Focus: Hidden - DC

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Climate models calculate a changing mix of clouds and emissions that interact with solar energy. To narrow the broad range of possible answers from a climate model, researchers analyzed the effect of several proven numerical stand-ins for atmospheric processes on the energy flux at the top of the atmosphere. They found that the flux is the main driver of surface temperature change.

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Precipitation is difficult to represent in global climate models. Although most single-column models can reproduce the observed average precipitation reasonably well, there are significant differences in their details. Scientists evaluated several single-column models, providing insights on how to improve models’ representation of convection, which is integral to storm cloud formation.

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To begin to understand poplar growth, a possible bioenergy crop, scientists at North Carolina State University built a robust high-throughput pipeline for studying the hierarchy of genetic regulation of wood formation using tissue-specific single cells called protoplasts.

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Among dialysis patients, genetically related family members have about a 70% increased risk of cardiac arrest compared with unrelated dialysis patients. Spouses on dialysis do not have an increased risk.

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In this month’s release, find new embargoed research about smoking prevalence for military personnel who experienced deployment and combat; and past e-cigarette use and future cigarette consumption.

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Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages can suppress the hormone cortisol and stress responses in the brain, but diet beverages sweetened with aspartame do not have the same effect, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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People who have osteoporosis face a 1.76-fold higher risk of developing sudden deafness than those who do not have the bone disease, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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Faced with requests to meet with potential doctoral students of easily identifiable gender, race or ethnicity, faculty in almost every academic discipline are significantly more responsive to white males than to women and minorities, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

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The George Washington University Cancer Institute has finalized 45 core competency statements for oncology patient navigators, published in the Journal of Oncology Navigation and Survivorship.

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Led by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Lab, a team applied sophisticated mathematical solutions to fine tune water and energy exchange parameters, numerical stand-ins for complex processes, to more accurately simulate water and energy fluxes in an important model under different conditions.

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Soil carbon may not be as stable as previously thought. Also, soil microbes exert more direct control on carbon buildup than global climate models represent.

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Rising carbon dioxide levels in the air act as a fertilizer for plants, altering how they use water and interact with the climate. However, an insufficient supply of nitrogen can limit the growth. Scientists adapted the Community Land Model to show how nitrogen limitation affects plant growth.

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The George Washington University announced a new scholarship in partnership with the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA).

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Thousands of times a second the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory re-creates the hot quark soup that existed at the dawn of the universe. Particles composed of heavy quarks can help reveal details about the quark-gluon plasma, and by extension, the early universe and the origins of matter.

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Early schemes to model the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and their impact on sea levels failed to accurately account for changes caused by snowfall and snow melt. These changes depend on ice sheet elevation and region. Researchers developed a new method that includes the effects of elevation and region.

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The amount of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) produced from isoprene released by trees as well as the SOA volatility are more accurately tied to interactions with electron-rich, carbon-based chemicals, known as organic peroxy radicals, that compete with nitrogen oxides in reactions.

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Whether inside algae turning biomass to fuels or human cells reacting to radiation exposure, proteins change their shape via atomic motions to perform a specific task. Scientists determined three classes of atomic motion, helping enable discoveries related to biobased or bio-inspired materials for energy production and use.

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When heated to just above room temperature, the electrical conductivity of vanadium dioxide abruptly increases by a factor of 10,000. Unusually large lattice vibrations, which are the oscillations of atoms about their equilibrium positions, stabilize this highly conductive metallic phase.

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Scientists engineered a strain of a consolidated bioprocessing bacterium that breaks down biomass without pretreatment, producing ethanol and demonstrating the successful conversion of switchgrass cellulosic biomass.

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New material that may change the way we cool our food, homes and cars

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill selected as the lead institution for a new DHS Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence (COE). S&T will provide the Coastal Resilience COE with an initial $3 million grant for its first operating year.

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mobile application archiving technology across all major mobile apps markets. In addition to Android apps, the technology can now archive apps from iTunes, Windows Phone Store, Google Play, Amazon, and 83 global third-party mobile app markets such as Baidu and Cydia.

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Tropical monsoons in Indonesia and floods in the United States are both provoked by the Madden-Julian Oscillation, yet, despite its importance, global models often struggle to simulate it accurately. Scientists showed that MJO simulations are most sensitive to lower level heating in the atmosphere.

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Some microorganisms found in nature and not grown in the laboratory reinterpret the instructions coded into their DNA. Short segments of DNA that signal other organisms to stop adding building blocks or amino acids to a protein are instead interpreted as "add another amino acid."

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• Researchers have developed a system that could be used to identify novel drug candidates that protect the function of the kidney cells that are damaged in patients with chronic kidney disease. • One drug identified through the system effectively protected the kidney cells of rodents exposed to kidney damaging agents.

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Scientists discovered that for palladium-nickel catalysts, certain surface characteristics, measured at the atomic level, sped the creation of carbon dioxide from carbon monoxide.

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For the first time, carbon nanotubes were spontaneously inserted into natural and synthetic cell membranes to form pores that mimic biological channels. The pores replicate the major functions of protein-based biological channels.

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Scientists built a highly active and durable class of electrocatalysts by exploiting the structural evolution of solid platinum-nickel nanocrystals. The novel material enhanced catalytic activity for splitting oxygen, a reaction vital to fuel cells and potentially other uses.

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Recognizing and giving thanks for the positive aspects of life can result in improved mental, and ultimately physical, health in patients with asymptomatic heart failure, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

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Pesticide exposure, not obesity alone, can contribute to increased cardiovascular disease risk and inflammation in premenopausal women, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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Predicting the types of clouds over the ocean is critical for climate projections. However, current climate models lack the spatial resolution necessary for accurate characterization of certain processes.

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Refining natural gas into an easy-to-transport, easy-to-store liquid so far has been a challenge. But now, a new material, designed and patented by researchers working at the Molecular Foundry nanoscience research center, is making this process a little easier

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A San Diego Supercomputer Center research team received NVIDIA’s 2015 Global Impact Award for its work, conducted in part on the Titan supercomputer, developing a GPU-accelerated code that simulates high-frequency earthquakes.

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The Energy Sciences Network is the Internet connection you wish you had – and more.

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Just as the Rosetta Stone has the same message in three different scripts giving scholars insights into ancient languages, so cerium-cobalt-indium5 is offering insights into the interplay between magnetism, superconductivity, and disorder in three classes of unconventional superconductors.

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s a symbol of friendship, Japan gave cherry trees to Washington, D.C., where they encircle the Tidal Basin. Not far away are the Smithsonian’s Asian art museums, the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. They hold many Japanese artworks that feature cherry blossoms, which Japanese poets have long associated with the transience and shortness of life. This Smithsonian Snapshot is an animated GIF of “Cherry Blossom Flurry at Kambayashi Hot Spring” from the Sackler Gallery.

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Contrary to popular belief, excessive use of first-person singular pronouns such as "I" and "me" does not necessarily indicate a narcissistic tendency, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

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The Kidney Health Initiative (KHI) is seeking input from patients with kidney disease and their family members on future treatment options. The perspectives gathered in this new KHI project will help inform development of therapeutics and devices for kidney disease, which affects more than 20 million Americans.

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A study attacking the household use of bleach completely ignores the benefits of the product when it is properly used for cleaning, disinfecting and laundering, according to the American Cleaning Institute.

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• High parathyroid hormone levels and subsequent bone loss are major risk factors for worsening of coronary artery calcification in patients on dialysis.

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A junior environmental science major at Duquesne University who is exploring the remediation of arsenic in produced water from shale gas wells has become Duquesne’s first undergraduate to receive a prestigious $50,000 fellowship from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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In the workplace, age matters - but hiring or promoting based on age-related mental abilities can be a minefield, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

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One of the biggest challenges in the training and testing of canine teams results from the explosives materials themselves - especially new homemade explosives. S&T funded training aid that matches the scent of explosive materials but poses no danger to the trainers, the canines or the environment.

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Night owls are more likely to develop diabetes, metabolic syndrome and sarcopenia than early risers, even when they get the same amount of sleep, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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Exposure to the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A during pregnancy may raise a mother’s susceptibility to weight gain and diabetes later in life, according to a new animal study published in the Endocrine Society’s journal Endocrinology.

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America’s welfare state is quietly evolving from needs-based to an employment-based safety net that rewards working families and fuels dreams of a better life, indicates a new study led by a Michigan State University (MSU) scholar.

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New research demonstrates how a web-based tool developed by the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) can more precisely forecast levels of down-the-drain chemicals in streams and rivers.

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A pair of air pollutants linked to climate change could also be major contributors to the unparalleled rise in the number of people sneezing, sniffling and wheezing during allergy season. The gases, nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone, appear to provoke chemical changes in certain airborne allergens that may increase their potency. That, in combination with changes in global climate could help explain why allergies are becoming more common.