Rising Seas Not So Bad

Contrary to expectation, tiny islands in the Pacific Ocean are not as vulnerable to seas swallowing them up due to global warming. A new study shows that despite sea level rising by ~2 millimeters per year, 23 of the 27 Pacific islands studied held firm in land area or saw a slight increase.

Unlike the sandbars of American east coast, low-lying Pacific islands are made of coral debris (eroded from reefs and pushed onto islands by winds, waves and currents). Because the corals are alive, they provide a continuous supply of material. Causeways and other structures linking islands can boost growth by trapping sediment that would otherwise get lost to the ocean.

While islands are expected to survive, scientists are not as confident about island's life-supporting capabilities.

Tidbits on Light

Discover Magazine has a primer on 20 things you didn't know about light. Some cool facts:

1) It took 500,000 years after the Big Bang for the universe took to expand enough to allow photons (light particles) to travel freely ... i.e. light didn't exist for nearly half a billion years.

2) Like all living things, humans demonstrate bio­luminescence: We glow. Humans are brightest during the afternoon, around our lips and cheeks. The cause may be chemical reactions involving molecular fragments known as free radicals.

3) Light has no mass, but it does have momentum

4) Visible light is less than one ten-billionth of the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves to gamma rays).

5) Goldfish can see infrared radiation; Bees, birds, and lizards can see ultraviolet.

Baseball vs. Wiffle Ball

Think baseball is the tougher sport? Think again.

Relativity 101

Here are 2 easy to understand videos that explain general and special relativity:

General Relativity

Special Relativity

Sea Urchins See With Entire Body

Despite having no eyes, sea urchins can "see". The Journal of Experimental Biology reports that the urchin's entire body cannot only detect light but form images of its surroundings. The way in which the shadow of the urchin's spines falls on the urchin allows them to do so. Researchers posit that the denser the spikes, the better the vision.

Here's a video summary.

Really Smart Cobras

Spitting cobras attack tactics presented a challenge to researchers. The cobras strikes are extremely accurate and each strike is unique. This is puzzling because the cobra's fangs are fixed so pattern of the fluid should be fixed. Also, the snakes 'wiggled' their heads just before firing.

The study, in the Journal of Experimental Biology, concludes that spitting cobras initially track their victim's movement and actually spit venom according to where they calculate the victim will be 200ms in the future.

Here's a video of the spitting cobra measuring up its opponent and striking.

Other Benefit of Washing Hands

Lady Macbeth may have been onto something when, after murdering King Duncan, she washed her hands not only to rid herself of the blood, but also the guilt.

New Scientist has published an interesting study that suggests washing hands can wipe away one's emotional consequences of decisions, big and small.

Researchers gave 2 groups a stack of 10 CD's to rank. One group was allowed to wash their hands afterward. The test was repeated. Surprisingly, the second round of tests found that the group that did not wash their hands placed the same CD's they had previously liked at a higher rank and those they had rejected at a lower rank than before. In contrast, the people who had initially washed their hands ranked the CD's the same as the first time.

The results indicate that hand washing removes the tendency to justify a decision that has been made.