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For more information on these science news and feature story tips, please contact the public information officer at the end of each item at (703) 292-8070. Editor: Peter West As the summer winds down, many head to the mountains or the beach to take a last-minute holiday. Scientists supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), meanwhile, head to the mountains, the beach and even further afield to continue their research. Contents of this News Tip:
Sunburned Coral Reefs?Recent evidence of "sunburned" Caribbean coral reefs seems to confirm not only the gradual warming of the world's oceans, but also the effect of warming on ocean ecology. "Coral is very photo- and temperature-sensitive," explains marine ecologist William Fitt, an NSF-funded researcher at University of Georgia. "We know that if water temperature is too high for too long, everything goes wrong very quickly -- like throwing a screwdriver into a running engine." In addition to excessively warm water temperatures, a number of other
factors, including pollution, may be contributing to widespread bleaching
of corals. But Fitt says his research team has now "caught the bandit
in the act." A key protein in photosynthesis, known as the D1 protein,
is extremely temperature sensitive. Tropical corals are actually made
up of algae, living inside a coral animal. If seawater temperatures during
summer remain too high for too long, photosynthesis in the coral's algae
breaks down, leaving the coral with less food. The animal starves, and
its white skeleton becomes visible--hence the bleached white color. "Tropical
corals are already on the edge of the 'temperature envelope' of life during
most summers. If warmer waters push it that little bit higher or longer,
the results are very evident," says Fitt. "Tundracam" Allows Web Users to Look at Alpine EcosystemTundraCam is the latest addition to the "virtual fieldtrip" program at NSF's Niwot Ridge,Colo., Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, one of 24 LTER sites in North America and Antarctica. The camera allows Web surfers to look from the Continental Divide, across the main Niwot Ridge LTER study areas, and on down to Denver and the Great Plains. Located at an elevation of 11,600 feet in Colorado's Front Range, the camera is above timberline on the ridge about 25 miles west of Boulder. The peaks at the head of the ridge form the Continental Divide. Anyone with Web access can control the camera: a robotic arm and special software allow it to be panned and zoomed from a Web browser. The software allows multiple users to control the camera simultaneously. TundraCam is mounted on a weather tower located at the LTER site's Tundra Laboratory, one of several labs on Niwot Ridge. Research conducted there is focused on a variety of topics, including alpine ecology, snow hydrology and atmospheric chemistry. "TundraCam" allows researchers and others to monitor in real-time weather conditions, snow drifting and snow-melt patterns, and vegetation changes. [Cheryl Dybas] "Tundracam" may be found at: http://tundracam.colorado.edu/ "Winfly" Signals Both The Beginning and The End in AntarcticaSummertime temperatures in many areas on the East Coast of the United States have been below average. But they don’t begin to approach the chill at NSF’s Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, which experiences its winter during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer. Personnel who spend the austral winter at the station not only help keep astronomy and astrophysics experiments humming along, they also take detailed meteorological readings. During the week of Aug. 11-17, the most recent data available, the high temperature at the Earth’s southern axis was -42.8 degrees Celsius (-45.8 Farenheit). The low was -68.3 degrees Celsius (-90.9 Farenheit). For many wintering personnel, relief from the cold is at hand. During "Winfly," this week, the first aircraft landed at NSF’s McMurdo Station since the spring, ending the period of winter isolation and heralding the beginning of the 2000-2001 Antarctic research season. [Peter West]
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