|  Crazy Ants! Secret Weapon Lets Invaders Take Over US South  | Invasive "crazy ants" have been displacing fire ants, and a curious defensive strategy may be behind the crazy ants' bold takeover. Fire ants pack potent venom that kills most ants that come into contact with it. "As this plays out, unless something new and different happens, crazy ants are going to displace fire ants from much of the southeastern U.S. and become the new ecologically dominant invasive ant species," study leader Ed LeBrun, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, said in a statement. Fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) invaded the U.S. South in the 1930s, hailing from their native South America home.
| Read More » Need a Happy Fix This Valentine's Day? Play Cupid Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match — there's something in it for you. What's more, matchmaking may be good for society as a whole, because it creates denser, more resilient social networks. The research is just in time for Valentine's Day, said study leader Lalin Anik, a post-doctoral fellow at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Anik came to the study of matchmaking from personal experience. Read More » Mysterious Energy Ribbon at Solar System's Edge a 'Cosmic Roadmap'  | A strange ribbon of energy and particles at the edge of the solar system first spotted by a NASA spacecraft appears to serve as a sort of "roadmap in the sky" for the interstellar magnetic field, scientists say. By comparing ground-based studies and in-space observations of solar system's mysterious energy ribbon, which was first discovered by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) in 2009, scientists are learning more details about the conditions at the solar system's edge. The study also sheds light into the sun's environment protects the solar system from high-energy cosmic rays. "What I always have been trying to do was to establish a clear connection between the very high-energy cosmic rays we're seeing [from the ground] and what IBEX is seeing," study leader Nathan Schwadron, a physicist at the University of New Hampshire, told Space.com.
| Read More » EPA Vastly Misjudges Methane Leaks, Study Confirms  | The federal government has underestimated methane emissions from the United States by 50 percent for the past 20 years, according to a comprehensive new study. Methane, also called natural gas, is a powerful but short-lived greenhouse gas. The review of scientific studies of methane emissions suggests that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methane counts are about 50 percent too low, though the underestimate could range from 25 percent to as much as 75 percent. That means the United States is pumping about 14 million tons more methane than thought into the atmosphere each year, according to the findings, published today (Feb. 13) in the journal Science.
| Read More » Satellite Spies Winter Storm as Eastern US Digs Out (Photo)  | The massive storm system bringing miserable weather to the eastern United States can be seen blanketing the region in pictures from space. NOAA's GOES-13 satellite captured this storm image of the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday morning (Feb. 13) 9:45 a.m. EST (1455 UTC), as residents from Georgia to Boston awoke to sleet, ice and several inches snow. NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at the space agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., created the picture, which also incorporates true-color land and ocean image data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Earth-watching sister satellites, Aqua and Terra. The spacecraft take pictures of clouds that are used by NOAA's National Weather Service to monitor storms.
| Read More » Why the South's Ice Storm Was So Destructive | A treacherous winter storm that is sweeping across the southeastern United States has dumped snow, sleet and freezing rain over a region stretching from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Carolinas. As the storm moves into the Northeast, the icy blast is leaving a trail of destruction, with downed trees and power lines leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power in parts of Georgia and South Carolina. As of this morning (Feb. 13), the National Weather Service (NWS) reported about an inch of ice accumulation from central Georgia into South Carolina. Meteorologists say the worst is now over for the South, but lingering ice, particularly on tree branches and power lines, could exacerbate recovery efforts, said NWS spokesman Chris Vaccaro.
| Read More » Termite-Inspired Robots Could Be Future Construction Workers  | Imagine a fleet of robotic construction workers that can autonomously build structures and work together harmoniously without needing supervision or specific, pre-determined roles. Researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, both in Cambridge, Mass., are designing just this sort of robotic construction crew. Now how do we create and program robots that work in similar ways but build what humans want?'" study lead author Justin Werfel, a researcher at the Wyss Institute, said in a statement.
| Read More » Flirting with Trouble: Office Romances Can Prove Costly Whether it's a drop in workplace morale or a sexual harassment lawsuit, office romances have the potential to cause big trouble for businesses of all sizes. Dianne Shaddock Austin, president of Easy Small Business HR, said there is a clear downside to colleagues getting involved in romantic relationships. "All employers should be concerned about workplace romances," Austin told Business News Daily. Research from the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that 43 percent of HR professionals reported romances in their workplaces. Read More » 'Pax'? Meteorologists in a Flurry Over Winter-Storm Naming  | While a winter storm battered the southern United States and is now barreling up the East Coast, another storm is brewing among meteorologists. Since 2012, The Weather Channel has named some winter storms; Those who oppose the policy say naming winter storms is a publicity stunt and that the criteria for giving blizzards a name is arbitrary. The Weather Channel, for its part, says that naming storms raises awareness of potentially dangerous weather systems, and can make it easier to track a storm's progress across the country, as well as monitor updates on social media.
| Read More » Gigantic Black Hole Jets Shines in Amazing New Video, Photo  | A powerful jet shooting from a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy shines in a newly released image and video tour. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory gathered data that was used to create the new photo of the galaxy Centaurus A — which is located about 12 million light-years from Earth. The space-based observatory collected the data from 1999 to 2012, but the space agency released the photo on Feb. 6. While the black hole jet is a prominent feature, the picture also shows what scientists think to be the leftovers of a collision between Centaurus A (Cen A for short) and a smaller galaxy millions of years ago.
| Read More » Rare Sight: See Venus During the Day (Photo)  | PHOENIX — One of the more amazing sights in our sky is the planet Venus. At its best, Venus is brighter than all other celestial objects except the sun and moon. Right now, Venus is well up in the morning sky before sunrise, and any time this week, if the sky is clear, you'll have no trouble finding it.
| Read More » Venus Shines at Its Most Brilliant This Week: How to See It  | Venus will perform a balancing act this week. Normally Venus, like most objects in space, gets fainter as it gets farther away from Earth. This week, the planet's distance from Earth and its angle to the sun combine so that Venus shows more of its reflective surface than at any other point in the sun's orbit, causing the planet to shine at its very brightest. Unfortunately, observers can only see Venus at its brightest by getting up early in the morning.
| Read More » Valentine's Day: Geeky Gift Ideas For Your Sweetheart If you're looking to spoil your science-minded sweetheart with a special gift on Valentine's Day on Friday, the American Chemical Society has some ideas for how to inject a little chemistry into the festivities. The ACS has put together a list of ideas for science-y Valentine's Day cards and gifts, including experiments that couples can do together. Among some of the suggestions are cards that say, "We make a perfect electron pair," "I will alloys love you," "You light my Bunsen burner," and "Valentine, I have my ion you." A blog entry written by Larry Sherman, a senior scientist in the division of neuroscience at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, explains the effect of love on the brain. Read More » Love Connection: Facebook Gets Credit for Lasting Marriages Couples who meet on social networking sites such as Facebook are more likely to be satisfied with their marriages than those who meet in other ways, new research suggests. The study, which drew from a representative sample of Americans who were married between 2005 and 2012, also found that 7 percent of people found love through social media sites. Though most researchers haven't looked at "social networking as an avenue for dating, this study suggests it's a pretty safe and good avenue for finding a partner," said study author Jeffrey Hall, a communications researcher at Kansas University. But relatively little attention has been paid to online social networks in particular. Read More » Quitting Smoking May Bring Mental Health Benefits Quitting smoking is known to have benefits for physical health, including a reduced risk of cancer and heart disease, but a new study suggests that giving up the habit may improve mental health as well. In the study, researchers reviewed information from 26 previous studies, and found that people who quit smoking had a reduction in feelings of depression, anxiety and stress, and an increase in positive mood and quality of life, after they quit, compared with those who continued smoking. This finding was true for people in the general population as well as those with mental health disorders, the researchers said. The findings contradict the widely held assumption that smoking is good for mental health: many smokers continue smoking because they feel that the habit alleviates feelings of depression, anxiety and stress, and helps them relax, the researchers said. Read More » Why You Should Put Down Your Smartphone and Talk to Strangers  | Contrary to expectations, people are happier after a conversation with a stranger, the study revealed. "At least in some cases, people don't seem to be social enough for their own well-being," said study researcher Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. "They think that sitting in solitude will be more pleasant than engaging in conversation, when, in fact, the opposite is true." [7 Thoughts That Are Bad For You] During his own commute in Chicago, he sees "highly social animals getting on the train every morning and being remarkably anti-social … They might as well be sitting next to a rock."
| Read More » How to Make Valentine's Day About Love, Not Couples For singles, Valentine's Day can be a stressful referendum on whether they're lovable. "Perhaps if we widened what the holiday meant, it might be different," said Sandra Faulkner, a relationship researcher at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Despite the advertising, or perhaps because of it, most people probably don't care that much for Valentine's Day, said Jeffrey Hall, a communications researcher at Kansas State University. "There's this real dance where one person, typically the woman, puts expectation on what a guy is supposed to do for Valentine's Day and reserves the right to judge the performance as being good or bad — but doesn't give him any clue as to what she actually wants," Hall said. Read More » Wild Winter Weather Rages — But Not in Sochi  | Once again, the eastern United States has been pummeled by a winter storm that's dumped massive amounts of snow on sidewalks and roadways, many of which are still icy from the last snowstorm. Revelers at the Winter Olympics, meanwhile, went shirtless at Sochi's Black Sea beaches, and some athletes were flummoxed by mountain temperatures that hovered near 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). The difference between the two regions' weather is largely due to climate: Sochi is located at 43 degrees north latitude — the same latitude as the south of France — and enjoys a humid, subtropical climate at its lower elevations. The daily temperatures during February in Sochi range from an average low of 37 F (3 C) to an average high of 51 F (11 C), making this winter a fairly typical one for the Black Sea resort.
| Read More » How Computer Simulations Help Olympic Figure Skaters  | Some athletes — including Team USA's Gracie Gold and Ashley Wagner who are competing in the Winter Olympics in Sochi — have turned to computer models seeking the slight adjustments that could help them spin faster in the air to land their triple axels and toe loops on the ice. Jim Richards, a professor of kinesiology and applied physiology at the University of Delaware, developed a system of to help figure skaters refine their jumps.
| Read More » SpaceX Prepares for Mid-March Launch to Space Station  | Juggling flight delays and busy skies with the skill of seasoned air traffic controllers, International Space Station managers have approved the launch date for SpaceX's next cargo resupply mission for March 16. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad is set for 4:41 a.m. EDT (0841 GMT), the time when Earth's rotation brings the space station's flight path over the Space Coast, NASA announced last week. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo carrier will make the company's third commercial logistics delivery to the space station under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA. The Dragon spacecraft will chase the space station for two days, with final approach set for March 18 under the guidance of high-tech laser mapping sensors.
| Read More » Indonesia's Deadly New Volcanic Eruption 'Heard' Around the World  | A powerful eruption yesterday evening (Feb. 13) at Indonesia's Mount Kelud volcano, in eastern Java, hurled ash 9 miles (15 kilometers) into the sky, grounding air travel and sending out sound waves picked up by more than a dozen nuclear weapon detectors. More than 200,000 people have been evacuated from the region near Mount Kelud, one of Indonesia's most deadly volcanoes. Volcanic lighting flashed as Kelud flung ash and lava into the air, and lava poured down the volcano's slopes, eyewitnesses said. A lahar killed more than 5,000 people when Kelud erupted in 1919.
| Read More » | |
