Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are studying the environmental impact that unique patterns of deforestation in Rondonia, Brazil, have on the land and climate.
The decomposition of plant, animal and microbial material in soil and water produces a variety of complex organic molecules, collectively called natural organic matter. These compounds play many important roles in the environment.
How is motherhood different than it was a century ago? In the past, live-in grandmothers, relatives and other women were frequently available to assist with childcare. But times have changed. New research by Brown University sociologist Susan E. Short shows that today’s mothers with young children are getting substantially less help around the house. Even when other women are living in the household, they aren’t necessarily on hand to help with the kids. This research appears in Demography.
Small insects that inhabit some of the most remote parts of the United States are sending a strong message about climate change. New research suggests that changes in midge communities in some of these areas provide additional evidence that the globe is indeed getting warmer. Researchers created a history of changing midge communities for six remote mountain lakes in the western United States.
Are you one of those people who never forgets a face? New research from Vanderbilt University suggests that we can remember more faces than other objects and that faces “stick” the best in our short-term memory. The reason may be that our expertise in remembering faces allows us to package them better for memory.
Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have again broken their own speed record for the world’s fastest transistor. With a frequency of 845 gigahertz, their latest device is approximately 300 gigahertz faster than transistors built by other research groups, and approaches the goal of a terahertz device.
New instrumentation and observing techniques, being developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, are helping scientists better understand and predict space weather.
New findings indicate that the aurora and other near-Earth space weather are driven by the rate at which the Earth’s and sun’s magnetic fields connect, or merge, and not by the solar wind’s electric field as was previously assumed.
Ohio State University researchers have demonstrated that a satellite radar system can be used to gauge water levels in vegetated wetlands. C.K. Shum, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State, and his colleagues hope to develop the technique to aid studies of wetland hydrology — including the role that wetlands play in quelling storm surges caused by large hurricanes.
Interim data from a clinical trial using Aldagen’s product, ALDESORT? to isolate stem cells from cord blood was presented at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology demonstrating improved safety and efficacy when using ALDESORT compared to the COBLT control group. The trial is being conducted by Joanne Kurtzberg, MD, the Duke University physician who pioneered the use of umbilical cord blood as treatment for fatal childhood cancers and genetic diseases.