New wind farm in Antarctica to help power U.S., New Zealand research stations

Electrical power generation has gotten a different spin for two Antarctic research bases. U.S. and New Zealand officials held an opening ceremony on Jan. 16 for a three-turbine wind farm recently built on Ross Island. U.S. Ambassador David Huebner and New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully officiated by video link with the site from New Zealand’s northern city of Auckland.

Live from Antarctica!
Check out the Antarctica New Zealand Wind Farm Web camera for a near real-time look at the turbines and the nearby sea ice.U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also scheduled to attend the ceremony in Auckland, but was called away to help deal with the earthquake crisis in Haiti.

The wind farm will help power both McMurdo Station, the main research base for the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP), and Antarctica New Zealand’s Scott Base. The two facilities, which support a range of polar research, are only about 2 miles apart and share logistical operations.
Each wind turbine can generate up to 330 kilowatts on a site called Crater Hill between McMurdo Station and Scott Base. Engineers estimate the wind farm will cut fuel consumption by about 240,000 gallons every year.

Wind-generated electricity will account for up to 15 percent of McMurdo Station’s annual electricity demand, but nearly all of Scott Base’s. Currently, both stations draw all of their electrical and heat demand from diesel generators and diesel-fired boilers.

Officials from the National Science Foundation, which manages the USAP, were expected to hold a separate ceremony to commemorate the green achievement on Jan. 20. NSF Director Arden Bement and NSF Office of Polar Programs Director Karl Erb were both to be in attendnace. Bement and Erb also attended a plaque dedication on the site of a former nuclear power plant that was shut down about 40 years ago — the one and only such facility built and operated in Antarctica.

Total cost of the wind turbine project was about $7.4 million, with New Zealand covering most of the cost as part of its contribution to the two countries’ shared logistics pool.USAP personnel upgraded roads and transported equipment to Crater Hill, as well as conducted site surveys and provided various supplies and equipment, to support the construction.If deemed successful, the wind farm may be expanded in other areas around Ross Island to further reduce McMurdo Station’s reliance on fossil fuels.

Bugs: Victims of Climate Change

If it were up to Jessica Hellmann, insects such as butterflies and beetles would wield just as much conservation clout as traditional conservation icons, such as polar bears, tigers and dolphins.

Why?
"Animals such as polar bears, tigers and dolphins are tremendously important, but mostly because they help define how we think about our relationship with the natural world," says Hellmann. "But when it comes to the functioning of ecosystems, insects are where it's at."

Why are insects so ecologically important? "They carry diseases, they pollinate and they have economic impacts on crops and timber," says Hellmann, a biologist at the University of Notre Dame. In fact, almost 80 percent of the world's crop plants require pollination, and the annual value of insect-pollinated crops in the U.S. is about $20 billion. What's more, most of the multicellular living organisms on Earth are insects.

They are also particularly sensitive to climate change--as invertebrates, they can't regulate their own body temperatures--making them "great little thermometers," Hellmann adds.
On the road again
How will those "great little thermometers" respond when climate change makes their habitats too hot or too dry for them?
Research conducted by Hellmann and Shannon Pelini, one of Hellmann's doctoral students, indicates that global warming may affect a single insect species differently throughout its various life stages, and that global warming affects different insect species in different ways.

Most importantly, as climate change progresses, some insects may become trapped--like fish out of water--in habitats that can no longer support them. The insects may therefore go extinct or lose genetically important segments of their populations. But other species, and no one knows which ones yet, may be able to reach cooler climates by moving north on their own.

Will such mobile species be able to survive on the unfamiliar plants living in their new habitats? To help answer that question, Pelini conducted laboratory experiments that involve exposing caterpillars of two butterfly species to climates and plants that occur across their ranges, and then monitoring the growth and survival rates of these groups.

She will soon announce in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) how populations of these two butterfly species that live at the edges of their ranges will be affected by climate change and the various factors that may limit or reduce their northward expansion.

Hellmann is currently following up on Pelini's research by surveying thousands of genes in the two butterfly species in order to identify the genes that are turned off or on by climate change. These studies are designed to reveal the genetic bases for the tolerance of some insect species to climate change and the intolerance of others.

Real hero: Farley Mowat

Born: 1921 Belleville, Ontario Canada

Why he’s an Environmental Star! While living in Saskatchewan, young Farley visited the Arctic and started his lifelong passion for the preservation of Canada’s wildlife. Farley is one of Canada’s most famous conservationists and storytellers.

Schooling: University of Toronto

Facts and Figures: Farley’s books have sold over 18 million copies worldwide in 24 languages. Owls in the Family is perhaps Farley’s most famous book. A story that many Canadians have read in school, it is a popular tale about a young boy, his pets and their adventures together and a great read!

Did you know?

Farley is the great-grand-nephew of Ontario premier Sir Oliver Mowat
At the age of 13, Mowat founded a nature newsletter called Nature Lore.

Most awesome thing about Farley Mowat:

He was inspired to write the 1963 book Never Cry Wolf after spending time living in the Arctic observing the lives of wolves. At the time people were concerned with the declining caribou populations and suspected that the wolves were eating the caribou. They decided that the best way to protect the caribou would be to kill some of the wolves. After months of observation Farley concluded that the opposite was true! The wolves actually strengthened the caribou tribe because the wolves mainly ate field mice and only ate old or sick caribou — killing off the weakest. Farley concluded that the hunters in the area were using the wolves as scapegoats for the decline of the caribous, when in fact they were the ones hunting and killing them.

About Deep Space Communications

One of the most important and predominant functions involved in the exploration of space is its communication system. This system is responsible for sending scientific data from spacecraft back to Earth. It also provides the capability of tracking the spacecraft and commanding it to take certain actions. Without an effective communications system a successful mission would not be possible.

The challenge of deep space communication has been the enormous range of distances that spacecraft have traveled in the past 50 years. Planetary spacecraft have reached distant planets tens of billions of miles from Earth, and have successfully performed their functions. The necessity of minimizing spacecraft mass presents a major challenge to communications system engineers, as engineers must consider the issues of providing power supply, antennae, and many other necessary devices and supporting elements for a communications system. Another important challenge is the extreme reliability required of the communications systems on the spacecraft. Once the spacecraft is launched, on-board failures can be repaired only by relying upon redundant and adaptive systems. Communication engineers must take into consideration such factors as system degradation, aging, and imperfect antenna positioning, as well as operations and data procedures.

In the past, spacecraft data return rates have been tens to hundreds of kilobits per second (kbps) and uplink command data rates have been limited to a few kbps. Recent missions such as MRO can transmit data to Earth at rates as high as 6 megabits per second. For more demanding missions in the near future, much higher data capabilities will be required.
DSN image

The Deep Space Network (DSN) operated for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), provides deep space communications, tracking of spacecraft, and performs many scientific experiments. Because future space missions promise to explore the far reaches of the solar system and beyond, the DSN would need to expand its technological and communications capabilities to meet greater science data return rates and the requirements of advanced spacecraft. For example, by one estimate, the DSN might have to support over twice the missions in 2020 as it supported in 2005, and the data rate from each mission could average at least a factor of 10 higher.

The DSN consists of antenna arrays in 3 locations around the world; near Madrid, Spain; near Canberra, Australia; the Goldstone facility in California’s Mojave Desert, and the command center at JPL in California. These facilities, approximately 120 degrees apart on Earth, provide constant coverage for a mission at critical times. Each facility has a number of antennae some of which can be operated as an array, including at least two 34-meter arrays, and a giant 70-meter array in each location. Use of the arrays is scheduled well in advance for all interplanetary missions as their use is in high demand.

To enable future critical space exploration missions, new technology investments are needed so that future programs will continue to be successful and affordable (i.e. no specific program can afford to bear the burden of the technology development by itself). JPL sponsors internal development of several deep space communications efforts.

Ozone hole drive rapid changes

One finding from recent years that received prominence in the SCAR report concerned the effects of the ozone hole on the Antarctic climate.

Unlike the coastal areas, particularly in West Antarctica, the interior of Antarctica has cooled slightly, according to polar researchers cited in the SCAR report. That’s because the ozone hole over the Southern Hemisphere has cooled the stratosphere, the layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere that people inhabit.

However, the ocean around the continent and regions to the north are warming. The temperature differential has caused atmospheric circulation to intensify around Antarctica, effectively shielding much of the continent from the intrusion of warmer air to the north.

But as the ozone hole heals, those westerly winds will ease, allowing warmer air to mix more easily into the Antarctic atmosphere. The SCAR report estimates a continent-wide temperature increase of 3 degrees Celsius by 2100.

“This is what has happened in the northern hemisphere. You have a relatively warm Arctic and a warm low- to mid-latitudes, and the westerlies have slowed down,” Mayewski said. “The big questions for the Antarctic are when it will happen and how fast will it happen.”

Mayewski said based on climate records, particularly from ice cores, that sudden shifts in position and strength of the westerlies have created many of the abrupt climate changes of the past.
Mayewski said: “The implicit but not explicit statement in my mind in this report is the fact that we could very well be headed for not a linear change in the westerlies, but an abrupt change in the westerlies,” he said. “If we experience a very abrupt weakening of the westerlies — we can show that it happened in the past — we could very well have accelerated levels of warming in Antarctica.”

A recent paper in the journal Geophysical Research Letters by Marco Tedesco at City College of New York and Andrew Monaghan at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., suggested that a 30-year record low in Antarctic snowmelt during the 2008-09 austral summer was likely due to intensified westerlies and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). ENSO is a periodic change in oceanic and atmospheric conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean that has far-reaching effects on weather around the world.

Source: http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/science/

Researchers find similarities between Earth and Saturn's largest moon

Researchers using ground-based telescopes and space probes make amazing discoveries about the atmospheric cycle of Saturn’s largest moon, and find similarities to Earth. Our knowledge of Titan has improved considerably over the last five years. Before that, Saturn's largest satellite had only been hastily approached by a handful of space probes.

In 1980, the Voyager-1 spacecraft took advantage of a flyby to take a few mysterious, yet frustrating, close-ups of Titan's opaque, rusty atmosphere. Despite its color, Titan actually seemed to look a lot like the early Earth.

There was a general feeling of excitement and perplexity: what lay beneath this atmosphere? Could Titan support life? In July 2004, NASA's Cassini space probe entered Saturn's distant realm, this time to stay. The probe was designed right after Voyager's visit by a scientific community eager to unveil those new mysteries.

And unveil them it did. It has been hard to keep up with the flow of discoveries delivered from Titan to Earth since then. We now know that the 5,150-kilometer- (km, or 3,200-mile-) wide world has lakes and riverbeds. Earlier this year, even fog was discovered at Titan's South Pole.
Even more compelling is the fact that, just like similar features on Earth, all of those features are tightly related. Evaporated liquids create clouds that are carried around the planet by winds--and probably cause precipitation. This has never been seen on any other extraterrestrial body.

Moreover, Titan's atmospheric cycle is not a water cycle. It is instead an exotic climate of hydrocarbons that features methane and ethane. On Earth, those are gases, but the extremely cold temperature of Titan, around minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (F, or minus 180 degrees Celcius), allows them to be liquid as well (and maybe even solid).

Resource: http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/

Green algae helps in Advancing Bio-hydrogen

Photosynthetic organisms offer a biological paradigm for the conversion of light energy into chemical forms. Some of these organisms are capable of transducing this energy directly into H2. The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is an example of one such organism that could play a major role in future commercial H2-production system. However, the complexity of the metabolism linked to H2-production pathways in this organism demands the development of a computational model by which to integrate and understand disparate observations over various mutations and environmental conditions.

The grand scientific challenge of creating a complete, in silico simulation of a living cell still faces daunting obstacles. Biomolecular science has proceeded by studying prototypical systems, with the understanding that the knowledge gained is transferable to other systems to some extent. However, for quantitative modeling of a single system, complete knowledge must be available for that particular system to achieve consistency—assuming transferability of knowledge from prototypical systems may lead to fundamental errors in model interpretation.

This project will exploit existing and newly generated knowledge to construct an in silico simulation of metabolism relating to H2 production in C. reinhardtii. It will provide a fundamental understanding of essential metabolic pathways in photosynthetic green algae and enable rational engineering and optimization of those pathways. It will also serve a broader community by providing information critical to understanding other hydrogen metabolizing and fermentative organisms of interest in renewable energy research.

The Department of Energy's mission is to advance the national, economic and energy security of the United States. Within the Genomics:GTL program, systems biology has been identified as playing a key role in meeting the Department’s mission. Furthermore, the “hydrogen economy” has been established as an important component in a multi-faceted strategy for energy independence and renewability.

Researchers sneak a look under Ice Sheets for Clues on Climate Change

A team of National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded researchers wants to look under the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica to see if they are sitting on bedrock or water.

Together, the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica contain enough freshwater to raise global sea level by more than 190 feet if they were to melt entirely and transfer to the world's oceans. A complete collapse of these vast reservoirs of ice is unlikely in the near future. However, recent observations have raised the real possibility that the contribution of the great ice sheets to global sea level rise over the next century may be greater than current models suggest.

Rising sea levels can adversely affect communities near the shoreline, especially in third world countries, and they are believed to be an indicator of global climate change.

Until recently, the prevailing view was that these large ice masses moved sluggishly, and discharged ice from their interior to the world's oceans at a slow, orderly, and predictable rate. This view was increasingly challenged as observations of rapidly changing outlet glaciers and ice streams became available. For example, the Jakobshavn Isbræ glacier in Western Greenland more than doubled its speed from around 3.72 miles per year in 1992, to nearly 8.68 miles per year in 2003.

Because of the immense size and complexity of these ice sheets, scientists need data from satellite and airborne platforms, combined with ground-based measurements and observations, to accurately assess their mass and composition.

Gogineni and his colleagues have adapted synthetic aperture radar technology, developed for remote sensing in space, to the ice environment. By increasing its sensitivity and integrating the technology with aircraft instrumentation, the researchers report the advanced radar system can image large areas of ice-bed interfaces located below an ice layer more than two miles thick. The ability to generate radar images of large areas of ice is a big improvement over past studies that have sought to understand what is happening beneath the ice sheets.

According to Gogineni, data from remote sensing satellites, combined with images generated by this radar sensor, may revolutionize the study of polar ice sheets. "We have demonstrated we can map the layers of ice all the way down to the ice-bed interface. The layers are like tree rings; they tell a story of climate history."

The researchers ultimately expect their data to improve existing models of the composition and movement of the ice sheets. Their findings may cause some traditional explanations about the ice sheets to be reconsidered. For example, traditional models have assumed the ice sheets were frozen to the underlying bed material. Early data indicate the presence of water beneath the ice in many areas. That finding could be significant because a lot of water predicts a lot of future ice movement, but Gogineni cautions that more work needs to be done before they can draw any conclusions.

NASA Uses Twin method to increase New Tank Dome Technology

NASA has partnered with Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colo., and MT Aerospace in Augsburg, Germany, to successfully manufacture the first full-scale friction stir welded and spun formed tank dome designed for use in large liquid propellant tanks.

The NASA and Lockheed Martin team traveled to Germany to witness the first successful aerospace application of two separate manufacturing processes: friction stir welding, a solid-state joining process, and spin forming, a metal working process used to form symmetric parts.

The twin processes were used by MT Aerospace to produce an 18-foot-diameter tank dome using high-strength 2195 aluminum-lithium. The diameter of this development dome matches the tank dimensions of the upper stage of the ARES I launch vehicle under development by NASA, as well as the central stage of the European Ariane V launcher.

The concave net shape spin forming process, patented by MT Aerospace, drastically simplifies the manufacturing of large tank domes and reduces cost by eliminating manufacturing steps, such as machining and assembly welding, that are required when manufacturing traditional gore panel - a pie-shaped section of the tank dome --construction domes.

The spherical tank dome was manufactured from a flat plate "blank" made of the 2195 alloy. The blank was constructed by friction stir welding together two commercial off-the-shelf plates in order to produce a large starting blank, reducing the cost of raw materials. The welded plate blank was then spun formed to create the single-piece tank dome.

This is the first time this combination of twin manufacturing processes has been successfully applied to produce a full-scale 2195 aluminum-lithium dome.
Two additional, full-scale development tank domes are scheduled for manufacture and testing in coming months as part of the joint, two-year technology demonstration program.

Marine Scientists Discover Deepest underwater Erupting Volcano

The volcanic eruption, discovered in May, is nearly 4,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, in an area bounded by Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.

Imagery includes large molten lava bubbles three feet across bursting into cold seawater, glowing red vents exploding lava into the sea, and the first-observed advance of lava flows across the deep-ocean floor.

Sounds of the eruption were recorded by a hydrophone and later matched with the video footage.

Expedition scientists released the video and discussed their observations at a Dec. 17 news conference at the American Geophysical Union (AGU)'s annual fall meeting in San Francisco.

The West Mata Volcano is producing boninite lavas, believed to be among the hottest on Earth in modern times, and a type seen before only on extinct volcanoes more than one million years old.
University of Hawaii geochemist Ken Rubin believes that the active boninite eruption provides a unique opportunity to study magma formation at volcanoes, and to learn more about how Earth recycles material where one tectonic plate is subducted under another.

Water from the volcano is very acidic, with some samples collected directly above the eruption, the scientists said, as acidic as battery acid or stomach acid.

Julie Huber, a microbiologist at the Marine Biological Laboratory, found diverse microbes even in such extreme conditions.

Tim Shank, a biologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), found that shrimp were the only animals thriving in the acidic vent water near the eruption. Shank is analyzing shrimp DNA to determine whether they are the same species as those found at seamounts more than 3,000 miles away.

The scientists believe that 80 percent of eruptive activity on Earth takes place in the ocean, and that most volcanoes are in the deep sea.

Further study of active deep-ocean eruptions will provide a better understanding of oceanic cycles of carbon dioxide and sulfur gases, how heat and matter are transferred from the interior of the Earth to its surface, and how life adapts to some of the harshest conditions on Earth.

Sparkling sunlight, confirms liquid in Titan lake zone

NASA's Cassini Spacecraft has captured the first flash of sunlight reflected off a lake on Saturn's moon Titan, confirming the presence of liquid on the part of the moon dotted with many large, lake-shaped basins.

Cassini scientists had been looking for the glint, also known as a specular reflection, since the spacecraft began orbiting Saturn in 2004. But Titan's northern hemisphere, which has more lakes than the southern hemisphere, has been veiled in winter darkness. The sun only began to directly illuminate the northern lakes recently as it approached the equinox of August 2009, the start of spring in the northern hemisphere. Titan's hazy atmosphere also blocked out reflections of sunlight in most wavelengths.

In 2008, Cassini scientists using infrared data confirmed the presence of liquid in Ontario Lacus, the largest lake in Titan's southern hemisphere. But they were still looking for the smoking gun to confirm liquid in the northern hemisphere, where lakes are also larger.

Katrin Stephan, of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin, an associate member of the Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team, was processing the initial image and was the first to see the glint on July 10th.

Team members at the University of Arizona, Tucson, processed the image further, and scientists were able to compare the new image to radar and near-infrared-light images acquired from 2006 to 2008.

They were able to correlate the reflection to the southern shoreline of a lake called Kraken Mare. The sprawling Kraken Mare covers about 400,000 square kilometers (150,000 square miles), an area larger than the Caspian Sea, the largest lake on Earth. It is located around 71 degrees north latitude and 337 degrees west latitude.

The finding shows that the shoreline of Kraken Mare has been stable over the last three years and that Titan has an ongoing hydrological cycle that brings liquids to the surface, said Ralf Jaumann, a visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team member who leads the scientists at the DLR who work on Cassini. Of course, in this case, the liquid in the hydrological cycle is methane rather than water, as it is on Earth.

Know more about Mercury in Fish and Shellfish

Fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthy diet. Fish and shellfish contain high- quality protein and other essential nutrients, are low in saturated fat, and contain omega-3 fatty acids. A well-balanced diet that includes a variety of fish and shellfish can contribute to heart health and children's proper growth and development. So, women and young children in particular should include fish or shellfish in their diets due to the many nutritional benefits.

However, nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury. For most people, the risk from mercury by eating fish and shellfish is not a health concern. Yet, some fish and shellfish contain higher levels of mercury that may harm an unborn baby or young child's developing nervous system. The risks from mercury in fish and shellfish depend on the amount of fish and shellfish eaten and the levels of mercury in the fish and shellfish. Therefore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are advising women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children to avoid some types of fish and eat fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.

By following these three recommendations for selecting and eating fish or shellfish, women and young children will receive the benefits of eating fish and shellfish and be confident that they have reduced their exposure to the harmful effects of mercury.

1. Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.
2. Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.
o Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.
o Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white") tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of albacore tuna per week.
3. Check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas.
If no advice is available, eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) per week of fish you catch from local waters, but don't consume any other fish during that week.
Follow these same recommendations when feeding fish and shellfish to your young child, but serve smaller portions.

Earth’s "Third Pole" under threat

Black Carbon Deposits on Himalayan Ice Threaten Earth’s "Third Pole"
Black soot deposited on Tibetan glaciers has contributed significantly to the retreat of the world’s largest non-polar ice masses, according to new research by scientists from NASA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Soot absorbs incoming solar radiation and can speed glacial melting when deposited on snow in sufficient quantities.

Temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau -- sometimes called Earth's "third pole" -- have warmed by 0.3°C (0.5°F) per decade over the past 30 years, about twice the rate of observed global temperature increases. New field research and ongoing quantitative modeling suggests that soot's warming influence on Tibetan glaciers could rival that of greenhouse gases.

Since melt water from Tibetan glaciers replenishes many of Asia’s major rivers -- including the Indus, Ganges, Yellow, and Brahmaputra -- such losses could have a profound impact on the billion people who rely on the rivers for fresh water. While rain and snow would still help replenish Asian rivers in the absence of glaciers, the change could hamper efforts to manage seasonal water resources by altering when fresh water supplies are available in areas already prone to water shortages.

Most soot in the region comes from diesel engines, coal-fired power plants, and outdoor cooking stoves. Many industrial processes produce both black carbon and organic carbon, but often in different proportions. Burning diesel fuel produces mainly black carbon, for example, while burning wood produces mainly organic carbon. Since black carbon is darker and absorbs more radiation, it’s thought to have a stronger warming effect than organic carbon.

NASA's AIM Satellite and Models helps in Unlocking the Secrets of Mysterious Night Shining Clouds

NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite has captured five complete polar seasons of noctilucent (NLC) or "night-shining" clouds with an unprecedented horizontal resolution of 3 miles by 3 miles. Results show that the cloud season turns on and off like a "geophysical light bulb" and they reveal evidence that high altitude mesospheric "weather" may follow similar patterns as our ever-changing weather near the Earth's surface. These findings were unveiled today at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union today in San Francisco.

The AIM measurements have provided the first comprehensive global-scale view of the complex life cycle of these clouds, also called Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs), over three entire Northern Hemisphere and two Southern Hemisphere seasons revealing more about their formation, frequency and brightness and why they appear to be occurring at lower latitudes than ever before.

"The AIM findings have altered our previous understanding of why PMCs form and vary," stated AIM principal investigator Dr. James Russell III of Hampton University in Hampton, Va. "We have captured the brightest clouds ever observed and they display large variations in size and structure signifying a great sensitivity to the environment in which the clouds form. The cloud season abruptly turns on and off going from no clouds to near complete coverage in a matter of days with the reverse pattern occurring at the season end."

These bright "night-shining" clouds, which form 50 miles above Earth's surface, are seen by the spacecraft's instruments, starting in late May and lasting until late August in the north and from late November to late February in the south. The AIM satellite reports daily observations of the clouds at all longitudes and over a broad latitude range extending from 60 to 85 degrees in both hemispheres.

The clouds usually form at high latitudes during the summer of each hemisphere. They are made of ice crystals formed when water vapor condenses onto dust particles in the brutal cold of this region, at temperatures around minus 210 to minus 235 degrees Fahrenheit. They are called "night shining" clouds by observers on the ground because their high altitude allows them to continue reflecting sunlight after the sun has set below the horizon. They form a spectacular silvery blue display visible well into the night time.

Sophisticated multidimensional models have also advanced significantly in the last few years and together with AIM and other space and ground-based data have led to important advances in understanding these unusual and provocative clouds. The satellite data has shown that:

1. Temperature appears to control season onset, variability during the season, and season end. Water vapor is surely important but the role it plays in NLC variability is only now becoming more understood,

2. Large scale planetary waves in the Earth's upper atmosphere cause NLCs to vary globally, while shorter scale gravity waves cause the clouds to disappear regionally;

3. There is coupling between the summer and winter hemispheres: when temperature changes in the winter hemisphere, NLCs change correspondingly in the opposite hemisphere.

Computer models that include detailed physics of the clouds and couple the upper atmosphere environment where they occur with the lower regions of the atmosphere are being used to study the reasons the NLCs form and the causes for their variability. These models are able to reproduce many of the features found by AIM. Validation of the results using AIM and other data will help determine the underlying causes of the observed changes in NLCs.

Fiery lightshow in Earth's upper atmosphere

The Perseid meteor shower lights up the sky in August. Star-gazers can expect a similar view during December's Geminid meteor shower, which will be visible in the late evening hours of December 13 and 14.

Bundle up and get ready to watch a fiery lightshow stirred up by dead comets in Earth's upper atmosphere during the cold of winter in the dead of night. The annual Geminid meteor shower is expected to peak mid-December. Considered one of the more reliable showers by those in the meteor-watching business, the Geminids almost always put on a great show.

"You could expect to see over 100 meteors per hour during the peak viewing," said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "During the late evening hours of December 13, look for streaks of light radiating from a point near the star Castor in the constellation of Gemini, which will be high above the eastern horizon for mid-northern latitudes."

While a sign of the zodiac may have provided the name for the meteor shower, scientists have established the source as something more tangible. "We do know that the origin of the Geminids is a Near-Earth object called 3200 Phaeton," said Yeomans. "It is probably the remains of a comet that has burned off its ices after eons looping throughout the solar system. Phaeton has a trail of pebble and dust-sized debris that stream out behind it. Once every mid-December, Earth's orbit carries it into this stream of debris."

Since all other meteors showers are due to the sand-sized particles from active comets, it seems reasonable to assume that Phaeton is, or at least was, a comet. However, Phaeton has shown no cometary activity, so it is classified as an asteroid - the only asteroid to have an associated meteor shower.

"It is important to note that the orbits of Earth and Phaethon itself will not intersect," added Yeomans. "There is no chance the two will meet. But the result of our planet flying through its debris field is an opportunity for science and the chance to see Mother Nature at her best."

United States faces Abrupt Climate Change

The United States faces the potential for abrupt climate change in the 21st century that could pose clear risks to society in terms of our ability to adapt.

These changes in climate and related environmental systems can occur over decades or less, persist for decades more, and cause substantial disruptions to human and natural systems.

A 2008 report from the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) / Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), Abrupt Climate Change, drew the following conclusions about the prospects for abrupt changes over the next century:

• Climate model simulations and observations suggest that rapid and sustained September arctic sea ice loss is likely in the 21st century.
• The southwestern United States may be beginning an abrupt period of increased drought.
• It is very likely that the northward flow of warm water in the upper layers of the Atlantic Ocean, which has an important impact on the global climate system, will decrease by approximately 25–30 percent. However, it is very unlikely that this circulation will collapse or that the weakening will occur abruptly during the 21st century and beyond.
• An abrupt change in sea level is possible, but predictions are highly uncertain due to shortcomings in existing climate models.
• There is unlikely to be an abrupt release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere from deposits in the earth. However, it is very likely that the pace of methane emissions will increase.

A 2009 report from the USGCRP/CCSP titled Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems examined abrupt changes in biological systems. One example cited in the report in which a biological threshold has already been crossed is the relatively sudden outbreak of spruce bark beetles that has occurred across parts of the western United States. This has been caused in part by the increase in winter temperatures above a threshold that has greatly enhanced the over-winter survival of the beetles. Another example of an ecosystem threshold is the coral bleaching that occurs above certain levels of ocean acidity and temperature.

According to this report, in order to better understand and prepare for ecological threshold crossings and their consequences, it is essential to increase the resilience of ecosystems and thus to slow or prevent the crossing of thresholds; to identify early warning signals of impending threshold changes; and to employ adaptive management strategies to deal with new conditions and new combinations of species.

Dangerous Impact on Coral Reefs of Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Results of a new study shed light on how threats to the worlds endangered coral reef ecosystems can be more effectively managed.
In the current issue of the journal Coral Reefs, authors Kimberly Selkoe and Benjamin Halpern, both of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the University of California at Santa Barbara, explain how maps of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI)--a vast area stretching across more than 1,200 miles of Pacific Ocean--can be used to make informed decisions about protecting the world's fragile coral reefs.
"Our maps of cumulative human impacts are a powerful tool for synthesizing and visualizing the state of the oceans," said Selkoe, who is also affiliated with Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii.
"The maps can aid in zoning uses of the oceans in an informed way that maximizes commercial and societal benefits, while minimizing further cumulative impact."
President George W. Bush declared the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a National Monument in 2006, "in part because it is one of the last places in the oceans that have not been heavily altered by human activities," said Halpern.
"Despite the islands' extreme isolation, however, humans are already significantly impacting this area," he said. "Many of the key threats, such as those associated with climate change, are not mitigated with Monument designation."
The study was designed to help natural resource managers make decisions on issues such as surveillance priorities, granting of permits for use, and selection of areas to monitor for climate change effects.
"The Papahânaumokuâkea Marine National Monument is a crown jewel in the national and international array of marine protected areas, designed to preserve the ecosystems of these isolated islands," said Phillip Taylor of the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Ocean Sciences.
"This study is an important effort to assess and predict human effects on the oceans," Taylor said. "It shows how far-reaching human influences are, and will serve as a baseline in efforts to prevent and mitigate future harm."
The authors studied 14 threats specific to NWHI. The threats, all generated by humans, included invasive species, bottom fishing, lobster trap fishing, ship-based pollution, ship strike risks, marine debris, research diving, research equipment installation and wildlife sacrifice for research.
Human-induced climate change threats were also studied, including increased ultraviolet radiation, ocean acidification, ocean temperature anomalies relevant to disease outbreaks and coral bleaching, and sea level rise.
Increased rates of coral disease due to warming ocean temperatures were found to have the highest impact, along with other climate-related threats.
"With the scientific justification provided by our study, the managers of the Monument have an opportunity to make addressing the worst threats a top priority," said Selkoe.
"By updating the map of cumulative impacts through time, success of management plans in reducing impacts can be measured, and permits for new uses can be evaluated in the context of how they add to these impacts."

Coral Reefs are Undersea Treasure, We need to protect them

Healthy coral reefs are beautiful, awe-inspiring ecosystems — owing to the enormously rich biological diversity found within and above them. These sublime environments attract human visitors like bees to honey.

Economic and environmental services: they offer an abundant supply of seafood and protect the shoreline from waves, storms, and floods.

Priceless Resources in Peril
Unfortunately, a brief look at the news explains the grim story about coral reefs. Rapid warming, accelerating pollution, and destructive fishing practices are decimating coral reefs faster than they can adapt to survive.

Just as damaged and degraded coral reefs lose their appeal to divers and snorkelers, they also fail to provide the sustenance and coastal protection on which we depend. It’s clear that successful coral reef conservation efforts benefit us as well as the reefs.

Saving the Reefs Starts with the Shore
Sediment runoff and surges in algal cover caused by nutrient pollution from land are among the main causes of injury to coral reefs. Identifying and controlling pollution on land has direct benefits for coral reefs as well as water users within the region.

Fishing for Tomorrow
Overexploitation of key marine wildlife species, which are essential for balancing the ecosystem, is severely damaging coral reefs. Sharks and lobsters are prime examples. Some industrialized fishing techniques and certain types of gear also are causing major damage to coral structures.
Minimizing the destructive effects of over fishing, and achieving responsible, ecosystem-based stewardship of reef fisheries pays lasting dividends to healthy coral reefs and to those who make a living from the sea.

Building 'Bridges' to Help Corals Survive Climate Change
Corals face a major threat from climate change in the form of warmer and more acidic oceans, which cause mass bleaching and slow the growth of coral skeletons. Reducing greenhouse gases is essential to corals’ long-term survival. In the meantime, boosting the resilience of coral reef ecosystems and reducing local stresses are bridge solutions until the overarching climate threat is reduced.
Think Reef
Whether you live one mile or one thousand miles from a coral reef, your actions affect the reefs’ future — and the reefs’ future affects yours. There are a host of reef-conserving tips we can all make use of in our everyday lives that can also benefit for our own pocketbooks:

• Don’t use chemically enhanced pesticides and fertilizers. These products ultimately end up in the ocean, via a stream, lake, estuary, or a wetland.
• Conserve water. The less you use, the less runoff and wastewater pollute the oceans.
• Use more efficient electrical appliances and lighting, and keep them turned off when not necessary. You’ll reduce waste, save money, and lessen your climate change impact.

Images of space shuttle Atlantis

1. The Way Home
Seen over the Mediterranean Sea, near the Algerian coast, the space shuttle Atlantis is featured in this image photographed by the Expedition 21 crew on the International Space Station soon after the shuttle and station began their post-undocking separation. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 4:53 a.m. EST on Nov. 25, 2009.









2. Touch Down!
Streams of smoke trail from the main landing gear tires as space shuttle Atlantis touches down on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after 11 days in space, completing the 4.5-million-mile STS-129 mission on orbit 171. On STS-129, the crew delivered 14 tons of cargo to the International Space Station, including two ExPRESS Logistics Carriers containing spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are retired next year.







3.Thin Blue Line
The thin line of Earth's atmosphere and the setting sun are featured in this image photographed by the crew of the International Space Station while space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-129 mission was docked with the station.

Air shed near a highway target either the lungs or heart

Particle pollutants collected from the same air shed (the air within a particular geographic area) near a highway target either the lungs or heart depending on their size and associated chemical components. The research improves understanding of the health impacts of air particles near roads.

More than 50 percent of the total emissions of PM in urban areas are related to road traffic. Near roadway studies have reported associations between traffic density or proximity to roads and respiratory symptoms in children.

Researchers will apply the results to further investigate particulate matter’s (PM) health impact on the heart and lungs.

To learn more about the toxic effects of PM, EPA researchers took samples of three different sizes of the particles – coarse, fine, and ultrafine – near a highway in Raleigh, N.C. Coarse particles (PM2.5-10) are produced by abrasion of automobile brakes and tires and dispersion of road dust, while fine particles (PM0.1-2.5) and ultrafine particles (PM0.1) are emitted from the tail pipe, or form as a result of atmospheric reactions. Researchers then conducted toxicity studies in mice using samples of each particle.

Researchers found the coarse PM produced significant lung effects while ultrafine PM (and to a lesser extent fine PM) induced heart effects. While samples were taken from two locations near the road (22 yards and 301 yards), for the health effects studied, there were no substantial differences in health effects between the two samples although the near road coarse material was enriched for several metal species.

The Ozone hole over Antarctica - 2009

The size of the annual ozone hole over Antarctica peaked in late September at 23.8 million square miles, slightly smaller than the North American continent, according to a news release from the NOAA in November.

That ranks as the 10th largest since satellite measurements began in 1979. Ozone over South Pole Station also reached its thinnest vertical point of the year on Sept. 26, NOAA reported.The ozone layer in the Earth’s stratosphere, between 10 and 30 kilometers above the ground, helps shield the planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation. Human-produced compounds known as chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs, release ozone-destroying chemicals into the atmosphere responsible for the depletion.

Extreme cold, ice cloud formation in the stratosphere, and a pattern of rapidly circulating air, called the polar vortex, make the ozone layer over Antarctica much more vulnerable to CFC-destruction than anywhere else on the planet.

International agreements have strictly limited the use of CFCs since the early 1990s. Scientists predict the ozone hole will recover by the end of the century.

Scientists in Antarctica, including teams from NOAA and the University of Wyoming, have been measuring atmospheric ozone since 1986.

Final Spacewalk preparations by the Crew

The combined 12-member crew of Atlantis and the International Space Station will move the last of this mission’s spare hardware during the third and final spacewalk today.

Mission Specialists Randy Bresnik and Robert Satcher Jr. are scheduled to begin their six-hour spacewalk an hour late at about 8:18 a.m. EST. They will transfer an oxygen filled High Pressure Gas Tank (HPGT) from the EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 2, or ELC2, located on the starboard truss, to a spot on the outside of the Quest Airlock. The tank will be used to replenish atmosphere lost when spacewalkers enter and exit the station.
While Satcher is relocating the HPGT, Bresnik will install the seventh Materials International Space Station Experiment, or MISSE 7. This is the most advanced of the MISSE payloads to date and will be the first to receive power directly from the station and use the station’s communication system to send commands and downlink real-time data.

On Sunday, Bresnik told the flight controllers his new daughter, Abigail Mae Bresnik, had been born in Houston at 11:04 p.m. CST Saturday. He said his wife Rebecca and new daughter, 6 pounds, 13 ounces and 20 inches long, were doing well. Bresnik got the news by private phone patch through mission control shortly after the crew was awakened.

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer or Wise is getting ready to roll

Wise is scheduled to launch no earlier than 6:09 a.m. PST (9:09 a.m. EST) on Dec. 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It will circle Earth over the poles, scanning the entire sky one-and-a-half times in nine months. The mission will uncover hidden cosmic objects, including the coolest stars, dark asteroids and the most luminous galaxies.

The mission will map the entire sky at four infrared wavelengths with sensitivity hundreds to hundreds of thousands of times greater than its predecessors, cataloging hundreds of millions of objects. The data will serve as navigation charts for other missions, pointing them to the most interesting targets. NASA's Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory, and NASA's upcoming Sofia and James Webb Space Telescope will follow up on Wise finds.

Wise also will find the coolest of the "failed" stars, or brown dwarfs. Scientists speculate it is possible that a cool star lurks right under our noses, closer to us than our nearest known star, Proxima Centauri, which is four light-years away. If so, Wise will easily pick up its glow. The mission also will spot dusty nests of stars and swirling planet-forming disks, and may find the most luminous galaxy in the universe.

To sense the infrared glow of stars and galaxies, the Wise spacecraft cannot give off any detectable infrared light of its own. This is accomplished by chilling the telescope and detectors to ultra-cold temperatures. The coldest of Wise's detectors will operate at below 8 Kelvin, or minus 445 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mudsnails can mean big trouble: EPA Researchers

Researchers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Mid-Continent Ecology Division have discovered an invasive species living in the waters of Lake Superior: the tiny New Zealand mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum).
The snail was discovered in sediments collected from Duluth Superior Harbor and the St. Louis River Estuary during a survey focused specifically on finding new invaders in Great Lakes harbors. EPA researchers found more than 100 New Zealand mudsnails.
Although only about the size of a peppercorn when fully grown, New Zealand mudsnails can mean big trouble. For starters, a snail does not need a partner to reproduce. New Zealand mudsnails breed asexually-essentially cloning themselves. Small populations can quickly explode.
In addition, by closing up its shell, a New Zealand mudsnail can survive for days out of water. Hitching a ride on the bottom of a boat, a pair of hip waders, or some fishing gear, snails can easily be moved accidentally from one body of water to the next. Once the New Zealand mudsnail is established in an area, it's hard to avoid new infestations.
"They have adapted so well in Western rivers that they have pushed out almost all of the native insects, snails, and other invertebrates that are important food for fish," says Doug Jensen, aquatic invasive species program coordinator for Minnesota Sea Grant. "More than 700,000 New Zealand mudsnails per square meter cover the bottoms of some rivers. That's like having 585,000 snails in your bathtub!"
Spreading the Word
State agencies in Minnesota and Wisconsin have launched communications campaigns prior to the beginning of boating and fishing seasons to alert people to look out for the snail, and take actions to reduce the chances of helping the snail spread.

Ozone layer and Climate change impact on Air quality

In many areas of the country, ozone pollution on hot summer days is as predictable as an over-abundance of mosquitoes crashing your backyard barbecue. Like sunburn, ground level ozone thrives on sunlight. Keeping the pollutant at regulated levels to protect public health, however, may be an even greater challenge for air quality managers in the near future because of global climate change.

An April 2009 EPA report compiles and assesses the latest science on the implications of climate change for ozone formation in the United States. The report's findings demonstrate the potential for climate change to make ozone management more difficult. The report also highlights the gaps in science that require further study in this relatively new field of modeling climate and atmospheric chemistry.

The studies cannot predict what the future will hold for air quality as climate change continues, but they do provide some of the first critical information that air quality managers and policy makers can use to formulate pollution control strategies.

For example, climate change has the potential to produce significant increases in ground-level ozone in many regions, so air quality managers in areas just below or not in compliance with ozone standards should begin to consider the potential effects of climate change. Climate change also may lengthen the ozone season, so policy makers may need to extend the time over which they monitor ozone concentrations, and issue air quality alerts earlier in the spring and later in the fall.

"This report represents a significant advancement in our understanding of the possible impacts of climate change on air quality in the United States," says Joel Scheraga, National Program Director for EPA's Global Change Research Program. "It is our hope that the work we've done will enhance our ability as a nation to protect air quality and human health, even as the climate changes."

Upcoming reports will focus on other regulated pollutants, such as particulate matter and mercury, and the combined effects of climate and human-caused emissions. This will provide a more complete understanding of the range of possible impacts of global climate change on regional air quality.

Some General tips, while traveling this summer

Plan Ahead...
If you are traveling with perishable food, place it in a cooler with ice or freezer packs. When carrying drinks, consider packing them in a separate cooler so the food cooler is not opened frequently. Have plenty of ice or frozen gel-packs on hand before starting to pack food. If you take perishable foods along (for example, meat, poultry, eggs, and salads) for eating on the road or to cook at your vacation spot, plan to keep everything on ice in your cooler.

Pack Safely...
Pack perishable foods directly from the refrigerator or freezer into the cooler. Meat and poultry may be packed while it is still frozen; in that way it stays colder longer. Also, a full cooler will maintain its cold temperatures longer than one that is partially filled. Be sure to keep raw meat and poultry wrapped separately from cooked foods, or foods meant to be eaten raw such as fruits.

If the cooler is only partially filled, pack the remaining space with more ice. For long trips to the shore or the mountains, take along two coolers — one for the day's immediate food needs, such as lunch, drinks or snacks, and the other for perishable foods to be used later in the vacation. Limit the times the cooler is opened. Open and close the lid quickly.

Now, follow these food safety tips:

When Camping...
Remember to keep the cooler in a shady spot. Keep it covered with a blanket, tarp or poncho, preferably one that is light in color to reflect heat.

Bring along bottled water or other canned or bottled drinks. Always assume that streams and rivers are not safe for drinking. If camping in a remote area, bring along water purification tablets or equipment. These are available at camping supply stores.

Keep hands and all utensils clean when preparing food. Use disposable moist towels to clean hands. When planning meals, think about buying and using shelf-stable food to ensure food safety.

When Boating...
If boating on vacation, or out for the day, make sure the all-important cooler is along.

Don't let perishable food sit out while swimming or fishing. Remember, food sitting out for more than 2 hours is not safe. The time frame is reduced to just 1 hour if the outside temperature is above 90 °F.

Now, about that "catch" of fish — assuming the big one did not get away. For fin fish: scale, gut and clean the fish as soon as they are caught. Wrap both whole and cleaned fish in water-tight plastic and store on ice. Keep 3-4 inches of ice on the bottom of the cooler. Alternate layers of fish and ice. Cook the fish in 1-2 days, or freeze. After cooking, eat within 3-4 days. Make sure the raw fish stays separate from cooked foods.

Crabs, lobsters and other shellfish must be kept alive until cooked. Store in a bushel or laundry basket under wet burlap. Crabs and lobsters are best eaten the day they are caught. Live oysters can keep 7-10 days; mussels and clams, 4-5 days.

Caution: Be aware of the potential dangers of eating raw shellfish. This is especially true for persons with liver disorders or weakened immune systems. However, no one should eat raw shellfish.

When at the Beach
Plan ahead. Take along only the amount of food that can be eaten to avoid having leftovers. If grilling, make sure local ordinances allow it.

Bring the cooler! Partially bury it in the sand, cover with blankets, and shade with a beach umbrella.

Bring along disposable moist towelettes for cleaning hands.

If dining along the boardwalk, make sure the food stands frequented look clean, and that hot foods are served hot and cold foods cold. Don't eat anything that has been sitting out in the hot sun for more than 2 hours (1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F) — a real invitation for foodborne illness and a spoiled vacation.

When in the Vacation Home or the Recreation Vehicle...
If a vacation home or a recreational vehicle has not been used for a while, check leftover canned food from last year. The Meat and Poultry Hotline recommends that canned foods which may have been exposed to freezing and thawing temperatures over the winter be discarded.

Also, check the refrigerator. If unplugged from last year, thoroughly clean it before using. Make sure the refrigerator, food preparation areas, and utensils in the vacation home or in the recreational vehicle are thoroughly cleaned with hot soapy water.

What happens to the polar bears and seals when sea ice melts?

Polar bears and their prey have evolved to living in the extreme conditions of the Arctic. Polar bears and seals are dependent on sea-ice for foraging, resting, and reproduction. The Arctic ecosystem was shaped by climate and continues to be driven today by climate. Polar bears and ice seals, primarily ringed seals, serve as key indicators of the effects of climate change on the Arctic environment. Today, polar bear populations are facing threats previously unprecedented during recorded history in the Arctic. Recent climate change scenarios based upon modeling of climate trend data predict that the Arctic region will experience major changes in the upcoming decades. On the most drastic end of the spectrum one model predicts that the Arctic basin may be void of ice within 50 years. Other models have shown that ice thickness has decreased by 40% during the past 30 years and the average annual extent of ice coverage in the polar region has diminished substantially, with an average annual reduction of over 1 million square kilometers.

While the ultimate or progressively evolving effects of climatic change on polar bear populations is not certain, we do recognize that even minor climate changes could likely have a profound effect on polar bears.

• Climate changes on prey species will have a negative effect on polar bears
o increased snow can result in reduced success in successfully entering seal birth lairs
o decreased snow or increased seasonal rain patterns could effect seal pupping by not providing adequate snow for construction of birth lairs or if rain fall by collapsing birth lairs thus reducing seal productivity
o prey reductions could effect polar bear condition and ultimately cub production and survival

• Changes that alter the period of ice coverage could affect distribution and impact polar bears
o bears may spend greater amounts of time on land
o extended use of terrestrial areas would ultimately effect physical condition of bears when forced to rely on fat stores
o decreased physical condition could effect production and survival
o bears using deteriorating pack ice may experience increased energetic costs associated with movements and swimming

• Denning could be impacted by unusual warm spells
o access to high quality denning areas may be limited or restricted
o use of less desirable denning habitat could have impacts on reproduction and survival
o rain or warming could directly cause snow dens to collapse or be opened to ambient conditions
o loss of thermal insulative properties in opened dens could affect litter survival

Hummingbird helps researchers to study and monitor air quality

Hummingbirds seem to defy gravity. These tiny fliers can stop in mid-flight, hover, fly backwards, or zip away so fast it appears they simply vanish into thin air, like fairies. To do so, they flap their small but strong, flexible wings at a dizzying rate of 80 beats per second. So fast, that you can hear the characteristic hum of wings cutting through air, but not actually see them move.

The main reason for the hummingbirds' aerial efforts is food. Hummingbirds are nectar specialists, feeding on the sugary, high-energy liquid that plants secrete in their flowers. Hovering gives hummingbirds the ability to efficiently sip nectar where no perches exist. Flying fast between flowers minimizes time between meals, an important factor for an animal that must eat more than one-and-a-half times its weight per day to meet its metabolic demands.

What the researchers find from monitoring hummingbirds will help the EPA's overall efforts to study and monitor air quality. The team plans to build on their initial study this summer by determining the size of the birds' feeding range, which may also be influenced by air quality. Whatever the team discovers in the future may have important implications for human health.

Interesting capabilities of Crocodiles

• they can hold their breath underwater for up to one and a half hours

• they have a lingual gland at the back of the throat that removes salt from their body

• their brain is only the size of a walnut but it still allows enough 'processing' to take place to enable the animal to make a decision about whether to attack or not

• crocs replace their teeth by growing new ones inside old ones which eventually fall out

• the stomach of the crocodile is only about the size of a basketball and contrary to legends and 'old wives' tales', crocs do not store their food - they eat it right away

• of 23 species of crocodiles worldwide, Australian crocodile is considered the most aggressive

Facts on Spacesuits and Spacewalking:

1. Spacesuits help astronauts in several ways. Spacewalking astronauts face a wide variety of temperatures. In Earth orbit, conditions can be as cold as minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit. In the sunlight, they can be as hot as 250 degrees. A spacesuit protects astronauts from those extreme temperatures.
2. NASA's first spacesuits were made for the Mercury program. Mercury was the first time NASA astronauts flew into space. The Mercury suits were worn only inside the spacecraft.
3. NASA's first spacewalks took place during the Gemini program.
4. Spacesuits for the Apollo program had boots made to walk on rocky ground. The Apollo suits also had a life support system. The astronauts could go far away from the lunar lander because they weren't connected to it by a hose.
5. Spacesuits like the Apollo suits were used on the Skylab space station missions. Like the Gemini suits, these suits connected to Skylab with a hose.
6. Astronauts wear orange spacesuits called "launch and entry suits" during launch and landing of the space shuttle. In space, these suits can be worn only inside the shuttle.
7. An EVA is a spacewalk that takes place outside of a spacecraft. EVA stands for "extravehicular activity."
8. The first EVA (extravehicular activity, or spacewalk) took place on March 18, 1965, during the Soviet Union's Voskhod 2 orbital mission when cosmonaut Alexei Leonov first departed the spacecraft in Earth orbit to test the concept.
9. Edward H. White II performed the first EVA by an American on June 3, 1965, in Gemini IV.
10. The first EVA that was a moonwalk rather than a spacewalk was made by American astronaut Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969, during Apollo 11.
11. Twelve men have walked on the moon, two each on six different Apollo missions.
12. Alan Shepard is the only person to hit a golf ball on the moon. During the Apollo 14 mission, he fitted an 8 iron head to the handle of a lunar sample collection device and launched three golf balls. They are still there!
13. The Apollo spacesuit was basically a one-piece suit, which astronauts entered from the back. Each suit was made to fit (custom-tailored to) each astronaut. Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969. Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong is seen reflected in Aldrin's helmet visor. Image Credit: NASA
14. Each Apollo mission required 15 suits to support the mission. For the main, or prime, three-man crew, each member had three suits: one for flight; one for training; and one as a flight backup in case something happened to the flight suit. Thus, the prime crew had a total of nine suits. The backup three-man crew each had two suits: one for flight and one for training.
15. Astronauts usually use tethers to keep them attached to the spacecraft while on a spacewalk. The first untethered spacewalk was by American astronaut Bruce McCandless II on Feb. 7, 1984, during Challenger mission STS-41-B.
16. The first woman to perform an EVA was cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya during Soyuz T-12 on July 17, 1984.
17. On Oct. 11, 1984, Katherine Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to walk in space.
18. The first and only three-person EVA was performed on May 13, 1992, as the third spacewalk of STS-49.
19. On Feb. 9, 1995, Bernard A. Harris Jr. became the first African-American to perform a spacewalk.
20. The longest EVA was 8 hours and 56 minutes, performed by Susan J. Helms and James S. Voss during STS-102 on March 11, 2001.
21. The first EVA where an astronaut performed an in-flight repair of the space shuttle orbiter was by American astronaut Steve Robinson on Aug. 3, 2005, during STS-114. Robinson removed two protruding gap fillers from space shuttle Discovery's heatshield while the shuttle was docked to the International Space Station.
22. Cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyev holds the record for the most spacewalks -- 16, with a total duration of 82 hours and 22 minutes.
23. Captain Michael Lopez-Alegria holds the American record for number of EVAs -- 10, with a total duration of 67 hours and 40 minutes.Space shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless became the first astronaut to maneuver about in space untethered. He wore a jetpack-like device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit, or MMU. Image Credit: NASA
24. A spacesuit weighs approximately 280 pounds on the ground -- without the astronaut in it. In the microgravity environment of space, a spacesuit weighs nothing.
25. Putting on a spacesuit takes 45 minutes, including the time it takes to put on the special undergarments that help keep astronauts cool. After putting on the spacesuit, to adapt to the lower pressure maintained in the suit, the astronaut must spend a little more than an hour breathing pure oxygen before going outside the pressurized module.
26. The reason that spacesuits are white is because white reflects heat in space the same as it does here on Earth. Temperatures in direct sunlight in space can be more than 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
27. No difference exists in a male's or female's suit, though the female astronaut usually requires a smaller size.
28. The shuttle spacesuit was designed to be made of many interchangeable parts, to accommodate the large number of astronauts with widely varying body sizes. These parts (upper and lower torsos, arms, etc.) are made in different sizes.
29. The body measurements of each shuttle astronaut are taken and recorded. Then the measurements are plotted against the size ranges available for each spacesuit component. The suit components are then assembled. Training suits are usually assembled nine months prior to flight, and flight suits are usually assembled four months prior to flight.
30. Shuttle spacesuits are made by sewing and cementing various materials together, and then attaching metal parts that let the different components be joined together.
31. Shuttle spacesuit materials include ortho-fabric, aluminized mylar, neoprene-coated nylon, dacron, urethane-coated nylon, tricot, nylon/spandex, stainless steel, and high-strength composite materials.
32. Just before a shuttle mission, the suits designated for flight are tested, cleaned and packed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Then they are flown to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and stowed on the shuttle orbiter. After each flight, the suits are returned to Johnson for postflight processing and reuse.
33. The Neutral Buoyancy Lab is a large indoor pool that is 202 feet in length, 102 feet in width, and 40 feet in depth (20 feet above ground level and 20 feet below). The pool holds 6.2 million gallons of water.
34. The Sonny Carter Training Facility including the Neutral Buoyancy Lab provides controlled neutral buoyancy operations to simulate the microgravity or weightless condition that is experienced by spacecraft and crew during spaceflight. For the astronaut, the facility provides important preflight training for extravehicular activities and with the dynamics of body motion under weightless conditions.Astronauts practice repairs to a Hubble Space Telescope model underwater at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston, Texas. Image Credit: NASA
35. Some astronauts train for spacewalks on the Precision Air Bearing Floor. The PABF is like a giant air hockey floor where jets of air allow massive objects to move with no friction. The floor is a metal surface 32 feet by 24 feet (10 meters by 7 meters). Moving something along on the floor gives an astronaut a sense of how an object might move in space with no force of gravity acting on it.
36. POGO is a device that uses cables connected to the ceiling to suspend an astronaut. POGO supports five-sixths of a person's weight; it mimics the one-sixth gravity of the moon. An astronaut walking around on POGO has the sensation of walking on the moon. POGO has been around since the Apollo days -- in fact, the device gets its name from the way Apollo astronauts tended to bounce when suspended from it. The real name for POGO is the Partial Gravity Simulator.
37. Astronauts use Lower Torso Assembly Donning Handles to pull the spacesuit pants up onto their bodies.
38. The spacesuit has two other sets of gloves that astronauts can use. Comfort Gloves are worn under the EVA glove and aid EVA glove donning, doffing and wicking away perspiration. They provide some additional thermal protection. Adjustable Thermal Mittens provide added protection in extreme temperature environments.
39. Thermofoil heaters are attached inside each of the fingertips in one of the layers of the glove. The heaters are located approximately over each of the crew member’s fingernails. The heaters have an on-off switch near each of the gloves' wrists.
40. EVA astronauts usually handle from 70 to 110 tools, tethers and associated equipment for a typical spacewalk.
41. Putting a spacesuit on is called "donning" the suit. Removing the suit is called "doffing."

Common characteristics of tiger

Tigers have historically lived in a wide variety of climates and habitats from Turkey east to China and from Siberia south to the Indonesian islands. They are the largest of the cats living on earth today.

After about 103 days of gestation, female tigers of all the subspecies produce a litter of between 1 and 5 cubs (2-3 is average). At 8 weeks, cubs start learning to hunt with their mother. By 6 months they have learned the basics of killing animal. It will be about 1 ½ years before they can really hunt and sustain themselves on their own.

Because these cats are so large, they require large species of prey animals. As you imagine, tigers naturally travel over large areas in search of prey. As the human population of the world and fragmentation of forests and wild lands continues, tigers are colliding with humans and losing the battle for wild places with enough large prey animals to sustain them. Tigers are also being killed for their spectacular fur coats and for Asian medicinal products.