Origins of the Ambient Solar Wind: Implications for Space Weather

The Sun's outer atmosphere is heated to temperatures of millions of degrees, and solar plasma flows out into interplanetary space at supersonic speeds. This paper reviews our current understanding of these interrelated problems: coronal heating and the acceleration of the ambient solar wind. We also discuss where the community stands in its ability to forecast how variations in the solar wind (i.e., fast and slow wind streams) impact the Earth. Although the last few decades have seen significant progress in observations and modeling, we still do not have a complete understanding of the relevant physical processes, nor do we have a quantitatively precise census of which coronal structures contribute to specific types of solar wind. Fast streams are known to be connected to the central regions of large coronal holes. Slow streams, however, appear to come from a wide range of sources, including streamers, pseudostreamers, coronal loops, active regions, and coronal hole boundaries. Complicating our understanding even more is the fact that processes such as turbulence, stream-stream interactions, and Coulomb collisions can make it difficult to unambiguously map a parcel measured at 1 AU back down to its coronal source. We also review recent progress -- in theoretical modeling, observational data analysis, and forecasting techniques that sit at the interface between data and theory -- that gives us hope that the above problems are indeed solvable.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Special issue connected with a 2016 ISSI workshop on "The Scientific Foundations of Space Weather." 44 pages, 9 figure

A shift to parasitism in the jellyfish symbiont Symbiodinium microadriaticum

One of the outstanding and poorly understood examples of cooperation between species is found in corals, hydras and jellyfish that form symbioses with algae. These mutualistic algae are mostly acquired infectiously from the seawater and, according to models of virulence evolution, should be selected to parasitize their hosts. We altered algal transmission between jellyfish hosts in the laboratory to examine the potential for virulence evolution in this widespread symbiosis. In one experimental treatment, vertical transmission of algae (parent to offspring) selected for symbiont cooperation, because symbiont fitness was tied to host reproduction. In the other treatment, horizontal transmission (infectious spread) decoupled symbiont fitness from the host, potentially allowing parasitic symbionts to spread. Fitness estimates revealed a striking shift to parasitism in the horizontal treatment. The horizontally transmitted algae proliferated faster within hosts and had higher dispersal rates from hosts compared to the vertical treatment, while reducing host reproduction and growth. However, a trade-off was detected between harm caused to hosts and symbiont fitness. Virulence trade-offs have been modelled for pathogens and may be critical in stabilising ‘infectious’ symbioses. Our results demonstrate the dynamic nature of this symbiosis and illustrate the potential ease with which beneficial symbionts can evolve into parasites

Meeting Capture in a Media Enriched Conference Room

. We describe a media enriched conference room designed for capturing meetings. Our goal is to do this in a flexible, seamless, and unobtrusive manner in a public conference room that is used for everyday work. Room activity is captured by computer controllable video cameras, video conference cameras, and ceiling microphones. Presentation material displayed on a large screen rear video projector is captured by a smart video source management component that automatically locates the highest fidelity image source. Wireless pen-based notebook computers are used to take notes, which provide indexes to the captured meeting. Images can be interactively and automatically incorporated into the notes. Captured meetings may be browsed on the Web with links to recorded video. Keywords. meeting capture, note taking, roomware, cooperative buildings, multimedia applications, video applications 1 Introduction Public conference rooms are sites of meetings and organizational activities th..

Trends in Size Class Distribution, Recaptures, and Abundance of Juvenile Green Turtles ( Chelonia mydas

Despite great advances in the understanding of marine turtle biology over the past 60 yrs, there is still a paucity of demographic data on the juvenile stage of their life history. These data are required to adequately predict population trends for these long-lived marine turtle species. In the early 1990s, juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) were observed in the Trident Turning Basin at Port Canaveral, Brevard County, Florida. We began a study in 1993 to assess the species composition, size class distribution, and degree of residency of the marine turtles utilizing this man-made embayment as developmental habitat. The results of the first 18 yrs of that study are related here. Juvenile green turtles constituted 99.4% of the marine turtle captures. Straight carapace lengths (SCL) of turtles ranged from 20.0 to 52.0 cm with a mean of 31.7 cm, smaller than those observed in other known green turtle developmental habitats in Florida. The mean SCL of the green turtles in the basin has declined over the course of the study. Although initially there was a high recapture rate of turtles tagged in the basin, that rate declined significantly along with the size of the turtles at their most recent recapture and the interval of time between their first capture and most recent recapture. We attribute these declines to the increase in the number of juvenile green turtles recruiting to developmental habitats along Florida\u27s east coast and to the limited forage available in the basin. Population surveys over the past 13 yrs of the study yielded estimates that ranged from 27 to 224 green turtles in the basin, with a mean estimate of 61±10 turtles. The results of this study illustrate the value of long-term monitoring projects in understanding both juvenile green turtle habitat preferences and sea turtle population dynamics. © Chelonian Research Foundation