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New Theory Links Climate Process, the Melting of the Ice Sheet, and Mid-continent Earthquakes

by Elizabeth K. Gardner

The Great Earthquake at New Madrid. A nineteenth-century woodcut from Devens' Our First Century (1877)

The Great Earthquake at New Madrid. A nineteenth-century woodcut from Devens' Our First Century (1877)

A new theory developed at Purdue University may solve the mystery of why the New Madrid fault, which lies in the middle of the continent and not along a tectonic plate boundary, produces large earthquakes such as the ones that shook the eastern United States in 1811 and 1812.

The theory suggests that the energy necessary to produce the magnitude 7-7.5 earthquakes came from stored stress built up in the Earth’s crust long ago. Rapid erosion from the Mississippi River at the end of the last ice age reduced forces that had kept the New Madrid fault from slipping and triggered the temblors.

Eric Calais, the Purdue professor of earth and atmospheric sciences who led the study, said the theory is the first to explain how a fault could have had large earthquakes in the recent past but today show no signs of accumulating the forces needed to produce another earthquake.

“We understand why earthquakes happen at the contact between tectonic plates, like in California, but it has always been a puzzle as to why earthquakes occur in the middle of the continent as well, and with no visible surface deformation,” Calais said. “Our theory links an external climate-driven process, the melting of the ice sheet, and earthquakes.” (more…)

NIST Tests Language Translation Phones for US Troops

A US Marine and a native Pashto speaker converse using a smart phone voice translation system as part of an evaluation of the technology recently conducted by NIST for the Defense Department. (NIST)

A US Marine and a native Pashto speaker converse using a smart phone voice translation system as part of an evaluation of the technology recently conducted by NIST for the Defense Department. (NIST)

At dusk, a car stops at a checkpoint in Afghanistan. It is a tense moment for all. Because an interpreter is not available, U.S. Marines use hand gestures to ask the driver to step out of the car and open the trunk and hood for inspection. There’s a lot of room for error.

This scene was re-enacted recently during an evaluation at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)—but, this time, the Marine had a new smart phone-based device that translates his English into the driver’s native Pashto and the Pashto back into English.

For the past four years, scientists at NIST have been conducting detailed performance evaluations of speech translation systems for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Previous systems used microphones and portable computers. In the most recent tests, the NIST team evaluated three two-way, real-time, voice-translation devices designed to improve communications between the U.S. military and non-English speakers in foreign countries.

Traditionally, the military has relied on human translators for communicating with non-English speakers in foreign countries, but the job is dangerous and skilled translators often are in short supply. And, sometimes, translators may have ulterior motives, according to NIST’s Brian Weiss. The DARPA project, called TRANSTAC (spoken language communication and TRANSlation system for TACtical use), aims to provide a technology-based solution. Currently, the focus is on Pashto, a native Afghani tongue, but NIST has also assessed machine translation systems for Dari—also spoken in Afghanistan—and Iraqi Arabic. (more…)

Research Could Lead To Greener Leather Tanning Industry

Douglas Raynie

South Dakota State University chemist Douglas Raynie, left, and Ph.D. student Jeremy Kroon study an environmentally-friendly method for processing leather as part of an effort to develop green manufacturing processes. (South Dakota State University)

South Dakota State University research funded in part by the Environmental Protection Agency could lead to a cleaner, greener leather tanning industry.

SDSU research associate professor Douglas Raynie received a grant of $350,000 from the EPA to study an alternative method for processing leather. The project uses liquid carbon dioxide instead of water as a carrier for the chemicals used in different stages of tanning leather.

The EPA is interested because conventional leather processing generates a great deal of pollutants. The SDSU project is funded under a program to develop green manufacturing processes.

Raynie, in SDSU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said there hasn’t been a great deal of change throughout history in the steps involved in leather tanning.

“Processors take the animal hide and put it in a solution that will remove the hair and the grease from the hides,” he said. “Then they salt the hides and add, in olden days, vegetable tanning — that is, the tannins from tree bark and other plant material. In more recent times, they use chromium salts, and chromium is a heavy metal that is considered a toxic waste. This process is very lengthy; it can take anywhere from several days to a month or more, and it generates a lot of wastewater and associated wastes.” (more…)

New Technology Makes History with High Definition Underwater Mapping at Tahoe

Graham Kent, University of Nevada, Reno’s Seismological Lab Director and professor of geological sciences and engineering leads a team of researchers in mapping the bottom of Fallen Leaf Lake in on-going research in the Lake Tahoe basin. (Photo by Jean Dixon, University of Nevada, Reno)

Graham Kent, University of Nevada, Reno’s Seismological Lab Director and professor of geological sciences and engineering leads a team of researchers in mapping the bottom of Fallen Leaf Lake in on-going research in the Lake Tahoe basin. (Photo by Jean Dixon, University of Nevada, Reno)

A borrowed boat, a small mountain lake and the inaugural run of a half-a-million dollar state-of-the-art multi-beam sonar system made history this month with the successful high-definition mapping of the bottom of Fallen Leaf Lake, a tributary lake just upstream from Lake Tahoe.

“The clarity of the images we produced is unmatched in detail,” said University of Nevada, Reno Seismology Lab Director Graham Kent and co-lead investigator of the project. “We can clearly see 1,000-year-old trees standing upright under 100 feet of water and remnants of earthquake activity along the West Tahoe Fault line. This is a valuable tool for a number of scientific pursuits.”

What the scientists can see:

* Fault mapping such as the West Tahoe Fault which runs through Fallen Leaf Lake – it’s a magnitude 7.3 capable normal fault that’s approaching the end its characteristic earthquake cycle (almost overdue)
* The effects of drought, including the Medieval Warm Period (approximately 950-1250 AD); features include: old shorelines at 80- to140-feet underwater; and standing, rooted trees at 110-foot level below the lake’s current surface
* Substrate identification that has potential uses for biohabitat mapping of various aquatic species, both native and invasive (more…)

New ‘Armour’ Developed to Avoid Infection from AIDS Virus

Félix Goñi, director of the Biophysics Unit at the CSIC-University of the Basque Country Mixed Centre

Félix Goñi, director of the Biophysics Unit at the CSIC-University of the Basque Country Mixed Centre

The doors are closing on the AIDS virus. The scientific community continues to strive to find the formula that will halt the advance of one of the viruses that has sparked most scientific interest over recent years. A study by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and led by Mr Félix Goñi, director of the Biophysics Unit at the CSIC-University of the Basque Country Mixed Centre,
The research study lays down the bases of possible future pharmaceutical drugs that will enable combating the AIDS virus at its initial phase and has been published in the prestigious journal Chemistry & Biology of the Cell Group. Participating in the research, apart from Mr Goñi, was a team from the National Biotechnology Centre (CSIC-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) and another from the Institute of Applied Chemistry of Cataloniaa (CSIC, Barcelona). The article is entitled “Dihydrosphingomyelin impairs HIV-1 infection by rigidifying liquid-ordered membrane domains”.

The study provides a new, hitherto unexplored focus on scientific research. This pioneering contribution on the AIDS virus is based on the regulation of the fluidity of the cell membranes and seeks to avoid the phenomenon known as the fusion of membranes, a consequence of contact between the cell membranes and the membrane of the virus itself. (more…)

Reforestation Projects Capture More Carbon than Industrial Plantations, New Research Reveals

This is a "hoop pine" monoculture plantation. (Credit: Dr. Jonh Kanowski)

This is a "hoop pine" monoculture plantation. (Credit: Dr. Jonh Kanowski)

Australian scientists researching environmental restoration projects have found that the reforestation of damaged rainforests is more efficient at capturing carbon than controversial softwood monoculture plantations. The research, published in Ecological Management & Restoration, challenges traditional views on the efficiency of industrial monoculture plantations.

“Carbon markets have become a potential source of funding for restoration projects as countries and corporations seek the cheapest way to reduce carbon emissions”, said Dr John Kanowski from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. “However, there is a concern that this funding will encourage single species monoculture plantations instead of diverse reforestation projects, due to the widely held belief that monocultures capture more carbon.”

Softwood monoculture plantations are grown for industrial purposes and are used as a cheap and abundant source of resources such as timber and rubber. However the plantations are highly controversial, with some ecologists describing the lack of diversity as a ‘green desert’. (more…)

Sandia National Laboratories and Sunpower Corp. Extend Solar Energy Research Partnership

SunPower has finished the first phase of Italy’s largest solar power plant in Montalto di Castro. Construction of the €120 million, 24MW plant was completed in eight months and it was connected to the grid in November last year.

SunPower has finished the first phase of Italy’s largest solar power plant in Montalto di Castro. Construction of the €120 million, 24MW plant was completed in eight months and it was connected to the grid in November last year.

Sandia National Laboratories and SunPower Corp. recently formalized an agreement to conduct research on integrating large-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems into the grid. By signing a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), the organizations will leverage approximately $1 million of combined U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and SunPower funding. Additionally, a consortium led by SunPower, which includes Sandia as a partner, was recently awarded a $1 million grant from the California Solar Initiative (CSI) to improve modeling of high-penetration PV systems.

“This partnership will enable Sandia and SunPower to capitalize on their respective strengths and bring together PV modeling and analysis expertise with extensive system data to answer many of the urgent questions facing utility companies and their customers who are turning to clean, solar energy resources,” said Terry Michalske, director of Energy and Security Systems at Sandia.

“As an experienced leader in developing and delivering high-efficiency solar cells and systems, SunPower is pleased to partner with Sandia Labs, an expert in predicting PV output and modeling,” said Jack Peurach, vice president of advanced product development for SunPower. “I’m confident that our collaboration will lead to innovative technology solutions for our utility customers today and in the future.” (more…)

Scientists Uncover Global Distribution of Marine Biodiversity

Derek Tittensor (Photo by Nick Pearce)

Derek Tittensor (Photo by Nick Pearce)

In an unprecedented effort that will be published online on the 28th of July by the international journal Nature, a team of scientists mapped and analyzed global biodiversity patterns for over 11,000 marine species ranging from tiny zooplankton to sharks and whales. The researchers found striking similarities among the distribution patterns, with temperature strongly linked to biodiversity for all thirteen groups studied. These results imply that future changes in ocean temperature, such as those due to climate change, may greatly affect the distribution of life in the sea. The scientists also found a high overlap between areas of high human impact and hotspots of marine diversity.

Much research has been conducted on diversity patterns on land, but our knowledge of the distribution of marine life has been more limited. This has changed through the decade-long efforts of the Census of Marine Life, upon which the current paper builds. The authors synthesized global diversity patterns for major species groups including corals, fishes, whales, seals, sharks, mangroves, seagrasses, and zooplankton. In the process, the global diversity of all coastal fish species has been mapped for the first time. (more…)


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