The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that the Levant Basin Province, in the Eastern Mediterranean region, holds 122 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas.

They say the province holds more natural gas resources than any region so far assessed in the United States. Some natural gas accumulations in the United States include the Southwestern Wyoming Province with an estimated 85 tcf, the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Province with 73 tcf, and the Appalachian Basin Province of the eastern United States and the Western Gulf Basin Province of Texas and Louisiana, each with 70 tcf.

Researchers writing in Science have discovered a remarkable amount of plasticity in how transcription factors, the proteins that bind to DNA to control the activation of genes, maintained their function over 300 million years of evolution.

They say that sequence conservation is not the whole story when it comes to maintaining tissue-specific gene regulation.

Scientists believe that transcription factors recognize the genes that they regulate by binding to short, sequence-specific lengths of DNA upstream or downstream of their target genes. It was widely assumed that, like the sequences of the genes themselves, these transcription factor binding sites would be highly conserved throughout evolution. However, this turns out not to be the case in mammals.

Inexpensive wireless sensors based on nanotechnology could be used to alert engineers to problematic damage to buildings, bridges, and other structures before they become critical, according to a study in the Journal of Materials and Structural Integrity.

As a proof of concept, researchers have developed and evaluated two types of wireless devices for the remote monitoring of concrete structures. The devices are sensors based on microelectromechanical systems, MEMS, and were designed to monitor temperature and moisture within concrete.

Supervolcanoes have been blamed for multiple mass extinctions in Earth's history. But despite their global impact, their origin and triggering mechanisms have remained unexplained.

New data obtained during a recent Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expedition in the Pacific Ocean may help explain the sea floor giants' origins.

In fall 2009, an international team of scientists participating in IODP Expedition 324 drilled five sites in the ocean floor. They studied the origin of the 145 million-year-old Shatsky Rise volcanic mountain chain. Located 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Japan, Shatsky Rise measures roughly the size of California.

Governments of developing countries have done a fantastic job managing international aid money. Today, 44% of international health aid money cannot be traced in the budgets of the receiving countries. While many assume that the money disappears into somebody's pockets, it is unclear when nor on what it has been spent.

(I recently discovered this series of entries about fixing science journalism, begun in February.  Because I just joined up, I wasn't able to add my two cents.  So I thought I'd add it now, since, hey, who couldn't use two cents?  My apologies if I repeat someone else's sentiment.)

Arctic Ice 2010 #2 - What People Are Saying



Arctic Ice 2010 - a short series of articles.


The first part - Arctic Ice 2010 #1 - The Nature Of Sea Ice was an introduction to the behaviour of Arctic sea ice.

This second part will discuss current media and blog reports about the state of the Arctic.

The third part will describe the state of the Arctic ice as of April 2010.

Polar ice basics

A video on youtube documents a remarkable feat -the Australian motorbyker Robbie Maddison jumping the Korynth channel in Greece. A 85-meter jump!