The pick of the science news
Bird clues to climate change
What can birds tell us about climate change? Find out at a public talk this Friday by UCD palaeontologist Dr Gareth Dyke, who will examine how birds can help us understand past climate fluctuations and make predictions about the future. The bird fossil history extends back 140 million years, explains Dyke.
"We know that birds have lived through a number of periods of major climate change in earth's history . . . and we know that modern birds are super-sensitive to changes in temperature. Seabirds like albatross and auks, for example, would be unable to fly if sea surface temperatures were to change by just a few degrees," he says.
His hour-long talk is part of the series,
Meeting the Challenge of Climate Change, hosted by UCDs Earth Systems Institute, and will take place at 12.30pm on Friday, February 13th, in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
The starvation cure for malaria?
Starving the malaria parasite may be a new way to tackle the disease, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers in Australia managed to deactivate a crucial step in the parasite's digestive process that normally allows it to survive in humans. Thus starved of nutrients, the parasite dies.
"About 40 per cent of the world's population are at risk of contracting malaria. It is only early days, but this discovery could one day provide treatment for some of those 2.5 billion people across the globe," said Monash University researcher Prof James Whisstock.
Gurgle earth
Google Earth made a splash with version 5.0, unveiled in California this week, which includes 3D imagery of elevations beneath the oceans. Mapping software now lets you dip below the waves and explore under-sea terrain. Other features include a historical timeline to see how landscapes have changed in recent years, and a 3D rendering of the surface of Mars. See earth.google.com.
By numbers
10
The number of what are thought to be previously unknown amphibian species found on an expedition in Colombia, as announced this week. They include a spiky-skinned, orange-legged rain frog, three poison dart frogs and three "transparent" glass frogs.
20
The number of petaflops (1,000 trillion sustained floating-point operations per second) to be delivered by a planned IBM-built supercomputer system for the US governments department of energy. Its current system supports one petaflop.
"It's down to good old-fashioned natural variability in weather. We're just having a very cold winter
– A spokesperson from the British Met Office explaining that this week's snow is not down to climate change
Claire O’Connell
e-mail: 1000.claire@gmail.com