New light for time series: international collaboration in ship-based ecosystem monitoring.

Ship-based biogeochemical and ecological time series are one of the most valuable tools to characterize and quantify ocean ecosystems. These programs continuously provided major breakthroughs in understanding ecosystem variability, allow quantification of the ocean carbon cycle, and help understand the processes that link biodiversity, food webs, and changes in services that benefit human societies. A quantum jump in regional and global ocean ecosystem science can be gained by aggregating observations from individual time series that are distributed across different oceans and which are managed by different countries. The collective value of these data is greater than that provided by each time series individually. However, maintaining time series requires a commitment by the science community and sponsor agencies.. Based on the success of existing initiatives, e.g. ICES and SCOR working groups, IOC-UNESCO launched the International Group for Marine Ecological Time Series (IGMETS, http://igmets.net) to promote collaborations across different individual projects, and jointly look at holistic changes within different ocean regions. The effort explores the reasons and connections for changes in phytoplankton and zooplankton at a global level and identifies locations where particularly large changes may be ocurring. This compilation will facilitate better coordination, communication, and data intercomparability among time series.IEO (RADIALES) IOC-UNESC

Search for Neutrinoless Double- β Decay in Ge 76 with the Majorana Demonstrator

The Majorana Collaboration is operating an array of high purity Ge detectors to search for neutrinoless double-β decay in Ge76. The Majorana Demonstrator comprises 44.1 kg of Ge detectors (29.7 kg enriched in Ge76) split between two modules contained in a low background shield at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. Here we present results from data taken during construction, commissioning, and the start of full operations. We achieve unprecedented energy resolution of 2.5 keV FWHM at Qββ and a very low background with no observed candidate events in 9.95 kg yr of enriched Ge exposure, resulting in a lower limit on the half-life of 1.9×1025 yr (90% C.L.). This result constrains the effective Majorana neutrino mass to below 240-520 meV, depending on the matrix elements used. In our experimental configuration with the lowest background, the background is 4.0-2.5+3.1 counts/(FWHM t yr)