I was recently interviewed on EarthSky about Obama’s budget and future plans for NASA. I talked about some of the things I covered in my earlier blog post, but I also added some thoughts about where I see NASA going and what I see its role is.

I’ll have more to say about this soon; I’ve been thinking about it more and I’m scratching my head over some of it.

Anyway, EarthSky is a site filled with interviews from scientists, and has a lot of great content. They cut my interview into two versions; a short 90 second one, and a longer 8-minute on. Both are recorded and on that page. They put up a transcript for the shorter version, but I suggest you listen to the 8-minute version instead.

I say that because whenever I read a transcript of an interview I’ve done, it reads like I’m on some sort of drug. But then I read transcripts from other people who are speaking extemporaneously, and they all sound that way. It’s funny how we parse information we read differently than that we hear. I swear it made sense when I said it– and I’m glad they have the interview recorded on that page as well. So again I’ll urge you to listen to the full 8-minute recording, since there’s more there than on the transcript anyway.

Oh, you. You think you’re pretty fancy, don’t you, with your matching pair of eyeballs, your precious optic nerve, your oh-so-sophisticated visual cortex. You think you’re so evolved.

The sea urchins are not impressed.

Though the round, spiny marine creatures have no actual visual organs, they do have light-sensitive proteins that help them “see” well enough to move around, find shelter and avoid predators (well, at least the slow ones). Biologists now think that a sea urchin’s entire body functions as one big compound eye, where photosensitive tissue inside the exoskeleton picks up light that’s filtered by the radiating spines. And the denser an urchin’s spines, the sharper its perception of its surroundings, a new study suggests. So who’s fancy now?

Sönke Johnsen and his team at Duke University in Durham, N.C., tested the visual responses of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, a large, purple Pacific urchin with an especially spiny exoskeleton. They placed individual urchins in the center of a tank with a dark target on one side, and they lit the tank from above.

In under a minute, the urchins began to move relative to the target. Some inched toward the dark spot and others scooted away from it, but their trajectories were definitely deliberate—each urchin was tested four times with the spot in different parts of the tank, and each repeated its behavior every time.

“Even though the group as a whole did not choose one direction relative to the target, they obviously responded to it,” the researchers wrote in The Journal of Experimental Biology. “This is analogous to a group of people each using their own compass to go a different direction.”

According to Johnsen’s team, it’s possible that urchins who were attracted to the spot interpreted it as a cave to hide in, while the ones who fled treated it as a predator like an eel or a sea star.

S. purpuratus could detect smaller targets than a previously tested species with sparser spines, suggesting to the researchers that the additional spines give it greater visual resolution. They say they’d need to test additional species to be sure.

Okay, so they still can’t recognize faces or appreciate the subtleties of a Van Gogh, but Johnsen and his colleagues say the urchins can see about as well as a horseshoe crab or chambered nautilus — and those guys have actual eyes. Not bad, right?

At least one urchin species, by the way, can live up to 200 years, so don’t even think that you’ll win in a stare down.

By Mara Grunbaum. This article is provided by Scienceline, a project of New York University’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

There’s your chronological age, the number that creeps depressingly upward with each passing birthday, and then there’s your biological age, associated with the condition of your body. In a study this week in Nature Genetics, a British team discovered a link between a particular genetic variation and people being several years older in their biological age.

Says study leader Nilesh Samani: “What we studied are structures called telomeres which are parts of one’s chromosomes. Individuals are born with telomeres of certain length and in many cells telomeres shorten as the cells divide and age” [Press Association]. Some people, however, are born with shorter telomeres to begin with, which sets them up to age faster, biologically speaking, and could put them at greater risk for age-related diseases.

Samani’s team studied 500,000 genetic variations, and they keyed on one near a gene called TERC. In a study of nearly 3,000 people, around 38% inherited one copy of the gene variant and were biologically three to four years older than those who did not carry the sequence [The Guardian]. An smaller minority, about 7 percent, had two copies of the gene variant, and the researchers say those people were biologically six or seven years older than people without the variant.

Coauthor Tim Spector says, “What our study suggests is that some people are genetically programmed to age at a faster rate” [BBC News]. The reason, they surmise, could be that the sequence hinders TERC. Normally the gene makes an enzyme called telomerase to repair one’s telomeres, but if this genetic variation causes people to make less of the enzyme while in the womb, they could be born with shorter telomeres.

So what now? Even if Spector and Samani are correct, they say that you can’t just boost telomerase to fix the problem because it carries the risking of causing cancer. However, the genetic sequence could be caught sooner rather than later. The work is expected to pave the way for screening programmes to spot people who are likely to age fast and be more susceptible to heart problems and other conditions early in life [The Guardian].

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80beats: And the Nobel Prize for Medicine Goes to…

Image: iStockphoto

Here’s a message from the Department of the Obvious–overuse of the new iPad could lead to bad posture.

If we were handed Apple’s latest sleek and shiny gadget offering, we’d find it hard not to gaze lovingly at it for extended periods of time. And given that the tablet is Wi-Fi and (in some models) 3G compatible, it will be all the harder to resist spend hours jabbing at the shiny glass screen, typing out emails or playing online games.

Now, scientists have declared that prolonged usage of the iPad could lead to bad posture, and that those hunched shoulders could cause neck and upper back problems.

Anthony Andre, the founder of Interface Analysis Associates (IAA), observed that people’s current crummy posture while working on mobile devices like laptops is a result of an inherent design flaw in the machines. Pointing out the “co-location” of the keyboard and the monitor, Andre told TechNews Daily that two things that belong in different places have been thrown together. Hence the aches and pains. LiveScience reports:

Andre calls this position – which typically involves sitting hunched over, with rounded shoulders, laptop on lap, and arms held close to the body – the “airport posture.”

“The thinner and more mobile the device, the worse it is, because you end up in more situations where you normally wouldn’t even use a laptop,” Andre said.

He added that the negative side of the increased mobility offered by the iPad tablet is that the device crosses the final frontier; now people can snuggle with a iPad in bed or bring it to the toilet.

For those iPad fans who know that this is a real danger, the swamis of ergonomics suggest you minimize “musculoskeletal problems” by limiting usage of the device (one hour is OK, eight hours is not). If you must spend eight hours on your device, say the docs, don’t forget to take micro breaks and stretch. Finally, don’t forget that other forms of communication do still exist. You don’t have to resort to smoke signals, but from time to time you could try a trusty old corded telephone.

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Image: Apple

Well this is encouraging and I’ll be very interested to hear your reactions…

Straight from my inbox:

New office would target nation’s fast-accelerating climate information needs
NOAA launches http://www.climate.gov as portal for climate science and services

Individuals and decision-makers across widely diverse sectors – from agriculture to energy to transportation – increasingly are asking NOAA for information about climate change in order to make the best choices for their families, communities and businesses. To meet the rising tide of these requests, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today announced the intent to create a NOAA Climate Service line office dedicated to bringing together the agency’s strong climate science and service delivery capabilities.

More and more, Americans are witnessing the impacts of climate change in their own backyards, including sea-level rise, longer growing seasons, changes in river flows, increases in heavy downpours, earlier snowmelt and extended ice-free seasons in our waters. People are searching for relevant and timely information about these changes to inform decision-making about virtually all aspects of their lives.

“By providing critical planning information that our businesses and our communities need, NOAA Climate Service will help tackle head-on the challenges of mitigating and adapting to climate change,” said Secretary Locke. “In the process, we’ll discover new technologies, build new businesses and create new jobs.”

“Working closely with federal, regional, academic and other state and local government and private sector partners, the new NOAA Climate Service will build on our success transforming science into useable climate services,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA is committed to scientific integrity and transparency; we seek to advance science and strengthen product development and delivery through user engagement.”

Leaders from numerous public and private sector entities support the creation of NOAA Climate Service:

“Addressing climate change is one of our most pressing environmental challenges. Making climate science more easily accessible to all Americans will help us gain the consensus we need to move forward,” said Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy. “The new NOAA Climate Service is a welcome addition. It will help bring people together so we can also bring about an economic recovery by more rapidly modernizing our nation’s energy infrastructure.”

“NOAA has consistently led the world in climate research and observation,” said Carol Browner, assistant to the president for energy and climate change. “Businesses, communities and governments will rely even more on its expertise and the critical information it provides to make informed decisions based on the best science available. Through NOAA’s improved climate services we will be better able to confront climate change, and the many challenges it presents for our environment, security, and economy.”

“The establishment of NOAA Climate Service will be an important step forward in helping the nation better understand and forecast the changing climate. The Navy’s Task Force Climate Change looks forward to working closely with NOAA Climate Service to ensure that both the nation and the Navy are best prepared for the future challenges posed by climate change,” said RADM Dave Titley, oceanographer of the Navy and director of the Navy’s Task Force Climate Change.

“NOAA’s reorganization to consolidate its formidable capabilities relating to climate science and services in a single office is an important step forward in the larger effort of harnessing relevant capabilities across all the executive branch agencies to help citizens and businesses plan for and cope with climate change,” said Shere Abbott, associate director for environment and energy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

To see what other leaders from government, business, science and environment are saying about NOAA Climate Service, and to get additional information, visit http://www.noaa.gov/climate.

Unifying NOAA’s climate capabilities under a single climate office will integrate the agency’s climate science and services and make them more accessible to NOAA partners and other users. Planning has been, and continues to be, shaped by input from NOAA employees and stakeholders across the country, with close consideration given to the recommendations of the NOAA Science Advisory Board, National Academies and National Academy of Public Administration.

NOAA Climate Service will encompass a core set of longstanding NOAA capabilities with proven success. The climate research, observations, modeling, predictions and assessments generated by NOAA’s top scientists – including Nobel Peace Prize award-winners – will continue to provide the scientific foundation for extensive on-the-ground climate services that respond to millions of requests annually for data and other critical information.

Thomas R. Karl, director of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, will serve as transitional director of NOAA Climate Service. New positions for six NOAA Regional Climate Services Directors will be announced soon and will provide regional leadership for integrating user engagement and on-the-ground service delivery within the Climate Service.

NOAA Launches Landmark Climate.gov Portal

NOAA is also unveiling today a new Web site – http://www.climate.gov – that serves as a single point-of-entry for NOAA’s extensive climate information, data, products and services. Known as the NOAA Climate Portal, the site addresses the needs of five broadly-defined user groups: decision makers and policy leaders, scientists and applications-oriented data users, educators, business users and the public.

Highlights of the portal include an interactive “climate dashboard” that shows a range of constantly updating climate datasets (e.g., temperature, carbon dioxide concentration and sea level) over adjustable time scales; the new climate science magazine ClimateWatch, featuring videos and articles of scientists discussing recent climate research and findings; and an array of data products and educational resources.

Followed by this from Senator Snowe’s (R-ME) office:

Snowe Welcomes Decision to Create New National Climate Service at NOAA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today applauded the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to create a National Climate Service at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to further strengthen the agency’s climate science and service delivery capabilities. Senator Snowe learned of the decision in a one-on-one phone call with NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco earlier this morning and released the following statement:

“Today’s announcement that NOAA will create a National Climate Service represents a strong step forward for our Nation as we look to enhance our understanding of global climate change and its impacts on our economy, our communities, and our environment,” said Senator Snowe. “I have long supported the formulation of a National Climate Service, and when I spoke with Dr. Lubchenco this morning, I pledged to work with her to ensure that this new office operates efficiently and effectively to provide pertinent and practical climate change data for local communities to make cost effective decisions for the American taxpayer.”

“With at least 13 Federal agencies contributing pieces of the climate research puzzle, the system we currently have for integrating their data suffers from excessive interagency review and lack of coordination. That is why I have supported legislation in the past to create a single point of focus for Federal climate research within NOAA,” added Senator Snowe. “I am hopeful that this office will help ultimately achieve the goal of providing clear, concise guidance to our communities, states, and non-governmental decision makers that will give them and all U.S. citizens confidence in the predictions and projections that will help them understand and adapt to a changing climate.”

As study after study suggests that wine might have health benefits, beer tends to get the short end of the stick. But food scientist and beer lover Charles Bamforth wasn’t going to take that lying down, saying: “The wine guys have stolen the moral high ground. I resent the stance that people take that wine is better. It’s not” [Discovery News]. To prove it, he studied the silicon content of beers from around the country, and in a study in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, found that beer could be a good source of the substance in your diet.

Bamforth found that the beer’s silicon content ranged from 6.4 milligrams per liter to 56.5 milligrams per liter, with an average of about 30 milligrams. Since two pints of beer are just about equal to one liter, drinking two beers at happy hour could provide 30 milligrams of silicon. And while there is no official recommendation for daily silicon uptake, the researchers say, in the United States, individuals consume between 20 and 50 mg of silicon each day [LiveScience]. Light lagers and non-alcoholic beers not only lack flavor, they showed the lowest silicon content in Bamforth’s study. The ultra-hoppy India pale ales came in first.

While Bamforth happily reported his findings about silicon content, the study didn’t claim any link between beer drinking and bone health, which silicon supports. And so some scientists pooh-poohed the “beer is good for you” link that came out in the press release and some media reports. “To conclude any bone health benefits from this study would require a great leap,” said Dr. Tim Byers, deputy director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center in Aurora [ABC News]. While previous studies have suggested that beer could be connected to strong bones, or could have other benefits like limiting kidney stones and gallstones, Bamforth stresses moderation given the detrimental health effects of a few brews too many.

And even he isn’t taking the results too seriously. While studies about the health benefits of beer and wine might make you feel little better about ordering the next pint or glass, he says, that shouldn’t be your prime motivation. “I would first consider flavor and whether you like it or not,” Bamforth said. “Choose the beer you enjoy, for goodness sake” [Discovery News].

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Image: flickr/ a4pga

Do you recognize that song quote?  It’s from North to Alaska, by Johnny Horton, in 1960.  For most people raised in the Southeastern or Southwestern United States, that’s about as far to the aurorae as you ever came.  Of course, we know the aurorae are over the north and south polar regions, but for some reason many people only know them as the “Northern Lights”.  Those over the northern hemisphere are the Aurora Borealis, and those over the southern are the Aurora Australis.  “Aurora” was the name of the Roman goddess of dawn, “boreas” is Greek for “north wind”, and “australis” is Latin for “of the south”.

As an aside, the Aurora Australis was known to history before Australia (the continent), which was claimed and named in the 18th century.

Aurora Australis and Orion, 04/94, Image: NASA, STS-59 and Crew

The aurorae are caused by the Earth’s magnetosphere, which accelerates and funnels ionized particles along the magnetic field.  Aurora can be seen all over the world; indeed, it is imaged on other worlds, but it is more easily seen in the polar regions due to the magnetic field and longer periods of darkness.  Green or brownish red in the aurorae are associated with photons striking oxygen, while blue or red are associated with nitrogen.

Magnetosphere, Image: Science.NASA.gov

We know that the aurorae are caused by ordinary (and extraordinary) solar activity.  After the Carrington Event in 1859 (Saturday’s riddle) the aurorae were particularly active.  Reported all over the Earth, in some places they were so bright that one could read newsprint outside at 1:00 am.   Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis are also believed to be nearly mirror images of each other.

Aurora Mirror Image, Credit: Polar VIS, NASA/JPL

Thought to be a sign from God to the Europeans in the Middle ages, the spirits dancing in the sky to the Cree, and the reflection of light from the body armor of virgin warriors by the Vikings, the aurorae have lost none of their beauty and appeal through discovery.

Here are a few links if you want to read more about the aurorae:

Aurora link RE: 1859 solar flare
Aurora forecast – Geophysical Institute
Sounds in and around Aurora
“The Northern Lights”, Alan Booth, 1992 documentary (45min)
The Northern Lights in mythology – Bullfinch’s, et al

And an excellent link to YouTube recording the sounds of aurorae, along with informational narration (well worth watching):

?Listening to Northern Lights, YouTube

I’ve been posting sporadically on how sunspots are starting to come back to the Sun, and I’m glad to see a new group sprouted up recently… and it’s a monster:

These images are from SOHO, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. The orange one is in visible light, and the sunspots are pretty obvious. The green one shows the Sun in the far ultraviolet, and you can see the sunspots are pretty intense, blasting out high-energy light. Sunspots are indicators of magnetic activity, and the intense magnetic field can accelerate plasma (ionized gas) to high energies.

Just so’s you know, a hundred Earths could fit across this image, so that oughta give you an idea of just how big these blemishes are.

What this means is that the Sun is becoming active again. You can see it better in this video I put together using SOHO animations. These are real SOHO observations. Note that some of the data are missing so the Sun’s rotation is a bit jerky, and that you can see that data dropouts and other problems plague these sort of observations. Oh– actually, another group popped up on the Sun earlier, too, and you can see those in the visible light data.

You can actually see the plasma flowing along the magnetic field lines in the latter part of the video.

Right now, the Sun is struggling to climb back up to the peak of its magnetic cycle, which will probably occur in 2013 or later, given how slow this has been — which you might want to keep in mind if some crackpot or scammer is trying to sell you on the idea that solar activity will destroy the Earth in 2012. When the Sun is at its peak, the magnetic field is at its strongest, and we see the most sunspots. However, the strongest solar flares and other explosive events tend not to happen until well after the cycle peaks, so it’ll be late 2013 or 2014 before we see the most vigorous activity, if the Sun holds to its previous behavior.

Again, people selling you on 2012 disasters generally have a very tenuous grasp on science. The less you know the better for them.

I expect we’ll be seeing more and more sunspots now as time goes by. It’s nice to see this happening, as it adds to the activity seen in December, and ends a long period of minimal sunspots — heck, for a long time, there were none at all. Boring. Now we can look forward to some exciting action again… just in time for SDO to launch, too!

[P.S. If anyone can tell me why the first few frames of my uploaded videos turn gray sometimes, that would be nice. I don't know whether to curse iMovie, Flash, YouTube, or all three.]

Image credit: SOHO (ESA and NASA)