Global Warming or Climate Change

A scientific research cruise following the palaeo-equator has uncovered nearly 53 million years of climate and ocean acidification history। Three scientists from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton were onboard. The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program drillship JOIDES Resolution has returned to Honolulu after a two-month voyage to chart the detailed climate history of the Earth. This was the first of two voyages of the ‘Pacific Equatorial Age Transect’ project, and the first international scientific drilling expedition since the JOIDES Resolution underwent a multi-year, more than $100-million transformation into a 21st century floating science laboratory. Onboard were 29 scientists from seven nations, 25 technicians, and an international crew of 66. The first expedition, led by Heiko Pälike of the University of Southampton’s School of Ocean and Earth Science, based at the Centre, and Hiroshi Nishi (Sapporo, Japan), ended on 4 May after successfully coring over 3.5 km of the sed...

This article will appear in the July issue of Scientific American. We are posting it early in light of a report today in the journal Science that bears on similar themes. The study, led by Nancy J. Cox of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention describes a molecular analysis of the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infecting humans in several parts of the world. The authors confirm that the new strain is comprised of segments from swine flu strains known to circulate in Europe, Asia and North America, but that this combination has not previously been seen and appears to have been evolving independently from its parent strains for some time. Noting the "relative lack of surveillance for swine influenza viruses," the authors suggest, "this virus might have been circulating undetected among swine herds somewhere in the world." The study also confirms that the "H1" hemagluttinin protein of the new virus derives from the classical swine H1N1 strain, which ...

Experts say that more than half of the world's coral reefs could disappear in the next 50 years, in large part because of higher ocean temperatures caused by climate change। But now Stanford University scientists have found evidence that some coral reefs are adapting and may actually survive global वार्मिन। A toppled but surviving table-top coral at Ofu Island, American Samoa. This coral species hosts heat-resistant algae and thrives in Ofu's high-temperature लगून्स "Corals are certainly threatened by environmental change, but this research has really sparked the notion that corals may be tougher than we thought," said Stephen Palumbi, a professor of biology and a senior fellow at Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment. Palumbi and his Stanford colleagues began studying the resiliency of coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean in 2006 with the support of a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Project grant. The project has expanded and is now being funded by Co...

The reactions that convert light to chemical energy happen in a millionth of a millionth of a second, which makes experimental observation extremely challenging. A premier ultrafast laser spectroscopic detection system established at the Biodesign Institute, with the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation, acts like a high-speed motion picture camera. It splits the light spectrum into infinitesimally discrete slivers, allowing the group to capture vast numbers of ultrafast frames from the components of these exceedingly rapid reactions. These frames are then mathematically assembled, allowing the group to make a figurative "movie" of the energy transfer events of photosynthesis Photosynthesis is a remarkable biological process that supports life on earth। Plants and photosynthetic microbes do so by harvesting light to produce their food, and in the process, also provide vital oxygen for animals and people। Now, a large, international collaboration between Arizona S...