The Old Maya and the Sea

Posted on March 24, 2012 by rberkowitz

722515360Maya civilization survived and thrived in a changing environment. Still, scientists speculate on why it ceased to thrive in the presence of climatic and social change.  Read more at Physics Today…

Posted in Physics Today | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Burgess Shale-type Fossil Preservation

Posted on March 23, 2012 by rberkowitz

2372770331Extraordinary soft-tissue preservation is due to early inhibition of microbial activity.  Read more at Physics Today…

Posted in Physics Today | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Dionysian Indicator of Climate Change

Posted on March 20, 2012 by rberkowitz

3767201465Drier soil and warmer temperatures are causing wine grapes to ripen earlier in Australia.  Read more at Physics Today…

Posted in Physics Today | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Food for Thought on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Posted on March 20, 2012 by rberkowitz

1648714841Reducing humans’ meat consumption by at least 50% will be necessary to stabilize discharge of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, by 2050.  Read more at Physics Today…

Posted in Physics Today | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Two Columns of Air, Two Seasons, and Two Aircraft

Posted on March 17, 2012 by rberkowitz

3918035976Airborne and ground-based atmospheric research facilities measure aerosol chemical and radiative properties over land and sea.  Read more at Physics Today…

Posted in Physics Today | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Will she blow? Magma Chamber Inflation at Santorini Caldera

Posted on March 4, 2012 by rberkowitz

1382005481Recent geodetic unrest at Santorini caldera in the Aegean Sea may or may not foreshadow an eruption.  Read more at Physics Today…

Posted in Physics Today | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Explaining Sheeting Joints on Yosemite’s Half Dome

Posted on February 27, 2012 by rberkowitz

521022314The fractures that lead to rockfall on Yosemite National Park’s Half Dome are best explained by curvature and forces parallel to the rock surface.  Read more at Physics Today…

Posted in Physics Today | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Seismic Story told by Turbidites

Posted on February 3, 2012 by rberkowitz

1622240477Sediment deposits off the coast of Washington and Oregon reveal periodic tsunami and earthquakes of similar magnitude to the ones that struck Japan’s Tohoku region in March 2011.  Read more at Physics Today…

Posted in Physics Today | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Fighting Falsified Medicines

Posted on January 11, 2012 by rberkowitz

IMVEOct13Pharma1To comply with the EU Falsified Medicines Directive, pharmaceutical serialisation and authentication solutions have to be based on machine vision.  Read more at Imaging & Machine Vision Europe…

Posted in Europa Science | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Two Recent Events (Geologically Speaking)

Posted on December 16, 2011 by rberkowitz

2069016976Two past events—one recorded in the Old Testament, the other in the diary of an 18th-century missionary—have left evidence of geophysical processes that are relevant today.  Read more at Physics Today…

Posted in Physics Today | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment