Gizmorama
November 10, 2010
------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoy the Smash Hit Broadway Musical of Peter Pan on DVD!
http://pd.gophercentral.com/u/1069/c/186/a/474
------------------------------------------------------------
Good Morning,
When exploring the vast fields of science, it is impossible
to look past articles dealing with the environment, which can
be daunting at times. Ignorance, however, is not the answer.
Check out the first article for details on a particular
happening that is destroying our coral reefs.
Until Next Time,
Erin
Questions? Comments? Email me at: mailto:gizmo@gophercentral.com
Email your comments
P.S. You can discuss this issue or any other topic in the new
Gizmorama forum. Check it out here...
http://gizmorama.gophercentral.com
------------------------------------------------------------
Ocean acidification threatens coral reefs
MIAMI - Increasing acidification of the world's oceans could
threaten the ability of the world's corals to maintain and
create ocean reefs, U.S. researchers say. Particularly
worrying to researchers is that acidification, which happens
as increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolve
in the ocean and form acid, could interfere with coral egg
fertilization and larval development, halving the amount of
coral produced worldwide by 2050, ScienceNews.org reported.
In tests with seawater modified to have an acid content
reflecting conditions expected later this century, a 13
percent drop in successful fertilizing of eggs occurred,
Rebecca Albright of the University of Miami says. With carbon
dioxide emission growing since the industrial revolution,
global seawater has dropped from about 8.2 on the pH scale
to between about 8.05 and 8.1, about a 30 percent increase in
acidity. While seawater is still basic, and not yet acidic,
the change in pH has been enough to have biological effects,
researchers say.
Gamma ray mystery at heart of Milky Way
GREENBELT, Md. - A NASA telescope has found a structure in
the Milky Way that may be a remnant of an eruption in a black
hole at the center of our galaxy, U.S. researchers say. The
Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected the structure that
spans 50,000 light years, covers half the visible sky and may
be millions of years old, a NASA release said Tuesday. "What
we see are two gamma-ray-emitting bubbles that extend 25,000
light-years north and south of the galactic center," says
Doug Finkbeiner, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. "We don't fully
understand their nature or origin," he says. The structure's
shape and emissions suggest it was formed as a result of a
large and relatively rapid energy release, the source of
which remains a mystery. "In other galaxies, we see that
star bursts can drive enormous gas outflows," David Spergel,
a scientist at Princeton University in New Jersey, says.
"Whatever the energy source behind these huge bubbles may
be, it is connected to many deep questions in astrophysics."
Scientists say they are conducting more analyses to better
understand how the never-before-seen structure was formed.
NASA begins examination of Discovery
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA says its engineers are investi-
gating the fuel leak that delayed and then canceled last
week's launch of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery. Engineers
will remove and inspect the component on the shuttle's exter-
nal fuel tank that began leaking, and also will inspect a
20-inch crack that developed in the tank's foam insulation.
The crack is located in the inner foam on a different part
of the tank than where the fuel leak occurred and is more
than twice as long as initially thought, shuttle mission
managers said. "Right now they're basically trying to gather
as much information as possible before they start actually
making repairs for any of the issues that we're working,"
NASA spokesman Allard Beutel told SPACE.com. "It's not a
matter of simply making the repairs. They want to know what
caused this in the first place." NASA has rescheduled the
launch of Discovery on its last mission before retirement
for Nov. 30. Discovery is tasked with an 11-day supply mis-
sion to the International Space Station to deliver a humanoid
robot assistant for the station crew and a new storage room
for the orbiting lab.
Study: City streets could be power source
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Heat from city streets often makes urban
areas warmer than rural ones, and U.S. researchers say that
heat can be harvested to create energy. Engineering research-
ers at the University of Rhode Island are examining methods
of harvesting solar energy absorbed by street surfaces to
melt ice, power streetlights, illuminate signs and heat
buildings, an RUI release said Tuesday. "We have mile after
mile of asphalt pavement around the country, and in the sum-
mer it absorbs a great deal of heat, warming the roads up to
140 degrees or more," said K. Wayne Lee, URI professor of
civil and environmental engineering and the leader of the
joint project. "If we can harvest that heat, we can use it
for our daily use, save on fossil fuels, and reduce global
warming." Researchers say they are looking at a number of
approaches to utilize this "wasted" solar energy. One of the
simplest ideas is to wrap flexible photovoltaic cells around
the top of highway dividers to provide electricity to power
streetlights and illuminate road signs. Another practical
approach to harvesting solar energy from pavement, they say,
is to embed water-filled pipes beneath the asphalt and allow
the sun to warm the water. The heated water could be piped
to nearby buildings to satisfy heating or hot water needs,
similar to geothermal heat pumps. Graduate student Andrew
Correia has built a prototype of such a system in a URI
laboratory to evaluate its effectiveness. "One property of
asphalt is that it retains heat really well," he said, "so
even after the sun goes down the asphalt and the water in
the pipes stays warm. "My tests showed that during some
circumstances, the water even gets hotter than the asphalt,"
he said.
------------------------------------------------------------
Check out Viral Videos on the Net at EVTV1.com
http://www.evtv1.com/
EVTV1.com