Recent Comments

    Category Environment/Geology

    NASA Finds New Way to Track Ocean Currents from Space

    November 5, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Environment/Geology

    NASA's GRACE satellites (artist's concept) measured Atlantic Ocean bottom pressure

    NASA’s GRACE satellites (artist’s concept) measured Atlantic Ocean bottom pressure as an indicator of deep ocean current speed. In 2009, this pattern of above-average (blue) and below-average (red) seafloor pressure revealed a temporary slowing of the deep currents. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

    A team of NASA and university scientists has developed a new way to use satellite measurements to track changes in Atlantic Ocean currents, which are a driving force in global climate. The finding opens a path to better monitoring and understanding of how ocean circulation is changing and what the changes may mean for future climate.

    In the Atlantic, currents at the ocean surface, eg Gulf Stream, carry sun-warmed water from the tropics NE. As the water moves through colder regions, it sheds its heat...

    Read More

    Signs of Acid Fog found on Mars

    November 3, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Environment/Geology

    This Microscopic Image Mosaic is the "smoking gun" for this story (the aqueous alteration part, not the acid fog). It shows a pre-existing crack which is being "healed over", which is evidence for the gel weathering alteration process. This image is from a Watchtower Class outcrop named Hillary on the Husband Hill summit. The full mosaic shown on the left is ~5 cm across. Credit: Image courtesy NASA/JPL and S. Cole.

    This Microscopic Image Mosaic is the “smoking gun” for this story (the aqueous alteration part, not the acid fog). It shows a pre-existing crack which is being “healed over”, which is evidence for the gel weathering alteration process. This image is from a Watchtower Class outcrop named Hillary on the Husband Hill summit. The full mosaic shown on the left is ~5 cm across. Credit: Image courtesy NASA/JPL and S. Cole.

    While Mars doesn’t have much in the way of Earth-like weather, it does evidently share one kind of weird meteorology: acid fog.
    Planetary scientist Shoshanna Cole has pieced together a compelling story about how acidic vapors may have eaten at the rocks in a 100-acre area on  ...

    Read More

    Scientists find link between Comet, Asteroid Showers and Mass Extinctions

    October 21, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Environment/Geology

     

    For >30 years, scientists have argued about a controversial hypothesis relating to periodic mass extinctions and impact craters – caused by comet and asteroid showers – on Earth. Now scientists have concluded that mass extinctions occurring over the past 260 million years were likely caused by comet and asteroid showers.

    A graph showing how the rate of cratering has changed on Earth over time

    A graph showing how the rate of cratering has changed on Earth over time. The arrows indicate the dates of mass extinctions. Credit: Michael Rampino / NYU

    Michael Rampino, NYU geologist, and Ken Caldeira, a scientist in the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology, offer new support linking the age of these craters with recurring mass extinctions of life, including the demise of the dinosaurs...

    Read More

    Drug Delivery Technique Bypasses BBB may help many patients with Neurological Conditions

    October 20, 2015, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Environment/Geology, Health/Medical

    Drugs used to treat a variety of central nervous system diseases may be administered through the nose and diffused through an implanted mucosal graft (A, in red) to gain access to the brain. Under normal circumstances, there are multiple layers within the nose that block the access of pharmaceutical agents from getting to the brain including bone and the dura/arachnoid membrane, which represents part of the blood-brain barrier (B). After endoscopic skull base surgery (C), all of these layers are removed and replaced with a nasal mucosal graft, which is 1,000 times more porous than the native blood-brain barrier. Consequently, these grafts may be used to deliver very large drugs, including proteins, which would otherwise be blocked by the blood-brain barrier. Credit: Garyfallia Pagonis and Benjamin S. Bleier, M.D.

    Drugs used to treat a variety of central nervous system diseases may be administered through the nose and diffused through an implanted mucosal graft (A, in red) to gain access to the brain. Under normal circumstances, there are multiple layers within the nose that block the access of pharmaceutical agents from getting to the brain including bone and the dura/arachnoid membrane, which represents part of the blood-brain barrier (B). After endoscopic skull base surgery (C), all of these layers are removed and replaced with a nasal mucosal graft, which is 1,000 times more porous than the native blood-brain barrier. Consequently, these grafts may be used to deliver very large drugs, including proteins, which would otherwise be blocked by the blood-brain barrier...

    Read More