So report researchers publishing a paper this week in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The paper, “Seagrass Ecosystems as a Globally Significant Carbon Stock,” is the first global analysis of carbon stored in seagrasses.

The results demonstrate that coastal seagrass beds store up to 83,000 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer, mostly in the soils beneath them.

Dense seagrass meadows are a hallmark of the Florida Coastal Everglades LTER site. Image Credit: Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Site.

As a comparison, a typical terrestrial forest stores about 30,000 metric tons per square kilometer, most of which is in the form of wood.

The research also estimates that, although seagrass meadows occupy less than 0.2 percent of the world’s oceans, they are responsible for more than 10 percent of all carbon buried annually in the sea.

“Seagrasses only take up a small percentage of global coastal area, but this assessment shows that they’re a dynamic ecosystem for carbon transformation,” said James Fourqurean, the lead author of the paper and a scientist at Florida International University and the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site.

The Florida Coastal Everglades LTER site is one of 26 such NSF LTER sites around the world in ecosystems from forests to tundra, coral reefs to barrier islands.

“Seagrasses have the unique ability to continue to store carbon in their roots and soil in coastal seas,” said Fourqurean. “We found places where seagrass beds have been storing carbon for thousands of years.”

The research was led by Fourqurean in partnership with scientists at the Spanish High Council for Scientific Investigation, the Oceans Institute at the University of Western Australia, Bangor University in the United Kingdom, the University of Southern Denmark, the Hellenic Center for Marine Research in Greece, Aarhus University in Denmark and the University of Virginia.

Seagrass meadows, the researchers found, store ninety percent of their carbon in the soil–and continue to build on it for centuries.

In the Mediterranean, the geographic region with the greatest concentration of carbon found in the study, seagrass meadows store carbon in deposits many meters deep.

Seagrasses are among the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Some 29 percent of all historic seagrass meadows have been destroyed, mainly due to dredging and degradation of water quality. At least 1.5 percent of Earth’s seagrass meadows are lost every year.

The study estimates that emissions from destruction of seagrass meadows can potentially emit up to 25 percent as much carbon as those from terrestrial deforestation.

Scientists take samples of seagrass beds at NSF's Florida Coastal Everglades LTER site. Image Credit: NSF Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Site.

“One remarkable thing about seagrass meadows is that, if restored, they can effectively and rapidly sequester carbon and reestablish lost carbon sinks,” said paper co-author Karen McGlathery, a scientist at the University of Virginia and NSF’s Virginia Coast Reserve LTER site.

The Virginia Coast Reserve and Florida Coastal Everglades LTER sites are known for their extensive seagrass beds.

Seagrasses have long been recognized for their many ecosystem benefits: they filter sediment from the oceans; protect coastlines against floods and storms; and serve as habitats for fish and other marine life.

The new results, say the scientists, emphasize that conserving and restoring seagrass meadows may reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon stores–while delivering important “ecosystem services” to coastal communities.

The research is part of the Blue Carbon Initiative, a collaborative effort of Conservation International, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.

Republished with permission from the National Science Foundation.

A new map of the human brain provides a clearer picture of how different areas of our brain are physically connected and how these connections relate to basic brain function.

The University of Georgia researchers and identified 358 landmarks throughout the brain related to memory, vision, language, arousal regulation and many other fundamental bodily operations. Their findings were published in the April, 2012 issue of Cerebral Cortex.

Diffusion tensor imaging showing fibrous connections in the brain. Image courtesy UGA News Service

The landmarks were discovered using diffusion tensor imaging, a sophisticated neuroimaging technique that allows scientists to visualize nerve fiber connections throughout the brain. Unlike many other neuroimaging studies, their map does not focus only on one section of the brain but rather the whole cerebral cortex.

Tianming Liu, assistant professor of computer science in the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and his team examined hundreds of healthy young adults to establish the landmarks, which they call ‘dense individualized and common connectivity-based cortical landmarks,’ or DICCCOL.

After extensive testing and comparison, the team determined that these nodes are present in every normal brain, meaning they can be used as a basis of comparison for those with damaged brain tissue or altered brain function.

Now the researchers plan to test their brain map by comparing healthy brains with those of children whose brains were damaged by exposure to cocaine while in the womb.

Prenatal cocaine exposure, or PCE, can cause serious damage to brain networks. Because of this, analysis of the damage provides the team with an excellent opportunity to evaluate the usefulness of their map.

After comparing the PCE brains to those of healthy individuals, they hope to determine the segments of the brain responsible for physical or mental disabilities observed in children exposed to cocaine. Liu said:

The PCE brain is disrupted in a systematic way; the whole brain is wrongly wired. We want to test our map in one of the worst cases, and then we will know if it will work in other cases.

Once the robustness of their map is established, Liu and his team hope that it may prove useful in the evaluation of many other brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease or stroke.

With this map, researchers hope to create a next-generation brain atlas that will be an alternative option to the atlas created by German anatomist Korbinian Brodmann more than 100 years ago, which is still commonly used in clinical and research settings.

Bottom line: University of Georgia researchers have developed a new map that provides a clearer picture of how different areas of the brain are physically connected and how these connections relate to basic brain function. The researchers identified 358 landmarks throughout the brain related to memory, vision, language, arousal regulation and many other fundamental bodily operations.

Read more from the the UGA News Service

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, and a beloved science communicator. In this video, he talks about the power and beauty of science as a human activity. The video is part of BigThink’s Humanizing Technology series. Listen to what Tyson has to say.

Last August, it was announced that Tyson will host a new sequel to Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage television series. Wonder how that’s going … that’s something I would like to see.

Bottom line: Neil deGrasse Tyson, video, science. Enough said.

Neil deGrasse Tyson on how the Pluto debate began

Neil deGrasse Tyson selected as EarthSky Science Communicator of the Year

The moon still shines in the vicinity of the planet Venus after sunset this Wednesday evening, May 23, 2012, as shown on our chart above. But the moon and Venus were paired most closely for the month on May 22. The moon and Venus – the brightest and second-brightest orbs of nighttime, respectively – pop out low in the west almost immediately after sunset tonight as seen from around the globe.

Moon and Venus on May 22, 2012 as seen in Normany, France by EarthSky Facebook friend Mohamed Laaifat Photography. Thank you, Mohamed.

Click here to expand image above

As people watched from around the world last night, the moon moved higher in the sky, going from below Venus as seen from the Middle East and Europe to side by side with it as seen from the U.S. West Coast. Tonight’s moon will be above Venus. Why this difference? Because the moon is moving in its orbit around Earth. No matter where you are on Earth, be sure to catch these shining beauties shortly after the sun goes down tonight.

Moon and Venus on May 22, 2012 as seen shining over the YMCA in New Albany, Indiana. Photo via EarthSky Facebook friend Duke Marsh. Thank you, Duke.

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The moon and Venus will follow the sun below the horizon by nightfall or early evening tonight. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, Venus sets about 100 minutes after the sun tonight and 40 minutes after sundown by the month’s end. For middle latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Venus sets about an hour after the sun tonight and tapers down to less than one-half hour after sunset by the month’s end.

Moon and Venus on May 22, 2012 as seen from Los Angeles. See how the moon was below Venus as seen from France (photo at top), but higher as seen from Indiana (second photo from top), and side by side with Venus as seen in this photo from Los Angeles? What you're seeing is the moon's motion in orbit around Earth. Photo via friend Peter Rodney Breaux. Thank you, Peter.

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As you might guess from those diminishing setting times, Venus is about to disappear in the sun’s glare.

This is the moon. See how the darkened portion glows faintly? That glow is called earthshine. It's light reflected from Earth's day side. Photo credit: Robbo-Man

If you looked at Venus through a telescope tonight, you'd see it in a crescent phase - much like the crescent moon. EarthSky Facebook friend Alan Murta took this serene photo of a crescent Venus in mid-May 2012. Thank you, Alan.

Because Venus lies inside of the Earth’s orbit, this world exhibits the full range of phases – much like our moon. In fact, the rest of May 2012 presents an especially good time to observe the phases of Venus through the telescope. Like the moon, Venus shows a slender crescent phase tonight. You might even be able to tell with your binoculars that Venus is something other than perfectly round.

Tonight, Venus appears about six percent illuminated in sunshine as seen from Earth. But this world is now waning, or showing us less and less of its day side. Venus will shrink to one percent illumination as seen from Earth by the end of May 2012. Venus will pass between the Earth and sun on June 5-6, 2012. Right now, Venus is headed for that event – preparing to pass between the Earth and sun on June 5-6 – and thus the distance between our two worlds is getting smaller. As a result, as seen from Earth, the crescent of Venus will wane in phase – yet become lengthier – in the coming weeks.

Starting tonight, watch as the moon and Venus part company in the May 2012 evening sky. In other words, for the next two weeks, note the positions of the moon and Venus as they come out after sunset. Venus will be sinking westward (toward the sunset point on the horizon) while the moon will be moving eastward (toward the sunrise point on the horizon). Thus the distance between the moon and Venus on our sky’s dome will be increasing.

And remember … Venus is now waning toward new phase while the moon is waxing toward full. At full moon on June 4, 2012, there will be a partial eclipse of the moon. And as Venus goes between the Earth and sun on June 5-6, 2012, this world will move as a dark dot in front the sun in what astronomers call a transit of Venus. There are at least two lunar and two solar eclipses every year. But this will be the last transit of Venus in this century.

Partial lunar eclipse for the Americas before sunrise June 4

Transit of Venus for North America on afternoon of June 5

When can you see earthshine on crescent moon?

Bottom line: On the evening of May 23, 2012, you can still see the moon in the vicinity of Venus, although the moon isn’t as close to Venus as it was last night. Through a telescope, both the moon and Venus would show you a crescent phase this evening.

The Hinode satellite, which is in low-Earth orbit, captured these beautiful images of Sunday’s annular or ring eclipse of the sun on Sunday, May 20, 2012.

Miss Sunday’s eclipse? Awesome eclipse photo gallery here.

Two minutes after the start of the partial eclipse of the Sun. (JAXA/Hinode)

Click here to expand image above

Hinode is in a low-Earth (about 400 miles, or 600 kilometers above Earth) sun-synchronous polar orbit that permits nearly continuous observations of the sun. Its orbit gave it essentially the same perspective as skywatchers on Earth, according to NASA.

Maximum eclipse. (JAXA/Hinode)

Click here to expand image above

The annular or ring eclipse of Sunday, May 20 was the last solar eclipse in the continental U.S. until 2017. There will be a lunar eclipse in just a couple of weeks, though, visible throughout the Americas. More: Lunar eclipse on the morning of June 4, 2012.

Hinode is jointly managed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council in the U.K.

Bottom line: The Hinode satellite captured beautiful images of Sunday’s annular or ring eclipse of the sun.

When is the next solar eclipse in the U.S.?

Harvard professor Dr. Michael Gilmore, and his associate Dr. Veronica Kos.

To make matters worse, in 2002 a new MRSA with resistance to even the last-line drug vancomycin (VRSA) appeared. Since the first case in Michigan, there have been at least 11 other well-documented cases in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and more in Michigan. Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control, Harvard University and elsewhere have been working to determine the origin of these VRSA, to understand why they have turned up, and to understand the risk of spread. Most VRSA occurred in foot and limb infections of diabetics who are often in and out of health care facilities. Each of these infections is believed to have had multiple bacteria, an MRSA plus a vancomycin resistant bacterium called Enterococcus (or VRE). VRE has caused vancomycin resistant hospital-acquired infections since the 1980s.

But there is hope on the horizon. Scientists have now determined the genome sequence for all available VRSA strains. The Harvard-wide Antibiotic Resistance Program is using this information to develop new ways to prevent and treat infection by MRSA, VRSA and VRE. The team identified several new compounds that stop MRSA by hitting new targets, and is currently subjecting these to further tests. This group works closely with partners at the Broad Institute and Harvard’s Microbial Sciences Initiative.

To sequence the genomes, researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Harvard-wide Antibiotic Resistance Program, headquartered at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston, assembled an elite international team. Headed by Harvard professor Michael Gilmore, Ph.D., and his associate Veronica Kos, Ph.D., (pictured above) both based at Mass. Eye and Ear, the team included bioinformatics and genomics experts from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the Institute for Genome Sciences of the University of Maryland, the University of Rochester, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Center in the UK. They identified features in the genomes that appear to have made it easier for certain MRSA to acquire resistances in mixed infection. Their findings are reported in the May 22 issue of the journal mBio®, the American Society of Microbiology’s first broad-scope, online-only, open access journal.

“The genome sequence gave us unprecedented insight into what makes these highly resistant bacteria tick. Several things were remarkable,” says Gilmore. “Vancomycin resistance repeatedly went into just one tribe of MRSA, so the question became ‘what makes that group special — why did they start getting vancomycin resistance?”’

“What we found was that this group of MRSA has properties that appear to make it more social, so they can live with other bacteria like Enterococcus. This would allow those MRSA to more easily pick up new resistances,” adds Kos. “The good news is that some of these properties weaken the strain’s ability to colonize, and may be limiting their spread.”

Gilmore is the Sir William Osler Professor of Ophthalmology, and also serves in the Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology at Harvard Medical School. Kos is a senior research associate in the Gilmore lab. They and colleagues from Harvard’s Microbial Sciences Initiative formed the NIH sponsored Harvard-wide Antibiotic Resistance Program in 2009.

Republished with permission from Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

Modern dog breeds have little in common genetically with their ancient ancestors, according to a study published May 21, 2012 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

An international team of scientists, led by researchers from the University of Durham, analyzed data of the genetic make-up of modern-day dogs, alongside an assessment of the global archaeological record of dog remains.

Breeds such as the Akita, Afghan Hound and Chinese Shar-Pei, which have been classed as 'ancient', are no closer to the first domestic dogs than other breeds due to the effects of lots of cross-breeding, the study found. Photo credit: BD Ungard

Although many modern breeds look like those depicted in ancient texts or in Egyptian pyramids, cross-breeding across thousands of years has meant that it is not accurate to label any modern breeds as “ancient”, the researchers said.

Breeds such as the Akita, Afghan Hound and Chinese Shar-Pei, which have been classed as “ancient”, are no closer to the first domestic dogs than other breeds due to the effects of lots of cross-breeding, the study found.

Other effects on the genetic diversity of domestic dogs include patterns of human movement and the impact on dog population sizes caused by major events, such as the two World Wars, the researchers added.

In total, the researchers analyzed genetic data from 1,375 dogs representing 35 breeds. They also looked at data showing genetic samples of wolves, with recent genetic studies suggesting that dogs are exclusively descended from the grey wolf.

Lead author Dr. Greger Larson, an evolutionary biologist in Durham University’s Department of Archaeology, said the study demonstrated that there is still a lot we do not know about the early history of dog domestication including where, when, and how many times it took place.

Dr. Larson said, 'Both the appearance and behavior of modern breeds would be deeply strange to our ancestors who lived just a few hundred years ago.' Photo credit: Shawn Leishman

Dr Larson added:

We really love our dogs and they have accompanied us across every continent.

Ironically, the ubiquity of dogs combined with their deep history has obscured their origins and made it difficult for us to know how dogs became man’s best friend.

All dogs have undergone significant amounts of cross-breeding to the point that we have not yet been able to trace all the way back to their very first ancestors.

Several breeds, including Basenjis, Salukis and Dingoes, possess a differing genetic signature, which previous studies have claimed to be evidence for their ancient heritage, the research found.

However the study said that the unique genetic signatures in these dogs was not present because of a direct heritage with ancient dogs. Instead these animals appeared genetically different because they were geographically isolated and were not part of the 19th Century Victorian-initiated Kennel Clubs that blended lineages to create most of the breeds we keep as pets today.

The study also suggested that within the 15,000 year history of dog domestication, keeping dogs as pets only began 2,000 years ago and that until very recently, the vast majority of dogs were used to do specific jobs. Dr Larson said:

Both the appearance and behavior of modern breeds would be deeply strange to our ancestors who lived just a few hundred years ago.

And so far, anyway, studying modern breeds hasn’t yet allowed us to understand how, where and when dogs and humans first started this wonderful relationship.

Bottom line: According to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA on May 21, 2012, modern dog breeds have little in common genetically with their ancient ancestors.

Via EurekAlert

After 35 years of searching the skies for signs of intelligence beyond Earth, astronomer Jill Tarter is stepping down as the director of the Center for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Research, the organization’s officials announced today (May 22, 2012).

EarthSky interview: Jill Tarter contemplates SETI’s 50-year search for extraterrestrial life

But Tarter, the inspiration for Jodie Foster’s character Ellie Arroway in the movie “Contact,” will continue to devote herself to the search for E.T. She’s shifting into a full-time fundraising role for the SETI Institute, which was forced to shut down a set of alien-hunting radio telescopes for more than seven months in 2011 due to budget shortfalls.

SETI telescopes resume search for alien life targeting new planets

Tarter, 68, signed on to the NASA SETI program in the 1970s when a small group of NASA researchers were developing novel equipment and strategies to make systematic radio SETI observations. Since the demise of that program by Congressional fiat in 1993, she has led the efforts at the non-profit SETI Institute to continue the work. Tarter spearheaded a decade-long program, dubbed Project Phoenix, that used large antennas in Australia, Puerto Rico and West Virginia to examine approximately one thousand nearby star systems over an unprecedented wide range of radio frequencies.

SETI Institute Physicist Gerry Harp will succeed Tarter as Director of Center for SETI Research.

Bottom line: Astronomer Jill Tarter is stepping down as the director of the Center for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Research, the organization announced on May 22, 2012.

The Falcon-9 rocket owned by SpaceX – a privately-owned company – launched successfully at 3:44 a.m. EDT (7:44 UTC) today (May 22, 2012). SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft has separated from the rocket successfully, and its solar arrays have deployed. The SpaceX craft is now on its historic mission to deliver a supply capsule to the International Space Station.

This morning's successful launch of SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket. Image Credit: NASA TV via Space.com

Space X’s Falcon-9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida as the controller uttered these historic words:

T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, zero. And, launch of the Space X Falcon 9 rocket as NASA turns to the private sector to resupply the ISS.

Space X mission controllers were seen cheering and exchanging hugs when it was confirmed the capsule and rocket had successfully reached orbit.

The rocket aborted its launch on Saturday, May 19 at the last half-second. Space X says computers detected slightly high pressure inside the central engine of its Falcon-9 rocket. Engineers traced the problem to a faulty valve, which has now been replaced.

Bottom line: SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket launched successfully at 3:44 a.m. EDT (7:44 UTC) today (May 22, 2012). SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft has separated from the rocket successfully, and its solar arrays have deployed. The SpaceX craft is now on its historic mission to deliver a supply capsule to the International Space Station.

Asteroid Vesta has revealed itself as colorful, diverse – and even older than our Earth — in the first-ever orbit of an object in the asteroid belt by a space probe. NASA’s Dawn mission orbits the massive asteroid Vesta through August of 2012. Carol Raymond is the Deputy Principal Investigator of the Dawn space mission. She announced early Dawn findings at a May 2012 press conference from NASA headquarters. She told EarthSky:

Asteroid Vesta. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

Dawn’s data have allowed the history of Vesta to be defined. It formed within two million years after the first solids formed in the solar system — before Ceres formed, before the terrestrial planets formed.

Video: Glide over Vesta in 3D

Scientists consider asteroid Vesta to be a protoplanet, one of roughly a hundred space seeds that clumped together from dust and other space rocks to eventually grow and form the planets. Raymond said:

We now know that Vesta is the only intact, layered planetary building block surviving the very earliest days of the solar system.

Here’s more about the landscape of Vesta: Dawn spacecraft reveals landscape of Vesta

This early data show asteroid Vesta to be like a three-layer cake, with a concentrated iron core, a silicate mantle, and a thin crust of basalt. In this way, she said, it’s like the Earth, the moon, Mercury, and Mars. What’s more, about one in twenty meteorites are now confirmed to be pieces of Vesta. These meteorites result from a gigantic collision that left a crater on Vesta the size of the main island of Hawaii. Raymond told EarthSky:

Vesta is special because it survived the intense collisional environment of the main asteroid belt for billion of years, allowing us to interrogate a key witness to the events at the very beginning of the solar system.

Listen to the 90-second EarthSky interview with Carol Raymond on asteroid Vesta, at the top of the page.