Mother Nature’s secret agent cleaning up Earth’s atmosphere

October 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Housework gives a person the same joy as his or her first kiss, says a new UK study. According to the study of 2,000 Britons, who were quizzed by cleaning materials firm Vileda, cleaning 20 minutes a day produces the same level of feel-good­hormone serotonin as a new love.

September 16th, 2009 TORONTO - Ozone layer alterations, prompted by climate change, will enhance ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the tropics and Antarctica, according to a discovery by physicists. Climate change is an established fact, but scientists are only just beginning to understand its regional manifestations, said Michaela Hegglin, a physics researcher at the University of Toronto (U-T) and lead study author.

September 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Atmospheric scientists from the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) have discovered a previously unknown basic mode of energy transfer from the solar wind to the Earth's magnetosphere, a finding that could improve the safety and reliability of spacecraft that operate in the upper atmosphere. "It's like something else is heating the atmosphere besides the sun.

September 7th, 2009 LONDON - In a new research, it has been determined that rocky worlds have to be about the size of Earth to be conducive for life. According to a report in New Scientist, the discovery of extrasolar super-Earths - rocky planets about five to ten times the mass of Earth - has raised hopes that some may harbour life.

September 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Melting permafrost in arctic regions, triggered by global warming, will release underground methane. Once released, methane would speed up global warming by trapping the earths heat radiation about 20 times more efficiently than the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.

September 2nd, 2009 China tries to calm unease over rare earths curbsBEIJING — A Chinese official tried to calm unease about curbs on exports of rare earths used in clean energy products and superconductors, saying Thursday that sales will continue but must be limited to reduce damage to China's environment. China produces nearly all the rare earths used in batteries for hybrid cars, mobile phones, superconductors, lightweight magnets and other high-tech products.

August 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has determined that cleaning up black carbon emissions, created through diesel and solid biomass fuel burning, provides instant benefits against global warming. The research was conducted by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC (University of California) San Diego climate and atmospheric scientist V.

August 7th, 2009 LONDON - The planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has found its first extrasolar planets, in the form of three alien worlds that had been previously discovered with ground-based telescopes. According to a report in New Scientist, the finds confirm that Kepler's instruments are sensitive enough to detect Earth-like planets around sun-like stars.

August 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama is the target of more than 30 potential death threats a day and is being protected by an increasingly over-stretched and under-resourced Secret Service, according to a new book.

June 27th, 2009 LONDON - A cleaning agent, developed to stop mould growth in bakeries and fish factories, has been found effective in killing hospital superbugs, say researchers. The research team from Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) have found that agent Byotrol has cut levels of MRSA on wards by one third.

June 23rd, 2009 LONDON - A new study on the effects of climate change on melting ice sheets has indicated that even if scientists could freeze-frame the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) as it is today, sea levels would still rise by 25 meters by 4000 AD. According to a report in New Scientist, Eelco Rohling of the UK National Oceanography Centre at the University of Southampton and colleagues conducted the study.

June 22nd, 2009 LONDON - A new study on the effects of climate change on melting ice sheets has indicated that even if scientists could freeze-frame the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) as it is today, sea levels would still rise by 25 meters by 4000 AD. According to a report in New Scientist, Eelco Rohling of the UK National Oceanography Centre at the University of Southampton and colleagues conducted the study.

May 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has suggested that the Sun is slowly stealing Earth's atmosphere, with our planet's main solar defense acting as a double agent, aiding and abetting the thievery. According to a report in National Geographic News, typically hailed as a protective buffer from the sun's brute power, Earth's magnetosphere is actually helping the sun's energized particles strip away a tiny fraction of Earth's atmosphere.

May 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research by an international team of geologists, it has been suggested that Earth's earliest ice age may have been due to the rise of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere, which consumed atmospheric greenhouse gases and chilled the earth. The research was done by scientists from the University of Maryland, including post-doctoral fellows Boswell Wing and Sang-Tae Kim, graduate student Margaret Baker, and professors Alan J.

March 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Britney Spears' friends have dismissed reports the singer is dating her long-time agent. Rumours of romance started making rounds after the 'Toxic' hitmaker was spotted enjoying a romantic meal with her agent Jason Trawick in between the singer's Circus tour dates.