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www.pccwglobal.com/images/stories/brochures/PCCW_Global_Infrastructure_Map.pdf Flu Attack! How A Virus Invades Your Body It starts very simply. A virus, just one, latches on to one of your cells and fools that cell into making lots more. Lots, lots more, like a million new viruses. This animation shows you how viruses trick healthy cells to join the dark side. David Bolinsky and his team at XVIVO designed this animation for a research company called Zirus (and we thank Zirus for letting us play with their pictures). And for those of you who were wondering, yes, the designers did add color. So the copying molecule isn't really pink. One Last Thing In our video we ask, if a flu virus inside your body can multiply by the millions within seconds, why don't we topple over and die quickly? Here's a better, longer answer than the one in the video. That is why most of the time, after a struggle (when you get a fever and need to lie down), your immune system rebounds, and, in time, so do you.

Sea Ice Max Continues Downward Trend In September 2012, the ice cap over the Arctic Ocean shrank to its lowest extent on record, about half the size of the average summertime extent from 1979 to 2000. That sea ice minimum continued a long-term trend of diminishing ice cover over the past few decades. During the darkness and bitter cold of Arctic winter, new sea ice forms and older ice re-freezes and grows. According to a NASA analysis, this year’s annual maximum extent was the fifth lowest in the past 35 years. Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) assert that the Arctic ice maximum occurred on March 15, 2013. The maps above show the Arctic sea ice extents from March 15, 2013 (top) and March 14, 1983 (bottom), an average year for sea ice maximum. The 2013 map was compiled from observations by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR-2) sensor on the Global Change Observation Mission 1st–Water (“Shizuku”) satellite, operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Instrument(s):

The Internet map Why is science important? - A collection of thoughts from leadin 2011 Global Temperatures Nine of the top ten warmest years in the modern meteorological record have occurred since the year 2000. Last year was another one of them, coming in at 9th warmest since 1880. The map above shows temperature anomalies, or changes, by region in 2011; it does not depict absolute temperature. On January 19, 2012, researchers at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) released their annual analysis of global temperatures, noting that Earth’s land and ocean surfaces continue to experience higher temperatures than several decades ago. “We know the planet is absorbing more energy than it is emitting,” said GISS director James Hansen. The difference between 2011 and the warmest year (2010) is 0.22 degrees F (0.12 C). Higher temperatures today are largely sustained by increased concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. ReferencesNASA (2012, January 19) NASA Finds 2011 Ninth-Warmest Year on Record. Instrument(s): In situ Measurement

GOES-R: Benefits of Next-Generation Environmental Monitoring: Print Version Learning Objectives Upon completion of this module, you should be able to: List several environmental hazards and phenomena where GOES–R satellite observations are expected to benefit users. Describe some of the key anticipated benefits as they relate to GOES–R monitoring of those same environmental hazards and phenomena. Describe the main GOES–R mission objectives. State the fundamental difference between geostationary and polar–orbiting satellites and briefly describe the advantages of each. top Introduction The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series (GOES) is essential to continuous observation of Earth's environment and plays a key role for weather monitoring, warning, and forecast operations in the United States and Western Hemisphere. The GOES–R mission is expected to improve the quality and timeliness of information, enhancing public safety, protecting lives, property and the environment, improving economic security, and promoting science education and research.

MUSE - Earth-Moon-Sun Dynamics - Course Material 1D Course Material 1D: Black Box As an introduction to scientific inquiry through modeling, students observe what happens when various amounts of water are poured into a "black box" and propose models to explain their observations. While any "black box" would serve the purpose of this activity, our students make observations of a box (24"x12"x8") that has a funnel in the top inlet tube and a long outlet tube at the bottom. When water is poured into the funnel, students observe that sometimes, water emerges through the outlet tube and sometimes it does not. Also, the amount of water that does emerge is not constant. A typical pattern of data would be: The focus of student work during this material (which typically takes two weeks to complete) is data collection, pattern recognition, and model building. Students collecting data, proposing a model, and testing their model. Products

Le blog de l'image satellite – CNES Air pollution monitoring stations face closure as government looks to cut costs | Environment Up to 600 stations for monitoring air pollution across England could be shut down under new government plans to save money by cutting regulations. Ministers want to remove obligations on local authorities to assess air quality in their areas, resulting in less monitoring. But environmental campaigners are accusing them of trying to hide one of the country's biggest public health problems. Government advisers have estimated that one type of pollutant – miniscule particles from diesel engines, fossil fuel power stations and other sources – is killing 29,000 people a year in the UK, and costing health services about £16bn. But European air pollution limits meant to protect health are being breached in urban areas across the country, with the highest levels in London. But now Defra has launched a six-week consultation, due to close on 30 August, proposing a radical overhaul of the local air quality management regime that has been in place since 1997.