Page 3.14
Beyond 400 PPM
Posted by Wesley Dodson on May 24, 2013 The threshold of 400 carbon dioxide molecules per million molecules of Earth’s atmosphere is an arbitrary but still significant milestone, reflecting a near 50% increase in the concentration of the greenhouse gas since humanity first started burning fossil fuels for industry. Sure, the Earth has experienced hotter chemistry before, but Peter Gleick says it all…
Protecting Our Chief Pollinators
Posted by Wesley Dodson on May 14, 2013 
Last week the European Union voted to ban neonicotinoid pesticides in an effort to fight colony collapse disorder among honeybees. Although research has clearly fingered these pesticides in bee behavioral problems, the ban is still something of a shot in the dark, as multiple environmental factors may be at play in CCD. Greg Laden writes…
Ruled by Relativity
Posted by Wesley Dodson on May 7, 2013 
Walking on two legs, time and space seem universal, but take a good look at the universe, and things start to get mushy. Chad Orzel defines time in terms that sound circular, writing “there isn’t a giant master clock at the center of the universe that everybody sets their watches by.” Although time can only…
Endlessly Adaptable Animals
Posted by Wesley Dodson on April 30, 2013 
Dr. Dolittle spent a few days at the Experimental Biology meeting of the American Physiological Society, learning incredible facts about animal adaptability. In the Sunday session, researchers showed that metabolic byproducts called ketones can protect against seizures caused by hyperbaric oxygen therapy, while seal pups, who fast for up to three months once weaned, increase…
Genital Warts Will Be History
Posted by Wesley Dodson on April 25, 2013 
On ERV, Abbie Smith reports on the phenomenal success of the HPV vaccine in Australia. The vaccine, designed to protect against several types of sexually-transmitted papillomavirus, was first administered to Aussie girls in 2007. Since then, total prevalence of the virus among young women has dropped from 11.5% to less than 1%—and to 0% among…
New Flu Emerges in China
Posted by Wesley Dodson on April 22, 2013 
A new strain of bird flu is circulating in China, and authorities are keeping a close eye on a potentially disastrous scenario. On Aetiology, Tara C. Smith writes that by now, “the microbe may have already become established in the population, adapting to humans stealthily before we were even aware of it.” Greg Laden writes,…
Catching Up on Homepage News
Posted by Wesley Dodson on April 15, 2013 I have been remiss in not posting articles from the homepage here on Page 3.14…so to catch up, here’s four at once. No Beauty Without Water On World Water Day, think of the water cycle that defines this planet. On The Pump Handle, Liz Borkowski writes “rivers often flow through multiple countries, and actions by…
California Newts at the River
Posted by Wesley Dodson on March 27, 2013 
With springtime comes the urge to head to the river. These California newts are obeying urges of their own. Also known as Taricha torosa, this newt is an amphibian and a member of the Salamander family. Just as beautiful as the newts is the surface of the water. I wish I could breathe under water! I…
Meteor Impact Blasts Chelyabinsk
Posted by Wesley Dodson on February 26, 2013 
For once an asteroid strikes when we were kinda, sorta expecting one to. According to the Washington Post, the Russian Academy of Sciences “estimated that the meteor weighed around 10 tons and was traveling at 10 to 12 miles per second (roughly 30,000 to 45,000 mph) when it disintegrated.” The same report estimates that more…
Perennial Perils of the Solar System
Posted by Wesley Dodson on February 15, 2013 
On February 15th, Asteroid 2012 DA14 came hurtling between us and our satellites, twelve times nearer than the Moon, so close that it was visible through binoculars from certain parts of the globe. Greg Laden writes, “This asteroid is not going to hit the earth now or during any of the next few decades, but…
