news 2009

Astronomers have discovered the second super-Earth exoplanet for which they have determined the mass and radius, giving vital clues about its structure.

A University of Plymouth-led team of international scientists has pioneered a novel geological technique and used it to shed new light on how the oceans form during ‘seafloor spreading’, the process that constantly ‘re-paves’ the crust of the Earth’s seas. This new approach was developed following a multi-million dollar Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expedition to the mid-Atlantic ridge in the heart of the Atlantic Ocean, on board the research ship the JOIDES Resolution.

November 06, 2009 — A team from the University of Miami, University of El Paso and University of Rochester have employed Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) images compiled over a decade to study volcanic activity in the African Rift. The study, published in the November issue of Geology , studies the section of the rift in Kenya.

BERKELEY — Paleontologists from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Museum of the Rockies have wiped out two species of dome-headed dinosaur, one of them named three years ago – with great fanfare – after Hogwarts, the school attended by Harry Potter. Dracorex (upper left) and Stygimoloch (upper right) are not distinct dome-headed dinosaurs, but young and nearly sexually mature, respectively, members of the species Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis , according to a new study by paleontologists from UC Berkeley and the Museum of the Rockies.

An archaeologist from the University of Sheffield has discovered a lost stone circle just a mile away from Britain's famous circle of standing stones at Stonehenge. The exciting new find on the west bank of the River Avon, has been dubbed "Bluestonehenge", after the colour of the 25 Welsh stones of which it was once made up.

The discovery reveals the biology of the first stage of human evolution better than anything seen to date. Los Alamos geologist is codirector of international discovery team Partial skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species living about 4.4 million years ago in Ethiopia. This female stood about 1.2 meters high.

June 22, 2009 — Virginia Key — Predation is one of the most fundamental and fascinating interactions in nature, and sharks are some of the fiercest predators on Earth. However, their hunting pattern is difficult to study because it is rarely observed in the wild. As a result, shark predatory behavior has remained much of a mystery.

A researcher from the University of Sheffield is contributing to the world´s largest project to explore the origins and impact of one of the most deadly forms of extreme weather - the tornado. Jacqui Wilmshurst, a PhD student from the University of Sheffield´s Department of Psychology, is part of a team of researchers working on the Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornados Experiment 2 (VORTEX2) which is tracking tornados in the USA to understand more about their origins and the effects they have on the communities which are at risk of being devastated by them.

BERKELEY — Global warming may include some periods of local cooling, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Results from satellite and ground-based sensor data show that sweltering summers can, paradoxically, lead to the temporary formation of a cooling haze in the southeastern United States.

Cambridge, Mass. April 16, 2009 - A reservoir of briny liquid buried deep beneath an Antarctic glacier supports hardy microbes that have lived in isolation for millions of years, researchers report this week in the journal Science. The discovery of life in a place where cold, darkness, and lack of oxygen would previously have led scientists to believe nothing could survive comes from a team led by researchers at Harvard University and Dartmouth College.

BERKELEY — When NASA's Kepler telescope rockets into the night sky on Friday, March 6, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, two University of California, Berkeley, astronomers - key members of the Kepler team - will be watching its fading contrail, hoping that the telescope will reveal Earth's and humanity's place in the universe.