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Sunday, April 7, 2013
Clouds blamed for record ice melt in Greenland
The 2012 summer witnessed the largest ice loss ever in Greenland since scientists started recording melt rates there in 1979, and new research indicates that clouds might be the cause.
Extent of surface melt over Greenland?s ice sheet on July 8, 2012 (left) and July 12, 2012 (right) based on data from three satellites. (Light pink: probable melt, meaning at least one satellite showed melt; dark pink: melt, meaning two to three satellites
Nicolo E. DiGirolamo, SSAI/NASA GSFC, and Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory
EnlargeThe culprit behind the record-shattering level of ice melting in Greenland in 2012 may have been low, thin clouds, new research suggests.
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These novel findings, detailed in the April 4 issue of the journal Nature, may help answer climate mysteries elsewhere in the Arctic, the researchers said.
If the?sheet of ice covering Greenland?were to completely melt, such destruction of 720,000 cubic miles (3 million cubic kilometers) of ice would?raise global sea levels?by 24 feet (7.3 meters). In summer 2012, Greenland saw an?extraordinarily large amount of melting?across nearly its entire ice sheet. In fact, it was the largest ice melt seen in Greenland since scientists began tracking melt rates there in 1979. Ice-core records suggest melting events so extreme have only happened once every 150 years or so over the past 4,000 years.
"The July 2012 event was triggered by an influx of unusually warm air, but that was only one factor," said study researcher Dave Turner, a physical scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Severe Storms Laboratory. "We show that low-level clouds were instrumental in pushing temperatures up above freezing."
Thin clouds
Turner and his colleagues discovered the role these clouds played by analyzing temperature data from the ICECAPS experiment run at Summit Station atop the Greenland Ice ?Sheet at about 10,500 feet (3,200 m) above sea level. Melting occurred even all the way up there on July 11, 2012. [Images of Melt: Earth's Vanishing Ice]
The idea that low clouds might help melt ice might seem mistaken at first, since they usually reflect solar energy back into space. (Cloudy days tend to be cooler than sunny ones.) However, the research team's computer models suggest these clouds can be both thin enough to allow sunlight to pass through to heat the surface and thick enough to trap thermal radiation emitted upward by the surface. (This thermal radiation is a form of light but comes in longer wavelengths than visible light and is invisible to the human eye. The Earth's surface absorbs the sun's rays and then re-emits this thermal radiation.)
Climate models often underestimate the occurrence of these clouds, thus limiting their ability to predict Arctic climate change and other phenomena. This new research suggests this kind of cloud is present about 30 percent to 50 percent of the time over both Greenland and across the Arctic, said Ralf Bennartz, lead author of the study and an atmospheric physicist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
More observations needed
"A very narrow range of cloud thickness allows for?amplification of surface warming," Bennartz told OurAmazingPlanet. "This shows how well we have to understand individual components of the climate system, such as clouds, in order to accurately understand the system as a whole."
More observations are key to a better understanding of these components, he added.
"We need to continue detailed observational studies at Summit Station in Greenland in order to better understand processes leading to melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and help improve the representation of these processes in global climate models," Bennartz said.
Follow OurAmazingPlanet?@OAPlanet,?Facebook?and?Google+.Original article at?LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.
Copyright 2013?LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Saturday, April 6, 2013
PFT: Plans for 4 NFL players to 'come out on the same day'?
Getty ImagesLast year, none of the 42 restricted free agents signed offers sheets with new teams.? This year, none of nearly 40 restricted free agents have signed offer sheets with new teams.
At a certain point, the existence of an informal understanding among NFL teams to lay off each other?s restricted free agents becomes the only reasonable conclusion.? If that?s the case, it?s a clear case of collusion.
Since the uncapped year of 2010, in which restricted free agency dramatically expanded on a one-time basis to include players with four or five years of service, only one RFA has signed an offer sheet with a new team.? That was running back Mike Bell, a restricted free agent with the Saints who signed an offer sheet with the Eagles.
In four years of restricted free agency classes ? four years ? no other player has signed an offer sheet.
Last year?s 0-fer was explained away by the exorbitant contract that former Steelers receiver Mike Wallace wanted.? And, generally, some believe that teams shouldn?t waste their time negotiating a contract that the player?s current team can match.
But with more and more teams having cap trouble and a large cluster of teams having more than $10 million remaining, it?s easier than ever to craft a front-loaded offer sheet that, say, the Giants would have a hard time matching for receiver Victor Cruz (who has a first-round tender), the Ravens would have a hard time matching for tight end Dennis Pitta (who has a second-round tender), and/or the Steelers would have a hard time matching for receiver Emmanuel Sanders (who has a third-round tender).
Coincidentally (or not), the league?s in-house media company reported before the start of free agency that, as to Cruz, ?there is already a ton of interest and plenty of teams just waiting for their opening.?? Since March 12, Cruz has been doing the salsa to the sound of crickets.? Pitta likewise drew ?preliminary interest? from several unnamed teams.
Still, only one RFA ? Sanders ? took a visit, three weeks ago to the Patriots.? And it?s hard not to at least wonder whether the normally ultra-secretive Patriots, who routinely insist on full discretion from players in whom they are interested, allowed the Sanders visit to be reported in order to help create the sense that restricted free agency has not gone the way of the dodo bird.
Regardless of any interest ? real, imagined, or exaggerated ? that teams have in Cruz, Pitta, Sanders, it hasn?t translated into an offer sheet being signed (or, as far as anyone knows, even offered) to a single restricted free agent since Mike Bell in 2010.
With the league recently defending the relative lack of activity in unrestricted free agency by claiming that ?[p]layer signings in 2013 have been characterized by robust spending and intense competition,? there has been no spending and no competition for restricted free agents.
If that?s not the result of collusion, then why is it happening?
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May the source be with you! 'Star Wars: Jedi Knight' code up for grabs?
Following the sudden ending of LucasArts yesterday and the ambiguous fate of all "Star Wars" games currently in development by the storied video game company, one fellow game company has already stepped up to show its solidarity with fans and gamers.
Just hours after news of LucasArts? imminent closure broke yesterday, Raven Software and its parent company Activision made the source code for their two "Star Wars" games, "Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast" and "Jedi Knight II: Jedi Academy,: freely available for players and the vibrant online modding community.
In a statement given to Kotaku Australia, Raven said that it wanted to release the source code "for people to learn from and play with.?
"Raven is sad to hear about the closing of LucasArts today, we respected them and enjoyed working with them over the years," the statement said. "We wish the best for all the talented people who were let go and hope they find good work in studios in the industry."
"We loved and appreciated the experience of getting to make Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy for LucasArts," Raven said. "As a gift to the persistently loyal fanbase for our Jedi games and in memory of LucasArts, we are releasing the source code for both games for people to enjoy and play with."
Releasing a game?s source code is one of the best ways that a studio can extend the shelf life (at least culturally) of a video game by inviting in the creativity of the online modding community. Mods are essentially customized or converted versions of the original game that adds new content ? anything from new characters, weapons, levels, and storylines ? which can even amount to a new game entirely. "Counterstrike," for instance, which is one of the most popular first-person shooters ever created for the PC, was originally created as a mod for the first "Half Life."
So while Raven and Activision probably won?t be making any more money on "Jedi Knight" anytime soon, releasing the games? source code is good-will gesture that could even amount to a new game someday. In the meantime, modders and players can download the tutorial-free source code for "Jedi Outcast" and "Jedi Academy" on Sourceforge.
Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq and reach him by email at ylejacq@gmail.com.
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Friday, April 5, 2013
China bird flu mutates, might infect mammals
A woman and her daughter are frightened while ducks approach closely for food at an amusement park in Beijing, China, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Scientists taking a first look at the genetics of the bird flu strain that recently killed two men in China said Wednesday the virus could be harder to track than its better-known cousin H5N1 because it might be able to spread silently among poultry without notice. The bird virus also seems to have adapted to be able to be able to sicken mammals like pigs. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
A woman and her daughter are frightened while ducks approach closely for food at an amusement park in Beijing, China, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Scientists taking a first look at the genetics of the bird flu strain that recently killed two men in China said Wednesday the virus could be harder to track than its better-known cousin H5N1 because it might be able to spread silently among poultry without notice. The bird virus also seems to have adapted to be able to be able to sicken mammals like pigs. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
A woman feeds ducks while her boyfriend takes photos at an amusement park in Beijing, China, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Scientists taking a first look at the genetics of the bird flu strain that recently killed two men in China said Wednesday the virus could be harder to track than its better-known cousin H5N1 because it might be able to spread silently among poultry without notice. The bird virus also seems to have adapted to be able to be able to sicken mammals like pigs. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
A duck stands near a warning sign at an amusement park in Beijing, China, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Scientists taking a first look at the genetics of the bird flu strain that recently killed two men in China said Wednesday the virus could be harder to track than its better-known cousin H5N1 because it might be able to spread silently among poultry without notice. The bird virus also seems to have adapted to be able to be able to sicken mammals like pigs. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
Ducks are fed by two tourists at an amusement park in Beijing, China, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Scientists taking a first look at the genetics of the bird flu strain that recently killed two men in China said Wednesday the virus could be harder to track than its better-known cousin H5N1 because it might be able to spread silently among poultry without notice. The virus also appears to have mutated into a form that enables it to more easily infect animals such as pigs, meaning they could serve as hosts that spread the virus more widely among humans. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
Ducks swim near a warning sign at an amusement park in Beijing, China, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Scientists taking a first look at the genetics of the bird flu strain that recently killed two men in China said Wednesday the virus could be harder to track than its better-known cousin H5N1 because it might be able to spread silently among poultry without notice. The virus also appears to have mutated into a form that enables it to more easily infect animals such as pigs, meaning they could serve as hosts that spread the virus more widely among humans. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
BEIJING (AP) ? In a worrisome sign, a bird flu in China appears to have mutated so that it can spread to other animals, raising the potential for a bigger threat to people, scientists said Wednesday.
So far the flu has sickened nine people in China and killed three. It's not clear how they became infected, but there's no evidence that the virus is spreading easily among people.
But the virus can evidently move through poultry without making them sick, experts said, making it difficult to track the germ in flocks.
The findings are preliminary and need further testing.
In the wake of the illnesses, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention shared the genetic sequence of the H7N9 virus with other scientists to help study how the virus might behave in different animals and situations.
One scientist said the sequence raises concern about a potential global epidemic, but that it's impossible to give a precise estimate of how likely that is.
"At this stage it's still unlikely to become a pandemic," said Richard Webby, director of a World Health Organization flu center at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
"We should be concerned (but) there's no alarm bells ringing yet," he said.
The virus has genetic markers that would help it infect people, Webby said. That makes him worry about a pandemic a bit more than he does for other bird flu viruses, such as the H5N1 virus that emerged a decade ago, he said.
"The tentative assessment of this virus is that it may cause human infection or epidemic," said Dr. Masato Tashiro, director of the WHO's influenza research center in Tokyo and one of the specialists who studied the genetic data, "It is still not yet adapted to humans completely, but important factors have already changed."
Flu viruses evolve constantly, and scientists say such changes have made H7N9 more capable of infecting pigs.
Pigs are a particular concern because bird and human flu viruses can mingle there, potentially producing a bird virus with heightened ability to spread between humans, said Dr. William Schaffner, a flu expert at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. That's what happened in 2009 with swine flu.
The scientists who inspected the genetic data also said that based on information from the genes and Chinese lab testing, the H7N9 virus appears able to infect some birds without causing any noticeable symptoms. Without obvious outbreaks of dying chickens or birds, authorities could face a challenge in trying to trace the source of the infection and stop the spread.
If there are no obvious symptoms in birds or pigs "nobody recognizes the infection in animals around them. Then the transmission from animal to human may occur," Tashiro said. "In terms of this phenomenon, it's more problematic."
This behavior is unlike the virulent H5N1 strain, which set off warnings when it began ravaging poultry across Asia in 2003. H5N1 has since killed 360 people worldwide, mostly after close contact with infected birds.
If the latest virus continues to spread in China and beyond, "it would be an even bigger problem than with H5N1, in some sense, because with H5N1 you can see evidence of poultry dying," said University of Hong Kong microbiologist Malik Peiris, who also examined the genetic information.
He urged China to widely test healthy birds for the virus in live animal markets in the parts of the country where the human infections have been reported.
___
Ritter reported from New York. AP Medical Writer Margie Mason in Jakarta and Associated Press researcher Flora Ji contributed to this report.
___
Follow Gillian Wong on Twitter at twitter.com/gillianwong
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Thursday, April 4, 2013
Twitter Is Building A Gateway To The ?Web? Of Mobile Apps
Twitter is making a move to become the jumping off point for discovering, browsing and accessing the mobile app ecosystem, the company announced yesterday, in a somewhat understated event only developers were invited to attend. The event, due to its nature, was filled with geekier terminology like "footer tags," "deep linking," and "URL schemes," making summaries of its announcements hard to parse by the everyday Twitter user who isn't as familiar with what some of these things may mean.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/SifsJADa_UQ/
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