House

New research indicates a 'troubled' greenhouse is brewing

Climates like those of the movie "Monsoon Wedding" may extend more widely into Africa, North America and South America, according to a University of Oregon geologist's analysis of an ancient greenhouse event. "We know the gathering greenhouse will be warm, but this new information confirms that the contrast between the rainy season and the dry season will increase dramatically," says Greg...

DOE JGI launches IMG public online microbial genome data clearinghouse

As the microbial world comes to light through DNA sequencing, the new Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) data management system of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) will deliver valuable information for the benefit of the global research community. "The IMG system is an essential enhancement to the computational toolkit supported by DOE," said Dr. Aristides...

Bacteria in Household Dust May Trigger Asthma Symptoms

New research shows that bacteria lurking in household dust produce chemicals that may trigger asthma and asthma-related symptoms such as wheezing. These bacterial chemicals, called endotoxins, particularly those found on bedroom floors, were linked with increased respiratory problems in adults. This study, supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a part of the...

Housecat-sized Siberian tiger cubs get collared

The International HapMap Project was initiated with the primary goal of facilitating medical studies and understanding the genomic basis for human diseases. To coordinate with the journal is announcing a special issue entitled "Human Genome Variation," which is entirely devoted to studies using these data to pr...

Asleep in the deep: Model helps assess ocean-injection strategy for combating greenhouse effect

In searching for ways to counteract the greenhouse effect, some scientists have proposed capturing the culprit---carbon dioxide---as it is emitted from power plants, then liquefying the gas and injecting it into the ocean. But there are pitfalls in that plan. The carbon dioxide can rise toward the surface, turn into gas bubbles and vent to the atmosphere, defeating the purpose of the whol...

Food-crop yields in future greenhouse-gas conditions lower than expected

Open-air field trials involving five major food crops grown under carbon-dioxide levels projected for the future are harvesting dramatically less bounty than those raised in earlier greenhouse and other enclosed test conditions ?and scientists warn that global food supplies could be at risk without changes in production strategies. The new findings are based on on-going open-air research a...

Plutonium or greenhouse gases? Weighing the energy options

Can nuclear energy save us from global warming? Perhaps, but the tradeoffs involved are sobering: thousands of metric tons of nuclear waste generated each year and a greatly increased risk of nuclear weapons proliferation or diversion of nuclear material into terrorists' hands. So concludes University of Michigan professor Rodney Ewing, who has analyzed just how much nuclear power would n...

Siberian lakes burp 'time-bomb' greenhouse gas

Frozen bubbles in Siberian lakes are releasing methane, a greenhouse gas, at rates that appear to be "... five times higher than previously estimated" and acting as a positive feedback to climate warming, said Katey Walter, in a paper published today in the journal Nature. Walter's project is the first time this type of bubbling has been accurately quantified. "We realized that our previou...

Household transmission of SARS: Lessons learned

In the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Toronto, Ontario, about 20% of cases resulted from household transmission (spread of the infection within a household). Wilson-Clark and colleagues studied the characteristics of these household transmissions and report on risk factors that contributed to the spread of infection. Primary risk factors for transmission fall...

Bumblebee house warming -- it takes a village

All bumblebees always aren't as busy as, well, a bee. It all depends on what their job is. Researchers have known that a key to the insects' success in adapting to cooler climates is their ability to maintain fairly stable body temperatures when flying to flowers. Whether and how they maintained nest temperature was poorly understood. But now scientists from the University of Washington...

Dirty snow may warm Arctic as much as greenhouse gases

Snow becomes dirty when soot from tailpipes, smoke stacks and forest fires enters the atmosphere and falls to the ground. Soot-infused sn...