How extreme climate occurred?

The arctic sea ice reached its winter maximum for the year on March 15, and became the sixth lowest maximum on record but lower than average. During the time, weird, chilly spring weather in the northern hemisphere leads people to connect with the Arctic changes.

Do the Arctic changes associate with climate change? Scientists monitoring the ice as well as those trying to figure out how it affects the rest of the planet give an answer that is both positive and negative.

This time cracking of the sea ice has researchers concerned. "There is cracking every year when the ice is pushed by the winds and currents," said Walter Meier, of the National Snow and Ice Data Center. "But this was particularly extreme. Qualitatively, this seems like the biggest."

A number of large cracks came up enforced by powerful winter storms. They are hundreds of meters wide, and stretched all across the Arctic.

The cracks quickly emerge and quickly froze shut, but that refrozen ice would have to be thinner than the ice that cracked, which itself was just first-year ice that started building up 4-5 months before.

All these ice changes do, indeed, have weather effects well beyond the range of polar bears.

Math and Eng used in Medicine

Some student researchers including two undergraduates in the Viterbi School of Engineering combine math and medicine knowledge in tracking the spread of lung cancer in the human body.

These student researchers participate in a project started four years ago by researchers aiming to use mathematical models and algorithms created by Viterbi analyze the science and medicine behind cancer cell growth.

The work team led by Viterbi Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Paul Newton, hope to build computational and mathematical models to design clinical trials and inform doctors of different kinds of treatment scenarios.

The study was published in the journal Cancer Research by researchers from The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Clinic Medical Group, UCSD Moores Cancer Center, the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC.

This suggests interdiscipline brings great opportunities in making breakthroughs in scientific research. Oalib (http:www.oalib.com) holds the belief that easy access to scientific research materials brings great power.

The study analyzed records of 3,827 deaths of untreated cancer patients between 1914 and 1943, including 163 lung cancer patients. Google’s PageRank algorithm which predicts which websites are most likely to contain pertinent information by examining the density of links between sites and Viterbi Algorithm invented by Andrew Viterbi in 1966, which predicts the most likely path of digital wireless signals through a cellphone network, were applied in the program.

New development directions for libraries

Around the world, university libraries mainly do variable business of purchasing books, licensing access to academic journals and providing study spaces and research training for students. In the digital age, they are racing to reinvent themselves to keep up with rapid transformations. They are increasingly help teachers to disseminate courses and students to learn themselves. Now they are about to prepare themselves to help them do research. Working scientist can browse scientific literature online without leaving their desks. Libraries intend to play an active role in the research activities, which is likely to alter the way scientists conduct and publish their work. Libraries are looking to assist with all stages of research, by offering guidance and tools for collecting, exploring, visualizing, labeling and sharing data.



Last month the Barack Obama's administration ordered granting agencies to ensure that the public can access publications and data generated by federally funded research. “This is going to have significant repercussions and result in much greater appreciation and support for the need to preserve data and make it available for scientific use,” says William Michener, an information scientist at the University of New Mexico libraries in Albuquerque. Sharing, processing, managing, data and information becomes clear for libraries. Oalib (http://www.oalib.com) is a first tryout for scientists to share their research outputs online.

Imaging global warming 's arrival

Although there are controversial arguments about the reality of global warming, the process of global warming will eventually transform both the physical and the institutional operating conditions of human societies in some combination yet to be determined.

It is reliably certain that carbon dioxide is currently being added to the atmosphere at a rate at least 10 times greater than any that occurred in the entire 65 million-year climate record prior to the rise of human societies. The earth’s ecosystem will have to balance in some manner with resulting thermal adding to it.

“The consequences will assuredly be large, presumably unprecedentedly large. The timing, magnitude, location and even basic character of those consequences cannot be predicted in reliable detail, but climate disruptions can be expected to occur with increasing severity and frequency for at least the next half century.” posted in some news.

At some point during that time, the ultimate viabilities of climate are likely to become evident and lead to motivate a truly serious effort to alter energy generation and consumption on a global scale. A research from Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland presumes at the point that nuclear power is likely to replace the power generating greenhouse gas in order to hold greenhouse gas concentrations to a level, which may result international collaboration.(Sometimes read scientific materials through oalib)

Where does our solar system ends?

It is a little crazy not to know where we are. It is the same feeling produced as one is making a journey without a map or a GPS, having no idea whether to get back or go on. We often see people freaked out when Apple dropped Google Maps. So it is pity the scientists tracking the Voyager 1 spacecraft.

A big cosmic battle caused after the American Geophysical Union (AGU) issued a surprise news about Voyager with the stunning headline: “ Voyager 1 has left the solar system, sudden changes in cosmic rays indicate,”.(visit oalib to search more research papers about cosmic) If it is real, it is the first human-built object to cross that remarkable threshold. But National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) know something about the twin Voyager spacecraft who built them, launched them and controls them, said publicly that it did not actually break away from solar system. The AGU, to its credit, responded within minutes, with a modestly changed headline:” CORRECTED — Voyager 1 has entered a new region of space, sudden changes in cosmic rays indicate” and with more details. “It’s a matter of interpretation,” says Peter Weiss, AGU public-information manager. “We were trying to write it in a way that people would understand, so maybe we did get a little overzealous in our headline writing.”

Could Google Glass be on sale?

Some days ago google has announced a new creation, Google Glass, which will be sometime before on sale. When it is expected by mass in an earnest mood, a lawmaker proposed a ban on driving with the augmented reality glasses.

Google Glass is a wearable computer with a head-mounted display developed by Google with the aim to produce mass-market ubiquitous computer. Google Glass has the ability to take photos and record 720p HD video. While video is recording, a recording light is displayed above the eye, which is unnoticeable to the wearer. 

Like smart phones, Google Glass may make another surprise. But West Virginia Legislature Republican Gary G. Howell recently proposed a bill that prohibits “using a wearable computer with head-mounted display” while driving a vehicle. This would align with current U.S. laws that make it illegal to text or use a smart phone while driving without using a hands-free device.

Gary said: “It is mostly the young that are the tech-savvy that try new things. They are also our most vulnerable and underskilled drivers. We heard of many crashes caused by texting and driving, most involving our youngest drivers. I see the Google Glass as an extension”.

A newly published article from the Traffic Injury Prevention Journal suggests that texting while driving could be over a quarter more dangerous than drink-driving. (try to search through oalib for more scientific materials: www.oalib.com)

Three things needed to know to get truly accessible right

Open access publishing is making research literature freely available to the public. But open access is not the final step to true accessibility of it. Someone explains three things from experience with information needed to know to get truly accessible right. These things are what oalib aims to get realized.

Bring the information to the people: Information can be frequently sent to target users according to users’ preferences for information in addition to providing to help them search for information themselves. That way, libraries, publishers, search engine producers, information producers and collectors, as well as other information repositories can act both as a progressive role and as a friendly cooperator.

Make information 'practically' open: While information may be legally and technically open, it also benefits greatly from also being 'practically' open. This means providing basic tools to digest information and adding appropriate context. Sometimes this means using mobile technology, social media, and translation into local languages and settings..

Don't ignore the political elements of promoting knowledge: In order to translate information into knowledge and knowledge into power, the process needs to be political to some extent. Information access is one element of a broader process to redistribute and share power and global resources in a way that is socially just.