Technology/Science Articles

[ugly]

Since it's what you guys are talking about, I just read this today: Ocean acidification already well beyond natural variability

Trends can be difficult to detect in real-world data, and the noisier the data, the tougher the task becomes. A longer time series can help limit the impact of noise, but these can be difficult to come by. Verifying the human alteration of ocean chemistry requires tackling challenges like these.

Ocean acidification(⇣?) entails a decrease in the pH of ocean water as the carbonate that buffers it is consumed. That carbonate does more than just maintain pH, though. Lots of marine organisms, from plankton to mollusks to coral, use it to build shells and skeletons. As the buffer is depleted, the saturation state of carbonate minerals like calcite (and its polymorph aragonite) decreases, making it more difficult for organisms to incorporate them. In most areas of the surface ocean, calcite and aragonite are supersaturated, making it easy for organisms to build shells and skeletons. In undersaturated water, the equilibrium tilts the other way, and dissolution of these structures becomes possible.

Calcite and aragonite saturation states vary regionally and seasonally, so how can we make sure the acidification trend we’re measuring is real and human-caused? One way to look into this question is to take the measurements we have and model the whole ocean to see what natural variation would have looked like before humans started emitting CO2. A recent study in Nature Climate Change does just that.

The researchers ran a climate model from 800 A.D. to 2100 A.D. using the best data available for the various forcings: solar activity, volcanic activity, changes in land use, and anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and reflective aerosols. They project the rest of this century using the IPCC A1B emissions scenario, a "middle-of-the-road" emissions estimate. To track acidification, they use the saturation state of aragonite in surface waters.

The model shows large variability between regions. For example, fluctuations in upwelling that occur near the Galápagos Islands cause large swings in the aragonite saturation state. In the Caribbean, on the other hand, it holds quite steady.

In all areas where coral reefs are found (these are often described as the "rainforests of the sea" for their astonishing diversity and abundance of life), the researchers find that the current saturation state of aragonite is well below the pre-industrial average. To put it into concrete terms, they estimate that calcification rates of reef organisms have already dropped by about 15 percent. Under the A1B emissions scenario, calcification rates would decrease by a total of 40 percent (relative to pre-industrial) by 2100.

Comparing this to the magnitude of natural variability in preindustrial oceans, the model indicates that we are already considerably outside that envelope (as the authors describe it, there’s a high signal-to-noise ratio). On average, aragonite saturation states at reefs in the Caribbean and western Pacific have dropped by 5 times the range of natural variability. In areas where that range is small, such as Melanesia, the drop is as high as 30 times the natural envelope. With a few small exceptions, the signal-to-noise ratio is already at least 2:1 across all of Earth’s oceans, even near the Galápagos Islands where natural variability is high.

The model also indicates that the Southern Ocean will be undersaturated with aragonite by 2030. The nutrients that come up from the deep ocean make this region incredibly fertile, supporting massive fisheries and attendant populations of birds and marine mammals. The plankton at the base of that food web require calcium carbonate to build their shells. While the Southern Ocean is the most sensitive region, it's not the only one with problems. The authors estimate that 30-50 percent of ocean water above 40° latitude becomes undersaturated in the model by 2100.

For another comparison, the group simulated the end of the last glaciation, which was the last time Earth saw a sizeable increase in CO2. Over 6,000 years, atmospheric CO2 rose from about 190 ppm to around 280 ppm. The authors write that the model shows “[t]he observed present-day anthropogenic rate of change in [surface aragonite saturation state] is one or two orders of magnitude larger than estimated for the last glacial termination.”

The researchers emphasize that other factors—such as changes in light penetration, temperature, and nutrients—will be affecting marine ecosystems at the same time. (And acidification can affect more than just the calcareous critters.) The authors write, “These stress factors probably do not simply add up, but combine in a species-dependent manner. Tropical surface temperatures are projected to increase at a rate that would lead to massive coral bleaching and mortality in the next three to five decades. Combined with a detectable change due to reduced ocean aragonite saturation and the corresponding estimated drop in carbonate accretion of ~15 percent since the industrial revolution, severe reductions are likely to occur in coral reef diversity, structural complexity, and resilience by the middle of this century.”

Here's a brief description of ocean acidification

Ocean acidification is the lowering of the ocean's pH due to the rising concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Because CO2 in the atmosphere and surface ocean is in equilibrium, increasing atmospheric CO2 pushes CO2 into the ocean, where it combines with H2O to form carbonic acid (H2CO3). Since pre-industrial times, the average pH of the ocean has decreased by roughly 0.1 units (from about 8.2 to 8.1), a 30 percent increase in acidity. About one-third of the CO2 emitted by humans since the start of the Industrial Revolution has been absorbed by the ocean.

Often referred to as global warming’s evil twin, ocean acidification is potentially damaging to marine ecosystems. Many organisms that have calcium carbonate shells or skeletons have more difficulty building them as pH decreases below pre-industrial levels; damage to these organisms threatens the base of the marine food chain. Potential levels of acidification have also been shown to be directly hazardous to other living things, such as fish.

[ugly]

Yale discovers fungus that eats plastic

Plastic is possibly the greatest commercial creation of last 150 years. It's made it into tupperware, saran wrap, toys, car parts, computer parts, smartphones, and shopping bag all over the world. The only problem is that polyurethane is not biodegradable, and recycling plastic can be equated to just turning it into another product, so all that plastic already in landfills will stay there for centuries to come.


Scientists have not found a single way to break down polyurethane--luckily, nature has found a way on its own. Yale scientists recently found a fungus in the Amazonian rainforest that naturally eats polyurethane.

This is the first fungus species, identified by the Yale researchers as Pestalotiopsis microspore, which exclusively subsists on polyurethane. It can also grow in an anaerobic (air-less) environment, which will hopefully allow it to take root in the deepest regions of our trash heaps.

Jonathan Russell, a Yale scientists of the group, has managed to isolated an enzyme the fungus uses decompose plastic. The scientists hope to use the extracted chemical to eliminate plastic trash and to help in bioremediation projects.

Boy with night vision

When Nong Yongsui was two-months-old his father, Nong Shihua, was told by doctors not to worry about his son’s unique blue eyes and that his eyes would be fine when he grew up; now, years later, Yongsui’s father, teacher and doctors are convinced the young boy’s eyes have given him a special ability — night vision.

“In the dark Nong’s eyes would emit a kind of blue-green light when shone upon by a flash light — his eyes were just like cat eyes.”

A Chinese news reel, now available on YouTube, claims that Yongsui’s rare blue eyes glow green when light hits them and allow him to see in the dark as clearly as most people do during the day, an attribute prompting some to call him the next step in human evolution.

The lack of any definitive evidence has left many skeptical of Yongsui’s abilities. Night vision is made possible in nocturnal animals, such as cats, by a thin layer of cells called the tapetum lucidum. These cells create a “retroreflector” — when a beam of light hits the tapetum, it is reflected directly back along its path. This process amplifies incoming light allowing the animal to see at night, it is also the reason that cat’s eyes flash when they are illuminated.

While many are calling Yongsui’s eyes “cat-like” experts aren’t so sure. “Evolutionarily, mutations can result in differences that allow for new environmental niche exploitation. But such mutations are modified over long periods. A functional tapetum in a human would be just as absurd as a human born with wings. It can’t happen,” said James Reynolds, a pediatric ophthalmologist at State University of New York.

[WiseGuy]

inb4 paternity test determines the wife got knocked up by a tourist :P

[Xzinum]

Well I'll go along with whoever said that just to keep this rolling.

I re-read that and 'ed.

[ugly]

Extracting energy from a cockroach

The basic goal of the research was to see if something like a cockroach could generate enough electricity from stored sugars to power electronic devices. Now, instead of doing what you or I would do—set fire to the cockroach and use the heat to generate electricity—the researcher chose to preserve the life of the insect by employing a redox reaction. The idea being that, with the right configuration, we could get sensors that are both carried and powered by insects, which we could use for all sorts of purposes. This seems like a pretty good reason.

In a standard reaction (like burning something), we are oxidizing one substance and reducing another to release copious amounts of energy. Usually, all the reaction products are in one place. We don't notice that the burning process is, at its most basic, very simple: the transfer of electrons from one molecule to another. Once you realize that, you know that the reaction products can be physically separated, and we can get the electrons to do something useful on the way from one molecule to another.

Sitting inside the cockroach abdomen is a whole lot of sugar waiting to be burned. Outside is a lot of oxygen eager to burn the sugar. The researchers connected the two via electrodes. And, because this highly controlled method of burning requires some help, enzyme catalysts were added at both electrodes.

The result is a tiny amount of power (1 microwatt). But the idea is to get just enough power to drive a few very low-power sensors. Then, combined with a previously developed moth-steering system, we have the perfect spy.

Of course, the fact that the cockroach has to carry around a bottle of enzymes for one electrode is a small disadvantage, but, no doubt, that is something that the researchers are working on. The thing that I find strange about this research is that they also demonstrated that you can get the same reaction and similar power from a dried mushroom. Of course, mushrooms aren't especially mobile. But, considering that the cockroach was pinned down during the experiments and a self-propelled battery was never the intention of the paper, I wonder why they used a cockroach at all?

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Engineers Boost Computer Processor Performance By Over 20 Percent By Allowing CPU & GPU to Collaborate

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique that allows graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units (CPUs) on a single chip to collaborate – boosting processor performance by an average of more than 20 percent.

“Chip manufacturers are now creating processors that have a ‘fused architecture,’ meaning that they include CPUs and GPUs on a single chip,” says Dr. Huiyang Zhou, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering who co-authored a paper on the research. “This approach decreases manufacturing costs and makes computers more energy efficient. However, the CPU cores and GPU cores still work almost exclusively on separate functions. They rarely collaborate to execute any given program, so they aren’t as efficient as they could be. That’s the issue we’re trying to resolve.”

GPUs were initially designed to execute graphics programs, and they are capable of executing many individual functions very quickly. CPUs, or the “brains” of a computer, have less computational power – but are better able to perform more complex tasks.

“Our approach is to allow the GPU cores to execute computational functions, and have CPU cores pre-fetch the data the GPUs will need from off-chip main memory,” Zhou says.

“This is more efficient because it allows CPUs and GPUs to do what they are good at. GPUs are good at performing computations. CPUs are good at making decisions and flexible data retrieval.”

In other words, CPUs and GPUs fetch data from off-chip main memory at approximately the same speed, but GPUs can execute the functions that use that data more quickly. So, if a CPU determines what data a GPU will need in advance, and fetches it from off-chip main memory, that allows the GPU to focus on executing the functions themselves – and the overall process takes less time.

Judge denies EMI's bid to halt resale of digital music

EMI, one of the top four record companies, alleged last month in a copyright complaint that ReDigi makes unauthorized copies of its songs to operate its music reselling business. EMI asked the court for a preliminary injunction, which would have forced ReDigi to shut down while the issue was decided in court, but the judge refused, according to a press release issued by ReDigi yesterday.

U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan said he is inclined to let the case go to trial because of the many "fascinating" technological and legal questions it involves.

"We are grateful for the judge's decision in our favor," said John Ossenmacher, ReDigi's CEO, said in a statement. The company added that "ReDigi is breaking down the barriers that have kept consumers from enjoying their intrinsic and lawful ownership rights to their digital purchases."

ReDigi scans a user's computer hard drive to obtain the copy of the song the person wants to sell and then deletes it from the seller's hard drive. The startup, which launched a test version of the service last fall, asserts that the sale of digital music is protected under the same "First Sale" doctrine that protects the sale of CDs, vinyl records, DVDs, and other physical goods.

Ossenmacher has said the company discourages the illegal copying of music with a verification system, but he has also conceded that there's no way for ReDigi to guarantee that users who resell music through his service haven't made copies of their songs and stored them on some other hard drive.

[WiseGuy]

really cool read abotu GPU CPU

[ugly]

Fracture Putty Heals Bones in Days

Studies conducted in part by University of Georgia Regenerative Bioscience Center researchers show promise to significantly shorten the healing time and revolutionize the course of fracture treatment.

"For many young soldiers, their mental health becomes a real issue when they are confined to a bed for three to six months after an injury," he said. "This discovery may allow them to be up and moving as fast as days afterward."

Peroni and Stice are leading a large animal research project funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. The project includes scientists and surgeons from the Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University and the University of Texas, who conducted the early studies.

Engineering new bone
"Healing of critical-size defects is a major challenge to the orthopedic research community," Peroni said. "Large-bone defects must be stabilized and necessitate technologies that induce rapid bone formation in order to replace the missing tissue and allow the individual to return to rapid function. To date, no single material can suffice."

Between 2009 and 2011, the collaborations received a $1.4 million grant from the DOD for the use of stem cells in fracture healing to be tested in sheep.

"In our experiences with large animal models, following the guidelines established by our animal care and use committee," Stice said, "we have been successful in formulating a product that contains mesenchymal stem cells and allows them to survive in the environment of the fracture long enough to elicit the rapid formation of new bone."

This year, the group showed bone can be generated in sheep in less than four weeks. The speed in which bone is formed is one of the truly unique features of this study.

To start the bone regeneration process, the RBC used adult stem cells that produce a protein involved in bone healing and generation. They then incorporated them into a gel, combining the healing properties into something Stice calls "fracture putty."

With Peroni's assistance, the Houston-based team used a stabilizing device and inserted putty into fractures in rats. Video of the healed animals at two weeks shows the rats running around and standing on their hind legs with no evidence of injury. The RBC researchers are testing the material in pigs and sheep, too.

"The small-animal work has progressed, and we are making good progress in large animals," he said.

Next steps
"The next step is to show that we can rapidly and consistently heal fractures in a large animal," Peroni said, "then to convert it to clinical cases in the UGA [College of Veterinary Medicine] clinics where clinicians treat animals with complex fractures all the time."

Once they have something that works for animals, it will be passed over to the DOD for human use.

However, the RBC isn't the only group working on a faster fix for broken bones.

"Our approach is biological with the putty," Stice said. "Other groups are looking at polymers and engineering approaches like implants and replacements which may eventually be combined with our approach. We are looking at other applications, too, using this gel, or putty, to improve spinal fusion outcomes."

One of the best hopes for the fracture putty is in possible facial cranial replacements, an injury often seen on the battlefield.

The project ends in mid-2012. "By then we are to deliver the system to the DOD," Stice said.

[monty slick]

What kind of person does it take to apply the bone fracture to the sheep.

[WiseGuy]

What kind of person does it take to apply the bone fracture to the sheep.

utalitarian