excluding risks of faster melting in Antarctica and Greenland. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said the 21st century rise might be 2 meters in the worst case.

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Yellow sub finds clues to Antarctic glacier’s thaw

June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ATHENS, June 20 (Reuters) – A yellow submarine has helped to solve a puzzle about one of Antarctica’s fastest-melting glaciers, adding to concerns about how climate change may push up world sea levels, scientists said on Sunday.

The robot submarine, deployed under the ice shelf floating on the sea at the end of the Pine Island Glacier, found that the ice was no longer resting on a subsea ridge that had slowed the glacier’s slide until the early 1970s.

Antarctica is key to predicting the rise in sea levels caused by global warming — it has enough ice to raise sea levels by 57 metres (187 ft) if it ever all melted. Even a tiny thaw at the fringes could swamp coasts from Bangladesh to Florida.

The finding from the 2009 mission “only adds to our concern that this region is indeed the ‘weak underbelly’ of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet”, co-author of the study Stan Jacobs at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory said in a statement.

West Antarctica’s thaw accounts for 10 percent of a recently observed rise in sea levels, with melting of the Pine Island glacier quickening, especially in recent decades, according to the study led by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Loss of contact with the subsea ridge meant that ice was flowing faster and also thawing more as sea water flowed into an ever bigger cavity that now extended 30 km beyond the ridge. The water was just above freezing at 1 degree Celsius (33.80F).

SATELLITE BUMP

Satellite photographs in the early 1970s had shown a bump on the surface of the ice shelf, indicating the subsea ridge. That bump has vanished and the 7 metre (22 foot) submarine found the ridge was now up to 100 metres below the ice shelf.

Adrian Jenkins, lead author at BAS, said the study raised “new questions about whether the current loss of ice from Pine Island Glacier is caused by recent climate change or is a continuation of a longer-term process that began when the glacier disconnected from the ridge”.

Pierre Dutrieux, also at BAS, said the ice may have started thinning because of some as yet-unknown mechanism linked to climate change, blamed mainly on mankind’s use of fossil fuels.

“It could be a shift in the wind, due to a change in climate, that pushed more warm water under the shelf,” he told Reuters.

The U.N. panel of climate scientists projected in 2007 that world sea levels could rise by between 18 and 59 cm (7-24 inches) by 2100, excluding risks of faster melting in Antarctica and Greenland. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said the 21st century rise might be 2 metres in the worst case.

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Kashmir’s showpiece shopping plaza Sangarmaal thrown open

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Srinagar, June 5 — With front porches lifted from Chrar-e-Sharief shrine, facade worked on stones and bricks’ influenced by Jama Masjid and water fountains a replica of Mughal garden Chesmashahi — Srinagar’s first government-owned showpiece shopping mall, Sangarmaal, was thrown open to public on Saturday evening by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The much-talked multi-storey shopping mall is the biggest of the state and first to epitomize Kashmiri architecture by using Khatam Bandh (woodwork) ceiling, mud-shade walls, mat-style windows and shrine-influenced porches.

“I was conscious of style while conceiving the mall. I traveled through the old city and was fascinated by Jama Masjid.

I also visited other historical places in the run up to conceive the idea. So I lifted architectural pieces from here and there.

I wanted Srinagar architecture to come under one roof,” said Sharad Das, the chief architect of the mall. With association of more than two decades with Kashmir, Das said he did not want to torn a page of architecture from Gurgaon or New Delhi for the mall.

“It has to be pure Srinagar architecture. Everything we used is local.

Nothing was imported from outside,” he added. Constructed on eight-and-a-half acres of land for Rs 21 crore, the Sangarmaal, which means first ray of dawn, is equipped with the state-of-art facilities like escalators, under-ground parking.

“To maintain temperature we have used cavity walls. In summers, it will be 4-5 degree Celsius lower than outside and in winters it will be 4-5 degree Celsius higher than outside,” said Das, adding escalator was included in the plan after the then chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed dropped in from his residence, then next to the mall, and suggested a few things.

Das insists the mall is not just for shopping. “I wanted a place of gathering for Kashmiris where families, friends hang out and meet over a cup of coffee or for meals.

We have deliberately kept open spaces for people to meet at ease and with all comforts,” said Das. The shopping mall has expansion plans too.

Besides a children park, a multiplex-cum-convention centre has been conceived on the premises of the mall. “Once the police headquarters are shifted, one can see the mall while passing by M.A. Road,” said Das, who won the project in a contest thrown open in 1999 by the Srinagar Development Authority.

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”Kashmir of Orissa” reels under intense heat

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Berhampur (Orissa), Jun 6 (PTI) Kandhamal, popularly known as ”Kashmir of Orissa” for its cool climate, is reeling under intense heat with the mercury touching 40 degree Celsius, MeT officials said. 60 per cent area under forest cover, 1587 mm average annual rainfall and altitude ranging between 300 and 1100 metres contributed towards the coolness of the district, however, most parts of Kandhamal are reeling under 40 deg C temperature since the beginning of June, they said.

Environmentalists and weathermen attributed the rising temperature to global warming. “Effect of global warming and climate change could have led to rise in temperature in many areas of the state including Kandhamal,” P C Mohanty, a marine science expert, said.

“We have analysed the temperature data of the last six years in different parts of the state and observed that the minimum temperature in most places except Puri increased from the 1990s,” he said. Apart from global warming, there are several other factors responsible for rise in temperature in Kandhamal.

These included increase of population, automobile emission and shrinking of forest cover, a senior forest officer said. Deforestation is the main cause of rise in temperature in the district, an environmentalist said.

Deforestation was caused due to various factors including felling of trees by agitators to use for road blockades, smuggling of timbers and cleaning forest by tribals to get forest rights. Of the total 8021 sq km area in the district, 5709.08 sq km are under forest cover.

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Nagpur residents reel under heat wave

May 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Nagpur, May 26 (ANI): Residents of Nagpur, Maharashtra, are reeling from heat wave that has thrown normal life completely out of gear.

Temperatures in the Nagpur are hovering around 47 degrees Celsius mark.

In Vidarbha, the temperature is 47.7 degree Celsius.

Temperatures across Maharashtra are at an all time high, compelling locals to stay indoors.

For those moving out, it has been a difficult time.

“It has become very difficult to go out. We have to cover our head and face with handkerchief and cloth and also wear sun glasses, every time we want to go out,” said Vasant Sathe, a Nagpur resident.

People are consuming lemon soda and fruit juices prepared byroadside vendors whose business is roaring in the hot weather.

“My body feels as if it is burning. Evenings are a little better. I don”t want to go out in the sun but I have to,” said Ramesh Hajare, a resident. (ANI)

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Kashmir farmers expect bumper cherry production in 2010

May 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Srinagar, May 15 (ANI): Cherry growers of Kashmir are expecting a bumper crop this year following timely rains and snowfall.

The state horticulture department is expecting a considerable growth in production in comparison to last year”s 10885 metric tons. The cherry production continues from May-June till July 15.

“The horticulture department spreads awareness amongst cherry growers. We interact with them and try to increase the area under cherry production and ask them to plant more trees,” said Gulam Nabi Dar, a horticulture officer.

Kashmiri cherries are always in high demand and enjoy a virtual monopoly, as the fruits from the state are preferred across the country for their taste and quality.

“This year the production is much higher and we expect greater dividends. The reason is that the horticulture department always tells us what to do and what not to do. Their people come visit us and tell us about new pesticides and new technology. And we follow their advices,” said Mehraj-u-din, a cherry grower.

Harwan, Dara, Kangan, Nilshad, Tanmarg and Sopiyan are the regions of Kashmir where extensive cherry cultivation is witnessed.

Cherry requires a conducive climatic condition for proper blooming and fruition. The temperature should be perfect for better crop.

It should have a maximum temperature of about 30- 35-degree Celsius and above 25 degree Celsius Horticulture production of fruits like apples and cherries are the primary economic activity of the Himalayan State.

The horticulture sector is a major contributor to the economy of Jammu and Kashmir. Besides cherries, other fruits such as apples, pears, walnuts and almonds are the major commercial crops of the State. (ANI)

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Rain brings respite from severe heat in Patna

May 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Patna (Bihar), May 7 (ANI): Tourists and locals in Patna rejoiced on Friday, as rainfall brought respite from the severe heat.

The rainfall, which began this morning, brought relief from the rising temperatures as the showers brought an end to a two month long heat spell.

“It was so hot here that because of the heat all the people were extremely perturbed. But this rain has brought so much relief in this heat,” said Ajay Kumar, a local.

The rain also gave an opportunity to the tourists to leave their hotel rooms and explore the city.

“As it was so hot outside, we preferred staying inside the hotel. But because of the rainfall today, we are enjoying a great deal. I am out with my family for sightseeing thinking that because of the rain the weather will be a little cold,” said Ram Kumar Pardhan, a tourist.

“It is a great relief from the severe heat. It was so hot in Patna that we had planned to leave the city,” he added.

The light thunderstorm and rain has brought down the temperature to 24 degree Celsius.

Patna experienced the hottest April of the past decade with maximum temperature going up to 43.3 degree Celsius.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had earlier ordered to reduce the number of school hours to protect the health of children in the scorching heat. (ANI)

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Tourists flock to Kufri to beat the heat

May 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Shimla, May 3 (ANI): As the mercury rises across northern India, Kufri in Shimla is attracting lots of tourists.

The climate of Kufri is providing much-needed relief to many tourists who leave behind temperatures in mid to high 40s.

“I am from Ahmedabad, the temperature is 47 degree Celsius and here the temperature is very low and here we are enjoying the low temperature and the beauty of hills. The weather is very nice here,” said Prateek, a tourist.

Locals involved in the tourism business say that this tourist rush indicates a good season for them this summer.

“As the summer is going up, tourists are rushing to Kufri. We are having a good business these days. As the mercury will rise in May and June, this rush will increase more. This is good for the hundreds of local youth involved in horse-riding business here,” said Shiv Singh, who arranges horse-riding trips for tourists.

From Shimla and Kufri, tourists also move to other tourist destinations in Himachal Pradesh, like Manali and Dalhousie.

The maximum temperature in most hill-stations of Himachal Pradesh varies from 24 to 27 degree Celsius. (ANI)

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Now, coolers, glucose and vitamins for Patna Zoo inmates

April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Patna, April (ANI): Special arrangements to protect inmates at the Sanjay Gandhi Botanical and Zoological Gardens in Patna have been made following the heat wave in the western, northern and eastern parts of the country.

The measures have been undertaken to protect the animals from the adverse affects of the rising mercury.

This year, in the very month of April, regarded as the spring season, temperatures have soared beyond the normal level leading to an unbearable heat.

Bearing these trends in view, the zoo authorities in Patna have undertaken a number of steps for the animals under their care to help them beat the heat.

Special enclosures made from straw and protective shields of grass have been erected at various enclosures.

Besides, the keepers periodically spray water on the animals in their enclosures and also give Glucose-D for the animals to keep possible dehydration at bay.

Coolers have been placed before the cages of felines such as tigers, lions and leopards.

“With the onset of summers, if you see, temperature is rising day by day. It has reached the 45-degree Celsius mark. People as well as animals are facing lot of trouble. So to help animals, we are providing them Glucose-D and also medicines like vitamins. We have also set up shelters and facilities like coolers have been kept in each enclosure for animals,” said Parvin Kumar, Deputy Director, Sanjay Gandhi Botanical and Zoological Gardens.

The team of veterinarians at the zoo is also monitoring animals’ health and prescribing remedial vitamins as required.

“I have seen that there is proper arrangement for animals like tiger, lion. The zoo administration has made proper enclosures for animals in which they can rest. I also saw keepers giving glucose-d and other medicines. It looks as if the department is extending good facilities to animals, indeed a good sign,” said S.K Choudhary, a visitor.

Visitors at the zoo are all praise for such measure taken by the zoo authorities here. (ANI)

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World”s water cycle has intensified

April 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, April 17 (ANI): Ocean salinities show an intensified water cycle, according to a new research.

The stronger water cycle means arid regions have become drier and high rainfall regions wetter as atmospheric temperature increases.

The study, co-authored by CSIRO scientists Paul Durack and Dr Susan Wijffels, will appear in the American Journal of Climate.

According to the research, the surface ocean beneath rainfall-dominated regions has freshened, whereas ocean regions dominated by evaporation are saltier.

The paper also confirms that surface warming of the world”s oceans over the past 50 years has penetrated into the oceans” interior changing deep-ocean salinity patterns.

Durack, a PhD student at the joint CSIRO/University of Tasmania, Quantitative Marine Science program, said: “This is further confirmation from the global ocean that the Earth”s water cycle has accelerated.

“These broad-scale patterns of change are qualitatively consistent with simulations reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“While such changes in salinity would be expected at the ocean surface (where about 80 per cent of surface water exchange occurs), sub-surface measurements indicate much broader, warming-driven changes are extending into the deep ocean.”

The research demonstrates a clear link between salinity changes at the surface driven by ocean warming and changes in the ocean subsurface which follow the trajectories along which surface water travels into the ocean interior.

The ocean”s average surface temperature has risen around 0.4 degree Celsius since 1950.

As the near surface atmosphere warms it can evaporate more water from the surface ocean and move it to new regions to release it as rain and snow.

Salinity patterns reflect the contrasts between ocean regions where the oceans lose water to the atmosphere and the others where it is re-deposited on the surface as salt-free rainwater.

Durack said: “Observations of rainfall and evaporation over the oceans in the 20th century are very scarce. These new estimates of ocean salinity changes provide a rigorous benchmark to better validate global climate models and start to narrow the wide uncertainties associated with water cycle changes and oceanic processes both in the past and the future – we can use ocean salinity changes as a rain-gauge.” (ANI)

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Dharamshala cricket stadium all set to host two IPL matches

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, April 1 (ANI): Preparations for the two Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches to be held at the Dharamshala cricket stadium on April 16 and 18 have been completed.

According to President Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, Anurag Thakur, this is for the first time that international level cricket tournaments are being held in newly constructed Dharmshala cricket stadium that has been constructed with 50 crore rupees cost this year.

Thakur said the cricket stadium set up at height of 4000 ft above mean sea level has been constructed in accordance with international standards and is highest international cricket ground to host IPL matches.

The Dharamshala cricket stadium has a magnificent view in backdrop of mighty Dhauladhar snow peaks which register average temperature of around 25 degree to 30 degrees Celsius during the peak hours in summer while morning and evening temperature is registered around 20 degree Celsius when the entire India experiences the spell of intense heat waves, he stated.

He told that the pleasant weather will add to the glory and popularity of the game and will be
added attraction for cricket lovers who are coming from plain areas to witness the match.

Dharamshala cricket stadium has 20,000 spectators’ seating capacity and state of the art facilities, separate practice session, most modern rehabilitation centre, club lounge, restaurant, bar, banquet hall with 500 capacity and modern media centre with all the facilities.

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama will be the chief guest during an Indian Premier League (IPL) match to played between Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab on April 18 in Dharamshala.

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal will be the chief guest on the opening day of the matches between Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers on April 16 and His Holiness Dalai Lama will be the chief guest on April 18 during the match between Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab, he informed.

Thakur informed that the capacity has been created to entertain and accommodate around 700 guests in the stadium.

Sales of ticket have been started and almost half of the tickets have already been sold, he informed.
(ANI)

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Smallest superconductor spells hope for cooler electronics in future

March 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, March 31 (ANI): A team of scientists has developed a one-molecule-wide wire, which in other words is the smallest superconductor that can conduct electricity without any heat loss, thus spelling hope for cooler electronics in the future.

Heat is produced by wires and components in proportion to their electrical resistance, and that increases at smaller scales.

According to a report in New Scientist, the new wire, developed by Saw-Wai Hla’s group at Ohio University in Athens, is a superconductor, a type of material through which current flows with zero resistance and hence no heat loss.

The scientists made four-molecule-long wires – the smallest superconducting structure yet reported.

The nanoscopic wires were made by placing a mixture of a large organic molecule and a salt of the metal gallium on a super-clean sheet of silver.

The molecules in the mixture then automatically arrange themselves into long strings or wires, with the organic molecules on the outside and the salt in the centre.

The researchers cooled this set-up to 5 kelvin (-268 degree Celsius), and used a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) to feel for the tiny wires and test their conductive properties.

In isolation, neither the gallium salt nor the organic compound conducted electricity, but Hla and colleagues found evidence that the wires they made from the two together have superconducting characteristics.

An STM works by applying a voltage between the microscope’s tip and the material it is scanning, and then monitoring the change in current.

When Hla’s team varied the voltage and monitored the conductance, a plot of one versus the other showed a V-shaped “conducting gap” that gradually disappeared as the temperature was raised to 15 kelvin – behaviour characteristic of a superconductor.

This superconducting gap was found in nanowires with as few as four salt molecules, but not in nanowires that were only three molecules long.

“Finding out why will help explain how such tiny structures can perform as superconductors,” Hla said. (ANI)

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Sariska tiger reserve facing acute water shortage

March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Alwar (Rajasthan), Mar 26 (ANI): The Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan is faced with acute water shortage due to prevailing heat wave conditions, forcing officials to create artificial water holes.

“Temperature in Sariska is hovering around 35-40 degree Celsius. There is scarcity of water and animals prefer to stay close to the limited water holes,” said Sunder, a forest official.

The officials have set up pumps and boosters to suck in water from the nearby water holes to make it available in the interiors and the upper ranges of the national park.

“There is no water within 30-40 kilometres from this area. We are putting a new pipeline to make available water here,” said Vidhyadhar, a ranger at the tiger reserve.

The Sariska Tiger Reserve, which is located in Alwar district, is one of the famous national parks of the country and is home to the Bengal tiger, leopard, jungle cat, caracal, striped hyena, golden jackal, chital, sambhar, nilgai, chinkara, four-horned antelope or ”chousingha”, wild boar, hare, hanuman langur, and plenty of bird species and reptiles. (ANI)

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Why hot water freezes faster than cold

March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, March 26 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have suggested that hot water may sometimes freeze faster than cold because of random impurities in the water.

Fast-freezing of hot water is known as the Mpemba effect, after a Tanzanian schoolboy called Erasto Mpemba.

Physicists have come up with several possible explanations, including faster evaporation reducing the volume of hot water, a layer of frost insulating the cooler water, and differing concentration of solutes.

But the answer has been very hard to pin down because the effect is unreliable – cold water is just as likely to freeze faster.

According to a report in New Scientist, James Brownridge, who is radiation safety officer for the State University of New York at Binghamton, believes that this randomness is crucial.

Over the past 10 years, he has carried out hundreds of experiments on the Mpemba effect in his spare time, and has evidence that the effect is based on the shifty phenomenon of supercooling.

“Water hardly ever freezes at 0 degree Celsius. It usually supercools, and only begins freezing at a lower temperature,” said Brownridge.

The freezing point depends on impurities in the water which seed the formation of ice crystals.

Typically, water may contain several types of impurity, from dust particles to dissolved salts and bacteria, each of which triggers freezing at a characteristic temperature.

The impurity with the highest nucleation temperature determines the temperature at which the water freezes.

Brownridge starts with two samples of water at the same temperature – say, tap water at 20 degrees C – in covered test tubes and cools them in a freezer.

One will freeze first, presumably because its random mix of impurities give it a higher freezing point.

If the difference is large enough, the Mpemba effect will appear.

Brownridge selects the sample with the higher natural freezing temperature to heat to 80 degrees C, warming the other to only room temperature, then puts the test tubes back in the freezer.

“The hot water will always freeze faster than the cold water if its freezing point is at least 5 degrees C higher,” Brownridge said.

The bigger the temperature difference between an object and its surroundings, the faster it cools.

So, the hot sample will do most of its cooling very quickly, helping it to reach its own freezing point of -2 degrees C, say, before the cooler water gets to its freezing point of -7 degrees C. (ANI)

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How global warming can lead to increased violence in human beings

March 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, March 20 (ANI): A new research has shown that as the earth’s average temperature rises, so does human “heat” in the form of violent tendencies, which links global warming with increased violence in human beings.

Using US government data on average yearly temperatures and the number of violent crimes between 1950 and 2008, the researchers estimate that if the annual average temperature in the US increases by 4.4 degree Celsius, the yearly murder and assault rate will increase by 34 per 100,000 people – or 100,000 more per year in a population of 305 million.

While the global warming science has recently come under fire, the main premise behind the Iowa State researchers’ research paper is irrefutable.

“It is very well researched and what I call the ‘heat hypothesis’,” Anderson said.

“When people get hot, they behave more aggressively. There’s nothing new there and we’re all finding the same thing. But of the three ways that global warming is going to increase aggression and violence, that’s probably the one that’s going to have the most direct impact – even on developed, wealthy countries, because they have warm regions too,” he added.

The ISU researchers analyzed existing research – including an update on a study Anderson authored in 1997 – on the effects of rising temperature on aggression and risk factors for delinquency and criminal behavior.

In addition to the “heat hypothesis,” they report that rising global temperatures also increases known risk factors for the development of aggression in violence-prone individuals, such as increasing poverty, growing up amid scarce resources, malnutrition and food insecurity.

They contended that one of the most catastrophic effects of climate change will be food availability, producing more violence-prone individuals in the process.

“While there is some link between temperature and aggression, really the effects (of climate change) are going to be more indirect if those temperature changes affect the amount of food we can produce, coupled with population growth,” said Matt DeLisi, an associate professor of sociology and director of ISU’s criminal justice program.

“Then where the real damage will be done is malnutrition, because that sets in motion these other developments (risk factors) that then lead to crime,” he added.

The researchers cited ecomigration, civil unrest, genocide and war as the third way global warming is going to increase violence.

They report research finding that rapid climate change can lead to changes in the availability of food, water, shelter and other necessities of life.

Such shortages can also lead to civil war and unrest, migration to adjacent regions and conflict with people who already live in that region, and even to genocide and war. (ANI)

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Scientists find proof of global warming changing natural event

March 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, March 19 (ANI): Scientists have established the first casual link between climate change and the timing of a natural event, which is namely the emergence of the common brown butterfly.

Although there have been strong correlations between global warming and changes in the timing of events such as animal migration and flowering, it has been hard to show a cause-and-effect link.

According to a report in New Scientist, this is what Michael Kearney and Natalie Briscoe of the University of Melbourne, Australia, have now done.

The researchers compared temperature changes in Melbourne – where the butterfly is common – with recorded observations of the first brown butterfly to be seen in the spring since the 1940s.

With each decade, the butterflies emerged 1.6 days earlier and Melbourne heated by 0.14 degree Celsius.

“Overall, the butterfly now emerges on average 10.4 days before it did in the 1940s,” said Kearney.

“And we know the rise in air temperature links to butterfly emergence in a cause-and-effect pattern,” he added.

The pair are confident in the cause-and-effect relationship for two reasons.

First, they placed eggs of the butterfly, Heteronympha merope, in chambers where temperature could be controlled and found that each larval stage has a different response to warmer-than-normal conditions.

“Each stage has adapted to best survive the season that it finds itself in,” said Kearney.

“The egg, which is laid in late summer, and the first larval stage do well at high temperatures,” he said.

The second to the fifth stages occur in winter and can”t survive high temperatures.

The knock-on effect is that the caterpillar pupates earlier and the butterfly emerges sooner.

Second, Kearney and Briscoe made a mathematical model combining these physiological effects of temperature on development with climate data.

The model precisely matched the observed changes in butterfly emergence date.

The researchers used several climate models to find out what is likely to have caused the rise in Melbourne”s temperature, and ruled out the possibility that natural weather events could account for the warming.

“There is a very high likelihood that the locally observed climate change is human-caused,” said Kearney.

The female waits until the end of summer to lay her eggs, ensuring that the larvae”s development stages align with the seasons.

According to Kearney, if summers are longer, the female must “wait around”, and it”s unknown if her lifespan can cope.

“It also may be too warm for the developing butterfly to get through the larval stages,” said Kearney. (ANI)

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Sulphur could contain signatures of life on Mars

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, March 16 (ANI): New evidence indicates that signs of life on Mars might be all over the Red Planet in the form of sulphur, and the next Mars lander should be able to detect the proof.

No mission to Mars has ever found complex carbon-based molecules, from which life as we know it is built.

But sulphur is everywhere on Mars. In fact, it is more abundant there than on Earth, and it could contain one of the signatures of life.

On Earth, the activity of some microbes converts one class of sulphur-containing compounds, the sulphates, into another, the sulphides.

The microbes prefer to work with the lighter sulphur-32 isotope, so the sulphides they produce are relatively deficient in the heavier isotope, sulphur-34.

Planetary scientists have long wondered whether we could use this pattern to discern signs of life on Mars.

Now, the prospects for this technique look better than ever.

According to a report in New Scientist, John Parnell of the University of Aberdeen, UK, and his colleagues found sulphides, apparently formed through microbial activity, permeating the rocks of Haughton crater in the Canadian Arctic.

An analysis of the crater’s rocks indicates the sulphides were produced at temperatures above 70 degree Celsius.

That suggests they formed shortly after the crater itself was created by a meteorite impact 39 million years ago, when water warmed by the impact would have circulated through the crater rocks.

Despite the passage of time, the signature of life at Haughton crater remains clear, with sulphur-34 depleted by 7 per cent in the sulphides compared with the sulphates.

“This suggests that such a signature is not easily erased, bolstering the chances that Martian rocks that were moist enough to harbour life long ago could still carry a detectable signature of life,” said Parnell.

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover will land on the Martian surface in 2012.

“It will carry a mass spectrometer that should be sensitive enough to see variations as small as 2 per cent in sulphur isotope abundances,” said John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, the lead scientist for the mission.

Sulphur is “definitely a promising candidate” to reveal signs of life on Mars, according to David Des Marais of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, who is also involved in the mission.

“If there are big isotopic differences that would be very suspicious. The only way we know how to do that on Earth is with life,” he added. (ANI)

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Snakes have ‘night vision’ to hunt for prey in the dark

March 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, March 15 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have discovered the receptors that allow snakes to find prey in the dark.

Vipers, pythons and boas have holes on their faces called pit organs, which contain a membrane that can detect infrared radiation from warm bodies up to one metre away.

At night, the pit organs allow snakes to ‘see’ an image of their predator or prey — as an infrared camera does — giving them a unique extra sense.

According to a report by Nature News, a study by US researchers, has now revealed how this works at a molecular level.

Nerve cells in the pit organ contain an ion channel called TRPA1 — an infrared receptor that detects infrared radiation as heat, rather than as light, thus confirming theories of pit-organ function long held by behavioural ecologists.

The receptors are also found inside the heads of mammals, where TRPA1 channels, also known as wasabi receptors, detect pungent irritants from mustard plants or other sources.

The pit organ contains nerve fibres known as trigeminal ganglia.

The researchers reasoned that a good way to home in on the organ””s molecular heat detectors would be to compare the trigeminal ganglia with the dorsal root ganglia.

The latter supply the brain with sensory input from the neck down and would be less likely to produce proteins that only pit-organs need to detect heat.

The team looked at the different RNAs produced by each type of nerve — an indication of which genes are active and producing proteins.

They found only one, TRPA1, which was being expressed differently in the two types of ganglia, with the gene in the trigeminal ganglia producing 400 times more RNA than that in the dorsal root ganglia.

According to the team’s observations, rattlesnake TRPA1 is activated by temperatures higher than about 28 degree Celsius — roughly the temperature a snake would ‘feel’ from a mouse or a squirrel about a metre away.

“Although aspects of the findings contradict known behavioural and physiological work, the use of molecular genetic techniques is a new step in understanding how the facial pits work,” said herpetologist Aaron Krochmal from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. (ANI)

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How life might evolve with “exotic” biochemistry and solvents

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, September 18 (ANI): Scientists at a new interdisciplinary research group in Austria are working to uncover how life might evolve with “exotic” biochemistry and solvents, such as sulfuric acid instead of water.

The research group for Alternative Solvents as a Basis for Life Supporting Zones in (Exo-) Planetary Systems was established by the University of Vienna.

Traditionally, planets that might sustain life are looked for in the ‘habitable zone’, the region around a star in which Earth-like planets with carbon dioxide, water vapor and nitrogen atmospheres could maintain liquid water on their surfaces.

Consequently, scientists have been looking for biomarkers produced by extraterrestrial life with metabolisms resembling the terrestrial ones, where water is used as a solvent and the building blocks of life, amino acids, are based on carbon and oxygen.

However, these may not be the only conditions under which life could evolve.

“It is time to make a radical change in our present geocentric mindset for life as we know it on Earth,” said scientist Johannes Leitner.

“Even though this is the only kind of life we know, it cannot be ruled out that life forms have evolved somewhere that neither rely on water nor on a carbon and oxygen based metabolism,” he added.

One requirement for a life-supporting solvent is that it remains liquid over a large temperature range.

Water is liquid between 0 degree Celsius and 100 degrees C, but other solvents exist which are liquid over more than 200 degrees C.

Such a solvent would allow an ocean on a planet closer to the central star.

The reverse scenario is also possible. A liquid ocean of ammonia could exist much further from a star.

Furthermore, sulfuric acid can be found within the cloud layers of Venus and it is now known that lakes of methane/ethane cover parts of the surface of the Saturnian satellite Titan.

Consequently, the discussion on potential life and the best strategies for its detection is ongoing and not only limited to exoplanets and habitable zones.

The newly established research group at the University of Vienna, together with international collaborators, will investigate the properties of a range of solvents other than water, including their abundance in space, thermal and biochemical characteristics as well as their ability to support the origin and evolution of life supporting metabolisms. (ANI)

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Medicinal mushrooms grow in Himachal

September 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Solan, Sept 17 (ANI): Farmers have started growing Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula Edodes) having medicinal qualities at Solan in Himachal Pradesh.

The farmers have started growing Shiitake mushrooms in the area after the scientists of the Directorate of Mushroom Research in Chambaghat in Solan, proved them of having anti-cancer and anti-HIV agents.

In the first stage, the scientists gave the mushroom spawns to the farmers on trial basis. The farmers were successful in growing these medicinal mushrooms.

According to Satish Kumar, a scientist at the Directorate of Mushroom Research, these mushrooms have extensive medicinal qualities. They help to improve the immune system and also contain anti- viral, anti- bacterial and anti-fungal agents.

“We have been conducting research to cultivate the medicinal mushroom for the last few years. We have developed the perfect cultivation technique for the Shiitake mushrooms. Now, we are growing these with the farmers on a trial basis. We grow these mushrooms on damp saw dust,” said Kumar.

He added that the temperature of the area is suitable for growing such kind of mushrooms. These mushrooms are grown at a temperature of 22 to 24 degree Celsius.

“Shiitake mushrooms are not only for satisfying our taste buds but they have immense amount of medicinal qualities. It has anti-viral and anti-tumour medicinal value. We have been researching on button mushrooms too, but now we have developed medicinal mushrooms like Shiitake. After knowing the medicinal qualities of Shiitake, we started doing research on that and have successfully developed a technique to grow them,” said Manjeet Singh, director of the Directorate of Mushroom Research.

Japan and China are the largest producers of Shiitake Mushrooms, while in India the production is confined to the northeastern region as the button mushrooms have more market than Shiitake.

The Shiitake mushrooms are valued at 600 rupees to 800 rupees per kilogram in Indian markets, which is very profitable for the farmers. By Hemant Chauhan (ANI)

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