Climate change is already having a detectable impact on birds across Europe, says a Durham University and RSPB-led scientific team publishing their findings to create the world’s first indicator of the climate change impacts on wildlife at a continental scale. Published in the journal PLoS ONE, Durham University scientists working with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds have shown a strong link between recent population changes of individual species and their projected future range changes, associated with climate change, among a number of widespread and common European birds, including the goldfinch and the lesser spotted woodpecker. By pulling together Europe-wide monitoring data, the team has compiled an indicator showing how climate change is affecting wildlife across Europe. The European Union has adopted the indicator as an official measure of the impacts of climate change on the continent’s wildlife; the first indicator of its kind. The paper and the indicator were produced by a team of scientists from the RSPB, Durham University, Cambridge University, the European Bird Census Council, the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, the Czech Society for Ornithology, and Statistics Netherlands. European population data for birds was compiled by The Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme […]
Women in strained marriages are more likely to feel depressed and suffer high blood pressure, obesity and other signs of ‘metabolic syndrome,’ a group of risk factors for heart disease, stroke and diabetes, University of Utah psychologists found. The same study found men in strained marriages also are more likely to feel depressed, yet – unlike women – do not face an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by five symptoms: hypertension, obesity around the waistline, high blood sugar, high triglycerides and low levels of HDL, which is ‘good cholesterol.’ ‘We hypothesized that negative aspects of marriages like arguing and being angry would be associated with higher levels of metabolic syndrome,’ says the study’s first author, Nancy Henry, a doctoral student in psychology. ‘We further anticipated that this relationship would be at least partly due to depressive symptoms.’ ‘In other words, those who reported experiencing more conflict, hostility and disagreement with their spouses would more depressed, which in turn would be associated with a higher risk of heart disease due to metabolic syndrome,’ she adds ‘We found this was true for wives in this study, but not for husbands,’ says Henry, who was scheduled […]
It’s not a hurricane or even a tropical storm. But a small knot of ignorance is twisting through the Florida state senate. Late last week, Stephen R. Wise (R-District 5) filed Senate Bill 2396, which if passed, would require ‘[a] thorough presentation and critical analysis of the scientific theory of evolution.’ Like other ‘academic freedom’ bills that aim to smuggle creationism back into the classroom, this bill would let educators teach the supposed scientific controversy swirling around evolution. ‘There is no controversy among scientists’, says Dr. Genie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE). ‘Evolution is a proven science, backed by a mountain of evidence. Naturally, scientists continue to test and expand the theory, to debate the patterns and processes of evolution. But telling students that evolution is scientifically shaky is just flat wrong.’ Senator Wise hasn’t been shy about his intentions–before he introduced the bill, he admitted his goal was to promote the teaching of ‘intelligent design’ in Florida public schools. ‘If you’re going to teach evolution, then you have to teach the other side so you can have critical thinking,’ said Wise in an interview with the Jacksonville Times-Union. But when […]
For the first time, scientists have watched as the Earth’s surface ‘heals itself following the disruptive jolt of an earthquake, in this case, the 2003 temblor that devastated Bam, Iran. The fault under the city erupted in a 6.6-magnitude quake on Dec. 26 that year, leveling the town and killing more than 26,000 people. But though devastation was evident, there was no clear fault mark at the surface. ‘The fault slipped maybe 2 or 3 meters [6.5 to 10 feet] at depth, but at the surface, when colleagues of mine went out, they found some cracks, but the motion on those cracks is only about up to 25 centimeters [10 inches] or less,’ said one of the scientists who studied the quake, Eric Fielding of Caltech. ‘We have some layer of material near the surface that’s behaving differently from the fault at depth.’ Seismologists had noticed similar mismatches between depth and surface fault movements during other earthquakes. Because eventually both layers of the fault have to match up, the question was, ‘what’s happening in this surface layer?’ Fielding said. Expansion and contraction One theory was that the jolt from the earthquake deformed the surface rock, […]
A virtual reality helmet that recreates the sights, smells, sounds and even tastes of far-flung destinations has been devised by British scientists. The device will allow users a life-like experience of places such as Kenya’s Masai Mara while sitting on their sofa. They can also enjoy the smell of flowers in an Alpine meadow or feel the heat of the Caribbean sun on their face. cocoon The virtual reality helmet titillates all five body senses while viewers sit at home on their sofas Scientists say the device will also enable users to greet friends and family on the other side of the world as though they were in the same room. And students will even be able to find out what it was like to live in ancient Egypt, Rome or Greece. Previously, scientists have only been able to use virtual reality technology to recreate sound and vision. Now a team of British academics from York and Warwick universities are creating a virtual reality helmet they are calling the Virtual Cocoon. They say it stimulates the senses so convincingly they have called the experience Real Virtuality. The prototype helmet connects […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
