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Post by nodstar on Dec 11, 2009 7:20:22 GMT 4
A sinking continent?[/size] www.globalpost.com/dispatch/asia/091203/australia-environment-sinking-continent2009-12-09 A new report has parts of coastal Australia falling into the ocean, unless a little political will — and finance — is employed. GOLD COAST, Australia — The prediction is dire. Coastal towns will be left to fall into the sea by governments in Australia that won’t cough up the money to combat rising sea levels over the next 50 years. Billions of dollars will be wiped from the value of almost 250,000 homes at risk of flooding by the end of this century, including some of the most exclusive addresses in the country. Property-owners could face the prospect of selling their land to governments in cut-price deals and leasing it back while they make alternative arrangements to move to safer areas in five- or 10-year relocation plans. A bleak report by the Department of Climate Change has predicted a 1.1-meter sea level rise around the coast of Australia over the next 100 years. The study outlines the stark dangers of climate change. About 80 percent of the Australian population lives near the coast, and more people continue to move closer to the ocean as global warming raises temperatures, making a beach lifestyle even more attractive. As President Barack Obama made the historic step of visiting China in his first term and the two nations agreed to cooperate on climate change in next week's crucial U.N. summit in Copenhagen, are the Australians finally taking global warming seriously? Australia’s Labor government headed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wants a 40 percent carbon reduction target set for 2100, but Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has denied claims that she is mounting a fear campaign to pressure the opposition into a carbon-trading deal. The destruction of picturesque coastlines and tourist trade aside, sea level rises and storm surges will have a huge impact on infrastructure for trade, transport and industry. Planning for those changes will require huge capital investments. Tropical cyclones and storms are also expected to intensify, which could lead to major destruction — and cost. Geoff Withycombe, of Sydney Coastal Councils, which represents 15 local governments, says property-owners have to accept that no investment is guaranteed and that multi-million dollar values for beachfront property will be unrealistic in the future. He said some small coastal towns would inevitably have to be left to be reclaimed by the sea. “In a changing climate, nothing is certain. The problem with a lot of private and public properties at the moment is their values do not reflect the risk in terms of climate change. “We need to make a comprehensive assessment of the hazards and risks involved with rising sea levels and set those out to the stakeholders. “Let’s use the coastal zone while we can. We can’t sterilize land. In a country like Australia, we can’t afford to compensate everyone and we have 60,000 kilometers of coastline, so we can’t put sea walls up around the country.” The report’s recommendations are cold comfort to homeowners who have spent millions buying prestigious beachside properties. They can look forward to little or no compensation for their losses. Protection for private property would only be considered as a long-term option and part of a wider management plan. The report suggests private property owners “withdraw, relocate or abandon assets that are high risk." Residents on the east coast of the United Kingdom, in Norfolk, are also feeling the sting of abandonment from local and national governments in some coastal areas, which have been deemed too costly to protect. More than 15 million people live near the U.K. coastline, but Britain’s Environment Agency has already said that the area known as the Norfolk Broads will probably be left to be reclaimed by the sea. The question being asked by residents in small coastal communities is this: Why are millions being spent on protecting big cities when small towns — many of which provide services and goods to neighboring towns — are deemed to costly to protect? The Australian government report calls for a complete overhaul of building codes and planning for development. What this means is that in the future, developers will have to take into account the risks involved with climate change, including rising sea levels and more intense storm weather, before their developments are approved. Further research will be undertaken to decide how to reduce uncertainty about the risks of rising sea levels in coastal areas. The report also cited a huge environmental impact from rising sea levels. Coastal ecosystems likely to be most at risk include estuaries, coral reefs and beaches. In Sydney, councils are considering dredging sand from deep water areas and dumping it on eroded beaches to keep tourists and locals happy. According to the Australia and New Zealand Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, beyond 2100 looks similarly bleak. Even if greenhouse gases are stabilized, predictions are that sea levels will continue to rise for hundreds of years due to the slow but continual warming of the deep oceans. Polar ice sheets will continue to react to climate change for the next several thousand years, even if the climate stabilizes.
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Post by cosmicstar on Dec 11, 2009 9:36:16 GMT 4
[/size] www.globalpost.com/dispatch/asia/091203/australia-environment-sinking-continent2009-12-09 A new report has parts of coastal Australia falling into the ocean, unless a little political will — and finance — is employed. GOLD COAST, Australia — The prediction is dire. Coastal towns will be left to fall into the sea by governments in Australia that won’t cough up the money to combat rising sea levels over the next 50 years. Billions of dollars will be wiped from the value of almost 250,000 homes at risk of flooding by the end of this century, including some of the most exclusive addresses in the country. Property-owners could face the prospect of selling their land to governments in cut-price deals and leasing it back while they make alternative arrangements to move to safer areas in five- or 10-year relocation plans. A bleak report by the Department of Climate Change has predicted a 1.1-meter sea level rise around the coast of Australia over the next 100 years. The study outlines the stark dangers of climate change. About 80 percent of the Australian population lives near the coast, and more people continue to move closer to the ocean as global warming raises temperatures, making a beach lifestyle even more attractive. As President Barack Obama made the historic step of visiting China in his first term and the two nations agreed to cooperate on climate change in next week's crucial U.N. summit in Copenhagen, are the Australians finally taking global warming seriously? Australia’s Labor government headed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wants a 40 percent carbon reduction target set for 2100, but Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has denied claims that she is mounting a fear campaign to pressure the opposition into a carbon-trading deal. The destruction of picturesque coastlines and tourist trade aside, sea level rises and storm surges will have a huge impact on infrastructure for trade, transport and industry. Planning for those changes will require huge capital investments. Tropical cyclones and storms are also expected to intensify, which could lead to major destruction — and cost. Geoff Withycombe, of Sydney Coastal Councils, which represents 15 local governments, says property-owners have to accept that no investment is guaranteed and that multi-million dollar values for beachfront property will be unrealistic in the future. He said some small coastal towns would inevitably have to be left to be reclaimed by the sea. “In a changing climate, nothing is certain. The problem with a lot of private and public properties at the moment is their values do not reflect the risk in terms of climate change. “We need to make a comprehensive assessment of the hazards and risks involved with rising sea levels and set those out to the stakeholders. “Let’s use the coastal zone while we can. We can’t sterilize land. In a country like Australia, we can’t afford to compensate everyone and we have 60,000 kilometers of coastline, so we can’t put sea walls up around the country.” The report’s recommendations are cold comfort to homeowners who have spent millions buying prestigious beachside properties. They can look forward to little or no compensation for their losses. Protection for private property would only be considered as a long-term option and part of a wider management plan. The report suggests private property owners “withdraw, relocate or abandon assets that are high risk." Residents on the east coast of the United Kingdom, in Norfolk, are also feeling the sting of abandonment from local and national governments in some coastal areas, which have been deemed too costly to protect. More than 15 million people live near the U.K. coastline, but Britain’s Environment Agency has already said that the area known as the Norfolk Broads will probably be left to be reclaimed by the sea. The question being asked by residents in small coastal communities is this: Why are millions being spent on protecting big cities when small towns — many of which provide services and goods to neighboring towns — are deemed to costly to protect? The Australian government report calls for a complete overhaul of building codes and planning for development. What this means is that in the future, developers will have to take into account the risks involved with climate change, including rising sea levels and more intense storm weather, before their developments are approved. Further research will be undertaken to decide how to reduce uncertainty about the risks of rising sea levels in coastal areas. The report also cited a huge environmental impact from rising sea levels. Coastal ecosystems likely to be most at risk include estuaries, coral reefs and beaches. In Sydney, councils are considering dredging sand from deep water areas and dumping it on eroded beaches to keep tourists and locals happy. According to the Australia and New Zealand Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, beyond 2100 looks similarly bleak. Even if greenhouse gases are stabilized, predictions are that sea levels will continue to rise for hundreds of years due to the slow but continual warming of the deep oceans. Polar ice sheets will continue to react to climate change for the next several thousand years, even if the climate stabilizes.[/quote] Ah, we did find some of those effects already in Byron Bay. It seems that the area near Belongil Beach, there is such erosion going on and the city will not allow the residents to build retaining walls. We saw an area that had some sandbags, trying to help slow the erosion, but apparently it is being left to the homeowners to basically demolish their homes at their own expense as they will not be able to sell them either. cosmicstar
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Post by Eagles Disobey on Dec 11, 2009 14:11:18 GMT 4
edit>> A more in-depth report is available via NPR.org, here: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113947912.......... Space Scientist Is Held as SpyFBI Arrests U.S. Government Physicist in Sting Operation Involving Nuclear SecretsBy EVAN PEREZ The Wall Street Journal October 20, 2009WASHINGTON -- A top U.S. space researcher was arrested in a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting Monday and charged with attempting to spy for Israel. Stewart Nozette, 52 years old, of Chevy Chase, Md., is a former government physicist who worked for agencies ranging from the Defense Department to the White House. Stewart Nozette, center, was present at a Pentagon news briefing in December 1996, when he and Paul Spudis, left, both of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, discuss the discovery of water on the moon.
In exchange for thousands of dollars in cash and an Israeli passport, Mr. Nozette allegedly attempted to pass on U.S. top-secret nuclear and space secrets to an FBI agent who was posing as an Israeli intelligence operative, according to an FBI affidavit filed with the criminal complaint in the case. An attorney for Mr. Nozette didn't immediately respond to a call seeking comment. Mr. Nozette is expected to make his first appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington. If convicted, Mr. Nozette faces up to life in prison. Other alleged spy cases in recent years involving Israel include one that collapsed in May against two former lobbyists for a pro-Israel group. U.S. officials said the Nozette case doesn't include allegations that Israel or its agents were involved. The FBI affidavit doesn't explain how Mr. Nozette came to the attention of U.S. investigators. However, the affidavit describes Mr. Nozette's work over the past decade for an Israeli aerospace company that is wholly owned by the Israeli government. During a security search as he departed on a foreign trip in January, a security officer noted he was traveling with two small portable hard drives, which another government officer couldn't locate in a subsequent search as Mr. Nozette re-entered the U.S. A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington didn't respond to a request for comment. "Those who would put our nation's defense secrets up for sale can expect to be vigorously prosecuted," said Channing D. Phillips, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. FBI wiretaps cited in the government affidavit quote Mr. Nozette telling the undercover federal agent that his former top-secret security clearances allowed him access to sensitive nuclear and intelligence secrets. "I don't get recruited by Mossad every day. I knew this day would come," Mr. Nozette allegedly is heard on wiretaps telling the FBI agent, according to the affidavit. The FBI agent arranged for Mr. Nozette to use a location previously set up -- a "dead-drop" -- at a post-office box in Washington, provided him a cellphone to send text messages, and set up an alias for use in his new Israeli identification documents, according to the affidavit. In a post-office box dead-drop last month, Mr. Nozette left a sealed manila envelope containing an encrypted portable hard drive, the affidavit says. The drive contained classified information on satellite programs supporting U.S. military and intelligence operations. While the affidavit indicates that Mr. Nozette at first appeared suspicious about the espionage arrangements, it also relates how the undercover agent gained Mr. Nozette's trust and he is heard on a wiretap saying of the post-office drops: "that seems kind of Mossad-like." The FBI affidavit quotes Mr. Nozette offering to provide additional classified information on nuclear and other weapons systems, as well as military spacecraft or satellites. He explained that he would earn his keep, according to affidavit, because some of the information would have to be from memory, since he no longer has the necessary security clearances. "These are among the most sensitive subjects and it will have to be recreated from memory over some time," the FBI affidavit quotes him as saying. Mr. Nozette, a Chicago native, was prominent in his field. He helped develop a radar experiment, now displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, that is said to have detected water on the moon's south pole. ....... Write to Evan Perez at evan.perez@wsj.com Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A4
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
online.wsj.com/article/SB125600137727795549.html?mod=googlenews_wsjThink about what Dan told everyone is presently sitting on the Moon.
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Post by Eagles Disobey on Dec 11, 2009 14:12:24 GMT 4
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Post by emeraldsun on Dec 13, 2009 22:25:07 GMT 4
From Minnie to Mickey (and all they did was turn off a gene)(snip) The battle of the sexes is a never-ending war waged within ourselves as male and female elements of our own bodies continually fight each other for supremacy. This is the astonishing implication of a pioneering study showing that it is possible to flick a genetic switch that turns female ovary cells into male testicular tissue. For decades, the battle of the sexes has been accepted by biologists as a real phenomenon with males and females competing against each other – when their interests do not coincide – for the continued survival of their genes in the next generation. Now scientists have been able to show that a gender war is constantly raging between the genes and cells of one individual. One of the great dogmas of biology is that gender is fixed from birth, determined by the inheritance of certain genes on the X and Y sex chromosomes. But this simplistic idea has been exploded by the latest study, which demonstrated that fully-developed adult females can undergo a partial sex change following a genetic modification to a single gene. Related articles Mystery of giant light spiral in Arctic solved Search the news archive for more stories The findings suggest that being male or female is not a permanently fixed state but something that has to be continually maintained in the adult body by the constant interaction of genes to keep the status quo – and the gender war – from slipping in favour of the opposite sex. The results could explain some of the great mysteries of human gender, for instance why some women after the menopause develop male characteristics, such as facial hair and deeper voices, or why other people are so unhappy with the gender they were born with that they seek hormone therapy and radical sex-change operations. Scientists said that the study also contradicted another biological dogma – that the "default" gender is female, with all embryos starting out as female unless they possess a male sex-determining gene. Although this remains true in terms of how gender is determined in the womb, the latest findings show that it is still possible to convert an adult female's ovaries into testosterone-producing testes. The study was carried out on mice but the implications are relevant to humans, the scientists said. By switching off a gene called FoxL2, which exists in all mammals, the ovary cells of adult female mice developed spontaneously into the fully developed, testosterone-producing cells found in male testes, although they could not produce sperm. "We take it for granted that we maintain the sex we are born with, including whether we have testes or ovaries," said Robin Lovell-Badge, from the Medical Research Council's National Institute of Medical Research in north London, who was part of the international team led by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg. Rest of article here: www.independent.co.uk/news/science/from-minnie-to-mickey-and-all-they-did-was-turn-off-a-gene-1838170.html
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Post by emeraldsun on Dec 14, 2009 2:36:46 GMT 4
Australia Medical Journal: Full Moon Brings Out Inner Werewolf (snip) Some people are more violent and exhibit ''werewolf'' tendencies during a full moon, a study published in the respected Australia Medical Journal reveals. The findings of the 11-month research at the Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital could force police and other emergency services to shake-up how and when they deploy staff. Many in the industry have already claimed for years there is a direct link between a full moon and more violent episodes, however, many police have disregarded anecdotal evidence as only a coincidence. The hospital's clinical research nurse in toxicology Leonie Calver said the study centred on 91 patients who attended the emergency department, displaying ''violent and acute behavioral disturbance'' between August 2008 and July 2009. "Of the 91 patients, 21 (23 percent) presented during the full moon - double the number for other lunar phases,'' Ms Calver said. "Sixty-six percent were under the influence of alcohol and/or recreational drugs and five attacked staff. "Some of these patients attacked the staff like animals (by) biting, spitting and scratching. One might compare them with the werewolves past, who are said to have also appeared during the full moon. "It has been reported that the practice of rubbing magic ointment on the skin or inhaling vapour from a magic potion by an alleged werewolf induces metamorphosis. "Not surprisingly, the main ingredients of these ointments and potions were belladonna and nightshade, both of which can produce delirium, hallucinations and delusion of bodily metamorphosis.'' She said violent people seemed to want to take alcohol and drugs more during a full moon. Article links here: www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26479508-23272,00.html
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Post by nodstar on Dec 17, 2009 5:49:20 GMT 4
Yellowstone's Plumbing Reveals Plume of Hot and Molten Rock 410 Miles Deep[/size] Science Daily www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091214075225.htm2009-12-16 The most detailed seismic images yet published of the plumbing that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano shows a plume of hot and molten rock rising at an angle from the northwest at a depth of at least 410 miles, contradicting claims that there is no deep plume, only shallow hot rock moving like slowly boiling soup. A related University of Utah study used gravity measurements to indicate the banana-shaped magma chamber of hot and molten rock a few miles beneath Yellowstone is 20 percent larger than previously believed, so a future cataclysmic eruption could be even larger than thought. The study's of Yellowstone's plume also suggests the same "hotspot" that feeds Yellowstone volcanism also triggered the Columbia River "flood basalts" that buried parts of Oregon, Washington state and Idaho with lava starting 17 million years ago. Those are key findings in four National Science Foundation-funded studies in the latest issue of the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. The studies were led by Robert B. Smith, research professor and professor emeritus of geophysics at the University of Utah and coordinating scientist for the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. "We have a clear image, using seismic waves from earthquakes, showing a mantle plume that extends from beneath Yellowstone,'' Smith says. The plume angles downward 150 miles to the west-northwest of Yellowstone and reaches a depth of at least 410 miles, Smith says. The study estimates the plume is mostly hot rock, with 1 percent to 2 percent molten rock in sponge-like voids within the hot rock. Some researchers have doubted the existence of a mantle plume feeding Yellowstone, arguing instead that the area's volcanic and hydrothermal features are fed by convection -- the boiling-like rising of hot rock and sinking of cooler rock -- from relatively shallow depths of only 185 miles to 250 miles. The Hotspot: A Deep Plume, Blobs and Shallow Magma Some 17 million years ago, the Yellowstone hotspot was located beneath the Oregon-Idaho-Nevada border region, feeding a plume of hot and molten rock that produced "caldera" eruptions -- the biggest kind of volcanic eruption on Earth. As North America slid southwest over the hotspot, the plume generated more than 140 huge eruptions that produced a chain of giant craters -- calderas -- extending from the Oregon-Idaho-Nevada border northeast to the current site of Yellowstone National Park, where huge caldera eruptions happened 2.05 million, 1.3 million and 642,000 years ago. These eruptions were 2,500, 280 and 1,000 times bigger, respectively, than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The eruptions covered as much as half the continental United States with inches to feet of volcanic ash. The Yellowstone caldera, 40 miles by 25 miles, is the remnant of that last giant eruption. The new study reinforces the view that the hot and partly molten rock feeding volcanic and geothermal activity at Yellowstone isn't vertical, but has three components: * The 45-mile-wide plume that rises through Earth's upper mantle from at least 410 miles beneath the surface. The plume angles upward to the east-southeast until it reaches the colder rock of the North American crustal plate, and flattens out like a 300-mile-wide pancake about 50 miles beneath Yellowstone. The plume includes several wider "blobs" at depths of 355 miles, 310 miles and 265 miles. "This conduit is not one tube of constant thickness," says Smith. "It varies in width at various depths, and we call those things blobs." * A little-understood zone, between 50 miles and 10 miles deep, in which blobs of hot and partly molten rock break off of the flattened top of the plume and slowly rise to feed the magma reservoir directly beneath Yellowstone National Park. * A magma reservoir 3.7 miles to 10 miles beneath the Yellowstone caldera. The reservoir is mostly sponge-like hot rock with spaces filled with molten rock. "It looks like it's up to 8 percent or 15 percent melt," says Smith. "That's a lot." Researchers previously believed the magma chamber measured roughly 6 to 15 miles from southeast to northwest, and 20 or 25 miles from southwest to northeast, but new measurements indicate the reservoir extends at least another 13 miles outside the caldera's northeast boundary, Smith says. He says the gravity and other data show the magma body "is an elongated structure that looks like a banana with the ends up. It is a lot larger than we thought -- I would say about 20 percent [by volume]. This would argue there might be a larger magma source available for a future eruption." Images of the magma reservoir were made based on the strength of Earth's gravity at various points in Yellowstone. Hot and molten rock is less dense than cold rock, so the tug of gravity is measurably lower above magma reservoirs. The Yellowstone caldera, like other calderas on Earth, huffs upward and puffs downward repeatedly over the ages, usually without erupting. Since 2004, the caldera floor has risen 3 inches per year, suggesting recharge of the magma body beneath it. How to View a Plume Seismic imaging uses earthquake waves that travel through the Earth and are recorded by seismometers. Waves travel more slowly through hotter rock and more quickly in cooler rock. Just as X-rays are combined to make CT-scan images of features in the human body, seismic wave data are melded to produce images of Earth's interior. The study, the Yellowstone Geodynamics Project, was conducted during 1999-2005. It used an average of 160 temporary and permanent seismic stations -- and as many as 200 -- to detect waves from some 800 earthquakes, with the stations spaced 10 miles to 22 miles apart -- closer than other networks and better able to "see" underground. Some 160 Global Positioning System stations measured crustal movements. By integrating seismic and GPS data, "it's like a lens that made the upper 125 miles much clearer and allowed us to see deeper, down to 410 miles," Smith says. The study also shows warm rock -- not as hot as the plume -- stretching from Yellowstone southwest under the Snake River Plain, at depths of 20 miles to 60 miles. The rock is still warm from eruptions before the hotspot reached Yellowstone. A Plume Blowing in the 2-inch-per-year Mantle Wind Seismic imaging shows a "slow" zone from the top of the plume, which is 50 miles deep, straight down to about 155 miles, but then as you travel down the plume, it tilts to the northwest as it dives to a depth of 410 miles, says Smith. That is the base of the global transition zone -- from 250 miles to 410 miles deep -- that is the boundary between the upper and lower mantle -- the layers below Earth's crust. At that depth, the plume is about 410 miles beneath the town of Wisdom, Mont., which is 150 miles west-northwest of Yellowstone, says Smith. He says "it wouldn't surprise me" if the plume extends even deeper, perhaps originating from the core-mantle boundary some 1,800 miles deep. Why doesn't the plume rise straight upward? "This plume material wants to come up vertically, it wants to buoyantly rise," says Smith. "But it gets caught in the 'wind' of the upper mantle flow, like smoke rising in a breeze." Except in this case, the "breeze" of slowly flowing upper mantle rock is moving horizontally 2 inches per year. While the crustal plate moves southwest, the warm, underlying mantle slowly boils due to convection, with warm areas moving upward and cooler areas downward. Northwest of Yellowstone, this convection is such that the plume is "blown" east-southeast by mantle convection, so it angles upward toward Yellowstone. Scientists have debated for years whether Yellowstone's volcanism is fed by a plume rising from deep in the Earth or by shallow churning in the upper mantle caused by movements of the overlying crust. Smith says the new study has produced the most detailed image of the Yellowstone plume yet published. But a preliminary study by other researchers suggests Yellowstone's plume goes deeper than 410 miles, ballooning below that depth into a wider zone of hot rock that extends at least 620 miles deep. The notion that a deep plume feeds Yellowstone got more support from a study published this month indicating that the Hawaiian hotspot -- which created the Hawaiian Islands -- is fed by a plume that extends downward at least 930 miles, tilting southeast. A Common Source for Yellowstone and the Columbia River Basalts? Based on how the Yellowstone plume slants now, Smith and colleagues projected on a map where the plume might have originated at depth when the hotspot was erupting at the Oregon-Idaho-Nevada border area from 17 million to almost 12 million years ago. They saw overlap, between the zones within the Earth where eruptions originated near the Oregon-Idaho-Nevada border and where the famed Columbia River Basalt eruptions originated when they were most vigorous 17 million to 14 million years ago. Their conclusion: the Yellowstone hotspot plume might have fed those gigantic lava eruptions, which covered much of eastern Oregon and eastern Washington state. I argue it is the common source," Smith says. "It's neat stuff and it fits together." Smith conducted the seismic study with six University of Utah present or former geophysicists -- former postdoctoral researchers Michael Jordan, of SINTEF Petroleum Research in Norway, and Stephan Husen, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology; postdoc Christine Puskas; Ph.D. student Jamie Farrell; and former Ph.D. students Gregory Waite, now at Michigan Technological University, and Wu-Lung Chang, of National Central University in Taiwan. Other co-authors were Bernhard Steinberger of the Geological Survey of Norway and Richard O'Connell of Harvard University. Smith conducted the gravity study with former University of Utah graduate student Katrina DeNosaquo and Tony Lowry of Utah State University in Logan.
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Post by nodstar on Dec 17, 2009 5:56:27 GMT 4
Blue Whales Are Changing Their Tunes, But Why?[/size] io9 io9.com/5424451/blue-whales-are-changing-their-tunes-but-why2009-12-12 The songs blue whales use to communicate and attract mates have been dropping in pitch worldwide for decades, and researchers think it might actually be a sign that an endangered population is recovering. No one is completely sure what whale songs are used for – theories include mating calls, other forms of communication, and possibly a form of sonar. A group of researchers recently examined whale songs from several decades and from all the world's oceans. They found that the frequency, or pitch, of blue whale song has been steadily dropping for many years. Recently recorded whale songs are the lowest, while whale songs from the 1960s were higher in pitch. The researchers don't know what's causing the change, but they have a theory based on a correlation with blue whale populations. When the songs were at their highest pitch, blue whales had been hunted to the brink of extinction. Since the International Whaling Commission banned blue whale hunting in the 60s, the worldwide blue whale population has been slowly but steadily increasing (though it's still a tiny fraction of what it once was). That seems to coincide with the pitch change. It could be that whales used a higher frequency song when there were fewer whales because those songs traveled farther, hundreds of miles or more. With a sparse population, you'd need a long-distance call to find more mates or family members. With populations rebounding somewhat, the whales are able to use lower frequency songs with more success, since there's a greater chance another blue whale is nearby. You may be wondering why higher frequency songs would travel farther, since generally low-frequency sounds are thought to be better for long-distance propagation. I asked the researchers about this, and scientist Mark McDonald explained that whales can sing louder at higher frequencies: Across the frequencies of blue whale song, the underwater transmission losses are nearly the same regardless of frequency. It is absorption which is the primary cause of frequency dependent transmission losses, rather than dispersion in this case, and the absorption loss only begins to become significant when ranges reach thousands of kilometers. Theory tells us the whales can produce higher amplitude songs at higher frequencies, based on given lung volume. I was also curious if this was an example of evolution in action, with subsequent generations of whales exhibiting a change in pitch due to natural selection, or if it was a behavioral change, with blue whales choosing to use a lower pitch song. He replied: We presume it is a behavioral change, but we don't really know why the whales are changing their song frequency. We don't find our own best hypothesis entirely convincing. Which is a pretty excellent example of science in progress. If only we could figure out what blue whales were singing about, so we could just ask them. Post Script
There are an estimated, 2,000 Blue Whales left in the Earths Oceans . This species is still struggling[/size]
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Post by nodstar on Dec 17, 2009 6:05:06 GMT 4
Life on Mars theory boosted by new methane study[/size] PhysOrg.com www.physorg.com/news179499648.html2009-12-10 Scientists have ruled out the possibility that methane is delivered to Mars by meteorites, raising fresh hopes that the gas might be generated by life on the red planet, in research published tomorrow in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Methane has a short lifetime of just a few hundred years on Mars because it is constantly being depleted by a chemical reaction in the planet's atmosphere, caused by sunlight. Scientists analysing data from telescopic observations and unmanned space missions have discovered that methane on Mars is being constantly replenished by an unknown source and they are keen to uncover how the levels of methane are being topped up. Researchers had thought that meteorites might be responsible for Martian methane levels because when the rocks enter the planet's atmosphere they are subjected to intense heat, causing a chemical reaction that releases methane and other gases into the atmosphere. However, the new study, by researchers from Imperial College London, shows that the volumes of methane that could be released by the meteorites entering Mars's atmosphere are too low to maintain the current atmospheric levels of methane. Previous studies have also ruled out the possibility that the methane is delivered through volcanic activity. This leaves only two plausible theories to explain the gas's presence, according to the researchers behind today's findings. Either there are microorganisms living in the Martian soil that are producing methane gas as a by-product of their metabolic processes, or methane is being produced as a by-product of reactions between volcanic rock and water. Co-author of the study, Dr Richard Court, Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, says: "Our experiments are helping to solve the mystery of methane on Mars. Meteorites vaporising in the atmosphere are a proposed methane source but when we recreate their fiery entry in the laboratory we get only small amounts of the gas. For Mars, meteorites fail the methane test." The team say their study will help NASA and ESA scientists who are planning a joint mission to the red planet in 2018 to search for the source of methane. The researchers say now that they have discovered that meteorites are not a source of Methane on Mars, ESA and NASA scientists can focus their attention on the two last remaining options. Co-author, Professor Mark Sephton, Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, adds: "This work is a big step forward. As Sherlock Holmes said, eliminate all other factors and the one that remains must be the truth. The list of possible sources of methane gas is getting smaller and excitingly, extraterrestrial life still remains an option. Ultimately the final test may have to be on Mars." The team used a technique called Quantitive Pyrolysis-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to reproduce the same searing conditions experienced by meteorites as they enter the Martian atmosphere. The team heated the meteorite fragments to 1000 degrees Celsius and measured the gases that were released using an infrared beam. When quantities of gas released by the laboratory experiments were combined with published calculations of meteorite in-fall rates on Mars, the scientists calculated that only 10 kilograms of meteorite methane was produced each year, far below the 100 to 300 tonnes required to replenish methane levels in the Martian atmosphere. More information: "Investigating the contribution of methane produced by ablating micrometeorites to the atmosphere of Mars," Earth and Planetary Science Letters journal, Richard W. Court, Mark A. Sephton
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Post by nodstar on Dec 17, 2009 6:28:07 GMT 4
Researchers claim to have deciphered the way primates communicate[/size] The Independent www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/krak-thats-falling-branch-in-monkey-speak-1838756.html2009-12-13 The Campbell's monkey was found to be able to string sounds together to convey complex information The secret behind the origins of human language may lie in the jungle chatter of a species of monkey, a team of scientists has claimed. The researchers spent months studying the calls of the Campbell's monkey, or Cercopithecus campbelli, which lives in the forests of the Tai National Park in the Ivory Coast. They discovered that the animals not only use distinctive alarm calls to warn of specific predators nearby but can also combine them with other sounds to convey extra information – in much the same way humans use prefixes and suffixes. The team, led by Professor Klaus Zuberbühler of the University of St Andrews, studied alpha male monkeys whose main task is to look out for potential threats and disturbances before using their calls to alert the rest of their group. The animals used several instantly recognisable alarm sounds, which the scientists described as "boom", "krak" and "hok". A boom was sounded to warn of a falling branch nearby; a krak was only sounded when a leopard had been seen; and a hok was almost exclusively reserved for when a crowned eagle was spotted above the forest canopy. But further analysis revealed that while booms were unaltered, the monkeys occasionally added an "oo" to kraks and hoks, an alteration which appeared to change what their message. The krak-oo call seemed to be a general alert sounded to warn about most disturbances, but hok-oo was only used to draw the group's attention to movement high in the tree tops – the presence of neighbouring groups of monkeys or a sighting of birds, for example. "If you add this subtle additional oo unit to turn krak into krak-oo, then that call can be given to a whole range of other contexts. If you take the suffix away then it is almost exclusively a leopard alarm call," Professor Zuberbühler said. "What is interesting is that the same acoustic modifier is being used for these calls, and that is really analogous to using a suffix in human language." The team, whose findings are published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also discovered that a boom-boom call was given to encourage other group members to make their way towards the monkey making the sound. If a pair of booms was followed by some krak-oos, falling trees or branches had been spotted. Furthermore, two booms followed by a combination of krak-oos and hok-oos was sounded to signal the presence of another group of Campbell's monkeys. The scientists said the system "may be the most complex example of 'proto-syntax' in animal communication known to date". A grasp of language has usually been regarded as a uniquely human faculty. When scientists have tried to teach basic syntax to chimpanzees, the animals seemed unable to string together sounds they learned into a sentence with a more complicated meaning. Simian speech: A brief dictionary *"Boom" Look out, falling branch, move! *"Boom-boom" Come to me *"Krak" Look out, a leopard! *"Krak-oo" Watch out, a general warning *"Hok" There's a crowned eagle up there *"Hok-oo" Movement above *"Boom-boom, krak-oo krak-oo" Look out – falling tree *"Boom-boom, hok-oo krak-oo hok-oo" We are near another group of monkeys
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Dec 20, 2009 4:32:07 GMT 4
Human protein could prevent H1N1 - studyFriday, December 18, 2009 » 10:39am WELL WELL WELL!!!!! ;D bigpondnews.com/articles/Health/2009/12/18/Human_protein_could_prevent_H1N1_-_study_407726.htmlA strain of natural human proteins have been found to help ward off swine flu in a discovery that could spur more effective treatments, US researchers say. In cultured human cells, researchers led by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) found that these certain proteins have powerful antiviral effects by blocking the replication of viruses. The findings, reported on Thursday in an online article from the journal, Cell, 'could lead to the development of more effective antiviral drugs, including prophylactic drugs that could be used to slow influenza transmission', the team said. The influenza virus, along with the other viruses, must take over proteins in cells to sustain itself. In their study, researchers found about 120 genes that are needed by H1N1 - commonly known as swine flu. 'But in the process of figuring that out, we found this other class of genes that actually have the opposite effect, so that if you get rid of them, influenza replicates much better,' according to HHMI team leader Stephen Elledge at the Harvard Medical School. Increasing the production of the proteins therefore enables a complete blockade of the replication of the virus. 'This work illustrates the important interplay between the cell innate immune response and virus replication,' said Robert Lamb, a virologist at Illinois' Northwestern University, who was not part of the research team. In a surprise discovery, the scientists who had been focused on the H1N1 virus found the proteins also blocked other viruses, such as the West Nile virus and the dengue virus. 'Making too much of these proteins might not be good for people in the long run, but we don't really know yet,' Elledge said, noting that further study is needed to find if the proteins could become the basis of future antiviral therapy. An estimated 10,000 people including 1,100 children have died of swine flu in the United States alone since the new strain of flu was first detected in April, US health authorities said earlier this month. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said it was estimated there have been nearly 50 million cases and more than 200,000 hospitalisations.
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Dec 20, 2009 5:25:41 GMT 4
Evidence of dark matter detectedSunday, December 20, 2009 » 11:00am bigpondnews.com/articles/Technology/2009/12/20/Evidence_of_dark_matter_detected_408509.htmlScientists believe they've detected evidence of dark matter which could give insight on stars and galaxies. A long-elusive key to understanding the universe may have been discovered nearly a kilometre underground in the US state of Minnesota. Scientists announced this week they believe they've detected evidence of dark matter in data collected at the Soudan underground physics lab. Dark matter most likely accounts for most of the universe's total matter, but its existence has never been proven. If it ever is, it could unlock mysteries about the behaviour of stars and galaxies. According to the US Department of Energy's Fermilab, which is conducting the search for dark matter at the Soudan lab, 'judging by the way galaxies rotate, scientists have known for 70 years that the matter we can see does not provide enough gravitational pull to hold the galaxies together. There must exist some form of matter that does not emit or reflect light.' In the announcement, the lab said the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment has 'detected two events that have characteristics consistent with the particles that physicists believe make up dark matter'. But, it cautioned, there is 'a chance' that the events could be the signatures of background particles that merely mimic the signals of dark matter. According to Fermilab, dark matter 'may have provided the gravitational scaffolding that allowed normal matter to coalesce into the galaxies we see today. In particular, scientists think our own galaxy is embedded within an enormous cloud of dark matter. As our solar system rotates around the galaxy, it moves through this cloud.' Particle physics theories suggest that dark matter is composed of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). WIMPs would rarely interact with normal matter, but may occasionally bounce off, or scatter from, an atomic nucleus like billiard balls, leaving a small amount of energy that is detectable under the right conditions. The Soudan lab has been searching for WIMPs since 2003. It uses 30 detectors cooled to nearly absolute zero in an attempt to detect WIMP scatters. 'This is a very intriguing results we really don't know if this is a background or a signal,' said Lauren Hsu, a researcher at Fermilab who announced the experiment's results. 'As an experimenter you always wish you had more data.' Researchers and physicists at the University of Minnesota, one of nine universities conducting the research, plan to hold a seminar on the experiment. Hmph.. TOOK LONG ENOUGH!
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Post by nodstar on Dec 22, 2009 4:26:02 GMT 4
Dark Matter Detected for First Time?[/size] news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091218-dark-matter-detected-mine-minnesota.html2009-12-19 Dark matter may have been "felt" for the first time deep in a Minnesota mine, physicists say. Detectors in the mine, part of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment, were tripped recently by what might be weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs. WIMPs are among the most popular candidates for dark matter, the invisible material that scientists think makes up more than 80 percent of the mass in the universe. Recently detectors in the mine recorded two hits with "characteristics consistent with those expected from WIMPs," according to a statement posted on the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search Web site. There is a one-in-four chance, however, that the particles detected are not dark matter but ordinary subatomic particles such as neutrons, the team cautions. (Related: "Dark Matter Proof Found Over Antarctica?") Mike Shull, an astrophysicist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, also urged restraint in interpreting the results. "I regard this as interesting but very much an interim 'progress report' on a promising technique," said Shull, who did not participate in the research. "I hope they've detected [WIMPs]," he added, "It's exciting if it's true." WIMPS: Best Dark Matter Candidate? Scientists have predicted that WIMPs can interact with normal atoms but only weakly and very rarely—hence the name. When such an interaction happens, a WIMP careens like a billiard ball off an atom, the theory goes. But the collision leaves behind a unique signature in the form of a small amount of heat, which can be detected. The smashup also creates charged atoms, or ions, that are detectable. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment uses 30 detectors made of germanium and silicon crystals. The detectors were placed a half-mile (0.8 kilometer) underground at the Soudan mine, a defunct iron mine in northern Minnesota. The deep location helps block "background noise" from other particles, such as solar and cosmic rays. Aside from the online statement, details on the new detections have yet to be published, and members of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search team are declining comment. But University of Chicago theorist Craig Hogan said that while the new detections are exciting, "it's not time for the champagne bottles yet." The real significance of the apparent find would be that it could be used to help shape future dark matter detectors, which will be more sensitive and can better rule out false hits, Hogan said. "It's not a discovery yet, but if these detections are real, we can turn it into a discovery." Dark Matter Origins If WIMP detections are confirmed by other experiments, then scientists will likely want to know where the particles are coming from, the University of Colorado's Shull added. That's because the origins of dark matter particles passing Earth could help solve other cosmic mysteries. Some theories of galaxy formation, for instance, say that our Milky Way and other "adult" galaxies are enveloped by halos of dark matter that are densest in the galactic centers. If this is correct, Shull said, then dark matter particles would be expected to originate from the center of the Milky Way more often than from other regions of space.
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Post by nodstar on Dec 22, 2009 4:31:39 GMT 4
New Study of Meteorite Provides More Evidence for Ancient Life on Mars[/size] www.physorg.com/news180264793.html2009-12-19 This image of the meteorite, seen through a scanning electron microscope, shows bumps that resemble a fossilized colony of microbacteria. Some of the rounded bumps are preserved at the top of the surface and resemble individual spherical and ovoid-shaped microbes. Image credit: NASA. In 1996, when scientists examined a meteorite from Mars previously uncovered in Antarctica, they were intrigued by what looked like microscopic fossils of ancient Martian life forms. Now, using new technology that wasn't available 13 years ago, NASA scientists have found further evidence that the materials and structures in the meteorite are likely signs of ancient life, rather than the results of inorganic processes. ALH84001 History Scientists estimate that the meteorite, called Allan Hills 84001 (ALH84001), formed on Mars about 4.5 billion years ago, making it one of the oldest known objects in the solar system. Because the meteorite contains microscopic carbonate disks that are about 4 billion years old, scientists have previously hypothesized that the meteorite interacted with water that may have existed on Mars at this time. Much later, about 15 million years ago, a larger meteorite likely struck Mars and ejected ALH84001 into space. After spending most of that time traveling throughout the solar system, the meteorite landed on Earth about 13,000 years ago. Then, in 1984, a team of US scientists discovered it in Antarctica. The meteorite finally made news headlines in 1996, when NASA scientist David McKay and others peered at the rock under a scanning electron microscope and saw what appeared to be nanoscale fossils of bacteria-like life forms. Bacterial or Thermal Origin? Now, McKay, along with Kathie Thomas-Keprta, Everett Gibson, Simon Clemett, and Susan Wentworth, all of NASA's Johnson Space Center, have revisited the original hypothesis with new observations of the meteorite. The study is published in a recent issue of the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. In the new study, the scientists used advanced microscopy techniques to investigate the carbonate disks and, more importantly, the magnetite nanocrystals within the disks. These embedded magnetites are the apparent fossils that exhibit features similar to contemporary magnetotactic bacteria. During the past 13 years, different groups of scientists have proposed competing hypotheses to explain the origins of these magnetites. Some of the leading hypotheses are non-biological, suggesting that the magnetites were formed via thermal decomposition of the carbonates in which ALH84001 was struck by other meteorites. Such impacts may have increased the temperature of ALH84001 and caused the carbonates to decompose into magnetites via bond redistribution. In some models, ALH84001 may have experienced this shock by a random meteorite impact while still on Mars, while in other models, thermal decomposition may have occurred due to the impact event that ejected ALH84001 from its home planet. But whatever event might have triggered a thermal decomposition process, the scientists argue in the current study that very few - if any - of the magnetites embedded in ALH84001 carbonates are a product of thermal decomposition. By analyzing details such as the percentage of magnetite volume in the carbonate disks, the trace amounts of impurities observed in some of the magnetites, and the lack of siderite which some previous models suggested may have decomposed to form magnetite, the scientists concluded that these new observations were inconsistent with the previous inorganic-based thermal decomposition hypotheses. By showing that it’s very unlikely that the magnetite originated from the decomposition of ALH84001’s carbonate, the scientists argue that possible biological origins of the magnetite need to be considered more seriously than before. “For the past 10 years, the leading (and only) viable non-biologic hypothesis for the origin of the nanophase magnetites concentrated in ALH84001 has been thermal or shock decomposition of iron-bearing carbonates, a process known to produce small magnetite crystals,” Thomas-Keprta told PhysOrg.com. “Our paper has falsified this non-biologic hypothesis by showing, based on thermodynamics and minor element chemistry, that this non-biologic hypothesis simply cannot produce the ultrapure magnetites actually present in ALH84001 as a significant population of all magnetites. By falsifying this non-biologic hypothesis, we are left with only the biologic hypothesis to explain the detailed properties of the magnetites in this martian meteorite.” Magnetite Biosignature Although they have not yet developed a model for the origin of the magnetite in ALH84001, the researchers’ new observations are consistent with the possibility that the magnetite has an “allochthonous origin,” in which it was exposed to aqueous solutions such as water. As Thomas-Keprta explained, the magnetite in ALH84001 could have been one of several ferromagnetic minerals produced by magnetotactic bacteria that live in aquatic environments. When these bacteria die and their shells degrade, a chain of magnetite is released into the environment. Without its confining shell, the magnetite chain configuration cannot be maintained, so individual magnetite crystals begin to mix with inorganic particles in the water. On Earth, magnetotactic bacteria are quite common in aqueous environments, and scientists often find magnetites in surface and subsurface sediments. “For many years, the presence of the specific kind of nanomagnetite formed by magnetotactic bacteria on Earth have been completely accepted as a biosignature when found in any Earth sediment or rock,” Thomas-Keprta said, noting that these magnetite have very specific properties. “When we first documented these specific properties in the ALH84001 carbonates, the only alternate non-biologic hypothesis that was commonly accepted as viable was the thermal decomposition of iron-bearing carbonate,” she said. “Now that we have completely falsified this hypothesis with this latest paper, we are still left with the specific properties of the ALH84001 magnetite that, if found on Earth, would be a robust biosignature indicating production by bacteria. “We also point to the many discoveries since our original paper showing supporting evidence such as an early strong magnetic field on Mars (necessary for the development of magnetotactic bacteria); the presence of near surface water at many locations on current-day Mars; the presence of possible oceans, major drainage channels, and other features associated with an early wet Mars; and the recent evidence for variable releases of methane into the Martian atmosphere. . . . We do not believe it is too incautious to restate our original hypothesis that such magnetites constitute strong evidence of early life on Mars.” More information: K.L. Thomas-Keprta, S.J. Clemett, D.S. McKay, E.K. Gibson, and S.J. Wentworth. “Origins of magnetite nanocrystals in Martian meteorite ALH84001.” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 73 (2009) 6631-6677.
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Post by nodstar on Dec 22, 2009 4:36:14 GMT 4
Discovered Enzyme Could Create Crops That Thrive in Poor Conditions[/size] ttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/newly-discovered-enzyme-could-create-crops-that-thrive-in-dry-high-co2-conditions.php2009-12-17 Researchers at University of California San Diego have discovered particular plant enzymes that can make a big difference in food safety as the planet copes with two major problems: higher and higher levels of carbon dioxide and lower and lower water resources. The enzyme causes the plants to react to CO2 and change how they use their pores, and by manipulating the enzyme, researchers believe new, more CO2- and drought-tolerant crops could be created. Plants use tiny breathing pores that bring in CO2 and emit H2O. Until now, scientists knew that the pores can tighten to save water when there is enough CO2 in the atmosphere, but they didn't know how...until now. Protein sensors control the response, and scientists believe that by controling those protein sensors, new versions of plants can be created that take full advantage of elevated CO2 levels all while conserving water, which means more CO2 being absorbed from the atmosphere by crops that require less watering. A team led by Julian Schroeder, professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego, made the discovery. "A lot of plants have a very weak response to CO2. So even though atmospheric CO2 is much higher than it was before the industrial age and is continuing to increase, there are plants that are not capitalizing on that. They're not narrowing their pores, which would allow them to take in CO2, while losing less water," he said. "It could be that with these enzymes, you can improve how efficiently plants use water, while taking in CO2 for photosynthesis. Our data in the lab suggest that the CO2 response can be cranked up." Here is how the enzymes work: Schroeder's team identified a pair of proteins that are required for the CO2 response in Arabidopsis, a plant commonly used for genetic analysis. The proteins, enzymes called carbonic anhydrases, split CO2 into bicarbonate and protons. Plants with disabled genes for the enzymes fail to respond to increased CO2 concentrations in the air, losing out on the opportunity to conserve water... By adding normal carbonic anhydrase genes designed to work only in guard cells [the research team was] able to restore the CO2-triggered pore-tightening response in mutant plants. Adding extra copies of the genes to the guard cells actually improved water efficiency, the researchers found. "The guard cells respond to CO2 more vigorously," said Honghong Hu, a post doctoral researcher in Schroeder's lab and co-first author of the report. "For every molecule of CO2 they take in, they lose 44 percent less water." While many people disagree with some types of engineering for crops, this could be one modification that we have to make on some plant species simply to be able to eat in a world that has changing atmospheric conditions. As the UCSD article points out, modifying the crops to be more responsive to CO2 could help farmers in places like California where agriculture is a major industry and competition for water resources is fierce - and incredibly damaging to rivers and streams.
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