Monthly Archives: March 2011

Satellites show effect of 2010 drought on Amazon forests

A new study has revealed widespread reductions in the greenness of Amazon forests caused by the last year\’s record-breaking drought. \”The greenness levels of Amazonian vegetation — a measure of its health — decreased dramatically over an area more than three and one-half times the size of Texas and did not recover to normal levels, […] … learn more→

Record-breaking 2010 heatwave

An international research team involving ETH Zurich has compared the hot summers of 2003 and 2010 in detail for the first time. Last year’s heatwave across Eastern Europe and Russia was unprecedented in every respect: Europe has never experienced so large summer temperature anomalies in the last 500 years. The summer of 2010 was extreme. […] … learn more→

Radiation from Japan detected in Cleveland

A researcher at Case Western Reserve University has detected tiny amounts of Iodine 131 from Japan in rainwater collected from the roof of a campus building. Gerald Matisoff, professor of geology, said the presence of the isotope presents no danger to human health. He estimated the level of radiation is about one-tenth that of natural […] … learn more→

Icebergs in the Antarctic play important role in carbon cycle

After following the path of a drifting iceberg, research team’s discoveries could have implications for climate change studies. Icebergs cool and dilute the ocean water they pass through and also affect the distribution carbon-dioxide-absorbing phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean, according to a team of researchers from UC San Diego and the University of San Diego. […] … learn more→

Debut of the first practical \’artificial leaf\’

Scientists today claimed one of the milestones in the drive for sustainable energy — development of the first practical artificial leaf. Speaking here at the 241st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, they described an advanced solar cell the size of a poker card that mimics the process, called photosynthesis, that green plants use […] … learn more→

Banned Books Awareness: The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver (1993), by Lois Lowry, tells the story of a utopian future society where poverty, crime, sickness, and unemployment are a thing of the past. Jonas, a 12-year-old, is chosen to be the next Receiver of Memories; but Jonas soon learns that the price of this knowledge is more than he expected. Emotional depth […] … learn more→