Researchers from Columbia and Purdue universities have recently utilized an interesting method to infer the timeframe of the volcanic events which created Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley National Park. By examining rock samples which had been created in those events, these researchers are the first team to utilize Beryllium-10 dating techniques to infer time periods of explosive volcanism.

An international collaboration of European research teams has just published an important study which directly attributes changes in mountain vegetation to climate change across the European continent.

Fossil evidence of an ancient sauropod, the classification which contains some of the largest animals to ever walk the earth, has recently been uncovered on the Antarctic continent by an Argentinian research team.

New insights into the evolution of quadrupedal movement in pre-tetrapodal species have been recently developed through behavioral and morphological analyses of a species of African lungfish.

A "Brinicle" ... what the heck is that?

Yup - that's exactly what we said when we saw this article from Nature news ... 'Brinicle' ice finger of death....

In the Antarctic, as new sea ice forms on the ocean surface it leaves behind brine that is so salty and dense, it rapidly sinks towards the sea floor. As this salty slurry sinks, it instantly freezes the water surrounding it - forming a salt icicle, or a brinicle - which freezes everything in its spidery path, including starfish and sea urchins.

Sunbathers may soon be closer to hitting the beach or pool without having to lather up with sunblock thanks to a team of researchers led by Dr. Paul Long at King’s College London who recently discovered how natural sunscreen compounds are made by coral. The goal of the research is to understand the genetic and biochemical basis on how natural sunscreens are made with the vision of developing non-topical commercial sun protection products, potentially in the form of tablets. This would eliminate the oily mess that’s made using topical lotions and also reduce the struggle to apply to hard-to-reach places like one’s back. The discovery could also prompt efforts to bioengineer crop plants to be more UV-tolerant, especially in sunlight-intense areas of the world.

I recently made a trip to Panama City, Panama in May for the annual 2011 Panama International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) conference to present some work I've done with a potential anti-cancer drug discovered from marine cyanobacteria in Panama. As detailed on their website, the Panama ICBG focuses on the discovery of natural product lead compounds for potential therapeutic or agrochemical use. The mutli-day meeting was held at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama City.

While skimming through today's headlines of scientific news, I came across this article (see below) about ecologists from STRI using GPS transmitter-wearing toucans to study seed dispersal patterns of nutmeg trees in Gamboa, Panama. Coincidentally, I was staying in and explored parts of the tropical forests in Gamboa, which is just outside of Panama City, during my trip to the country. Although its unlikely that I actually stepped foot in any of the areas of Gamboa in which this research took place, I found this study to be very interesting - in part because of the coincidence that I was recently in that area but also how new technologies can help us learn more about our ecosystems.

Now, onto the study:

In January 2011, Blue Ocean Productions, Cage Free Productions, Highliner Studios, and Blue Ocean Sciences (BOS) will introduce the "Marine Debris Dream Team" as they cross the Atlantic on The Schmidt Research Vessel Institute's (SRVI) M/Y Lone Ranger. On the Web Assisted Virtual Education Sustainability (WAVES) interactive website, Blue Ocean Sciences Media Education (BOS ME) will follow this media savvy team of researchers as they study the North Atlantic Gyre and the Sargasso Sea, exploring approximately 3,000 nautical miles of critical ocean environments.

The team aims to analyze the impact debris has on ocean cycling systems (carbon), marine organisms, and us. This information will be used in the development of new technologies to better monitor environmental contaminants in our worlds oceans. The Marine Debris Dream Team whose partners include: NASA, The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Synthetic Genomics, Craig Venter Institute, Pennsylvania State University, Helmholtz Zentrum Laboratory, PACMARA and McGill University, will introduce complex scientific subjects to the world through fun easy-to-understand webisodes, blogs, and online question and answer sessions.

I found this at the New England Aquarium Marine Animal Rescue Team Blog. Last Thursday marked the one year anniversary of Goose's release. They tagged Goose and have completed a Google earth presentation showing his travels. After a year the transmitter is still working and helping us learn about about this threatened species.

In studying antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, researchers from Boston University and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard have discovered that charitable behavior exists in one of the most microscopic forms of life.