Ants That Can Flow Like a Fluid, or Move Like a Solid

In a presentation at a meeting of the American Physical Society last month the researchers showed video of the ants pouring out of a funnel, like some thick and wriggling syrup, and also springing back into a rough ball shape after being pressed down.

These images illustrated the findings of the more technical research, done with rheometers to measure the precise viscosity and elasticity of balls of ants under stress. The researchers found that in different situations the ants behaved differently.

To flow, they moved around, rearranging themselves in the group, acting like a thick fluid. When the aggregation struggled to keep its shape, the ants clung to each other, acting like an elastic solid — rubber for example. In bridge construction, for instance, interest is great in materials that automatically repair cracks. The ants are experts at this kind of repair. When they turn themselves into a bridge for other ants, which they do often, they scramble to quickly repair breaks in any damage to the structure.

Potential Snowstorm Saturday Through Sunday

Potential Snowstorm Saturday Through Sunday

Currently there is the potential for a plowable snowstorm this Saturday morning through early Sunday morning. At this time the National Weather Service is trying to figure out how much warm air will get pulled into the storm causing a possible change over to rain or ice. If it stays mostly snow, the higher snow totals can be expected and lower totals if more rain occurs.

Integrated Pest Management for Billbugs in Orchardgrass

The bluegrass billbug and the hunting billbug, have caused widespread economic damage to orchardgrass, a cool season grass that is cultivated throughout the United States as a high-value forage crop. Although a number of cultural, biological, and chemical control methods have been suggested for billbugs in turfgrass and corn, there has been little focus on control in orchardgrass. Therefore, further investigations are warranted to verify the life histories of the bluegrass and hunting billbugs on orchardgrass, and feeding studies are needed to determine whether these species regularly feed on orchardgrass and, if so, how likely they are to become pests. Finally, the current measures available for control of billbugs in orchardgrass are extremely limited. New management tools, insecticides or otherwise, are required to effectively control this pest.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131204091616.htm

A Jolt to Complacency on Food Supply

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/science/earth/warning-on-global-food-supply.html?ref=earth&_r=0

At the beginning of 2012, the Agriculture Department projected the largest corn crop in the country’s history. But then a savage heat wave and drought struck over the summer. Plants withered, prices spiked, and the final harvest came in 27 percent below the forecast. The situation bore a striking resemblance to what happened in Europe in 2003, after a heat wave cut agricultural production for some crops by as much as 30 percent and sent prices soaring. Several researchers concluded that the European heat wave was made more likely by human-caused climate change; scientists are still arguing over the 2012 heat blast in the United States. Whatever their origin, heat waves like these give us a taste of what could be in store in a future with global warming. This may be the greatest single fear about global warming: that climate change could so as to lead to rising hunger or even mass starvation. Two weeks ago, a leaked draft of a report by the United Nations climate committee, known as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, suggested that the group’s concerns have grown, and that the report, scheduled for release in March in Yokohama, Japan, is likely to contain a sharp warning about risks to the food supply.

Satellite Will Fall but No One Knows When

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/science/space/satellite-will-fall-to-earth-but-no-ones-sure-where.html?ref=science&_r=0

A European satellite that mapped Earth’s gravitational field in exquisite detail will be pulled down by gravity to its fiery destruction sometime in the next few days. Where and when it will crash no one knows. It could be almost anywhere on the globe. About 25 to 45 fragments of the one-ton spacecraft are expected to survive all the way to the surface, with the largest perhaps weighing 200 pounds. GOCE (pronounced GO-chay) ran out of propellant last month and has been dropping about 2.5 miles a day. As of Wednesday, it was still 113 miles up as it circled the Earth once every 88 minutes. Its orbit goes almost directly over the poles, and as the planet rotates, almost all places on Earth pass beneath it at some point. The chances that a chunk of GOCE or any other space debris will injure anyone are tiny, but not zero. Dr. Floberghagen said the debris will endanger about 15 to 20 square yards of the Earth’s surface. 

Astronomers Find Earthlike Planet, but It’s Infernally Hot

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/science/space/astronomers-find-earthlike-planet-but-its-infernally-hot.html?ref=science&_r=0

Astronomers described it on Wednesday as the first Earth-size planet that seems to be made of the same mixture of rock and iron as Earth, and that orbits a star similar to our sun. The surface of Kepler 78b is infernally hot: 3,500 to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Viewed from the surface of Kepler 78b, its star would cover 80 times more of the sky than the sun does in Earth’s sky.  It's year is just eight and a half hours. (By contrast, Earth is 93 million miles from the sun and, of course, completes its yearly orbit in a little over 365 days.) Kepler 78b is earth-like, but obviously it is not habitable. 

Balloon Ride to Offer Expansive View, for a Price

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/science/space/boarding-soon-a-balloon-to-the-stratosphere.html?ref=science

A new space tourism company named World View unveiled its plans on Tuesday to loft passengers to the stratosphere as early as 2015, not by rocket but by giant balloon. Price: $75,000. “This is a very gentle flight that will last for hours aloft,” said Jane Poynter, World View’s chief executive. She said the cabin would be about the size of that of a private jet, and would have a “superbly comfortable, luxurious interior where you can get up and stand upright and move around and go back to the bar and get a drink.” World View’s balloon and capsule, with six passengers and two crew members, would take about an hour and a half to reach altitude and then drift for a couple of hours before the balloon was jettisoned and the capsule would glide back to Earth beneath an inflated parasail. 

Moose Die-Off Concerns Scientists

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&ref=science&adxnnlx=1381961407-o+tdzvNc2AEqWmvuiLt97w

Moose Die-Off Concerns Scientists

Twenty years ago, Minnesota had two geographically separate moose populations. One of them has virtually disappeared since the 1990s, declining to fewer than 100 from 4,000. The other population, in northeastern Minnesota, is dropping 25 percent a year and is now fewer than 3,000, down from 8,000. In Montana, moose hunting permits fell to 362 last year, from 769 in 1995. Winters have grown substantially shorter across much of the moose’s range. In New Hampshire, a longer fall with less snow has greatly increased the number of winter ticks, a devastating parasite. Another theory is heat stress. Moose are made for cold weather, and when the temperature rises above 23 degrees Fahrenheit in winter, as has happened more often in recent years, they expend extra energy to stay cool. That can lead to exhaustion and death.

Longer Life for Humans Linked to Further Loss of Endangered Species

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131009130122.htm

A study has shown that as human population increases, the population of endangered species decreases. This does not come as a surprise considering how much effect humans have on the environment. Humans don't realize the effect that they have on the environment and the species that inhabit it. This study is trying to get people to realize the direct link that we have with nature.

U.N. Climate Panel Endorses Ceiling on Global Emissions

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/28/science/global-climate-change-report.html?ref=science

Climate scientists reached a limit of the amount of greenhouse gasses that humans can dump into the atmosphere. It has been agreed by these scientists that if the rate of pollution that the world is at now continues, irreversible climate changes will happen in only a few decades. They also state that small climate changes are already underway and will continue to not only happen, but accelerate if humans don't figure out a way to be more conscious of what we put in the atmosphere. The reason for these climate changes is generally agreed to be caused by humans. Basically the scientists are telling us that we need to stop damaging our atmosphere and come up with solutions to help prevent future climate changes.    

Rising Temperatures Causing Storms

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/us/study-sees-a-higher-risk-of-storms-on-the-horizon.html?ref=science&_r=0

Study Sees a Higher Risk of Storms on the Horizon

The eastern and central United States likely will see a greater risk of severe weather by the middle of this century as rising temperatures trigger atmospheric changes that favor storms. An increase in severe thunderstorms and even tornadoes along the east coast are expected. The study measured the impact of projected increases in temperature on conditions that are known to produce severe thunderstorms. Basically, as the century continues, temperatures will rise causing atmospheric changes to produce storms that are fairly rare now, to become much more popular.  

APES Blog-fracking

The Environmental Protection Agency had predicted substantial amounts of methane from shale-gas operations. Although more than one million tons per year had been produced, the cleaner and better shale gas had not been produced at a substantial enough amount. Therefore, The Environmental Protection Agency has begun to require drillers to control leaks during completions. Now that shale-gas drilling is becoming more and more popular, regulations, such as controlling these leaks, must be put in place so that the United States doesn't waste such an important contribution to its natural gases. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/us/gas-leaks-in-fracking-less-than-estimated.html?ref=science&_r=0