Ocean Cooling Contributed to Mid-20th Century Global Warming Hiatus

Iceberg in the icefjord near the city of Ilulissat in Greenland. While the temperature drop was evident in data from all Northern Hemisphere oceans, it was most pronounced in the northern North Atlantic, a region of the world ocean thought to be climatically dynamic. (Credit: iStockphoto/Anders Peter Amsnæs)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Sep. 23, 2010) — The hiatus of global warming in the Northern Hemisphere during the mid-20th century may have been due to an abrupt cooling event centered over the North Atlantic around 1970, rather than the cooling effects of tropospheric pollution, according to a new paper appearing Sept. 22 in Nature.

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Itsy Bitsy Spider's Web 10 Times Stronger Than Kevlar

The web of the Darwin's bark spider (Caerostris darwini), can span some square feet (2.8 square meters) and is attached to each riverbank by anchor threads as long as 82 feet (25 meters). Credit: Matjaz Kuntner.

From Live Science:

Scientists have found the toughest material made by life yet — the silk of a spider whose giant webs span rivers, streams and even lakes.

Spider silks were already the toughest known biomaterials, able to absorb massive amounts of energy before breaking. However, researchers have now revealed the Darwin's bark spider (Caerostris darwini) has the toughest silk ever seen — more than twice as tough as any previously described silk, and more than 10 times stronger than Kevlar.

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Amazing Sight in the South Pacific

From Funzug.com

A yacht was traveling in the south Pacific when the crew came across a weird sight. Look at these photos and try to imagine the thrill of experiencing this phenomenon.

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Editor's Note

Updating my computers, regular blogging will resume tomorrow.

How Change of Seasons Affects Animals and Humans

The equinox, on Wednesday evening, marks the beginning of fall and less daylight for the Northern Hemisphere. The change can have profound effects on animals and is also partially responsible for fall foliage. Credit: Dreamstime.

From Live Science:

Tomorrow (Sept. 22) at 11:09 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, the center of the sun will cross Earth's equator, marking the autumnal equinox, and the start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere.

For a brief period, days and nights around the world each last close to 12 hours (day and night are not exactly equal, as the term “equinox” is meant to imply). Then, as the Earth continues its path around the sun, days become shorter and nights lengthen, with the change becoming more pronounced in the higher latitudes, but remaining nonexistent at the equator.

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Boeing Wins Bid to Build Vulture, The Solar Spyplane That Stays Aloft For Five Years

SolarEagle Boeing's SolarEagle will fly continuously for five years under DARPA's Vulture II program. Boeing

From Popular Science:

Boeing’s spyplane development wing won an $89 million contract this week to build the SolarEagle unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, designed to fly continuously for five years at 65,000 feet.

As the winner of Darpa’s Vulture II program, the plane really only has to fly for one to three months by 2014, however.

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Black Strings: Black Holes With Extra Dimensions

Five-dimensional black strings evolve into black holes connected by black string filaments, in this computer simulation. Credit: Pretorius/Lehner

From Live Science:

Meet the Bizarro universe version of a black hole: a black string.

These hypothetical objects might form if our universe has hidden extra dimensions beyond the three of space and one of time that we can see, scientists say. A new study of five-dimensional black strings offers a glimpse into how these strange objects might evolve over time – if indeed they exist at all.

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Germany's North Sea Wind Turbines Attracting Sea Strangers

An aerial view of the offshore energy park Alpha Ventus in the North Sea, about 45 kilometres (27 miles) north of the island of Borkum, April 27, 2010. "Alpha Ventus," the first German wind park in the North Sea, has become home to a new biotope. On the foundations of the turbines, which began operating this spring, scientists have found oysters, crabs, sea anemones, and mussels. (Ingo Wagner/Pool/Reuters)

From ABC News/Spiegel Online:

A slew of non-native marine species have made their home on the Alpha Ventus wind turbines off the German coast in the North Sea. Scientists say the oysters and crabs, among others, have not affected the structures.

"Alpha Ventus," the first German wind park in the North Sea, has become home to a new biotope. On the foundations of the turbines, which began operating this spring, scientists have found oysters, crabs, sea anemones, and mussels.

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The Pill At 50: Maybe Not The Best Birth Control For 2010

The birth control pill's simplicity helped it beat out competition - diaphragms, timed intercourse - in 1960. But today having to take a pill daily is a major shortcoming. TIM MATSUI / Getty Images

From Philadelphia Inquirer:

The Pill turned 50 this year. Is it aging gracefully?

There's no doubt that it revolutionized contraception after Food and Drug Administration approval in 1960. It offered women a safe, effective way to prevent unplanned pregnancies. Women chose it over less reliable methods such as timed intercourse and the diaphragm.

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Reprogrammable Card Can Be Many Credit Cards In One

Card 2.0 The Multi-Account credit card lets you toggle between different accounts at the same bank. Dynamics Inc.

From Popular Science:

A pair of new computerized credit cards can re-program their own magnetic stripes and hide their account numbers, providing added security for bank customers who don’t want to carry lots of plastic inside RFID-proof metal wallets.

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Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

Exercise has been shown to be ineffective when it comes to losing weight – dieting is a better route Photograph: Getty

From The Guardian:

Got a few pounds to lose? Cancel the gym membership. An increasing body of research reveals that exercise does next to nothing for you when it comes to losing weight. A result for couch potatoes, yes, but also one that could have serious implications for the government's long-term health strategy

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Steve Jobs In Email Pissing Match With College Journalism Student

From Gawker:

Steve Jobs is known for replying to random emails sent to his personal Apple email address. Well, a college journalism student from Long Island emailed him about a problem she had with Apple's PR department. Jobs' response? "Leave us alone."

Long Island University senior Chelsea Kate Isaacs, 22, emailed Jobs Thursday with a complaint: Her journalism professor had assigned her a story on a new initiative at her college to buy iPads for all incoming students. She wanted to get a quote from Apple about the use of iPads in academic settings. But when she repeatedly called Apple's PR department, leaving six voice messages, they never got back to her.

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Brain Matter Linked To Introspective Thinking

Views of the inflated cortical surface showing areas of brain grey matter correlating with introspective accuracy. Credit: Science/AAAS

From Cosmos:

WASHINGTON: People with a greater capacity for introspection have more grey matter in certain regions of their brains, according to a recent study.

Comparing the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans from the brains of 32 research subjects, scientists established a link between introspective ability and the size and structure of a small area of the anterior prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain associated with ‘higher-thinking’ skills.

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The Water Of Life: A Small World With Huge Potential

Frozen assets: icy geysers from the south polar region of Enceladus. AFP / Getty Images

From The Independent:

In the icy oceans of Enceladus, one of Saturn's tiny moons, scientists believe that there is proof that aliens exist. So why are there no plans to return to this mysterious miniature world?

In the future, swooping low over a lonely ice-moon of distant Saturn, an unmanned spacecraft will manoeuvre carefully, for it will be in a fragile orbit around a small world of feeble gravity.

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How Should San Francisco Plan For Sea-Level Rise?

BAY CITY: Sea-level rise due to climate change may imperil coastal development.
Mila Zinkova, courtesy WikiCommons

From Scientific American:

A 1,400-acre swath of salt flats along the western edge of San Francisco Bay has become the latest site for a development dispute that promises to become increasingly common in coastal U.S. cities: Whether new waterside growth makes sense when sea levels are rising.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—A 1,400-acre swath of salt flats along the western edge of San Francisco Bay has become the latest site for a development dispute that promises to become increasingly common in coastal U.S. cities: Whether new waterside growth makes sense when sea levels are rising.

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Incredible Pictures Of New York City At Night

On the front: The cover of Hawkes' book New York At Night. The 43-year-old spent 15 weeks putting his collection together

New York By Night: British Photographer's Astounding Scenes Of The Big Apple... Taken From The Open Door Of A Helicopter -- The Daily Mail

It is one of the most distinctive skylines on Earth.

But cloaked in a blanket of darkness, New York's numerous landmarks take on an almost ethereal quality.

Captured at night from around 1,000ft above the ground, these spectacular aerial images offer a striking portrait of one of the world's most vibrant cities, showing it as it has rarely been seen before.

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Pope's Astronomer Would Baptize Aliens

Will Smith delivered an alien baby in the movie "Men in Black." But would he baptize it? Amblin Entertainment

From FOX News:

One of the pope’s astronomers would happily baptize an alien if asked -- “no matter how many tentacles it has.”

Guy Consolmagno, a trained astronomer and planetary scientist at the Vatican’s observatory, discussed a slew of topics at the British Science Festival in Birmingham last weekend, noting that the Vatican was more up to date with the latest scientific developments than most realized.

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Penn Study Shows Why Sleep Is Needed To Form Memories

From Science Codex:

PHILADELPHIA – If you ever argued with your mother when she told you to get some sleep after studying for an exam instead of pulling an all-nighter, you owe her an apology, because it turns out she's right. And now, scientists are beginning to understand why.

In research published this week in Neuron, Marcos Frank, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, postdoctoral researcher Sara Aton, PhD, and colleagues describe for the first time how cellular changes in the sleeping brain promote the formation of memories.

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Sharks Photographed Eating A Whale

Great white shark feeding on a dead Bryde's Whale off Seal Island, Cape, South Africa Photo: ALISON KOCK / SPECIALIST STOCK / BARCROFT MEDIA

From The Telegraph:

Incredible pictures have caught the moment that several Great White Sharks ate a dead whale.

The Great White was seen feeding on a dead Bryde's Whale on September 11, 2010 in Seal Island, Cape, South Africa.

Almost 30 sharks took the opportunity to have lunch when they spotted the whale, giving animal lovers and wildlife experts an extraordinary insight into their feeding behaviours.

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RIM Readies Its Answer To iPad

From The Wall Street Journal:

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. could unveil its new tablet computer—as well as the operating system that will power it—as early as next week at a developers' conference in San Francisco, said people familiar with RIM's plans.

The tablet, which some inside RIM are calling the BlackPad, is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of this year, these people said. It will feature a seven-inch touch screen and one or two built-in cameras, they said.

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