Latest American Association for the Advancement of Science Stories

Sustainability challenges are decision challengesWhat we know as the "Earth system" was, until recently, composed of several large-scale natural processes all seeking a balance with each other. For example, atmospheric activity and carbon and phosphorus cycles tended toward stability with Earth ecosystems. In the last 100 years or so, however, many human activities have scaled up so dramatically they have begun to knock the old equilibriums off-kilter."Humans have, essentially,...

MSU professor discusses issue at AAAS meetingConsumers need faster, more efficient ways of being notified when there is a recall of food products.That's the message Michigan State University's Ewen Todd gave to a symposium at the 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting held in San Diego.Todd, a professor of advertising, public relations and retailing, spoke at a symposium titled "Tracking and Tracing Our Food Supply: The Way Forward.""As our food...

University of Miami Professor Joe Prospero shared findings at AAASResidents of the southern United States and the Caribbean have seen it many times during the summer months"”a whitish haze in the sky that seems to hang around for days. The resulting thin film of dust on their homes and cars actually is soil from the deserts of Africa, blown across the Atlantic Ocean.Now, there is new evidence that similar dust storms in the arctic, possibly caused by receding glaciers, may be making similar...

Root systems are the basis of the second Green Revolution, and the focus on beans and corn that thrive in poor growing conditions will help some of the world's poorest farmers, according to a Penn State plant scientist."Africans missed the Green Revolution of the '60s because they typically do not eat wheat and rice, which was its focus," said Jonathan Lynch, professor of plant nutrition.The First Green Revolution was an effort to create dwarf wheat and rice plants that could...

Apart from humans, dolphins are the only animals to develop a natural form of type 2 diabetes, researchers recently discovered. An American study found that bottlenose dolphins have insulin resistances similar to that seen in humans. However, unlike humans, dolphins are able to turn the conditions on and off when appropriate, so it doesn't pose harm to the animal. Research leader and veterinarian Stephanie Venn-Watson of the US National Marine Mammal Foundation said that these findings could...

Curbing global climate changeCarnegie Mellon University's Edward S. Rubin will discuss U.S. energy strategies needed to mitigate global climate change Feb. 20 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Diego, Calif.Rubin, the Alumni Professor of Environmental Engineering and Science and a professor of engineering and public policy and mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon, will discuss the need for a climate policy that effectively puts...

Computer models show how skyborne seawater particles change cloud brightness, temperature, rain patternsShips blowing off steam are helping researchers understand how manmade particles might be useful against global warming. New results from modeling clouds like those seen in shipping lanes reveal the complex interplay between aerosols, the prevailing weather and even the time of day the aerosol particles hit the air, according to research presented Saturday morning at the American...

Scientists discover clues into human diseases by studying dolphins in a changing oceanA panel of governmental, academic and non-profit scientists speaking today at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) unveiled research suggesting that diseases found in dolphins are similar to human diseases and can provide clues into how human health might be affected by exposure to contaminated coastal water or seafood."Dolphins and humans are both...

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so University of California, Berkeley, astronomer Paul Kalas found out when he published a Hubble Space Telescope image of a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut.Since it appeared in the journal Science in November 2008, "the image of Fomalhaut, its visually striking belt of comet dust and its planet has become an iconic image of a planetary system," said Kalas, an adjunct associate professor of astronomy at UC Berkeley.National...

Leaders of the Census of Marine Life said on Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that in a decade-long search for new ocean life, thousands of new species have been discovered across the globe. The research has involved thousands of scientists from every corner of the world. As of last fall, the census reported having added 5,600 new ocean species to those already known. Professor Ron O'Dor of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia...