How waves go rogue...

This is really more science than business but I thought it was interesting to share since it goes into detail as to how waves can become Rogue waves. Wired did a nice job on the article, part of which:

Until recently, scientists were skeptical that rogue waves even exist, because evidence of them was mostly anecdotal. More often called “freak waves,” these monsters of the sea were confirmed only six years ago by satellite images and extensive studies carried out by MaxWave, a research group funded by the European Commission of studies.

Waves over 100 feet tall have been spotted by oceanographers, scientists and vessel passengers. The highest wave ever recorded was 112 feet tall, spotted in the Pacific by a U.S. Navy tanker in the 1920s. Now, whenever large ships get lost at sea and never return, many are quick to speculate they were victims of rogue waves.

Rogue waves occur in the open ocean in a number of ways. One common cause is when two smaller waves coalesce to produce a very large wave for a short time.

wave_crest“You get waves that add up — smaller waves that constructively interfere and for a short time produce a very large wave,” Washburn said. “When they add up, they can make an extra high crest and an extra deep trough.”

Another way rogue waves propagate is when an ocean wave encounters a very strong current that’s running counter to the direction of the wave, according to Washburn. The Agulhas Current, which flows down the eastern coast of South Africa, is notorious for producing rogue waves.

Advance reported in peanut allergy therapy

I know a few people who have allergies to peanuts, I never realized how many products out there contain peanuts until I was shopping for treat items for one of my children's class parties a few years ago and knew one of their classmates had a severe allergy. Now according to CNN there is an advance in research being promoted where the person is slowly desensitized to peanut products, similar to what is done with allergy shots.

If this works, it could change the lives of many of those impacted...

Aftershocks in Haiti could continue for years...

Not really good news from Wired:

A preliminary U.S. Geological Survey assessment has found that the sequence of aftershocks following the magnitude 7 earthquake that struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Jan. 12 is likely to continue for months, possibly years.

Though the frequency of aftershocks will decrease over time, there is still potential for quakes large enough to cause more damage in the coming months, and a small possibility of an event larger than the main shock, according to a team of USGS scientists.

Their initial probability estimates for the next 30 days are that there is a 3 percent chance of a magnitude 7 or greater quake, a 25 percent chance of a magnitude 6 or greater quake and a 90 percent chance of a magnitude 5 or greater quake.

“Any aftershock above magnitude 5.0 will be widely felt and has the potential to cause additional damage, particularly to vulnerable, already damaged structures,” according to the USGS statement released Thursday evening.

Then there's this:

The scientists are also concerned because it’s unclear how much of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault, which bounds the North American and Caribbean plates, ruptured in the earthquake. Analysis of ground deformation at the surface using satellite and aerial photos and preliminary radar data suggests that the segment of the fault directly east of the rupture and directly under Port-au-Prince did not slip. This means it could rupture in the future.

Here's an additional link of interest related to the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault.

Using science to stop illegal caviar...

Wondering exactly how could science stop illegally harvested caviar? Well, it's all in what they feed the fish according to this New Scientist magazine article and it's really kind of interesting...(Even though I'm not a fan of caviar.)

Sven Wuertz at Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany, and his colleagues set out to investigate whether it would be possible to tag farmed caviar by feeding fish special diets.

They raised female Acipenser ruthenus sturgeons on a diet supplemented with three tracer chemicals: alpha-tocopherol, caprylic acid and capric acid. After 10, 60 and 90 days, Wuertz' team made tiny incisions in the fish's ovaries and measured the accumulation of the chemicals in the caviar.

While alpha-tocopherol and caprylic acid failed to accumulate, within 10 days of starting the experiment capric acid was detectable in both mature and maturing females. Levels of the tracer chemical increased constantly throughout the trial period.

The concentrations of capric acid in the caviar were too low to change its taste. Because of this, Wuertz believes his team has hit on a cheap and simple tool for labelling farmed caviar that could be used under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which regulates international trade in caviar

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Consumerism is 'eating the future' ?

According to this New Scientist article it is. Why is that felt to be true?

One speaker in Albuquerque, epidemiologist Warren Hern of the University of Colorado at Boulder, even likened the expansion of human cities to the growth and spread of cancer, predicting "death" of the Earth in about 2025. He points out that like the accelerated growth of a cancer, the human population has quadrupled in the past 100 years, and at this rate will reach a size in 2025 that leads to global collapse and catastrophe.

But there's worse. Not only are we simply doing what all creatures do: we're doing it better. In recent times we're doing it even faster because of changes in society that encourage and celebrate conspicuous and excessive consumption.

"Biologists have shown that it's a natural tendency of living creatures to fill up all available habitat and use up all available resources," says William Rees of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. "That's what underlies Darwinian evolution, and species that do it best are the ones that survive, but we do it better than any other species," he told me prior to the conference.

Moving sidewalks actually slow you down?

This was an interesting piece, in New Scientist because it points out that moving sidewalks or the formal name of "travelators" can actually make people move slower rather than faster when it comes to getting from point A to point B. I'll never forget my children's reaction to the first time they saw one of these horizontal escalators, and I admit in my recent travels I have noticed some people moving actually faster walking next to the travelator than those actually on the travelator. For me? I use them as a quick break, especially if I have to walk a rather long distance to pick up the next plane...

Space Tourism one step closer...

For some of us it takes a while to save enough money to fly a regular plane to go somewhere, but for those with just a little more financial resources, the ability to fly in space has come one step closer with the maiden test flight of the WhiteKnightTwo mothership. It looks like two planes welded together, with the smaller WhiteKnightTwo space ship being in the middle.



As seen in the picture, this is the brainchild of Richard Branson and his Virgin Group.

The scientific guide to gift wrapping

Yes, Virginia one does exist. It was a very interesting read, which I recommend. It might just help you when you come across that present that you are not quite sure how to wrap...

The scientific guide to gift wrapping...

Forget man on the moon - telescope on the moon

That is exactly what scientists are proposing, an enormous liquid-mirror telescope on the moon that would be even more precise than the current Hubble Space Telescope. It's a very interesting article that goes into detail as to the cost and the science involved in getting the design to a stage where it is actually possible. Granted, it's estimated to cost 4.5 billion dollars but considering the potential for learning more about our galaxy and those beyond? The benefits could be very rewarding.

New twist on creating the "mile high" club?

Okay, I know, I need to try to keep my mind out of the gutter, however I couldn't help but think about some of the many scenarios that could end up happening when people were flying the friendly skies after reading this:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The male impotence drug Viagra may be useful for treating jet lag as well, according to Argentine researchers who gave it to hamsters made to feel like rodent globe-trotters.

The researchers manipulated the schedule of turning lights on and off to induce jet lag in the laboratory animals, they reported Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Adult male hamsters given Viagra, also called sildenafil, recovered from jet lag up to 50 percent faster than hamsters that were not given it, the researchers said.

What about the female hamsters you ask?

No mention at all which means if this does work? Appears it could be for men only...

:-)

Wierd Science...

I grew up always interested in science and how things work, which meant as a parent, I did the same things with my children as they grew up. Sometimes we would make use of science kits, sometimes we would basically create our own. I didn't differentiate between my son and my daughters in these adventures, whether it was teaching them how to make a fake volcano that really erruputed using household chemicals or whether it was making sugar and salt crystals of different colors. We went thru several different types of microscopes that we used to look at environmental issues such as different types of water. Now of course things have changed where you can actually buy kits that will go much more into detail than when my older four were younger, this makes it so much easier to bring science into your home.

With all of them but more so with my youngest daughter we have spent quite a bit of time on astronomy, she was probably the only first grader who could tell you not only all of the planets but most of the main stars in the sky. I truly believe the end result of this type of home activity has been helpful in making them all better students. Each one of my children has made the honor roll, my oldest daughter was ranked second in her high school graduating class and is studying to be a mechanical engineer as well as heavily involved in Rube Goldberg. Allowing them to be creative and to experiment with science, though at times it did create a bit of a mess, is something I expect that I'll do with my grandchildren when that day comes as well...

Study will create more questions on abstinence funding...

It has been stated frequently that abstinence only programs do not prevent teens from having sex and the results of various studies have been debated and discussed with each side finding one that "fits" their argument. The most recent study released according to this AP news article on abstinence programs suggests they do not work:

For its study, Mathematica looked at students in four abstinence programs around the country as well as students from the same communities who did not participate in the abstinence programs. The 2,057 youths came from big cities - Miami and Milwaukee - as well as rural communities - Powhatan, Va., and Clarksdale, Miss.

The students who participated in abstinence education did so for one to three years. Their average age was 11 to 12 when they entered the programs back in 1999.

Mathematica then did a follow up survey in late 2005 and early 2006. By that time, the average age for participants was about 16.5. Mathematica found that about half of the abstinence students and about half from the control group reported that they remained abstinent.

As the article states, the study does indicate that the claims made by some that abstinence only programs actually increase numbers of teens who have sex would also be disproven if this study is accepted, the same as it would demonstrate that abstinence only programs do not stop teens from having sex. What the affect this will have on congress's funding decisions remains to be seen.

Science and God...

I highly recommend reading this article on CNN by Francis S. Collins, who is the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. It's a common misconception that all scientists are atheist, and as Collins points out in the title to this piece, Why this scientist believes in God, he has reasons...