Precision Primordial 4^4He Measurement with CMB Experiments

Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are two major pillars of cosmology. Standard BBN accurately predicts the primordial light element abundances ($^4$He, D, $^3$He and $^7$Li), depending on one parameter, the baryon density. Light element observations are used as a baryometers. The CMB anisotropies also contain information about the content of the universe which allows an important consistency check on the Big Bang model. In addition CMB observations now have sufficient accuracy to not only determine the total baryon density, but also resolve its principal constituents, H and $^4$He. We present a global analysis of all recent CMB data, with special emphasis on the concordance with BBN theory and light element observations. We find $\Omega_{B}h^{2}=0.025+0.0019-0.0026$ and $Y_{p}=0.250+0.010-0.014$ (fraction of baryon mass as $^4$He) using CMB data alone, in agreement with $^4$He abundance observations. With this concordance established we show that the inclusion of BBN theory priors significantly reduces the volume of parameter space. In this case, we find $\Omega_{B}h^2=0.0244+0.00137-0.00284$ and $Y_p = 0.2493+0.0006-0.001$. We also find that the inclusion of deuterium abundance observations reduces the $Y_p$ and $\Omega_{B}h^2$ ranges by a factor of $\sim$2. Further light element observations and CMB anisotropy experiments will refine this concordance and sharpen BBN and the CMB as tools for precision cosmology.Comment: 7 pages, 3 color figures made minor changes to bring inline with journal versio

Cosmological parameters from SDSS and WMAP

We measure cosmological parameters using the three-dimensional power spectrum P(k) from over 200,000 galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in combination with WMAP and other data. Our results are consistent with a ``vanilla'' flat adiabatic Lambda-CDM model without tilt (n=1), running tilt, tensor modes or massive neutrinos. Adding SDSS information more than halves the WMAP-only error bars on some parameters, tightening 1 sigma constraints on the Hubble parameter from h~0.74+0.18-0.07 to h~0.70+0.04-0.03, on the matter density from Omega_m~0.25+/-0.10 to Omega_m~0.30+/-0.04 (1 sigma) and on neutrino masses from <11 eV to <0.6 eV (95%). SDSS helps even more when dropping prior assumptions about curvature, neutrinos, tensor modes and the equation of state. Our results are in substantial agreement with the joint analysis of WMAP and the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, which is an impressive consistency check with independent redshift survey data and analysis techniques. In this paper, we place particular emphasis on clarifying the physical origin of the constraints, i.e., what we do and do not know when using different data sets and prior assumptions. For instance, dropping the assumption that space is perfectly flat, the WMAP-only constraint on the measured age of the Universe tightens from t0~16.3+2.3-1.8 Gyr to t0~14.1+1.0-0.9 Gyr by adding SDSS and SN Ia data. Including tensors, running tilt, neutrino mass and equation of state in the list of free parameters, many constraints are still quite weak, but future cosmological measurements from SDSS and other sources should allow these to be substantially tightened.Comment: Minor revisions to match accepted PRD version. SDSS data and ppt figures available at http://www.hep.upenn.edu/~max/sdsspars.htm

Working paper analysing the economic implications of the proposed 30% target for areal protection in the draft post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framewor

58 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables- The World Economic Forum now ranks biodiversity loss as a top-five risk to the global economy, and the draft post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework proposes an expansion of conservation areas to 30% of the earth’s surface by 2030 (hereafter the “30% target”), using protected areas (PAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs). - Two immediate concerns are how much a 30% target might cost and whether it will cause economic losses to the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors. - Conservation areas also generate economic benefits (e.g. revenue from nature tourism and ecosystem services), making PAs/Nature an economic sector in their own right. - If some economic sectors benefit but others experience a loss, high-level policy makers need to know the net impact on the wider economy, as well as on individual sectors. [...]A. Waldron, K. Nakamura, J. Sze, T. Vilela, A. Escobedo, P. Negret Torres, R. Button, K. Swinnerton, A. Toledo, P. Madgwick, N. Mukherjee were supported by National Geographic and the Resources Legacy Fund. V. Christensen was supported by NSERC Discovery Grant RGPIN-2019-04901. M. Coll and J. Steenbeek were supported by EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 817578 (TRIATLAS). D. Leclere was supported by TradeHub UKRI CGRF project. R. Heneghan was supported by Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Acciones de Programacion Conjunta Internacional (PCIN-2017-115). M. di Marco was supported by MIUR Rita Levi Montalcini programme. A. Fernandez-Llamazares was supported by Academy of Finland (grant nr. 311176). S. Fujimori and T. Hawegawa were supported by The Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (2-2002) of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan and the Sumitomo Foundation. V. Heikinheimo was supported by Kone Foundation, Social Media for Conservation project. K. Scherrer was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 682602. U. Rashid Sumaila acknowledges the OceanCanada Partnership, which funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). T. Toivonen was supported by Osk. Huttunen Foundation & Clare Hall college, Cambridge. W. Wu was supported by The Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (2-2002) of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan. Z. Yuchen was supported by a Ministry of Education of Singapore Research Scholarship Block (RSB) Research FellowshipPeer reviewe

An exploration of dichotic listening among adults who stutter

A pilot investigation of dichotic listening of CV stimuli was undertaken using seven adults who stutter (AWS) and a comparison group of seven adults who do not stutter (AWNS). The aim of this research was to investigate whether AWS show a difference in the strength of the right ear advantage (REA) in both undirected and directed attention tasks when compared to AWNS. The undirected attention task involved manipulating the interaural intensity difference (IID) of the CV stimuli presented to each ear. The CV stimuli were presented with equal intensity for the directed attention task. The undirected attention results indicated that both AWS and AWNS have a REA for processing speech information, with a primary difference observed between groups in regard to the IID point at which a REA shifts to a LEA. This crossing-over point occurred earlier for AWS, indicating a stronger right hemisphere involvement for the processing of speech compared to AWNS. No differences were found between groups in the directed attention task. The differences and similarities observed in dichotic listening between the two groups are discussed in regard to hemispheric specialization in the processing of speech

Uncertainty based assessment of dynamic freshwater scarcity in semi-arid watersheds of Alberta, Canada

Study region: Alberta, Canada. Study focus: The security of freshwater supplies is a growing concern worldwide. Understanding dynamics of water supply and demand is the key for sustainable planning and management of watersheds. Here we analyzed the uncertainties in water supply of Alberta by building an agro-hydrological model, which accounts for major hydrological features, geo-spatial heterogeneity, and conflicts over water-food-energy resources. We examined the cumulative effects of natural features (e.g., potholes, glaciers, climate, soil, vegetation), anthropogenic factors (e.g., dams, irrigation, industrial development), environmental flow requirements (EFR), and calibration schemes on water scarcity in the dynamics of blue and green water resources, and groundwater recharge. New hydrological insights for the region: Natural hydrologic features of the region create a unique hydrological system, which must be accurately represented in the model for reliable estimates of water supply at high spatial and temporal resolution. Accounting for EFR, increases the number of months of water scarcity and the population exposed. Severe blue water scarcity in spring and summer months was found to be due to irrigated agriculture, while in winter months it was mostly due to the demands of petroleum or other industries. We found over exploitation of the groundwater in southern subbasins and concluded that more detailed analysis on groundwater flow and connectivity is required. Our study provides a general and unified approach for similar analyses in other jurisdictions around the world

Vertical split-ring resonators for plasmon coupling, sensing and metasurface

Split-ring resonator (SRR), one kind of building block of metamaterials, attracts wide attentions due to the resonance excitation of electric and magnetic dipolar response. The fundamental plasmonic properties and potential applications in novel three dimensional vertical split-ring resonators (VSRRs) are designed and investigated. The resonant properties arose from the electric and magnetic interactions between the VSRR and light are theoretically and experimentally studied. Tuning the configuration of VSRR unit cells is able to generate various novel coupling phenomena in VSRRs, such as plasmon hybridization and Fano resonance. The magnetic resonance plays a key role in plasmon coupling in VSRRs. The VSRR-based refractive-index sensor is demonstrated. Due to the unique structural configuration, the enhanced plasmon fields localized in VSRR gaps can be lifted off from the dielectric substrate, allowing for the increase of sensing volume and enhancing the sensitivity. We perform a VSRR based metasurface for light manipulation in optical communication frequency. By changing the prong heights, the 2π phase modulation can be achieved in VSRR for the design of metasurface which can be used for high areal density integration of metal nanostructures and optoelectronic devices

Ocean-based measures for climate action

Current emission reduction pledges under the 2015 Paris Agreement are insufficient to keep global temperature “well below +2°C” in 2100 relative to pre-industrial levels and to reach targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Increased political ambition is therefore required, as well as enhanced efforts in terms of both mitigation and ecosystem and human adaptation. There is growing evidence highlighting both the role the ocean plays in mitigating anthropogenic climate change (i.e., absorption of atmospheric heat and anthropogenic carbon), and the cascading consequences on its chemistry and physics (i.e., ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, sea-level rise), ecosystems and ecosystem services. In such a context, a critical question arises: what are the ocean-based opportunities for climate action? In other words, what is the potential of the ocean and its ecosystems to reduce the causes of climate change and its impacts? This document summarises the main findings of The Ocean Solutions Initiative1 that assessed the potential of 13 ocean-based measures

Ocean-based measures for climate action

Current emission reduction pledges under the 2015 Paris Agreement are insufficient to keep global temperature “well below +2°C” in 2100 relative to pre-industrial levels and to reach targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Increased political ambition is therefore required, as well as enhanced efforts in terms of both mitigation and ecosystem and human adaptation. There is growing evidence highlighting both the role the ocean plays in mitigating anthropogenic climate change (i.e., absorption of atmospheric heat and anthropogenic carbon), and the cascading consequences on its chemistry and physics (i.e., ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, sea-level rise), ecosystems and ecosystem services. In such a context, a critical question arises: what are the ocean-based opportunities for climate action? In other words, what is the potential of the ocean and its ecosystems to reduce the causes of climate change and its impacts? This document summarises the main findings of The Ocean Solutions Initiative1 that assessed the potential of 13 ocean-based measures