Collection of Infrasonic Sound From Sources of Military Importance

Extreme Endeavors is collaborating with NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) in the development, testing and analysis of infrasonic detection system under a Space Act Agreement. Acoustic studies of atmospheric events like convective storms, shear-induced turbulence, acoustic gravity waves, microbursts, hurricanes, and clear air turbulence (CAT) over the past thirty years have established that these events are strong emitters of infrasound. Recently NASA Langley Research Center has designed and developed a portable infrasonic detection system which can be used to make useful infrasound measurements at locations where it was not possible previously, such as a mountain crag, inside a cave or on the battlefield. The system comprises an electret condenser microphone, having a 3-inch membrane diameter, and a small, compact windscreen. Extreme Endeavors will present the findings from field testing using this portable infrasonic detection system. Field testing of the infrasonic detection system was partly funded by Greer Industries and support provided by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The findings from this work illustrate the ability to detect structure and other information about the contents inside the caves. The presentation will describe methodology for utilizing infrasonic to locate and portray underground facilities

Earthquake Triggering at Alaskan Volcanoes Following the 3 November 2002 Denali Fault Earthquake

The 3 November 2002 MW 7.9 Denali fault earthquake provided an excellent opportunity to investigate triggered earthquakes at Alaskan volcanoes. The Alaska Volcano Observatory operates short-period seismic networks on 24 historically active volcanoes in Alaska, 247–2159 km distant from the mainshock epicenter. We searched for evidence of triggered seismicity by examining the unfiltered waveforms for all stations in each volcano network for ~1 hr after the MW 7.9 arrival time at each network and for significant increases in located earthquakes in the hours after the mainshock. We found compelling evidence for triggering only at the Katmai volcanic cluster (KVC, 720–755 km southwest of the epicenter), where small earthquakes with distinct P and S arrivals appeared within the mainshock coda at one station and a small increase in located earthquakes occurred for several hours after the mainshock. Peak dynamic stresses of ~0.1 MPa at Augustine Volcano (560 km southwest of the epicenter) are significantly lower than those recorded in Yellowstone and Utah (3000 km southeast of the epicenter), suggesting that strong directivity effects were at least partly responsible for the lack of triggering at Alaskan volcanoes. We describe other incidents of earthquake-induced triggering in the KVC, and outline a qualitative magnitude/distance-dependent triggering threshold. We argue that triggering results from the perturbation of magmatic-hydrothermal systems in the KVC and suggest that the comparative lack of triggering at other Alaskan volcanoes could be a result of differences in the nature of magmatic-hydrothermal systems

Frequent Arousal from Hibernation Linked to Severity of Infection and Mortality in Bats with White-Nose Syndrome

White-nose syndrome (WNS), an emerging infectious disease that has killed over 5.5 million hibernating bats, is named for the causative agent, a white fungus (Geomyces destructans (Gd)) that invades the skin of torpid bats. During hibernation, arousals to warm (euthermic) body temperatures are normal but deplete fat stores. Temperature-sensitive dataloggers were attached to the backs of 504 free-ranging little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) in hibernacula located throughout the northeastern USA. Dataloggers were retrieved at the end of the hibernation season and complete profiles of skin temperature data were available from 83 bats, which were categorized as: (1) unaffected, (2) WNS-affected but alive at time of datalogger removal, or (3) WNS-affected but found dead at time of datalogger removal. Histological confirmation of WNS severity (as indexed by degree of fungal infection) as well as confirmation of presence/absence of DNA from Gd by PCR was determined for 26 animals. We demonstrated that WNS-affected bats aroused to euthermic body temperatures more frequently than unaffected bats, likely contributing to subsequent mortality. Within the subset of WNS-affected bats that were found dead at the time of datalogger removal, the number of arousal bouts since datalogger attachment significantly predicted date of death. Additionally, the severity of cutaneous Gd infection correlated with the number of arousal episodes from torpor during hibernation. Thus, increased frequency of arousal from torpor likely contributes to WNS-associated mortality, but the question of how Gd infection induces increased arousals remains unanswered

Tephrochronology and its application: A review

Tephrochronology (from tephra, Gk ‘ashes’) is a unique stratigraphic method for linking, dating, and synchronizing geological, palaeoenvironmental, or archaeological sequences or events. As well as utilising the Law of Superposition, tephrochronology in practise requires tephra deposits to be characterized (or ‘fingerprinted’) using physical properties evident in the field together with those obtained from laboratory analyses. Such analyses include mineralogical examination (petrography) or geochemical analysis of glass shards or crystals using an electron microprobe or other analytical tools including laser-ablation-based mass spectrometry or the ion microprobe. The palaeoenvironmental or archaeological context in which a tephra occurs may also be useful for correlational purposes. Tephrochronology provides greatest utility when a numerical age obtained for a tephra or cryptotephra is transferrable from one site to another using stratigraphy and by comparing and matching inherent compositional features of the deposits with a high degree of likelihood. Used this way, tephrochronology is an age-equivalent dating method that provides an exceptionally precise volcanic-event stratigraphy. Such age transfers are valid because the primary tephra deposits from an eruption essentially have the same short-lived age everywhere they occur, forming isochrons very soon after the eruption (normally within a year). As well as providing isochrons for palaeoenvironmental and archaeological reconstructions, tephras through their geochemical analysis allow insight into volcanic and magmatic processes, and provide a comprehensive record of explosive volcanism and recurrence rates in the Quaternary (or earlier) that can be used to establish time-space relationships of relevance to volcanic hazard analysis. The basis and application of tephrochronology as a central stratigraphic and geochronological tool for Quaternary studies are presented and discussed in this review. Topics covered include principles of tephrochronology, defining isochrons, tephra nomenclature, mapping and correlating tephras from proximal to distal locations at metre- through to sub-millimetre-scale, cryptotephras, mineralogical and geochemical fingerprinting methods, numerical and statistical correlation techniques, and developments and applications in dating including the use of flexible depositional age-modelling techniques based on Bayesian statistics. Along with reference to wide-ranging examples and the identification of important recent advances in tephrochronology, such as the development of new geoanalytical approaches that enable individual small glass shards to be analysed near-routinely for major, trace, and rare-earth elements, potential problems such as miscorrelation, erroneous-age transfer, and tephra reworking and taphonomy (especially relating to cryptotephras) are also examined. Some of the challenges for future tephrochronological studies include refining geochemical analytical methods further, improving understanding of cryptotephra distribution and preservation patterns, improving age modelling including via new or enhanced radiometric or incremental techniques and Bayesian-derived models, evaluating and quantifying uncertainty in tephrochronology to a greater degree than at present, constructing comprehensive regional databases, and integrating tephrochronology with spatially referenced environmental and archaeometric data into 3-D reconstructions using GIS and geostatistics

Keynote: Open Climate Campaign: Social Justice Through Better Sharing

Her talk will cover how the damage to biodiversity caused by climate change compounds social injustice around the world. She will discuss how Creative Commons, SPARC and EIFL have launched a 4-year global Open Climate Campaign to mobilize researchers, national governments, funders and environmental organizations to provide open access to knowledge so better sharing can accelerate progress to solve the climate crisis, preserve global biodiversity and expand social justice. Open Access Week programming explores the importance of openly sharing knowledge to address the inequities that shape the impacts of climate change and our response to them. A University of Colorado event. Registration is free and open to all, and their full roster of activities can be found on our landing page: https://www.colorado.edu/libraries/open-access-week. Registe

Die Entstehung des modernen Konsums | Darstellung und Erklärungsansätze

Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, den Stellenwert des Konsums in der Geschichte der Moderne, d.h. in der "großen Transformation" der westlichen Gesellschaft herauszuarbeiten, die industrielle Revolution mit der zeitgleich stattfindenden Konsumrevolution in einen engen Zusammenhang zu bringen und schließlich die historische Entwicklung des Konsums in einen sozialkulturellen Kontext zu stellen.In einem sehr umfangreichen Kapitel werden die Erkenntnisse aus der konsumhistorischen Forschung des 16. bis 19. Jahrhunderts geordnet und zusammengefaßt. Es liefert einen Einblick in die Dynamik der "Geburt" der Konsumgesellschaft im England des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts und belegt mittels ausgiebigen Quellenstudiums die Ausbreitung des Konsums anhand von Imitationsprozessen durch alle sozialen Schichten hindurch. Darüber hinaus erfolgt die ausführliche Darstellung der Einführung und Anwendung professioneller Marketing-Methoden seitens der Anbieter, die den Prozeß der Kommerzialisierung der Gesellschaft weiter vorantrieben. Anschließend wird die historische Analyse bis ins 20. Jahrhundert fortgesetzt. Darin geht Stihler exemplarisch auf die unterschiedlichen Spielarten einer hedonistisch gefärbten konsumtiven Selbstentfaltung und die eng mit ihr verbundenen Formen des Erlebniskonsums ein. In einem weiteren Kapitel wird der Wandel der sozioökonomischen Bedingungen untersucht, der die Entstehung des modernen Konsums ermöglichte. Die Autorin skizziert insbesondere die Entstehung des Individualismus, diskutiert die Weber-These, konstatiert die Abnahme familialer Bindungen und unterstreicht die Bedeutung sozialer Mobilität für die Entwicklung modernen Konsumverhaltens. Im letzten Kapitel schließlich werden verschiedene soziologische und psychologische Erklärungsstränge der modernen Konsumentwicklung zusammengefaßt. Dabei stellt sich heraus, daß die Entwicklung modernen Konsums mit dem Prestigemotiv nicht befriedigend erklärt werden kann, sondern daß insbesondere die Gebundenheit an die symbolische Bedeutung materieller Güter für die Unersättlichkeit des modernen Konsums verantwortlich zeichnet.Ergebnis dieser Arbeit ist die Herausarbeitung des kulturellen Stellenwerts des Konsums sowie der Bedeutung des Konsums als zentrales Identifikationsmerkmal moderner westlicher Gesellschaften in den unterschiedlichsten Lebenszusammenhängen

Intraspecific Comparison of Population Structure, Genetic Diversity, and Dispersal Among Three Subspecies of Townsend’s Big-Eared Bats, \u3ci\u3eCorynorhinus townsendii townsendii, C. t. pallescens\u3c/i\u3e, and the Endangered \u3ci\u3eC. t. birginianus\u3c/i\u3e

Townsend’s big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii, is distributed broadly across western North America and in two isolated, endangered populations in central and eastern United States. There are five subspecies of C. townsendii; C. t. pallescens, C. t. australis, C. t. townsendii, C. t. ingens, and C. t. virginianus with varying degrees of concern over the conservation status of each. The aim of this study was to use mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA data to examine genetic diversity, population differentiation, and dispersal of three C. townsendii subspecies. C. t. virginianus is found in isolated populations in the eastern United States and was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1979. Concern also exists about declining populations of two western subspecies, C. t. pallescens and C. t. townsendii. Using a comparative approach, estimates of the genetic diversity within populations of the endangered subspecies, C. t. virginianus, were found to be significantly lower than within populations of the two western subspecies. Further, both classes of molecular markers revealed significant differentiation among regional populations of C. t. virginianus with most genetic diversity distributed among populations. Genetic diversity was not significantly different between C. t. townsendii and C. t. pallescens. Some populations of C. t. townsendii are not genetically differentiated from populations of C. t. pallescens in areas of sympatry. For the western subspecies gene flow appears to occur primarily through male dispersal. Finally, geographic regions representing significantly differentiated and genetically unique populations of C. townsendii virginianus are recognized as distinct evolutionary significant units