USGS Office of Communications
Science Picks—Leads, Feeds and Story Seeds
September 2006 Edition
For Release: UPON RECEIPT
Fall is fast upon us and with it comes a harvest of science story ideas.
Science Picks provide the most current USGS science news and
information. Science Picks help you cover ongoing earth and natural
science research, investigations and technology. Photos and Web links
are also provided to enhance your story. If you would like to receive
Science Picks via email, would like to change the recipient or no longer
want to receive it, please email dmakle@xxxxxxxxx
September Highlights:
· A Maritime Achievement of Titanic Proportions
· Unlikely South American Fish Likes North American Waters
· USGS Report Says Less Snow, More Rain in Western States
· Beer from 15-Million-Year-Old Plant Skeletons
· Are Contaminants from Winter Areas Affecting Surf Scoter Reproduction
?
· New Avian Influenza Maps and Images Available
· Newly Renovated Energy and Mineral Web Sites Better Serve Users
· USGS FAQ Database Tops Two Million Mark in Questions Answered
· Water Monitoring Events Planned, N.Y., Va., and on the Anacostia
River
and more …
LEADS:
A Maritime Achievement of Titanic Proportions: It was a submersible
robot that captured images of the sunken RMS Titanic more than 70 years
after it sank in the North Atlantic. USGS scientists Emile Bergeron, a
technologist and a member of the Titanic discovery team, and Thomas
O'Brien have designed an autonomous surface vessel for the USGS Woods
Hole Science Center to facilitate sea floor mapping in extremely shallow
waters. The ASV was successfully used this summer to map the shallow
oyster beds of Appalachicola Bay in Florida. Want to learn more about
the ASV? Contact Denver Makle at (703) 648-4732 or dmakle@xxxxxxxxx
Unlikely South American Fish Likes North American Waters: Catching a
red-bellied pacu, a fish that is native to South America and often
mistaken for the piranha, in Minnesota or Michigan is not as unlikely as
one would think. In fact, it’s a sign that people are releasing aquarium
fish in northern climates, where they are unlikely to survive. However,
a species may remain dormant until the right conditions arise, and then
the population explodes. Released in warmer climates, these fish are not
only surviving, but in some cases thriving. To date, pacu have been
found in 31 states (since 1980). Has the pacu been located in your
state? See http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=427.
Want to understand the environmental impacts? Contact Hannah Hamilton at
(352) 264-3509 or hhamilton@xxxxxxxx or visit the National
Non-indigenous Aquatic Species Database at
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/taxgroup/fish/default.asp.
USGS Report Says Less Snow, More Rain in Western States: During recent
decades in the Western United States, the fraction of precipitation that
fell as snow declined, while the fraction that fell as rain increased.
These changes were the result of widespread warming. If these trends
continue, the risk of winter floods could increase, and dry-season
freshwater supplies would be diminished. Read the report at
http://tenaya.ucsd.edu/~knowles/rainsnow, or contact Denver Makle at
(703) 648-4732 or dmakle@xxxxxxxx for more information.
Beer from 15-Million-Year-Old Plant Skeletons: Did you know it’s
possible to enjoy Oktoberfest or a football feast with a cold glass of
beer filtered through the skeletons of microscopic, single-celled plants
dating back 15 million years? Found in lake beds formed millions of
years ago, freshwater diatomite deposits in the Western United States
contain billions of tiny diatom skeletons, which are widely used for
filtration, absorption and abrasives. New studies by the USGS are
revealing how ancient lakes in the Western States produced such large
numbers of diatoms. To learn more, visit
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3044/, or contact Alan Wallace at (775)
784-5789 or alan@xxxxxxxxxx
Are Contaminants from Winter Areas Affecting Surf Scoter Reproduction?
During 2005 and 2006, a USGS-led team tracked a surf scoter, a migratory
duck, from its coastal wintering area in the San Francisco Bay to
pinpoint its nest 2000 miles away in the vast northern boreal forest of
interior Canada. By tracking these birds to their nests, scientists are
learning about effects on their reproduction of contaminants accumulated
by the ducks from southern wintering regions. Understanding such
cross-seasonal linkages may also help in detecting emerging threats to
surf scoters in their northern breeding areas. To check out the travels
of marked surf scoters in 2006, visit the maps at
www.werc.usgs.gov/sattrack/. For more information on surf scoter
studies, contact John Takekawa at (707) 562-2000 or
john_takekawa@xxxxxxxx, or Gloria Maender at (520) 670-5596 or
gloria_maender@xxxxxxxxx
FEEDS:
New Avian Influenza Maps and Images Available: The USGS has avian
influenza maps and images available on the NBII Wildlife Disease
Information Node web site. The maps include migratory flyway patterns
and the location of outbreaks. Images of species targeted for AI
sampling and an illustration of how the flu virus invades a cell are
also available. Get maps at:
http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov/diseaseresource.jsp?disease=Avian%20Influenza§ion=Maps&pagemode=submit
Get images at:
http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov/multimedia.jsp?type=images
For more information, contact Bob Worrest at (703) 648-4074, or at
bworrest@xxxxxxxxx
Newly Renovated Energy and Mineral Web Sites Better Serve Users: The
USGS Energy Program and Minerals Resources Program Web sites are now
quicker, more intuitive and more user-friendly. The energy site contains
an easy-to-find list of scientific activities organized by commodity,
research topic, project topic and region of study. The Energy Program
site is available at http://energy.usgs.gov. The updated minerals Web
pages provide up-to-date information on news, activities, and products,
as well as background information about the Program. The Mineral
Resources Program Web site can be found at http://minerals.usgs.gov.
USGS FAQ Database Tops Two Million Mark in Questions Answered: Averaging
more than 2,000 hits per day, the USGS Frequently Asked Questions
database, which has been in operation now for nearly 3 years, hit the 2
million mark on August 2, 2006, in the number of questions answered.
This increasingly popular service showcases e-government initiatives’
return on investment to citizens. Maps and mapping-related questions are
always among the most popular ones being accessed, but recent months
have seen questions and answers about avian influenza, tsunamis,
minerals and earthquakes in plentiful numbers. To search and browse
through the USGS FAQ database, a hot spot in the USGS Home Page suite,
go to: http://www.usgs.gov/search/faq.html. For more information,
contact Kent Swanjord at (703) 648-6887, or knswanjord@xxxxxxxxx
STORY SEEDS:
Earth Science Week, Oct. 8-14: "Be a Citizen Scientist" is this year's
theme for Earth Science Week, an annual event sponsored by the American
Geological Institute and its member organizations. See the USGS
Education Resources for Earth Science Week for more info. For regional
activities, see http://www.usgs.gov/earthscience/esw2006activities.asp,
or contact Denver Makle at (703) 648-4732 or dmakle@xxxxxxxxx
Worldwide Water Monitoring: The USGS is proud to be a sponsor of the
World Water Monitoring Day on October 18. Citizens of the global
community will join in this worldwide opportunity to positively impact
the health of rivers, lakes, estuaries and other waters. Volunteer
monitoring groups, water quality agencies, students and the general
public are invited to test four key indicators of water quality:
temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity. See
http://www.usgs.gov/homepage/science_features/world_water_2006.asp for
USGS sponsored events. For more information about national events, go
to http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/.
