TOP 100 CAMPING SITES
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| Why do whales beach themselves? On Sunday morning, scientists and volunteers struggled to get some of the 55 false killer whales that washed up on a beach near Cape Town, South Africa, back into the frigid water. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Why Music Moves Us As a recreational vocalist, I have spent some of the most moving moments of my life engaged in song. As a college student, my eyes would often well up with tears during my twice-a-week choir rehearsals. I would feel relaxed and at peace yet excited and joyful, and I occasionally experienced a thrill so powerful that it sent shivers down my spine. I also felt connected with fellow musicians in a way I did not with friends who did not sing with me.I have often wondered what it is about music that elicits such emotions. Philosophers and biologists have asked the question for centuries, noting that humans are universally drawn to music. It consoles us when we are sad, pumps us up in happier times and bonds us to others, even though listening to an iPod or singing “Happy Birthday” does not seem necessary for survival or reproduction. [More] rss.sciam.com |
U.S. Bans Commercial Fishing in Warming Arctic The Obama administration approved a management plan yesterday for Arctic fisheries that prevents the expansion of commercial fishing into vast swaths of sea whose ice is being melted by rising temperatures."As Arctic sea ice recedes due to climate change, there is increasing interest in commercial fishing in Arctic waters," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement yesterday. "We are in a position to plan for sustainable fishing that does not damage the overall health of this fragile ecosystem. This plan takes a precautionary approach to any development of commercial fishing in an area where there has been none in the past." [More] rss.sciam.com |
Polar Perspective: NASA DC-8 Monitors Antarctica's Meltdown from the Skies A DC-8 rumbles down the runway in Punta Arenas, Chile, bound once again for the fickle weather of Antarctica. Chock full of scientific equipment, the nearly 48-meter-long plane--the core of NASA's Operation ICE Bridge--will fly as low as 300 meters above the glaciers and valleys of West Antarctica as well as the ice just off shore. Employing gravimeters, laser altimeters, even radar, the plane will attempt to get a handle on the rapid thinning of the Antarctic ice sheet --as well as fill in for the aging ICESat 1 satellite that is soon to be defunct. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Tracking Arctic Wolves in Months-Long Night It's hard to mistake that sound. Now imagine hearing it during a night that can last for months and where temperatures drop as low as –37 degrees Celsius. Enough to give nightmares to musk ox and Arctic hares, the favorite prey of the long-legged white wolves of the Arctic These wolves cover a lot of frozen ground. Researchers put a GPS collar on a pack leader they named Brutus and found that he roamed as many as 41 kilometers in a 12 hour period. That includes jaunts across the newly formed sea ice between the pack's home on Ellesmere Island and adjacent islands in Nunavut. [More] rss.sciam.com |