News

Microbiology becomes Nanobiology: A researcher uses shotgun sequencing to discover smallest "microbes," which may or may not be cultured on its own.

Grannies will be gaming to keep their brains nimble. Get her an Xbox for Christmas and you won't see her again until New Year's.

Build a faster computer. Slow down light.

Planting trees is good, right? But where?

Found this at PhysOrg:

"[N]ew forests in mid- to high-latitude locations could actually create a net warming. It also confirms the notion that planting more trees in tropical rainforests could help slow global warming worldwide....

"Forests affect climate in three different ways: they absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and help to keep the planet cool; they evaporate water to the atmosphere and increase cloudiness, which also helps keep the planet cool; and they are dark and absorb a lot of sunlight, warming the Earth....

"[T]ropical forests are very beneficial to the climate because they take up carbon and increase cloudiness, which in turn helps cool the planet....

"[B]y the year 2100, forests in mid- and high-latitudes will make some places up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than would have occurred if the forests did not exist. "

Well, crud.