Making Science More Better For You on 01/22/08

Headlines of the day

WA man sentenced for theft of 93 pounds of women's undergarments (SeattlePI.com)
Solved by undercover work?

11-month-old baby drunk, mom charged (CNN)
Makes sense. We’re guessing someone would have carded the kid.

Sister says 3 died doing what they loved: drinking, driving fast (Rocky Mountain News)



This cosmic string—any chance it’s made by Wham-O?
Could The Universe Be Tied Up With Cosmic String?

ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2008) — A team of physicists and astronomers from the University of Sussex and Imperial College London have uncovered hints that there may be cosmic strings - lines of pure mass-energy - stretching across the entire Universe.
Cosmic strings are predicted by high energy physics theories, including superstring theory. This is based on the idea that particles are not just little points, but tiny vibrating bits of string Cosmic strings are predicted to have extraordinary amounts of mass - perhaps as much as the mass of the Sun - packed into each metre of a tube whose width is less a billion billionth of the size of an atom.

Lead researcher Dr Mark Hindmarsh, Reader in Physics at the University of Sussex, said: “This is an exciting result for physicists. Cosmic strings are relics of the very early Universe and signposts that would help construct a theory of all forces and particles.”

His team took data from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), which is a satellite currently mapping the intensity of cosmic microwaves from all directions, and carefully compared the predictions of what should be seen with and without strings.

Dr Hindmarsh said: “We cannot yet see these strings directly. They are many billion light years away. We can only look for indirect evidence of their existence through precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background, of cosmic rays, gravitational radiation, and looking for double images of distant quasars.”

The four-person team are members of COSMOS, the UK's world-leading cosmology supercomputing consortium fronted by Stephen Hawking. Using a Silicon Graphics supercomputer they made predictions of how the strings would affect the Cosmic Microwave Background, relic radio waves from the Big Bang which fill the universe. It turned out that the best explanation for the pattern of this radiation was a theory which included strings.

Dr Hindmarsh said that better data is required before the existence of cosmic strings can be confirmed. He hopes this will be produced by the European Space Agency's Planck Satellite mission (due for launch this year).



What’s passing for science this week? Here are your dueling headlines.

Drinking coffee may cut ovarian cancer risk (MSNBC)

2-cup coffee habit may double miscarriage risk (MSNBC)

Is the answer swim up close to the wall of the tank and hope that someone buys them?
How Baby Fish Find A Home

ScienceDaily (Jan. 20, 2008) — One of the most significant questions facing marine ecologists today, is just how much of an impact global variations in the environment are having on the dispersal of larval and juvenile marine species from open oceans to coral reefs. Previously, tracking how fish larvae migrate was done through direct observation by divers on older larvae found near the reefs, after they'd spent weeks to months in the plankton. This method did not permit divers to follow small larvae, diving larvae or larvae as they returned to the reefs at night. How tiny coral reef fish larvae locate the reef habitat across vast expanses of water has remained an enduring mystery.

An innovative research tool, designed by UM Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, division of Applied Marine Physics Assistant Professor, Dr. Claire B. Paris and Senior Research Associate Cedric Guigand is making the task possible on younger larvae as they move with currents. Dubbed the OWNFOR (Orientation With No Frame Of Reference) system, this drifting observational device, which resembles a kite, allows researchers to observe marine larvae naturally influenced by factors in the open ocean. The floating chamber is designed to detect and quantify the orientation of larval coral reef fish in the pelagic environment; an often pitch black void with little or no frame of reference to navigate.

The OWNFOR system is deployed at sea and drifts while videotaping the movement of a larva placed within a clear, circular arena. It will also be possible to change their immediate environment and manipulate orientation cues, such as acoustic, chemical, or magnetic fields that larvae may use to navigate. This new system will be equipped with an infrared camera that can verify the larvae's orientation at night.

Through a research grant from The Hermon Slade Foundation and a fellowship from the Australian Museum, she will be putting her new larval monitoring system to the test in early 2008. Paris and colleagues are interested in gathering data on the successful identification of larval abilities to orientate as they mature.

"Typical research on larvae is assessed in laboratory experiments or in studies done in situ with the naked eye, but it does not provide information on whether or not larvae use cues to find a home, when in their life history they use them, or how far from the reef they can sense the cues. We're hoping to find out how the larvae behaviorally interact with the blue-water environment minimizing human intervention," said Paris. "The success of this new device in recording true orientation in fish larvae opens new possibilities for research in the field of larval ecology."

Working at the Lizard Island Research Station, a satellite-facility of the Australian Museum on the Great Barrier Reef, Paris will directly compare her research methods with those of Lizard Island researcher, Dr. J.M. Leis, who published his results diving and following larval fish. Researchers hope that OWNFOR will provide minimal interference in the natural migration of organisms, helping to understanding just what influences these organisms to settle on a final reef home after days or weeks in a relatively featureless open ocean landscape.

"The larval phase is often the main opportunity in benthic organisms to colonize new habitats, but how far from home are these new habitats? They can range from tens of kilometers away to the natal reef (reef of origin). Ideally, we'll discover crucial inputs for a new generation of biophysical larval dispersal models vital to achieving a better understanding of larval connectivity in marine systems," said Paris. "The implications will have global impacts on the effective management of fisheries, conservation of marine biodiversity, including design of marine reserves, and helping to predict the effects of climate change on marine systems."