In The News
Posted By JOHN MINER, SUN MEDIA
Posted 2 months ago
WARMING WHIPS UP LAKE WINDS
Rising water temperatures are kicking up more powerful winds on Lake Superior, with consequences for currents, biological cycles and pollution, say University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.
The scientists found that since 1985, surface water temperatures measured by lake buoys have climbed 1.2 degrees per decade -- about 15% faster than the air above the lake and twice as fast as warming over nearby land.
With the warmer temperatures, wind speeds on the lake have increased 5% since 1985.
PENGUIN DATA MIS-DATED
Penguins that died 44,000 years ago in Antarctica have provided frozen DNA samples suggesting traditional genetic ways of determining when they lived have routinely underestimated the age of many specimens by as much as 600%.
In other words, a biological specimen determined by traditional DNA testing to be 100,000 years old may actually be 200,000 to 600,000 years old, researchers suggest in a report in Trends in Genetics.
WARM-BLOODED BEHEMOTHS
A team of British researchers has found strong evidence suggesting that many dinosaur species were warm-blooded, enabling them to live in colder habitats that would kill cold-blooded animals, such as high mountain ranges and the polar regions.
The warm-blooded dinosaurs would have had the potential for athletic abilities rivaling present day birds and animals. The downside would have been the requirement for more food to support their rapid metabolisms compared to their cold-blooded counterparts.
