1.5 million years of climate history revealed after scientists solve mystery of the deep

ScienceDaily (Aug. 9, 2012) ? A new study has successfully reconstructed temperature from the deep sea to reveal how global ice volume has varied over the glacial-interglacial cycles of the past 1.5 million years.

Scientists have announced a major breakthrough in understanding Earth's climate machine by reconstructing highly accurate records of changes in ice volume and deep-ocean temperatures over the last 1.5 million years.

The study, which is reported in the journal Science, offers new insights into a decades-long debate about how the shifts in Earth's orbit relative to the sun have taken Earth into and out of an ice-age climate.

Being able to reconstruct ancient climate change is a critical part of understanding why the climate behaves the way it does. It also helps us to predict how the planet might respond to human-made changes, such as the injection of large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, in the future.

Unfortunately, scientists trying to construct an accurate picture of how such changes caused past climatic shifts have been thwarted by the fact that the most readily available marine geological record of ice-ages -- changes in the ratio of oxygen isotopes (Oxygen 18 to Oxygen 16) preserved in tiny calcareous deep sea fossils called foraminifera -- is compromised.

This is because the isotope record shows the combined effects of both deep sea temperature changes, and changes in the amount of ice volume. Separating these has in the past proven difficult or impossible, so researchers have been unable to tell whether changes in Earth's orbit were affecting the temperature of the ocean more than the amount of ice at the Poles, or vice-versa.

The new study, which was carried out by researchers in the University of Cambridge Department of Earth Sciences, appears to have resolved this problem by introducing a new set of temperature-sensitive data. This allowed them to identify changes in ocean temperatures alone, subtract that from the original isotopic data set, and then build what they describe as an unprecedented picture of climatic change over the last 1.5 million years -- a record of changes in both oceanic temperature and global ice volume.

Included in this is a much fuller representation of what happened during the "Mid-Pleistocene Transition" (MPT) -- a major change in Earth's climate system which took place sometime between 1.25 million and 600 thousand years ago. Before the MPT, the alternation between glacial periods of extreme cold, and warmer interglacials, happened at intervals of approximately 41,000 years. After the MPT, the major cycles became much longer, regularly taking 100,000 years. The second pattern of climate cycles is the one we are in now. Interestingly, this change occurred with little or no orbital forcing.

"Previously, we didn't really know what happened during this transition, or on either side of it," Professor Harry Elderfield, who led the research team, said. "Before you separate the ice volume and temperature signals, you don't know whether you're seeing a climate record in which ice volume changed dramatically, the oceans warmed or cooled substantially, or both."

"Now, for the first time, we have been able to separate these two components, which means that we stand a much better chance of understanding the mechanisms involved. One of the reasons why that is important, is because we are making changes to the factors that influence the climate now. The only way we can work out what the likely effects of that will be in detail is by finding analogues in the geological past, but that depends on having an accurate picture of the past behaviour of the climate system."

Researchers have developed more than 30 different models for how these features of the climate might have changed in the past, in the course of a debate which has endured for more than 60 years since pioneering work by Nobel Laureate Harold Urey in 1946. The new study helps resolve these problems by introducing a new dataset to the picture -- the ratio of magnesium (Mg) to calcium (Ca) in foraminifera. Because it is easier for magnesium to be incorporated at higher temperatures, larger quantities of magnesium in the tiny marine fossils imply that the deep sea temperature was higher at that point in geological time.

The Mg/Ca dataset was taken from the fossil record contained in cores drilled on the Chatham Rise, an area of ocean east of New Zealand. It allowed the Cambridge team to map ocean temperature change over time. Once this had been done, they were able to subtract that information from the oxygen isotopic record. "The calculation tells us the difference between what water temperature was doing and what the ice sheets were doing across a 1.5 million year period," Professor Elderfield explained.

The resulting picture shows that ice volume has changed much more dramatically than ocean temperatures in response to changes in orbital geometry. Glacial periods during the 100,000-year cycles have been characterised by a very slow build-up of ice which took thousands of years, the result of ice volume responding to orbital change far more slowly than the ocean temperatures reacted. Ocean temperature change, however, reached a lower limit, probably because the freezing point of sea water put a restriction on how cold the deep ocean could get.

In addition, the record shows that the transition from 41,000-year cycles to 100,000-year cycles, the characteristic changeover of the MPT, was not as gradual as previously thought. In fact, the build-up of larger ice sheets, associated with longer glacials, appears to have begun quite suddenly, around 900,000 years ago. The pattern of Earth's response to orbital forcing changed dramatically during this "900,000 year event," as the paper puts it.

The research team now plan to apply their method to the study of deep-sea temperatures elsewhere to investigate how orbital changes affected the climate in different parts of the world.

"Any uncertainty about Earth's climate system fuels the sense that we don't really know how the climate is behaving, either in response to natural effects or those which are man-made," Professor Elderfield added. "If we can understand how earlier changes were initiated and what the impacts were, we stand a much better chance of being able to predict and prepare for changes in the future."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Cambridge, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. H. Elderfield, P. Ferretti, M. Greaves, S. Crowhurst, I. N. McCave, D. Hodell, and A. M. Piotrowski. Evolution of Ocean Temperature and Ice Volume Through the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition. Science, 10 August 2012: 704-709 DOI: 10.1126/science.1221294

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/wi1bkLc32lo/120809141623.htm

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Bradley, Woods tee off at PGA Championship

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) ? Keegan Bradley began his defense of the PGA Championship in impressive fashion with a birdie and an eagle on his first two holes at Kiawah Island on Thursday.

On a calm course softened by rain earlier in the week, Bradley looked sharp while playing in a group with Tiger Woods and Martin Kaymer. Woods, trying for his 15th major title and first since 2008, was 1 under after three holes.

That group started on the back nine. Bradley made a 25-foot putt for eagle on the par-5 11th, while Woods had to scramble for par after a wayward drive. Woods bounced back with a birdie on No. 12.

Bradley was tied for the early lead at 3 under with Ryo Ishikawa and Greg Chalmers.

Bradley rallied to beat Jason Dufner in a playoff at this tournament last year, and he's coming off a victory last weekend at Firestone.

More thunderstorms were possible later Thursday and throughout the tournament. But skies were mostly clear when the first groups teed off, and a number of players were off to strong starts.

Chalmers had a run of four straight birdies before giving back a stroke with a bogey at No. 6. Ishikawa birdied his first three holes.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bradley-woods-tee-off-pga-championship-134224556--spt.html

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90% Kung Fu Hustle

All Critics (179) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (169) | Rotten (18) | DVD (32)

So disarmingly eager to please that only a stone-faced kung fu purist could object.

Chow's movie may seem nutty on the surface, but its slyness, its dreamy unfolding of so many moods and genres, becomes intoxicating.

Kung Fu Hustle snaps and crackles like nuclear popcorn on a scorching griddle.

But for all its stylishness, verve and moments of visual poetry, the relentlessly punishing slapstick and overall cruel tone left me cold.

Retrieving the martial arts movie from the gentrified middlebrow tastefulness of movies like House of Flying Daggers is only one item on Kung Fu Hustle's agenda.

With Hustle's release on 2,000 U.S. screens this week, Americans get to see what's so funny about Chow. The laugh's on them for not noticing him before.

Slapstick silliness and martial artistry of the highest calibre.

A smart and very funny action comedy that will really knock your socks off.

The ever-shifting genre of martial arts films takes on yet another variation with writer/director/actor Stephen Chow's CGI spectacle infused comic Kung Fu adventure.

Gravity takes a backseat to levity.

This rowdy martial arts comedy is best for older teens and up.

Keeps the gags flying almost as rapidly as the fists.

A film that is geared simply, straightforwardly and, above all, honestly to providing absolute entertainment.

Absolutely insane comic tribute to classic martial arts films and stars.

The laws of physics no longer apply, if they ever did; characters leap, run at neck-breaking speed, bash each other through several walls with one blow.

The 'Axe-Kickin' Edition' DVD comes with a nice selection of extras.

While those who can't stand long fight scenes might find it a bit tiresome, everyone else is going to consider this a sweet, light-hearted martial arts treat.

A strange, fun flick that loves its source material dearly, Kung Fu Hustle is destined to become a cult classic.

Simultaneously and paradoxically irreverent and loving. A terrific piece of cinematic entertainment

Kung Fu Hustle flies by on bursts of dizzying slapstick invention. There's rarely a dull moment, but the wise-guy tone and the non-stop frenzy wear you down.

More like a cartoon populated with human actors.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_fu_hustle/

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Textbook ? alex eats green

This weekend was textbook. And by textbook I mean perfect. And by perfect I mean summer. And by summer I mean this. And by this I mean Coldplay concert followed by a weekend in Montauk. Follow that?

Oh I?m sorry. Did you come here thinking this was a food blog? You mean, you?re not here to look at a blog version of my ?Summertime 2012? Facebook album?

Yeah, I forgot about the food too.

Food stuff is coming this week! On another note (because one sentence on food was enough), who has been to a Coldplay concert? Why didn?t anyone tell me I was going to melt into an emotional, happy mess walking out of the stadium? You put on a good show, Chris.

But really (going back to that food thing because apparently I have attention issues), the blog is going to change a bit moving forward. It will be a little less about me drinking Bud Light Lime on the weekends with my friends and a little more about what I started this thing for: the?food.

I hope to inundate you with vegetarian recipes, food science, restaurant reviews, ?industry news, and even some cool apps that I find to be helpful while navigating this wacky (but awesome) vegetarian world.

Hang with me?

Source: http://alexeatsgreen.com/2012/08/07/textbook/

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First video captures Curiosity's descent onto Mars

Gilead Amit, contributor

Wonder what the view was like as Curiosity descended onto Mars? Now the first video reveals the approach in stop-motion, capturing the last two-and-a-half minutes of the journey.

The clip was created by stitching together 297 images taken by the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI), a fixed-focus colour camera attached to the side of the rover. It begins with the rover's heat shield falling off at a height of 8 kilometres above the Martian surface. This allowed the craft to reorient itself and begin its descent to the landing site on Gale Crater. After a brief period of freefall, eight thrusters come into action, kicking up spectacular clouds of dust as the craft slowed from nearly 290 km/h to barely 2.7 km/h. Four of the rockets then shut off, allowing the sky crane to slowly lower Curiosity for its final 20 metres to the Red Planet.

Although the view is rather grainy, a higher-resolution video will soon be released, also using images captured by MARDI. A couple of additional images from MARDI appear below, the first showing the heat shield shortly after it separated, the second showing a close-up on landing.

pia15988-43.jpg pia15991-43.jpg (Images: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

If you enjoyed this post, watch a visualisation of Curiosity's mission or check out a simulator that shows what walking is like in Martian gravity.

Subscribe to New Scientist Magazine

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/22223f50/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cnstv0C20A120C0A80Cfirst0Evideo0Ecaptures0Ecuriositys0Edescent0Eonto0Emars0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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Beverly Hills Immigration Law: Indiana Gets Real on Immigration

CNN (Opinion)

By Ali Noorani

August 3, 2012

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/03/opinion/noorani-indiana-immigration/index.html

Editor's note: Ali Noorani is the executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an organization based in Washington that advocates for the value of immigrants.

"It is so ordered."

Four words, used by the Supreme Court of the United States, that set loose a cascade of public policy. Few phrases are as powerful and precise.

On June 25, when Justice Anthony Kennedy closed the court's majority opinion regarding Arizona's anti-immigrant law, S.B. 1070, with these words, the court lifted a burden off the shoulders of local law enforcement as well as millions of immigrants across the country.

Last Tuesday, the ripples reached Indiana: The state's Republican attorney general, Greg Zoeller, said portions of his state's Senate Bill 590 could not be defended. "The Supreme Court made clear that immigration enforcement is a federal government responsibility," Zoeller acknowledged.

Elements of Indiana's law resemble those the Supreme Court struck down in Arizona's, including provisions giving local police unprecedented power to make warrantless arrests based on assumed immigration status.

Zoeller saw the constitutional writing on the wall and freed his enforcement resources from an expensive court battle the state of Indiana was sure to lose. The court's ruling on S.B. 1070 made it clear that state laws authorizing local law enforcement to make warrantless arrests of people for immigration violations are unconstitutional.

The court struck down three parts of the law, including the murky section that authorized state officers to arrest people based on "probable cause" that they had committed an offense that could lead to deportation. The court allowed a fourth section, the troubling "papers please" provision, to go into effect, but it left the door wide open for further legal scrutiny.

Lest you think otherwise, Zoeller is no shrinking violet when it comes to immigration enforcement and keeping our nation safe. He is an active member of the Alliance Partnership of the Conference of Western Attorneys General, in which attorneys general across the United States partner with their colleagues in Mexico to strengthen the legal systems of both countries and reduce crime.

As Zoeller wrote in 2011, "Greater cooperation, trust and information sharing between law enforcers and judicial officers on both sides of the border creates a more peaceful backdrop against which the U.S. government can work to improve an immigration system that clearly needs fixing."

Working collaboratively across state lines and international borders to fight human and drug trafficking, money laundering and consumer fraud is a far better use of law enforcement resources than arresting landscapers and nannies.

Zoeller is not alone in thinking there is a better way to enforce immigration law. Last year, he joined a bipartisan group of business, law enforcement and religious leaders in signing the Indiana Compact, a set of principles to guide the state's immigration debate.

The compact affirms that immigration enforcement should be handled at the federal level, not the state level.

The signers of the Indiana Compact joined like-minded leaders in Utah and Iowa ? neither of which is a liberal stronghold ? who signed compacts of their own calling upon the administration and Congress to work together to create a common-sense immigration process.

But Congress has failed to muster the will to craft legislation, and President Obama is reduced to making administrative changes to an antiquated system. Sadly, the Supreme Court's ruling on S.B. 1070 is all we have to work with when it comes to federal guidance on immigration.

But the winds of the immigration debate are changing. From the Mountain West to the Southeast to the Midwest, people who wear badges, run businesses and carry Bibles are building a new consensus on immigrants and America.

The consensus is that immigration policy is a human issue. Documented or undocumented, people have freedom that we protect. That is one of the ideals on which our nation is built.

Leaders such as Zoeller are doing what they are constitutionally required to do: Enforce the law. Zoeller must and will protect the residents of Indiana, regardless of their federal immigration status.

To do so, he will direct all his resources toward tracking down those who would perpetrate crime on these residents and bring them to justice rather than dedicate scarce resources toward enforcing federal immigration law.

The Supreme Court has ordered that the federal government pre-empts states when it comes to immigration law. It is time the other branches of our federal government heeded that order and created a rational immigration process that allows law enforcement officials to do their job: keep us safe.

Source: http://beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.blogspot.com/2012/08/indiana-gets-real-on-immigration.html

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Dinosaur species evolution boom linked to Rocky Mountains development

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/122371/Dinosaur_species_evolution_boom_linked_to_Rocky_Mountains_development

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Growing up grateful gives teens multiple mental health benefits

ScienceDaily (Aug. 5, 2012) ? Grateful teens are more likely than their less grateful peers to be happy, less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol and less likely to have behavior problems at school, according to research presented at the American Psychological Association's 120th Annual Convention.

"Gratitude played an important role in many areas of positive mental health of the teens in our study," said lead author Giacomo Bono, PhD, psychology professor at California State University. "Increases in gratitude over a four-year period were significantly related to improvements in life satisfaction, happiness, positive attitudes and hope."

To measure the development of gratefulness, researchers asked 700 students ages 10 to 14 to complete questionnaires in their classroom at the beginning of the study and four years later to provide comparison data.

When comparing the results of the least grateful 20 percent of the students with the most grateful 20 percent, they found that teens with the most gratitude by the end of the four-year period had:

? gained 15 percent more of a sense of meaning in their life;

? become 15 percent more satisfied with their life overall (at home, at school, with their neighborhood, with their friends and with themselves);

? become 17 percent more happy and more hopeful about their lives;

? experienced a 13 percent drop in negative emotions and a 15 percent drop in depressive symptoms.

Even if teens didn't start off with lots of gratitude, they could still benefit if they developed more gratitude over the four-year period, according to Bono. "They experienced many of the same improvements in well-being. Moreover, they showed slight reductions overall in delinquency, such as alcohol and drug use, cheating on exams, skipping school, detention and administrative discipline," he said. "For instance, the top 10 percent of those who developed the most gratitude showed 9 percent less delinquency than the bottom 10 percent in gratitude growth."

For the purposes of the study, the authors defined grateful teens as having a disposition and moods that enabled them to respond positively to the good people and things in their lives, Bono said. The four-year study took place in New York with a sample that was 54 percent girls, 67 percent white, 11 percent Asian-American, 10 percent African-American, 1.4 percent Hispanic, 9 percent other and 1.6 percent no response.

"These findings suggest that gratitude may be strongly linked with life-skills such as cooperation, purpose, creativity and persistence and, as such, gratitude is vital resource that parents, teachers and others who work with young people should help youth build up as they grow up," Bono said. "More gratitude may be precisely what our society needs to raise a generation that is ready to make a difference in the world."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Psychological Association (APA), via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/Js0LG8lAvVQ/120806093938.htm

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Greece's new pledges will take epic battle to implement

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's latest fiscal and reform pledges may be enough to convince international lenders weary after years of broken promises to keep Athens hooked to a 130 billion euro lifeline, but the battle to implement it will be epic.

Few question the new coalition government's resolve but many doubt whether the cantankerous public sector can or will implement the measures or the Greek public, reeling from years of austerity, can take much more without putting up a fight.

"The political will is strong, but so are the obstacles - red tape, a demoralized and increasingly underpaid public administration are principal among them," said George Pagoulatos, professor of economics at Athens University.

Greek officials say 11.5 billion euros of fiscal measures roughly agreed this week - although more painful for the public - will be easier to implement than the structural changes.

Reforms such as liberalizing professions and markets including lawyers and pharmacies, have stumbled on strong union protests. Others, such as cutting red tape for setting up a business, have been stuck in a bloated and ineffective public administration incapable of change.

Since it was first bailed out two years ago, Greece has repeatedly fallen behind on reform pledges to its partners, who have threatened to cut off funding at the risk of unraveling the euro.

Athens, which received a second bailout this year, blames a deeper than expected recession for its failures and wants to two more years to hit targets in its new bailout deal. Lenders say slow reforms have not given the program a chance to work and want to see action before considering any changes.

Greek officials have temporarily set aside requests for renegotiation while they hammer out fiscal measures for 2013-14 with the troika of International Monetary Fund, EU and European Central Bank lenders - mostly salary, pension and welfare cuts.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's conservative-led government also announced the revival of a series of structural reforms to give the economy - stuck in its fifth year of recession - a much-needed boost if Greece is to ever escape a debt crisis shaking the single European currency.

The European Commission welcomed the announcements but urged the country to act on its promises.

"DEAD END"

Greece is scrambling to pay a 3.2 billion euro bond due in August and officials say the state will run out of cash within weeks - making the troika's review crucial for its survival.

After finalizing the proposed fiscal cuts with the troika inspectors, expected sometime this month, the government will take them through parliament in September or October.

The junior coalition partners, the small Democratic Left and the socialist PASOK parties, are expected to raise some objections and may even lose deputies during the debate but the cuts will ultimately be approved, analysts said.

The leader of the once powerful PASOK, Evangelos Venizelos, has resisted the most, convinced the program won't work unless its deadlines are extended, but gave his reluctant approval in the face of a possible Greek bankruptcy.

The biggest obstacle may come from the streets, with the radical leftist Syriza opposition party fanning anger among the disaffected, who often stage heated protests.

"These measures lead to a dead end. People have no more tolerance and the economy can't take this any more," said Syriza spokesman Panos Skourletis.

"We will take all initiatives in and out of parliament to stop them. Resistance and social clashes are inevitable."

Analysts said a good communication policy, which is not the government's strong point, will be key to getting people to accept a new wave of austerity.

"The question is if the government can convince the public that this is the last round of cuts, that no more cuts of this kind will follow," said Wolfango Piccoli, director of the Eurasia political risk consultancy.

The risk of failure is mainly on the reform front. Greece has managed drastic budget cuts in two years but has had poor results in the fight against tax evasion, improving its business environment and privatizations.

"Bureaucratic impediments may not affect a wide range of spending cuts, but they could create difficulties when it comes to raising more revenue from tax evasion or getting state agencies to speed up implementation of development measures," Pagoulatos said.

Government officials admit the going is tough, especially in a climate of political and currency exchange uncertainty, with even some EU officials publicly doubting Greece can stay in the euro, which deters foreign investors and strangles selloffs.

"Politically it will be hard, there is no question about it," said a senior government official on condition of anonymity. "But the last election was a clash of two attitudes and the pro-euro camp won. This time there is the political determination to do it."

(Editing by Peter Graff)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/greeces-pledges-epic-battle-implement-091030470--business.html

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