Hawaiian Coral Shockingly Resilient to Climate Change, According to Study

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A long-term study of Hawaiian coral species has just been analyzed by researchers and they now have unexpectedly optimistic opinion on the survival chances of coral colonies in more acidic and warmer waters due to climate change.

Though researchers did want to be clear amidst their celebration of the analysis that three coral species did suffer significant mortality under the simulated future conditions. Some of the specifies experienced a 50% death rate.

However, the fact remains that none of them died off completely and some were even thriving by study’s end. Researchers believe this new evidence suggests a strong hope for the future of coral reefs in warmer more acidic environment.

Researchers were overjoyed with the positive outcomes in their which they stated is a pretty rare occurrence when it comes to studying coral mortality in warming oceans.

And there is more good news. Not only are the findings more optimistic than usual, but they are also probably more realistic according to scientists. This study lasted 22 months while the average coral study length is as short as days up to five months.

Researchers stated that some aspects of coral biology take a long time to change. Often coral will have a negative initial reaction to stressors but will bounce back if given time. A short-term study only sees part of the arch of major environmental change and its affect on coral.

 

Computer Artist Charles Csuri Dies at 99

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The Ohio State University is mourning the loss of long-time faculty member and globally known digital art pioneer Charles “Chuck” Csuri. Csuri passed away quietly in Lakewood Ranch, FL at the age of 99 years. He is remembered as renaissance man whose achievements have left a lasting impression on the art world.

Csuri was a graduate of the Ohio State University and was a professor of computer and information science and art education at university for over 40 years. He formed the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design. He also confounded the Ohio Supercomputer Center and Cranston/Csuri Productions which was one of the first computer animation companies in the world.

Named the “father of computer art” by the Smithsonian Institute, Csuri was a pioneer in developing code the enabled artists to produce art in brand new ways on computers. His legacy was established by his early work with computer plotter drawings and computer animation and 3D imagery.

Csuri’s unparalleled work in the field has been applied to flight simulators, scientific visualizations, MRI, computer-aided design, education for the deaf, special effects for film and architecture.

Csuri’s work can be viewed at MOMA, the Victoria and Albert Museum as well as the Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art. Noted artists Roy Lichtenstein and George Segal both feature Csuri’s work prominently in their private collections.

 

Scientists Discover Rare Link Between Bacteria and Humans

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In their new research scientists have found out that humans have a receptor protein that can detect individual amino acids, but in the exact way that bacteria do.

This finding might lead to improvements in drugs created from the amino acid GABA. However, the evolutionary implications might be more interesting if not immediately practical. This adds to a small pool of evidence that suggests that humans and bacteria share commonalities in how they detect essential life components like oxygen and food.

Receptors on the surfaces of cells detect nutrients such as sugars, vitamins and fats. But they use different types of segmented proteins aptly named sensors. Yet, there are no known common chemical similarities between these mechanisms.

During this new research scientists found that there is a universal sensor present in lots of different receptors which detect amino acids. They work by interacting with two groups of atoms which amino acids all share.

In this work, scientists discovered a universal sensor present in many different receptors that detects amino acids by precisely interacting with the two groups of atoms that are shared by all amino acids.

Study authors couldn’t overstate the significance of finding this universal receptor—they noted that it is considered uncommon to find something so specific and universal that is shared between species which are separated by billions of years of evolution (3 billion in the case of bacteria and humans).

 

Astronomers Find Planet Orbiting Two Suns

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Astronomers used a new method to confirm that a planet was orbiting two suns. The planet is called Kepler-16b. It is approximately 245 light years from Earth. It is a gas giant and about the size of our solar system’s Saturn.

The new method, which scientists call the radial velocity method, has been used often in astronomy. The first planet found by astronomers that orbited a star like our Sun was found using the radical velocity technique. In addition to using the same method, scientists also used the same telescope to find this new planet which orbits two suns.

The radial velocity technique includes analyzing the spectra of light produced by a given star. Scientists gather spectra data through telescopes on Earth. In this instance they used a telescope that is found in France at the Observatoire de Haute Provence. The spectra information graphs as a line, when a planet orbits around a star (or two stars) the line wobbles. The line produced by the light spectra data ends up shaky, and that wobble indicates the presence of a planet. Scientists can use this can make conclusions about a number of things about a planet, like its mass for example.

Astronomers who made the discovery said that radial velocity measurement is high on the list of best tools scientists have to find planets outside our own solar system; however, this was the first time the method was used to find a planet which orbits two stars.

The study was published in “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.”

 

Fewer Rainy Days Leading to Earlier Springs

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A new study concluded that with a declining number of rainy days every year is part of the cause for plants having an early spring in northern climates. Scientists had previously known that rising temperatures due to climate change are partially responsible for leaves coming out at earlier dates recently.

The early leaf-out, according to this newest, is caused secondarily by the phenomenon of fewer rainy days. Previous studies have looked mostly at how temperature affects the spring leaf-out. Also, if the studies considered precipitation, it was only the total amount. Whereas it seems frequency of rain matters more than totally precipitation.

The study found that this decline in rainfall frequency will cause continually earlier springs by one or two days per decades through 2100, which is much different than what scientists previously thought.

Researchers used data sets collected in China, the United States and Europe. All the data came from places that are all north of 30 degrees latitude, which includes most of the U.S. The data included dates on which observers first recorded evidence of leaves as well as satellite imagery showing vegetation greening at spring between 1982-2018. This data was then compared with how many rainy days there were at each of the study sites.

Their analysis showed that as rainy days declined in the northern hemisphere spring arrived earlier. One exception were grasslands located in semi-arid regions. Here fewer rainy days delayed spring marginally.