Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Science News for June 11th

Science News.......
Life Science:
New Fossil Bug Species Found in 45-Million-Year-Old Baltic Amber
Over 99.9% of the species to have ever inhabited the Earth are now extinct.  One member of an extinct bug species was found trapped in a 45-million-year-old honey-colored, transparent piece of Baltic amber.  (Baltic amber is a fossilized tree resin found near the shores of the eastern Baltic Sea in Europe.)  Living species of the same genus, Aradus, commonly live on and under the bark of dead trees, which could be an explanation why so many species are well preserved in amber deposits.  The new species has been named Aradus macrosomus. The specific name comes from the Greek words ‘macros’ (large) and ‘soma’ (body), referring to the unusually large size of the bug.
http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/science-fossil-bug-species-baltic-amber-01962.html      
Earth Science:
Scientists Discover New Underwater Volcano on Hawai’i
The Hawaiian Islands formed as the Pacific plate moved over a source of volcanism (a “hot spot”).  The islands formed successively, with each island or submerged seamount in the chain successively older toward the northwest, ranging in age from 7 million to 28 million years.  As we know it today, the island O’ahu is the remnants of two eruptions. But scientists have found that extending almost 100 km from the western tip of this island is a large region called the submarine Ka’ena Ridge.  It is that region that has now been recognized to represent a precursor volcano to the island of O’ahu, and on whose flanks the later volcanoes formed, creating the island as we see it today.
http://www.sci-news.com/geology/science-kaena-volcano-hawaii-01931.html          
Physical Science:
Physicists Detect Energy-Carrying “Exciton” in Metal
An interesting fact about the reflection of light is that the photon (particle of light) that gets reflected from a mirror is not the same photon that first hit the mirror.  The original photon gets absorbed and an identical photon is created emitted in a process that involves a kind of particle called an exciton.  Excitons have been difficult to detect, because they last for only one ten-thousandth of a millionth of a millionth of a second!  But now they have been detected.  The ability to detect excitons in metals will help scientists better understand how light is converted to electrical and chemical energy in plants and solar cells.  In the future it may result in more efficient methods of communication using light.

Astronomy:
Gas Dwarfs: Astronomers Identify New Type of Extrasolar Planets
Our Solar system hosts small, rocky terrestrial planets like Earth and Mars and large gas giants like Neptune and Jupiter.  But it’s missing planets between about one and four times the size of Earth.  NASA’s Kepler mission has recently discovered that this type of planet is very common around other stars.
Science & Society
Gender Bias May Influence Hurricane Preparedness
Hurricane names help to make public safety messages memorable, but new research shows that the choice of name may influence how people react to evacuation orders.  Although the World Meteorological Organization assigns the storms alternating male and female names, historical records show that those with more feminine names had higher death tolls.  Could people be avoiding evacuation because they assume that female-named storms will be gentler?  Researchers tested this idea with written scenarios that described an upcoming storm and asked respondents how dangerous they expected the storm to be and whether they would follow a voluntary evacuation order.  No matter which names they used —Victor/Victoria, Christopher/Christine, or selections from the upcoming hurricane name lists — respondents who read about male-named hurricanes judged them as riskier and said they would be more likely to evacuate than people who read about hurricanes with female names.  The researchers say that this may reflect an "implicit sexism" that gets in the way of understanding and responding to public safety messages.  A new naming system perhaps based on animals or objects may be in order, they suggest.

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