| News Briefs - January-March - Online Extra |
Biking Can Save States
Billions of Dollars
Residents in 11 Midwestern
states could save as much as
$7 billion in improved air
quality, reduced health care
costs and increased physical
fitness—if they biked rather
than drove on half their trips of
five miles or less. The study by
U. of Wisconsin-Madison
scientists also says 1,100 lives
could be saved each year due
to the increased fitness. In the
U.S. about 28% of all car trips
are one mile or less and an
additional 41% are less than
two miles—Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel (11/5/11)
Like Soldiers, Military Dogs
Suffer from Stress
Military dogs who serve on the
front lines sniffing out mines,
tracking down enemy fighters,
and helping to clear building
seem to suffer from post-
traumatic stress disorder
almost as much as their human
comrades. Some estimates
have it that more than 5% of
the 650 military dogs are
coming down with canine
PTSD. Symptoms of this
disorder may include being
hyper-vigilant, fear of familiar
places, sharp changes in
temperament, —Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel (12/2/11)
Billions of Dollars
Residents in 11 Midwestern
states could save as much as
$7 billion in improved air
quality, reduced health care
costs and increased physical
fitness—if they biked rather
than drove on half their trips of
five miles or less. The study by
U. of Wisconsin-Madison
scientists also says 1,100 lives
could be saved each year due
to the increased fitness. In the
U.S. about 28% of all car trips
are one mile or less and an
additional 41% are less than
two miles—Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel (11/5/11)
Like Soldiers, Military Dogs
Suffer from Stress
Military dogs who serve on the
front lines sniffing out mines,
tracking down enemy fighters,
and helping to clear building
seem to suffer from post-
traumatic stress disorder
almost as much as their human
comrades. Some estimates
have it that more than 5% of
the 650 military dogs are
coming down with canine
PTSD. Symptoms of this
disorder may include being
hyper-vigilant, fear of familiar
places, sharp changes in
temperament, —Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel (12/2/11)
NASA Crushes Perfectly
Good Metal
Scientists at NASA’s Marshall
Space Flight Center spent one
March day watching a giant
machine crush perfectly good
metal, all in the name of
science. A 20-foot-tall hollow
can made of aluminum and
lithium was crushed with nearly
a million pounds of force over
the course of five hours. The
scientists were trying to
simulate the extreme forces
that can bend and compress a
rocket’s surface as the rocket
plows through the atmosphere
into space. The goal is to
develop new rockets capable
of carrying payloads more
efficiently to the International
Space Station and beyond.—
Discover (July/August, 2011)
Maple Wood Blamed for Spike
in Broken Ball Bats
The type of wood being used in
baseball bats—maple—and the
cut of the grain have jointly
been blamed for this past
season’s alarming number of
shattered bats. A 50-page
report delivered to Major
League Baseball by
researchers said the spike in
shattered bats coincided with
a shift from ash wood to maple,
which was supposedly a more
durable wood. Moreover, in
some bats the wood fibers were
found to run at an angle along
the handle instead of straight
up, a less desirable situation
and one that is harder to spot
in maple.—Discover (October,
2011
Good Metal
Scientists at NASA’s Marshall
Space Flight Center spent one
March day watching a giant
machine crush perfectly good
metal, all in the name of
science. A 20-foot-tall hollow
can made of aluminum and
lithium was crushed with nearly
a million pounds of force over
the course of five hours. The
scientists were trying to
simulate the extreme forces
that can bend and compress a
rocket’s surface as the rocket
plows through the atmosphere
into space. The goal is to
develop new rockets capable
of carrying payloads more
efficiently to the International
Space Station and beyond.—
Discover (July/August, 2011)
Maple Wood Blamed for Spike
in Broken Ball Bats
The type of wood being used in
baseball bats—maple—and the
cut of the grain have jointly
been blamed for this past
season’s alarming number of
shattered bats. A 50-page
report delivered to Major
League Baseball by
researchers said the spike in
shattered bats coincided with
a shift from ash wood to maple,
which was supposedly a more
durable wood. Moreover, in
some bats the wood fibers were
found to run at an angle along
the handle instead of straight
up, a less desirable situation
and one that is harder to spot
in maple.—Discover (October,
2011
Bug-in a-Bug-in a-Bug
A decade ago an unusual bug-
within-bug-within-bug hierarchy
was discovered by a Utah
State U. biologist, Carol von
Dohlen. Within the citrus
mealybug lives small bacteria
called Tremblaya princeps and
within these bacteria even tinier
microbes called Moranella
endobia can be found. Now she
and a colleague have found
that all three organisms make
amino acids in a cooperative
production line. The scientists
don’t know exactly how the
system works, and, considering
that none of the organisms can
survive without the others, the
“evolution” of this arrangement
is a mystery.—Discover
(November, 2011)
Exercise=Better Mood
Physical activity apparently can
have a healthy effect on one’s
mood for hours after the activity
has stopped. A U. of Vermont
study using 48 volunteers who
either did 20 minutes of aerobic
exercise or who rested found
that the exercisers reported
being in a better mood than the
non-exercisers for up to 12
hours.—Consumer Reports On
Health (September, 2009)
Reactors Being Shut Down
At least 25 nuclear reactors
have been shuttered or
canceled in Europe since
Japan’s nuclear meltdown. But
in China with its growing
appetite for nuclear power, a
20-year plan has been
announced for constructing
molten salt reactors (MSR )that
use thorium instead of
uranium. Thorium is three
times as abundant as uranium.
Oak Ridge National laborator in
Tennessee had successfully a
large MSR prototype in the
1960s.—Discover (September,
2011)
A decade ago an unusual bug-
within-bug-within-bug hierarchy
was discovered by a Utah
State U. biologist, Carol von
Dohlen. Within the citrus
mealybug lives small bacteria
called Tremblaya princeps and
within these bacteria even tinier
microbes called Moranella
endobia can be found. Now she
and a colleague have found
that all three organisms make
amino acids in a cooperative
production line. The scientists
don’t know exactly how the
system works, and, considering
that none of the organisms can
survive without the others, the
“evolution” of this arrangement
is a mystery.—Discover
(November, 2011)
Exercise=Better Mood
Physical activity apparently can
have a healthy effect on one’s
mood for hours after the activity
has stopped. A U. of Vermont
study using 48 volunteers who
either did 20 minutes of aerobic
exercise or who rested found
that the exercisers reported
being in a better mood than the
non-exercisers for up to 12
hours.—Consumer Reports On
Health (September, 2009)
Reactors Being Shut Down
At least 25 nuclear reactors
have been shuttered or
canceled in Europe since
Japan’s nuclear meltdown. But
in China with its growing
appetite for nuclear power, a
20-year plan has been
announced for constructing
molten salt reactors (MSR )that
use thorium instead of
uranium. Thorium is three
times as abundant as uranium.
Oak Ridge National laborator in
Tennessee had successfully a
large MSR prototype in the
1960s.—Discover (September,
2011)
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