The eruption of the Icelandic Eyjafjallajokull volcano that sent a huge plume of ash into the atmosphere is unlikely to have a global impact and will probably dissipate in the next several days, according to a University of Colorado, Boulder atmospheric scientist.
Professor Brian Toon, chair of CU-Boulder's atmospheric and oceanic sciences department, compared the Icelandic eruption to the popping of a champagne bottle cork. When the pressure is released by breaching the rock "cork," gases bubble out, spewing tiny rock particles into the air like champagne droplets. Such rocks threaten the safety of airliners.
The next generation of doctors and other health professionals does not like fat people. In fact, they like fat people even less than the rest of the population, according to a study published in Obesity.
Scientists at the Universities of Manchester and Hawaii and Yale University suggests that medical and allied health professions need to present a balanced view of the causes of, and treatment for, obesity when training young professionals in order to reduce the strong prejudice towards obese people. Emphasizing the "uncontrollable" causes of weight gain, such as exposure to junk food advertising, would be one way to reduce the prejudice among health professionals.
A new British Medical Journal editorial claims that banning trans fats would protect the public and save lives by preventing thousands of heart attacks and deaths every year.
The policy recommendation follows calls by public health specialists to eliminate the consumption of industrially-produced trans fats in the UK by next year. Action by the UK might also produce larger benefits by inspiring other developed and developing countries to take similar measures to protect their citizens' health, the authors conclude.
Trans fats (trans fatty acids) are solid fats found in margarine, biscuits, cakes, and fast food. Many studies demonstrate harmful effects of trans fats on cardiovascular risk factors.
Electronic readers allow children to interact with texts in ways they don't interact with the printed word, encouraging them to read, according to Kansas State University professor of Education Lotta Larson.
Since fall 2009, Larson has been using the Amazon Kindle in her work with a pair of second-graders. The e-reader has features that make the text audible, increase or decrease font size and let readers make notes about the book.
"It's interesting to see the kinds of things these kids have been able to do," Larson said.
Sometimes they make comments summarizing the plot, therefore reinforcing their understanding of the book. Other times they ponder character development, jotting down things like "If I were him, I'd say no way!"
The world's water cycle has already intensified and the changes are consistent with predictions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, according to new research in the Journal of Climate.
The stronger water cycle means arid regions have become drier and high rainfall regions wetter as atmospheric temperature increases.
The study shows the surface ocean beneath rainfall-dominated regions has freshened, whereas ocean regions dominated by evaporation are saltier. The paper also confirms that surface warming of the world's oceans over the past 50 years has penetrated into the oceans' interior changing deep-ocean salinity patterns.
