Different Directions

Different Directions

Destroying The Gulf

July 29th, 2010

Susan Shaw shows evidence that pumping toxic dispersant into the Gulf is sparing some beaches only at devastating cost to the health of the deep sea.

For more information about Susan:

Go Here.

Warming of Oceans Will Reduce and Rearrange Marine Life

July 28th, 2010

By Jess McNally

The warmth of the ocean is the critical factor that determines how much productivity and biodiversity there is in the ocean, and where.

In two separate studies, researchers found that warming oceans have led to a massive decline in the amount of plant life in the sea over the last century, and that temperature is tightly linked to global patterns of marine biodiversity.

Fossils From Just Before the Cambrian

July 28th, 2010

Here’s a great Slide Show from the New York Times:

Dickinsonia -- Wikimedia Commons

For more information, see the Vendian article on the site:

Here.

Stars reveal carbon ’spaceballs’

July 27th, 2010

Scientists have detected the largest molecules ever seen in space, in a cloud of cosmic dust surrounding a distant star.

The football-shaped carbon molecules are known as buckyballs, and were only discovered on Earth 25 years ago when they were made in a laboratory.

These molecules are the “third type of carbon” – with the first two types being graphite and diamond.

Artist's impression of the buckyballs being formed in planetary nebulae - NASA.

Neurons to inspire future computers

July 27th, 2010

Researchers are developing novel computers by mimicking the way that neurons are built and how they talk to each other.

Basing computers around neurons could lead to improvements in visual and audio processing on computers.

Diagram of sensory areas in human brain, SPL