Summer Hurricanes on Titan Coming?

Saturn's moon Titan might be in for some wild weather as it heads into its spring and summer, if two new models are correct. Scientists think that as the seasons change in Titan's northern hemisphere, waves could ripple across the moon's hydrocarbon seas, and hurricanes could begin to swirl over these areas, too. The model predicting waves tries to explain data from the moon obtained so far by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Both models help mission team members plan when and where to look for unusual atmospheric disturbances as Titan summer approaches.

"If you think being a weather forecaster on Earth is difficult, it can be even more challenging at Titan," said Scott Edgington, Cassini's deputy project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We know there are weather processes similar to Earth's at work on this strange world, but differences arise due to the presence of unfamiliar liquids like methane. We can't wait for Cassini to tell us whether our forecasts are right as it continues its tour through Titan spring into the start of northern summer."

Titan's north polar region, which is bejeweled with sprawling hydrocarbon seas and lakes, was dark when Cassini first arrived at the Saturn system in 2004. But sunlight has been creeping up Titan's northern hemisphere since August 2009, when the sun's light crossed the equatorial plane at equinox. Titan's seasons take about seven Earth years to change. By 2017, the end of Cassini's mission, Titan will be approaching northern solstice, the height of summer.

Given the wind-sculpted dunes Cassini has seen on Titan, scientists were baffled about why they hadn't yet seen wind-driven waves on the lakes and seas. A team led by Alex Hayes, a member of Cassini's radar team who is based at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., set out to look for how much wind would be required to generate waves. Their new model, just published in the journal Icarus, improves upon previous ones by simultaneously accounting for Titan's gravity; the viscosity and surface tension of the hydrocarbon liquid in the lakes; and the air-to-liquid density ratio.

"We now know that the wind speeds predicted during the times Cassini has observed Titan have been below the threshold necessary to generate waves," Hayes said. "What is exciting, however, is that the wind speeds predicted during northern spring and summer approach those necessary to generate wind waves in liquid ethane and/or methane. It may soon be possible to catch a wave in one of the solar system's most exotic locations."

The new model found that winds of 1 to 2 mph (2 to 3 kilometers per hour) are needed to generate waves on Titan lakes, a speed that has not yet been reached during Titan's currently calm period. But as Titan's northern hemisphere approaches spring and summer, other models predict the winds may increase to 2 mph (3 kilometers per hour) or faster. Depending on the composition of the lakes, winds of that speed could be enough to produce waves 0.5 foot (0.15 meter) high.

The other model about hurricanes, recently published in Icarus, predicts that the warming of the northern hemisphere could also bring hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones. Tropical cyclones on Earth gain their energy from the build-up of heat from seawater evaporation and miniature versions have been seen over big lakes such as Lake Huron. The new modeling work, led by Tetsuya Tokano of the University of Cologne, Germany, shows that the same processes could be at work on Titan as well, except that it is methane rather than water that evaporates from the seas. The most likely season for these hurricanes would be Titan's northern summer solstice, when the sea surface gets warmer and the flow of the air near the surface becomes more turbulent. The humid air would swirl in a counterclockwise direction over the surface of one of the northern seas and increase the surface wind over the seas to possibly 45 mph (about 70 kilometers per hour).

"For these hurricanes to develop at Titan, there needs to be the right mix of hydrocarbons in these seas, and we still don't know their exact composition," Tokano said. "If we see hurricanes, that would be one good indicator that there is enough methane in these lakes to support this kind of activity. So far, scientists haven't yet been able to detect methane directly."

James found it first.

How the Mammals Inherited the Earth, a Lecture from the Royal Tyrrell Museum

Understanding δ13C Variation in Coal From a Permian-Triassic Boundary Locale in Australia

Decoupling δ13C response to palaeoflora cycles and climatic variation in coal; a case study from the Late Permian Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia

Authors:

1. Nikola Van de Wetering (a)
2. Joan Esterle (a)
3. Kim Baublys (a)

Affiliations:

a. Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Queensland, Steele Building, St Lucia, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia

Abstract:

The Late Permian coal measures of the Bowen Basin, Australia express both environmental and climatic changes that occurred prior to the Permian Triassic (P–T) boundary. In order to decouple the influence of environmental factors (salinity, pH, base level and temperature) from depositional and climatic factors (atmospheric CO2) in organic δ13C, a high resolution study was performed on 24 coal seams (total 24.6 m) in the Late Permian stratigraphy in the northern Bowen Basin. The Late Permian stratigraphy of the Bowen Basin records a transition from deltaic and lacustrine conditions within the Tinowan Formation and Black Alley Shale Formation, to fluvial deposition in the Kaloola and Bandanna Formations. Intermittent volcanism is recorded by tuff layers during periods of peat accumulation. Variations of coal lithotypes were recorded and formed the basis of sampling for petrography and isotope analysis. Coal samples were etched to expose cellular anatomy, and systematically identified to recognise palaeoflora assemblages. When observed within seam, δ13C of the coal varied cyclically (13C enriched-depleted-enriched) as a response to environmental changes expressed in palaeoflora communities. The total range of δ13C was -26.6‰ to -21.9‰. The overall trend of δ13C progresses to increasing 13C enrichment, corresponding with dull lithotypes (rich in inertinite) which indicate fluctuations in base level. The 13C enrichment peaks at -22.5‰ within the Kaloola Member and shifting rapidly toward a depletion (maximum -26.6‰) of 13C in the upper Bandanna Formation, prior to the P–T boundary. These changes are expressed in palaeoflora communities where ecosystems shifted from dominant Glossopteris flora, to climax community flora including Palaeosmunda, Cycadales and Ginkgo, suited to temperate, early Mesozoic climates. The results of this study represent an insight into the effects of environmental variables on 13C uptake of plants. The identification of flora within coal gives an insight into palaeowetland evolution, and can be partnered with classic petrographical techniques for integrated analysis in coals. Both the geochemistry and the anatomical aspects of coal represent an important tool for future palaeowetland research.

Albertadromeus syntarsus: A New Orinthopod Dinosaur From the Campanian of Canada

Dinosaurs are often thought of as large, fierce animals, but new research highlights a previously overlooked diversity of small dinosaurs. In the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, a team of paleontologists from the University of Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, Cleveland Museum of Natural History and University of Calgary have described a new dinosaur, the smallest plant-eating dinosaur species known from Canada. Albertadromeus syntarsus was identified from a partial hind leg, and other skeletal elements, that indicate it was a speedy runner. Approximately 1.6 m (5 ft) long, it weighed about 16 kg (30 lbs), comparable to a large turkey.

Albertadromeus lived in what is now southern Alberta in the Late Cretaceous, about 77 million years ago. Albertadromeus syntarsus means "Alberta runner with fused foot bones". Unlike its much larger ornithopod cousins, the duckbilled dinosaurs, its two fused lower leg bones would have made it a fast, agile two-legged runner. This animal is the smallest known plant-eating dinosaur in its ecosystem, and researchers hypothesize that it used its speed to avoid predation by the many species of meat-eating dinosaurs that lived at the same time.

Albertadromeus was discovered in 2009 by study co-author David Evans of the Royal Ontario Museum as part an on-going collaboration with Michael Ryan of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to investigate the evolution of dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous of North America. The known dinosaur diversity of this time period is dominated by large bodied plant-eating dinosaurs.

Students of Marine Mass Extinctions Take Note: Biotic Recovery of Hypoxic Benthic Environments

Organism-Sediment Interactions Govern Post-Hypoxia Recovery of Ecosystem Functioning

Authors:

1. Carl Van Colen (a)
2. Francesca Rossi (b,c)
3. Francesc Montserrat (b)
4. Maria G. I. Andersson (b)
5. Britta Gribsholt (b)
6. Peter M. J. Herman (b)
7. Steven Degraer (a,d)
8. Magda Vincx (a)
9. Tom Ysebaert (b,e)
10. Jack J. Middelburg (b,f)

Affiliations:

a. Department of Biology, Marine Biology Section, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

b. Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ-Yerseke), Yerseke, The Netherlands

c. Ecologie des systèmes marins côtiers (Ecosysm) UMR 5119 CNRS-Université Montpellier 2-IRD-Ifremer Place Eugène Bataillon, Université Montpellier II, Case 093, F-34095 Montpellier, France

d. Management Unit of the of the North Sea Mathematical Model, Marine Ecosystem Management Section, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium

e. Wageningen University, Institute for Marine Resources & Ecosystem Studies, Yerseke, The Netherlands

f. Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Abstract:

Hypoxia represents one of the major causes of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning loss for coastal waters. Since eutrophication-induced hypoxic events are becoming increasingly frequent and intense, understanding the response of ecosystems to hypoxia is of primary importance to understand and predict the stability of ecosystem functioning. Such ecological stability may greatly depend on the recovery patterns of communities and the return time of the system properties associated to these patterns. Here, we have examined how the reassembly of a benthic community contributed to the recovery of ecosystem functioning following experimentally-induced hypoxia in a tidal flat. We demonstrate that organism-sediment interactions that depend on organism size and relate to mobility traits and sediment reworking capacities are generally more important than recovering species richness to set the return time of the measured sediment processes and properties. Specifically, increasing macrofauna bioturbation potential during community reassembly significantly contributed to the recovery of sediment processes and properties such as denitrification, bedload sediment transport, primary production and deep pore water ammonium concentration. Such bioturbation potential was due to the replacement of the small-sized organisms that recolonised at early stages by large-sized bioturbating organisms, which had a disproportionately stronger influence on sediment. This study suggests that the complete recovery of organism-sediment interactions is a necessary condition for ecosystem functioning recovery, and that such process requires long periods after disturbance due to the slow growth of juveniles into adult stages involved in these interactions. Consequently, repeated episodes of disturbance at intervals smaller than the time needed for the system to fully recover organism-sediment interactions may greatly impair the resilience of ecosystem functioning.

First Flight of the Triton

My Martial Arts Girl

Congress Strongly Supports High Energy Lasers for the Military

Congressional Republicans say they support the U.S. military’s laser weapons and directed-energy programs designed to protect troops by zapping apart potential threats, from incoming rockets to drones flying overhead.

A panel of the House Armed Services Committee singled out the Army’s Solid State Laser Testbed and the Navy’s Laser Weapon System as “items of special interest” in its draft of the 2014 defense authorization bill, which sets policy goals and spending targets for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

“The committee stresses the importance of directed energy research and encourages the Army’s continuation of those efforts,” according to language approved May 22 by the Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, headed by Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.

The panel similarly backed the Navy program, including the service’s plans to deploy the Laser Weapon System, or LaWS, aboard the amphibious transport dock USS Ponce early next year for further testing.

It will be the first such deployment of the system after completing test shots last summer aboard the destroyer USS Dewey. The solid-state, infrared beam burned up dummy drones in evaluations in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

The legislation would require the secretaries of the Army and Navy to brief lawmakers on the demonstration programs and provide more information about the potential challenges of adopting the technology for wider use within the services, given its high-energy requirements.

In the World of Ubiquitous 3D Printing, Regulating Ammo May Not Work

Is mrps-5 the Longevity Gene?

Mitochondria are the cell’s workhorse, transforming the calories we eat into useable energy. They have also been the subject of lots of scrutiny over longevity, since lifespan is intimately tied up with metabolism. Now a new study reports that mitochondrial malfunction may actually be the key to extending life.

Although loss of mitochondrial function has been associated with increased lifespan in a number of species, the reasons behind this effect have been poorly understood. It’s also been known that low levels of stress within a cell—for instance, running on low energy—can increase an animal’s lifespan. Most of these studies have however been done in flies, worms and yeast. Thus a Swiss research team led by Riekelt Houtkooper decided to examine stress and longevity in mice, as well as the worm C. elegans.

In mice, they analyzed a set of related mouse strains that have lots of natural variation in lifespan—they live anywhere from 1 to 2 1/2 years. With genetic tests the researchers were able to pin down three specific genes that seemed to be the key determinants of the mouse’s lifespan. Mice with lower activity in these genes lived up to 2.5 times longer than those with high activity.

Then, in worms, the researchers artificially damped down the activity of the equivalent genes and observed how long they lived. One gene stuck out as most important: Worms with a dampened mrps-5 gene lived 60 percent longer than normal.

The key, the researchers say, appears to be that loss of mrps-5 causes the mitochondria to send a kind of cellular SOS to the nucleus. The nucleus’s response, called the “mitochondrial unfolded protein response,” is to send out protective proteins.

 This is interesting.   It also runs contrary to the family history.  We have very long lived folks in the family, but its in the patrilineal side of things.  The men live fairly long, often inspite of their lifestyles rather than because of them.  That would seem to preclude the source of longevity being a mitochondria based source.  Rather it would argue to be a y linked trait.  Interesting if we might be carrying something else.  What happens if you combine them (assuming we haven't just been lucky).

Exoplanet GJ 667Cc Has Probably Lost Its Atmosphere

THE INFLUENCE OF THERMAL EVOLUTION IN THE MAGNETIC PROTECTION OF TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

Authors:

1. Jorge I. Zuluaga (a)
2. Sebastian Bustamante (a)
3. Pablo A. Cuartas (a)
4. Jaime H. Hoyos (b)

Affiliations:

a. Instituto de Física-FCEN, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 67 No. 53-108, Medellín, Colombia

b. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad de Medellín, Carrera 87 No. 30-65, Medellín, Colombia

Abstract:

Magnetic protection of potentially habitable planets plays a central role in determining their actual habitability and/or the chances of detecting atmospheric biosignatures. Here we develop a thermal evolution model of potentially habitable Earth-like planets and super-Earths (SEs). Using up-to-date dynamo-scaling laws, we predict the properties of core dynamo magnetic fields and study the influence of thermal evolution on their properties. The level of magnetic protection of tidally locked and unlocked planets is estimated by combining simplified models of the planetary magnetosphere and a phenomenological description of the stellar wind. Thermal evolution introduces a strong dependence of magnetic protection on planetary mass and rotation rate. Tidally locked terrestrial planets with an Earth-like composition would have early dayside magnetopause distances between 1.5 and 4.0 Rp , larger than previously estimated. Unlocked planets with periods of rotation ~1 day are protected by magnetospheres extending between 3 and 8 Rp . Our results are robust in comparison with variations in planetary bulk composition and uncertainties in other critical model parameters. For illustration purposes, the thermal evolution and magnetic protection of the potentially habitable SEs GL 581d, GJ 667Cc, and HD 40307g were also studied. Assuming an Earth-like composition, we found that the dynamos of these planets are already extinct or close to being shut down. While GL 581d is the best protected, the protection of HD 40307g cannot be reliably estimated. GJ 667Cc, even under optimistic conditions, seems to be severely exposed to the stellar wind, and, under the conditions of our model, has probably suffered massive atmospheric losses.

Sigilmassasaurus from Cenomanian Cretaceous Morocco is Valid and Not a Carcharodontosaur

A reevaluation of Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis (Dinosauria) from the Cretaceous of Morocco

Authors:

1. Bradley McFeeters (a)
2. Michael J. Ryan (a)
3. Sanja Hinic-Frlog (b)
4. Claudia Schröder-Adams (a)

Affiliations:

a. Dept. of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada.

b. Dept. of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada.

Abstract:

The original hypodigm of the controversial mid-Cretaceous Moroccan dinosaur Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis is redescribed, and the diagnosis of the taxon is revised. Unambiguously referred material is restricted to cervical and anterior dorsal vertebrae sharing apomorphies with the holotype. A newly recognized diagnostic character of Sigilmassasaurus is the absence of anterior and posterior interzygapophyseal laminae of the neural arch, so that the neural spine directly meets the dorsal margin of the neural canal. A phylogenetic analysis supports the inclusion of Sigilmassasaurus in Tetanurae but not in Carcharodontosauridae. Sigilmassasaurus is distinct from all other theropods known from comparable material and is thus retained as a valid taxon.

The Sleeping Thinker

What Google Glass Can Do...Now

Google Glass isn’t ready for prime time. Even Google knows this, which is why it hasn't shipped to the masses yet. Instead, Google floated a few units to “Explorers,” glorified guinea pigs who can enjoy the joys and trials of this cuttingest edge of cutting edge technologies. But nascent or not, Glass exists, and it works. Or at least it "works." Developers are still getting their feet wet, high-profile apps like Twitter and Facebook feel more like experiments than finished products, and bugs aren’t the exception, they’re the rule. But, you know, the thing turns on, and hears you say "Okay, Glass," and eagerly awaits your next command. Beyond the home screen, it’s up to Glass Explorers to wade through the good apps, the bad apps, and the broken apps, and we're right there with them. We went exploring, and this is what Glass can do; right here, right now.

And for those of you without Glass, hopefully we can help you live vicariously through our misadventures and humble GIF illustrations. Glass is a strange beast, and it can take a while to get used to and understand what it’s trying to do. Maybe we’ll make you jealous, or maybe you’ll decide Glass is a worthless piece of trash. Either way, we hope we can shed light on the mystery, the wonder, and the social awkwardness that is Glass.

We’ll be updating this list as new apps come out, and old apps are updated or made obsolete, so keep checking back. And if you see an app we haven’t covered yet, make sure to let us know!

While Tyrannosaurs Thrashed, Allosaurus Ate More Like a Falcon Than a Alligator

The mighty T. rex may have thrashed its massive head from side to side to dismember prey, but a new study shows that its smaller cousin Allosaurus was a more dexterous hunter and tugged at prey more like a modern-day falcon.

"Apparently one size doesn't fit all when it comes to dinosaur feeding styles," said Ohio University paleontologist Eric Snively, lead author of the new study published today in Palaeontologia Electronica. "Many people think of Allosaurus as a smaller and earlier version of T. rex, but our engineering analyses show that they were very different predators."

Snively led a diverse team of Ohio University researchers, including experts in mechanical engineering, computer visualization and dinosaur anatomy. They started with a high-resolution cast of the five-foot-long skull plus neck of the 150-million-year-old predatory theropod dinosaur Allosaurus, one of the best known dinosaurs. They CT-scanned the bones at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, which produced digital data that the authors could manipulate in a computer.

Snively and mechanical engineer John Cotton applied a specialized engineering analysis borrowed from robotics called multibody dynamics. This allowed the scientists to run sophisticated simulations of the head and neck movements Allosaurus made when attacking prey, stripping flesh from a carcass or even just looking around.

"The engineering approach combines all the biological data—things like where the muscle forces attach and where the joints stop motion—into a single model. We can then simulate the physics and predict what Allosaurus was actually capable of doing," said Cotton, an assistant professor in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology.

To figure out how Allosaurus de-fleshed a Stegosaurus, the team had to "re-flesh" Allosaurus. The anatomical structure of modern-day dinosaur relatives, such as birds and crocodilians, combined with tell-tale clues on the dinosaur bones, allowed Snively and anatomists Lawrence Witmer and Ryan Ridgely to build in neck and jaw muscles, air sinuses, the windpipe and other soft tissues into their Allosaurus 3D computer model.

"Dinosaur bones simply aren't enough," said Witmer, Chang Professor of Paleontology in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and principal investigator on the National Science Foundation's Visible Interactive Dinosaur Project that provided funding for this research. "We need to know about the other tissues that bring the skeleton to life."

A key finding was an unusually placed neck muscle called longissimus capitis superficialis. In most predatory dinosaurs, such as T. rex, which Snively studied previously, this muscle passed from the side of the neck to a bony wing on the outer back corners of the skull.

"This neck muscle acts like a rider pulling on the reins of a horse's bridle," explained Snively. "If the muscle on one side contracts, it would turn the head in that direction, but if the muscles on both sides pull, it pulls the head straight back."

But the analysis of Allosaurus revealed that the longissimus muscle attached much lower on the skull, which, according to the engineering analyses, would have caused "head ventroflexion followed by retraction."

"Allosaurus was uniquely equipped to drive its head down into prey, hold it there, and then pull the head straight up and back with the neck and body, tearing flesh from the carcass … kind of like how a power shovel or backhoe rips into the ground," Snively said.

In the animal world, this same de-fleshing technique is used by small falcons, such as kestrels. Tyrannosaurs like T. rex, on the other hand, were engineered to use a grab-and-shake technique to tear off hunks of flesh, more like a crocodile.

But the team's engineering analyses revealed a cost to T. rex's feeding style: high rotational inertia. That large bony and toothy skull perched at the end of the neck made it hard for T. rex to speed up or slow down its head or to change its course as it swung its head around.

Allosaurus, however, had a relatively very light head, which the team discovered as they restored the soft tissues and air sinuses.

Paper link.

Proposed Testate Amoebae Fossils Between Snowball Earth Episodes from Neoproterozoic

Microstructures in metasedimentary rocks from the Neoproterozoic Bonahaven Formation, Scotland: Microconcretions, impact spherules, or microfossils?

Authors:

1. Ross P. Anderson (a)

2. Ian J. Fairchild (b)

3. Nicholas J. Tosca (c)

4. Andrew H. Knoll (d)

Affiliations:

a. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, 20 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

b. School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

c. Department of Earth Sciences, Irvine Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AL, UK

d. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Abstract:

Microscopic spherules in relatively undeformed mudstones of the Neoproterozoic Bonahaven Formation, Islay, Scotland, are differentiated from their matrix by a sharp micron-scale, smoothly rounded boundary. These elongate spherules were earlier interpreted as hollow bodies filled penecontemporaneously by glauconite and subsequently metamorphosed to phengite, but their origin remains a matter of debate. Spherules observed in thin section are predominantly rounded (~74%) but can exhibit a flat edge or protrusion at one end. In 11% of a sample population, two or more spherules are conjoined. X-ray diffraction indicates that spherule-bearing mudstones consist mainly of muscovite, with variable amounts of kaolin-group minerals and minor iron-chlorites. A range of physical origins for the spherules – including microconcretions or metamorphic microstructures; deposition from the sky as micrometeorites, microtektites/microkrystites, or accretionary volcanic ash particles; and detrital grains – is considered but rejected on distributional, morphological, and mineralogical evidence. Biological origins are considered most likely, especially protistan tests similar to the vase-shaped microfossils found in somewhat older Neoproterozoic rocks. If correct, this provides the first report of eukaryotic life in the Dalradian succession that passes critical tests for biogenicity and new evidence for testate microfossils in post-Sturtian but pre-Marinoan aged rocks.

No Exascale for You! Part Deux: The Interview

Although Horst Simon was named Deputy Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he maintains his strong ties to the scientific computing community as an editor of the TOP500 list and as an invited speaker at conferences.

Twice during the week of May 6, Simon gave back-to-back presentations of a new talk on “Why We Need Exascale and Why We Won’t Get There by 2020.” Not only was the talk a hit with conference attendees, but it also made its way onto Slashdot. In this HPCwire exclusive, Simon talks about his presentation with Jon Bashor of Berkeley Lab.

Simon is well positioned to discuss the path to exascale. An internationally recognized expert in computer science and applied mathematics, he joined Berkeley Lab in 1996 as director of the newly formed National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), and was one of the key architects in establishing NERSC at its new location in Berkeley. Under his leadership NERSC enabled important discoveries for research in fields ranging from global climate modeling to astrophysics. Simon was also the founding director of Berkeley Lab's Computational Research Division, which conducts applied research and development in computer science, computational science, and applied mathematics.

In his prior role as Associate Lab Director for Computing Sciences, Simon helped to establish Berkeley Lab as a world leader in providing supercomputing resources to support research across a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines. Simon’s research interests are in the development of sparse matrix algorithms, algorithms for large-scale eigenvalue problems, and domain decomposition algorithms for unstructured domains for parallel processing. His algorithm research efforts were honored with the 1988 and the 2009 Gordon Bell Prize for parallel processing research. He was also member of the NASA team that developed the NAS Parallel Benchmarks, a widely used standard for evaluating the performance of massively parallel systems. He is co-editor of the twice-yearly TOP500 list that tracks the most powerful supercomputers worldwide, as well as related architecture and technology trends.

heh. Wonder who was guilty of trolling /.?  ;)

Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum Benthic Adaptations in

Surviving rapid climate change in the deep sea during the Paleogene hyperthermals

Authors:

1. Laura C. Foster (a)
2. Daniela N. Schmidt (a)
3. Ellen Thomas (b,c)
4. Sandra Arndt (d)
5. Andy Ridgwell (d)

Affiliations:

a. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, United Kingdom;

b. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520;

c. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459; and

d. School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1SS, United Kingdom

Abstract:

Predicting the impact of ongoing anthropogenic CO2 emissions on calcifying marine organisms is complex, owing to the synergy between direct changes (acidification) and indirect changes through climate change (e.g., warming, changes in ocean circulation, and deoxygenation). Laboratory experiments, particularly on longer-lived organisms, tend to be too short to reveal the potential of organisms to acclimatize, adapt, or evolve and usually do not incorporate multiple stressors. We studied two examples of rapid carbon release in the geological record, Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (∼53.2 Ma) and the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, ∼55.5 Ma), the best analogs over the last 65 Ma for future ocean acidification related to high atmospheric CO2 levels. We use benthic foraminifers, which suffered severe extinction during the PETM, as a model group. Using synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy, we reconstruct the calcification response of survivor species and find, contrary to expectations, that calcification significantly increased during the PETM. In contrast, there was no significant response to the smaller Eocene Thermal Maximum 2, which was associated with a minor change in diversity only. These observations suggest that there is a response threshold for extinction and calcification response, while highlighting the utility of the geological record in helping constrain the sensitivity of biotic response to environmental change.

India's Mission to Mars at Six Months to Launch

Go read.

Elysium: The Ultimate in White Flight

A certain director et al have been channeling James and Carlos.