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Scientific Agenda

Scientific Agenda reports on important and interesting developments from the world of science in Minnesota and elsewhere. Coverage includes reports from MinnPost journalist Sharon Schmickle, Inside Science News Service, and other sources.

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Upcoming science-related events in Minneapolis, St. Paul

By Sharon Schmickle | 11/12/10
Here are some local science-related events coming up within the next few days. Learning from China’s food system China faces the challenge of feeding 22 percent of the world's population on 9 percent of its arable land.
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Global temperature to rise 3.5 degrees C. by 2035, International Energy Agency says

By Stephen Kurczy | 11/11/10
Global temperatures are projected rise 3.5 degrees C.
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Gulf oil spill update: What's known now about cause and effects

By Mark Guarino | 11/10/10
NEW ORLEANS — The well responsible for the Gulf oil spill was permanently sealed on Sept. 19.
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The next Cape Canaveral

By Eric Betz, Inside Science News Service | 11/09/10
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A runway in an otherwise vast, empty stretch of desert in southern New Mexico will soon become the starting point of weekly sightseeing trips to space for anyone who can afford the $200,000 ticket, and with NASA retiring the Space
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Upcoming science-related events in Twin Cities

By Sharon Schmickle | 11/08/10
Here’s a fresh list of local science-related events coming up in the next few days. Nano? Bio? What? Nano...bio...synbio.
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Omnitheater's 'Hubble' film will wow you and give a new appreciation for all telescope has let us see

By Sharon Schmickle | 11/05/10
Thanks to a new film opening today, we can relive Hubble’s history, savor the dazzling images of the cosmos, sweat the mechanical challenges and applaud the astronauts who risked their lives to keep the telescope operating.
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Scientific advisors meet at Vatican

By Edwin Cartlidge, Inside Science News Service | 11/05/10
VATICAN CITY — Some of the world’s top scientists gathered at the Vatican last week to discuss the scientific advances of the 20th century and their compatibility with religion.
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Nature’s carbon reservoirs declining, warns study by universities of Minnesota and Wisconsin

By Sharon Schmickle | 11/04/10
Nature’s capacity to store carbon and thereby curb global warming is steadily eroding as farmers around the world seek to feed more people by opening more land at the expense of forests, says a new study led by researchers at the universities of Min
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Humongous sinkhole opens up in Germany

By Eoin O'Carroll, Christian Science Monitor | 11/03/10
A huge sinkhole appeared this week in the central German town of Schmalkalden, swallowing a parked car and a garage door but causing no injuries. The circular hole, which is about 98 feet across and 65 feet deep, appeared at around 3 a.m.
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Your DNA may play a role in how you vote today

By Sharon Schmickle | 11/02/10
Here’s a provocative Election Day twist on the longstanding nature-nurture argument: Your DNA may play a role in determining whether you are politically liberal or conservative — whether, by extension, you’re inclined to vote for DFLer Mark Dayton o
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New hypothesis about how complex life emerged on Earth

By Jason Socrates Bardi, Inside Science News Service | 11/01/10
WASHINGTON — When life on Earth first emerged about 4 billion years ago, it was simple by today's standards.
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Minnesota's most famous mummy getting a CT scan

By Sharon Schmickle | 10/29/10
While many a mummy-costumed trick-or-treater heads to the streets this Halloween weekend, Minnesota’s most famous bona fide mummy is going to Children’s Hospital in St.
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World Series psychology: What’s a hitter thinking about?

By Chris Gorski, Inside Science News Service | 10/29/10
WASHINGTON — The pressure on World Series hitters is immense.
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Indonesia tsunami and volcano: Why the region is so violent

By Pete Spotts, Christian Science Monitor | 10/28/10
Indonesians once again are having to cope with the hazards of living on a geologically restless archipelago. A day after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the west coast of Indonesia's island of Sumatra, generating a tsunami that relief officia
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Astronaut coming to town and other science events

By Sharon Schmickle | 10/27/10
Upcoming science events include a visiting astronaut, a briefing on the public health implications of transporting animals and everyday solutions to problems with toxic water.  Astronaut visit Space shuttle astronaut Capt.
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Benoit Mandelbrot: Remembering the father of fractals

By Carrie Arnold, Inside Science News Service | 10/26/10
WASHINGTON — Benoit Mandelbrot, the mathematics professor at Yale who coined the word "fractal," died earlier this month at the age of 85.
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Astronomers build on a Hubble find, report light from oldest galaxy

By Pete Spotts, Christian Science Monitor | 10/25/10
Astronomers say they have captured for the first time the spectral signature of a galaxy as it appeared less than 600 million years after the big bang, making it the oldest, and most distant, galaxy ever observed. The result helps open a previously
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Local science events for families and kids

By Sharon Schmickle | 10/22/10
Of all the science-related events we post on this blog, my favorites are those for families and/or kids.
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Minnesota study suggests climate may play role in evolving new species

By Sharon Schmickle | 10/21/10
Did you ever wonder why so many different life forms are so richly abundant in the tropics? A new University of Minnesota study suggests that climate may play a role in determining how fast new species evolve. New species may develop faster as the
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Will Google wind power project harm wildlife?

By Ron Scherer, Christian Science Monitor | 10/20/10
NEW YORK — Before Google or any other groups invest in undersea transmission lines to bring wind power to the mid-Atlantic coast area, they might want to talk with the National Audubon Society. While the Audubon Society supports the concept of clea
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Looking for extra dimensions by measuring gravity at the microscopic level

By Phillip F. Schewe, Inside Science News Service | 10/19/10
WASHINGTON — Scientists know how gravity works at big distances — the inter-planetary or inter-stellar range — but does it work the same way at the inter-atomic range? A variety of tabletop experiments are trying to explore this issue.  Already som