OU Study Reveals Trends of U.S. Surface Water Body Area Over Three Decades

A University of Oklahoma research study, led by Professor Xiangming Xiao, reveals the divergent trends of open surface water bodies in the contiguous United States from 1984 to 2016, specifically, a decreasing trend in the water-poor states and an increasing trend in the water-rich states.  Surface water resources are critical for public water supply, industry, agriculture, biodiversity and ecosystem services.

NASA Measures Tropical Cyclone Nora's Flooding Rains in Queensland

NASA used satellite data to calculate the heavy rainfall created by Tropical Cyclone Nora as it came ashore in northwestern Queensland on March 24, 2018. 

Nora reached peak intensity of 95 knots (109 mph) was reached when it was moving through the central northern Gulf of Carpentaria. Winds had decreased slightly to 90 knots (104 mph) by landfall. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) reported that Nora produced over 110 mm (4.3 inches) of rain in 24 hours.

Honeybees May Unlock the Secrets of How the Human Brain Works

Researchers from the University of Sheffield have discovered that looking at honeybees in a colony in the same way as neurons in a brain could help us better understand the basic mechanisms of human behaviour.

Study describes earliest evidence of ancient Maya dog trade

Police detectives analyze isotopes in human hair to find out where a murder victim was born and grew up. Researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, the University of Florida and the University of Arizona combined clues from carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and strontium isotope analysis discovering the earliest evidence that the Maya raised and traded dogs and other animals, probably for ceremonial use.

Alberta’s boreal forest could be dramatically altered by 2100 due to climate change

Half of Alberta’s upland boreal forest is likely to disappear over the next century due to climate change, a new study shows.

Study links climate policy, carbon emissions from permafrost

Controlling greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades could substantially reduce the consequences of carbon releases from thawing permafrost during the next 300 years, according to a new paper published this week in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

U.S. Energy Market Has Become More Unpredictable in Recent Decades

The energy market in the United States has become increasingly unpredictable and volatile in recent decades — posing a challenge to lawmakers and companies faced with making policy and investment decisions that “influence the cost” and “environmental and health impacts of the U.S. energy system for decades,” according to a new study published in the journal Nature Energy.

Promising Drug May Stop Cancer-Causing Gene in Its Tracks

Michigan State University scientists are testing a promising drug that may stop a gene associated with obesity from triggering breast and lung cancer, as well as prevent these cancers from growing.

These findings are based on two studies featured in the latest issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

The first was a preclinical study, led by Karen Liby, an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Results showed that the drug, I-BET-762, is showing signs of significantly delaying the development of existing breast and lung cancers by zeroing in on how a cancerous gene, called c-Myc, acts.

Low Energy Iris Not Expected to Make Much of an Impact

Low energy Iris which originated on March 24, 2018 is likely to hover around a low end Category 1 cyclone.  Iris will track south through the Coral Sea. The Vanuatu Meteorological Service says Tropical Cyclone Iris has moved away from Vanuatu.  The category one cyclone was moving west southwesterly at 53 kph and is now in the Coral Sea.  The potential for Tropical Cyclone Iris to further intensify and move back towards the Vanuatu group was low, according to the Vanuatu Met Service. 

Jelawat Not Seen As a Threat to the Philippines

Tropical Depression Jelawat, a newly-formed tropical cyclone over Western Micronesia is expected to strengthen into a Tropical Storm and enter the southeastern border of the Philippines by this afternoon (March 26).  However, this storm is too far away to actually affect any part of the country.