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Giant
Icebergs, Unprecedented Ice Conditions Threaten Antarctic Penguin
Colonies
Enormous grounded icebergs and an unprecedented amount of sea ice
in Antarctica's Ross Sea have nearly isolated one of the continent's
most populous Adelie penguin colonies, making it difficult for the
birds to return from their feeding grounds in the open sea, according
to researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The numbers of Adelie penguins at Cape Crozier, about 130,000 breeding
pairs in most years, "are at the low side" of the normal
range, said David Ainley of H.T. Harvey & Associates of San
Jose, California. A smaller colony of Adelies at Cape Royds will
"fail totally" this year, he added.
More... (posted
January 7, 2002)
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Engineers
Develop New Chemical Sensor Based on Experimental Physics Breakthrough
For the first time, scientists have found evidence of a long-suspected
phenomenon, tiny electrical currents produced when molecules interact
with metal surfaces. The discovery may usher in a new generation
of chemical detectors, and reveals details about catalytic processes
used to produce more than half of the chemicals manufactured worldwide.
Investigators at the University of California, Santa Barbara, funded
by the National Science Foundation (NSF), were searching for what
they call "chemicurrent," - electrons excited by low-energy chemical
reactions. The team incorporated a pre-existing device called a
"Schottky" diode into a new chemical sensor, and they describe the
sensor and their findings in the December 21st issue of Science.
More... (posted
January 7, 2002)
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Drunken
Driving Costs and Risk Measured More Accurately by Economists
Drunk drivers are at least 13 times more likely to cause a fatal
crash than sober drivers, according to a new study by Steven Levitt,
Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and Jack Porter,
Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Using an innovative
approach to studying drinking and driving, Levitt and Porter were
also able to determine which law enforcement strategies are most
likely to reduce accidents caused by drunken driving. The research
was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
More... (posted
January 7, 2002)
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Habitat
Fragmentation Can Amplify Ecological Stresses More Than Previously
Thought
The fragmenting of habitats worldwide may be more devastating than
scientists thought. Fragments are widely considered to be inferior
to intact habitats because they are more likely to lose species.
But new research shows that fragments are also more vulnerable to
hunting, fires, drought and other kinds of ecological stress. "Such
negative synergisms potentially could be one of the most important,
and least understood, aspects of the modern environmental crisis,"
according to William Laurance of the Smithsonian Tropical Research
Institute in Balboa, Panama.
More... (posted
January 7, 2002)
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