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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News


Sulfur finding may hold key to Gaia theory of Earth as living organism

Posted: 15 May 2012 05:31 PM PDT

Is Earth really a sort of giant living organism as the Gaia hypothesis predicts? A new discovery may provide a key to answering this question. This key of sulfur could allow scientists to unlock heretofore hidden interactions between ocean organisms, atmosphere, and land -- interactions that might provide evidence supporting this famous theory.

Hidden lives of elephant seals: Record-setting dive more than a mile deep

Posted: 15 May 2012 05:30 PM PDT

The same researchers who pioneered the use of satellite tags to monitor the migrations of elephant seals have compiled one of the largest datasets available for any marine mammal species, revealing their movements and diving behavior at sea in unprecedented detail.

Ancient sea reptile with gammy jaw suggests dinosaurs got arthritis too

Posted: 15 May 2012 05:30 PM PDT

Imagine having arthritis in your jaw bones ... if they're over 2 meters long! A new study has found signs of a degenerative condition similar to human arthritis in the jaw of a pliosaur, an ancient sea reptile that lived 150 million years ago. Such a disease has never been described before in fossilized Jurassic reptiles.

Mixed bacterial communities evolve to share resources, not compete

Posted: 15 May 2012 05:30 PM PDT

New research shows how bacteria evolve to increase ecosystem functioning by recycling each other's waste. The study provides some of the first evidence for how interactions between species shape evolution when there is a diverse community.

New look at prolonged radiation exposure: At low dose-rate, radiation poses little risk to DNA, study suggests

Posted: 15 May 2012 03:12 PM PDT

A new study suggests that the guidelines governments use to determine when to evacuate people following a nuclear accident may be too conservative.

Drugs from gila monster lizard saliva reduces cravings for chocolate and ordinary food

Posted: 15 May 2012 01:54 PM PDT

A drug made from the saliva of the Gila monster lizard is effective in reducing the craving for food. Researchers have tested the drug on rats, who after treatment ceased their cravings for both food and chocolate.

Statistical analysis projects future temperatures in North America

Posted: 15 May 2012 10:16 AM PDT

For the first time, researchers have been able to combine different climate models using spatial statistics -- to project future seasonal temperature changes in regions across North America.

Tiny plants could cut costs, shrink environmental footprint

Posted: 15 May 2012 07:46 AM PDT

Tall, waving corn fields that line Midwestern roads may one day be replaced by dwarfed versions that require less water, fertilizer and other inputs, thanks to a fungicide commonly used on golf courses.

Arctic seabirds adapt to climate change

Posted: 15 May 2012 06:39 AM PDT

The planet is warming up, especially at the poles. How do organisms react to this rise in temperatures? Biologists have now shown that little auks, the most common seabirds in the Arctic, are adapting their fishing behavior to warming surface waters in the Greenland Sea. So far, their reproductive and survival rates have not been affected. However, further warming could threaten the species.

First ever record of insect pollination from 100 million years ago

Posted: 14 May 2012 12:31 PM PDT

Amber from the Cretaceous period found in Spain has revealed the first ever fossil record of insect pollination. Scientists discovered and studied with X-rays at the ESRF a specimen of a tiny insect covered with pollen grains. This is the first record of pollen transport and social behavior in this group of animals.

New species of fish in Sweden

Posted: 14 May 2012 10:43 AM PDT

Reticulated dragonet have been found in Väderöarna -- "Weather Islands" -- off the west coast of Sweden. It is not often that a new species of fish is discovered in Sweden.

Locating lice as they hitch-hike with birds for life

Posted: 14 May 2012 10:42 AM PDT

Although chewing lice spend their entire lives as parasites on birds, it is difficult to predict patterns of lice distribution, new research reveals.

Time, place and how wood is used are factors in carbon emissions from deforestation

Posted: 13 May 2012 11:46 AM PDT

A new study holds implications for the impact of biofuels production on deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. The volume of greenhouse gas released when a forest is cleared depends on how the trees will be used and in which part of the world the trees are grown.

ScienceDaily: Top Science News

ScienceDaily: Top Science News


Sulfur finding may hold key to Gaia theory of Earth as living organism

Posted: 15 May 2012 05:31 PM PDT

Is Earth really a sort of giant living organism as the Gaia hypothesis predicts? A new discovery may provide a key to answering this question. This key of sulfur could allow scientists to unlock heretofore hidden interactions between ocean organisms, atmosphere, and land -- interactions that might provide evidence supporting this famous theory.

Hidden lives of elephant seals: Record-setting dive more than a mile deep

Posted: 15 May 2012 05:30 PM PDT

The same researchers who pioneered the use of satellite tags to monitor the migrations of elephant seals have compiled one of the largest datasets available for any marine mammal species, revealing their movements and diving behavior at sea in unprecedented detail.

Ancient sea reptile with gammy jaw suggests dinosaurs got arthritis too

Posted: 15 May 2012 05:30 PM PDT

Imagine having arthritis in your jaw bones ... if they're over 2 meters long! A new study has found signs of a degenerative condition similar to human arthritis in the jaw of a pliosaur, an ancient sea reptile that lived 150 million years ago. Such a disease has never been described before in fossilized Jurassic reptiles.

New look at prolonged radiation exposure: At low dose-rate, radiation poses little risk to DNA, study suggests

Posted: 15 May 2012 03:12 PM PDT

A new study suggests that the guidelines governments use to determine when to evacuate people following a nuclear accident may be too conservative.

Drugs from gila monster lizard saliva reduces cravings for chocolate and ordinary food

Posted: 15 May 2012 01:54 PM PDT

A drug made from the saliva of the Gila monster lizard is effective in reducing the craving for food. Researchers have tested the drug on rats, who after treatment ceased their cravings for both food and chocolate.

This is your brain on sugar: Study in rats shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory

Posted: 15 May 2012 12:09 PM PDT

A new study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain, hampering memory and learning -- and how omega-3 fatty acids can minimize the damage.

A supernova cocoon breakthrough

Posted: 15 May 2012 10:17 AM PDT

Astronomers have the first X-ray evidence of a supernova shock wave breaking through a cocoon of gas surrounding the star that exploded. This discovery may help astronomers understand why some supernovas are much more powerful than others.

Statistical analysis projects future temperatures in North America

Posted: 15 May 2012 10:16 AM PDT

For the first time, researchers have been able to combine different climate models using spatial statistics -- to project future seasonal temperature changes in regions across North America.

Tiny plants could cut costs, shrink environmental footprint

Posted: 15 May 2012 07:46 AM PDT

Tall, waving corn fields that line Midwestern roads may one day be replaced by dwarfed versions that require less water, fertilizer and other inputs, thanks to a fungicide commonly used on golf courses.

Surgeons restore some hand function to quadriplegic patient

Posted: 15 May 2012 07:45 AM PDT

Surgeons have restored some hand function in a quadriplegic patient with a spinal cord injury at the C7 vertebra, the lowest bone in the neck. Instead of operating on the spine itself, the surgeons rerouted working nerves in the upper arms. These nerves still "talk" to the brain because they attach to the spine above the injury.

Black holes turn up the heat for the Universe

Posted: 15 May 2012 06:39 AM PDT

Astrophysicists have just discovered a new heating source in cosmological structure formation. Until now, astrophysicists thought that super-massive black holes could only influence their immediate surroundings. Scientists have now discovered that diffuse gas in the universe can absorb luminous gamma-ray emission from black holes, heating it up strongly. This surprising result has important implications for the formation of structures in the universe.

First ever record of insect pollination from 100 million years ago

Posted: 14 May 2012 12:31 PM PDT

Amber from the Cretaceous period found in Spain has revealed the first ever fossil record of insect pollination. Scientists discovered and studied with X-rays at the ESRF a specimen of a tiny insect covered with pollen grains. This is the first record of pollen transport and social behavior in this group of animals.

ScienceDaily: Living Well News

ScienceDaily: Living Well News


People see sexy pictures of women as objects, not people; sexy-looking men as people

Posted: 15 May 2012 10:17 AM PDT

Perfume ads, beer billboards, movie posters: everywhere you look, women's sexualized bodies are on display. A new study finds that both men and women see images of sexy women's bodies as objects, while they see sexy-looking men as people.

Looks matter more than reputation when it comes to trusting people with our money

Posted: 15 May 2012 06:41 AM PDT

Our decisions to trust people with our money are based more on how they look then how they behave, according to new research.

Playful games promote reading development

Posted: 15 May 2012 02:23 AM PDT

Short but intense training sessions in the form of structured language games from the age of four can stimulate children's early language development and may also make it easier for children to learn to read. Previous research has shown that children's reading development can be stimulated with structured and playful language games from the age of six. In a current three-year study, researchers are exploring the effects of having children as young as four participate in such games.

The Cynical Girl: Drama at Work

The Cynical Girl: Drama at Work

Link to The Cynical Girl

Drama at Work

Posted: 15 May 2012 03:45 AM PDT

at , USALast week, I spoke at the Maine HR Conference but missed one of the other keynote  speakers — Cy Wakeman. I heard  she was great. She talked about drama at work and how Human Resources actually causes much of the drama in an office environment.

Shocking, I know. We are a homogeneous group of professionals — 80% are women at the manager-level and below — enmeshed in compliance, risk mitigation and administrative processes. If we’re not driving the drama of an organization, who would do it?!

In my very limited experience, an organization with a more paternalistic leadership style feels like it has infinitely more drama than a cold, stodgy professional environment. Call me crazy, but when  you tell me that my coworkers are like family, I tend to treat them more like family.

  • I judge them for their faults.
  • I wish they could just read my mind.
  • I emote instead of explain.

Alberto-Culver, which was actually run by a family and had many long-term employees, felt like a professional business because it had very rigorous processes and procedures in place to deal with every employee scenario in the book. Pfizer had a very family-like mentality. You were either in or you were out. And that caused a bevy of problems.

Family bonds are strong, meaningful and complex. For many people, the word family means love. But it may also mean contempt, shame or exhaustion to others. And I’ve never seen more complex drama than in a big and loving family. That’s how it tends to work.

In my life, family gives me a space to be less rigid. I don’t want to give my family any feedback in any sort of respectful, formal process because that’s what I do with strangers. With my family members, I just want to speak plainly and candidly.

Get a job. Stop spending money. You do not work as hard as you think you work. Maybe your kids would behave better if you set some boundaries and acted like a parent instead of trying to be a friend. I can’t see you until you sober up. Don’t be a jerk. Stop with the victim mentality. If you can’t have a conversation with me where you don’t bring up your tortured childhood, I am not talking to you.

Yeah. That kind of stuff. That’s not just my kin, right?

The beauty of work — for me — is that it’s not my family. There are SOPs and rules of engagement in place. Those mechanisms can help to avoid drama. When someone gets out of line in my family, there is chaos. When someone bothers me at work, there are performance improvement plans and formal disciplinary procedures to whip that person into shape.

I don’t have any science or data to back me up on this but I think drama at work can be abated if we treat one another a little less like brothers and sisters and a little more like colleagues and peers.

That’s how HR can help the future of work.

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ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


A supernova cocoon breakthrough

Posted: 15 May 2012 10:17 AM PDT

Astronomers have the first X-ray evidence of a supernova shock wave breaking through a cocoon of gas surrounding the star that exploded. This discovery may help astronomers understand why some supernovas are much more powerful than others.

New 'metamaterial' practical for optical advances

Posted: 15 May 2012 07:47 AM PDT

Researchers have taken a step toward overcoming a key obstacle in commercializing "hyperbolic metamaterials," structures that could bring optical advances including ultrapowerful microscopes, computers and solar cells.

Beyond the high-speed hard drive: Topological insulators open a path to room-temperature spintronics

Posted: 15 May 2012 06:41 AM PDT

Theorists and experimenters have explored the unique properties of topological insulators, where electrons may flow on the surface without resistance, with spin orientations and directions intimately related. Recent research opens exciting prospects for practical new room-temperature spintronic devices that can exploit control of electron spin as well as charge.

Black holes turn up the heat for the Universe

Posted: 15 May 2012 06:39 AM PDT

Astrophysicists have just discovered a new heating source in cosmological structure formation. Until now, astrophysicists thought that super-massive black holes could only influence their immediate surroundings. Scientists have now discovered that diffuse gas in the universe can absorb luminous gamma-ray emission from black holes, heating it up strongly. This surprising result has important implications for the formation of structures in the universe.

Watching the 'birth' of an electron: Ionization viewed with 10 attosecond resolution

Posted: 15 May 2012 02:25 AM PDT

A strong laser beam can remove an electron from an atom – a process which takes place almost instantly. This phenomenon could now be studied with a time resolution of less than ten attoseconds (ten billionths of a billionth of a second). Scientists succeeded in watching an atom being ionized and a free electron being "born".  These measurements yield valuable information about the electrons in the atom, which up until now  hasn't been experimentally accessible, such as the time evolution of the electron's quantum phase – the beat to which the quantum waves oscillate.

Chicago police cameras more effective when clustered

Posted: 14 May 2012 09:26 AM PDT

Chicago's network of police cameras is more effective at reducing crime in high-crime areas than in low-crime areas, according to a new study.