Self-limiting atmospheric lifetime of environmentally reactive elements in volcanic plumes

The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea, Hawai’i, produced exceptionally high discharge of metal pollutant elements, and an unprecedented opportunity to track them from vent to exposed communities over 200 km downwind. We discovered that magmatic volatility is an important control on the atmospheric behavior of elements, with [volatile elements] decreasing up to 100 times faster after emission than [refractory elements]. The differential deposition disproportionately impacts populated areas closest to the active vents, as the rapidlydeposited volatile elements generally have the highest environmental lability and potential toxicity

Analysis of LIGO data for gravitational waves from binary neutron stars

We report on a search for gravitational waves from coalescing compact binary systems in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds. The analysis uses data taken by two of the three LIGO interferometers during the first LIGO science run and illustrates a method of setting upper limits on inspiral event rates using interferometer data. The analysis pipeline is described with particular attention to data selection and coincidence between the two interferometers. We establish an observational upper limit of $\mathcal{R}<$1.7 \times 10^{2}$per year per Milky Way Equivalent Galaxy (MWEG), with 90coalescence rate of binary systems in which each component has a mass in the range 1--3$M_\odot$.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure

The 2014 ALMA Long Baseline Campaign: An Overview

Instrumentatio

ISO's work on guidance for Haptic and tactile interactions

Tactile and haptic interaction is becoming increasingly important and is no longer restricted to assistive technologies and special purpose computing environments. The technology has gone through numerous breakthroughs and replications and is now entering a period of developing empiricism, the phase in which the first benefits of this new development are becoming available. While considerable research exists, the current lack of ergonomic standards results in systems without sufficient concerns for either ergonomics or interoperability, leading to difficulties for users of multiple, incompatible or conflicting applications. ISO (through working group TC159/SC4/WG9) is working toward international standards, which are being dual-tracked as both ISO and CEN standards. This paper gives an update on the status of the Draft International Standard on tactile/haptic interactions and the recently initiated work on a framework for tactile/haptic interactions. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Big trouble for little fish: Identifying Australian freshwater fishes in imminent risk of extinction

Globally, freshwater fishes are declining at an alarming rate. Despite much evidence of catastrophic declines, few Australian species are listed as threatened under national legislation. We aim to help redress this by identifying the Australian freshwater fishes that are in the most immediate risk of extinction. For 22 freshwater fishes (identified as highly threatened by experts), we used structured expert elicitation to estimate the probability of extinction in the next ~20 years, and to identify key threats and priority management needs. All but one of the 22 species are small (50% probability of extinction in the next ~20 years. Collectively, the biggest factor contributing to the likelihood of extinction of the freshwater fishes considered is that they occur in small (distributions ≤44 km2), geographically isolated populations, and are threatened by a mix of processes (particularly alien fishes and climate change). Nineteen of these species are unlisted on national legislation, so legislative drivers for recovery actions are largely absent. Research has provided strong direction on how to manage ~35% of known threats to the species considered, and, of these, ~36% of threats have some management underway (although virtually none are at the stage where intervention is no longer required). Increased resourcing, management intervention and social attitudinal change is urgently needed to avert the impending extinction of Australia’s most imperilled freshwater fishes