June 15, 2011

Good Morning,

China is opening operations of its new railway system this
month, which will travel safely up to 186 mph! Get all the
details on this technological landmark in the first article.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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Report: Beijing-Shanghai rail safe

BEIJING - China's much-publicized Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail will begin operation this month but at a slower speed than earlier planned, officials said. Rail authorities said the service would be safe and reliable and the speed reduction is designed to maximize efficiency, China Daily reported. The 818-mile Beijing-Shanghai line is a landmark project, whose "technology is advanced, its quality reliable and safety guaranteed," Vice Minister of Railways Hu Yadong was quoted as telling reporters. The speeds will be between 155 to 186 mph, down from the previously planned top speed of 236 mph. Under the new speeds, the fastest travel time will be about 4 hours and 48 minutes. Fares will be run $63 to $270, the report said. Speeds also will be reduced on other rail routes to a maximum of 186 mph to make them safer, the report said, adding the new directive on speeds came after the former rail minister was dismissed for serious disciplinary violations, which in turn raised concerns over costs and safety of high-speed rail links. Earlier reports have said many of China's public works projects have been mired in corruption and the country's top leadership has been cracking down on the problem. China's high-speed rail system, highly praised around the world, has not come heap. Some reports have estimated the cost running into the hundreds of billions of dollars.


Costly wheat fungus' genome mapped

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - One of the most destructive wheat viruses is genetically structured to evade detection before infecting its host, a U.S. study mapping the fungus' genome found. Principle author Goodwin, a Purdue University research plant pathologist, said the fungus had fewer enzyme-producing genes that many fungi use to penetrate and digest plants' surfaces while infecting them. Goodwin worked on sequencing the genome of the fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola, which causes septoria tritici blotch, a disease that reduces yield and quality in wheat, the university said in a release. "We're guessing that the low number of enzymes is to avoid detection by plant defenses," Goodwin said. Enzymes typically break down plant cell walls and begin removing nutrients, leading to the plant's death, the researcher said. M. graminicola enters the plant through small pores in the surface of leaves. Goodwin said the fungus apparently avoids detection by lying dormant between plant cells before infecting the plant. With the sequenced genome, scientists hope to discover which genes cause toxicity in wheat and discover ways to either eliminate that toxicity or improve wheat's defenses, Goodwin said. The study was published in the online edition of the journal PLoS Genetics.


Satellite maps useful to track habitat

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - Satellite imagery can be used to quickly map indirect effects of the predator-prey relationship on the animals' habitats, an Australian researcher says. Freely, available satellite photos of the Earth's surface allows scientists and researchers to examine landscape features, such as lagoon habitat at Heron Island, located within Australia's Great Barrier Reef, that Elizabeth Madin said she and her colleagues at the University of Technology in Sydney in a paper published online in Scientific Reports this week. Results reveal distinct patterns of grazing halos -- rings of substrate without seaweed -- within the algal beds surrounding coral patch reefs. Scientists had attributed grazing halos to fish and/or urchin organisms that eat plants. The organisms are thought to hide from predators within the reefs and then forage for food in an expanding radius Madin said her team's work indicates herbivores' anti-predator behavior can shape vegetation distributions on a scale visible from space. By comparing sequential Google Earth images of specific locations over time, the technique could provide a
quick and inexpensive way to monitor the,indirect effects of predator removal, recovery and reintroduction on landscapes nearly anywhere on Earth.


Sunspots cycle may be on downswing

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Fading sunspots and weaker magnetic activity near the poles could indicate the sun could be less active soon, studies released at a meeting in New Mexico said. The three studies indicate the sun could be heading into a dormant period, with activity during the next 11-year sunspot cycle greatly reduced or eliminated, Space.com reported. Results of the studies were announced during the annual meeting of the solar physics division of the American Astronomical Society at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. "The solar cycle may be going into a hiatus," Frank Hill, associate director of the National Solar Observatory's Solar Synoptic Network, said during a news conference. The studies examined a missing jet stream in the solar interior, fading sunspots on the sun's visible surface, and changes in the corona and near the poles. "This is highly unusual and unexpected," said Hill, lead author of one of the studies. "But the fact that three completely different views of the sun point in the same direction is a powerful indicator that the sunspot cycle may be going into hibernation." Sunspots are temporary patches on the sun's surface caused by intense magnetic activity, sometimes erupting into solar storms that shoot charged particles into space. Typically, a cycle takes about 5 1/2 years to move from a solar minimum, when there are few sunspots, to the solar maximum, when sunspot activity increases. The current cycle is moving to the solar maximum. Hill said the the wind flow inside the sun for the next cycle should have appeared in 2008 or 2009, but now could be delayed until 2021 or 2022. "If we are right, this could be the last solar maximum we'll see for a few decades," Hill said of the three studies. "That would affect everything from space exploration to Earth's climate."

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