April 2011 – Page 9 – The Oredigger

Scientific discoveries this week: 4-4-11

Wellington, New Zealand – The wasp most common to North America, “Vespula Vulgarum,” invaded the island nation of New Zealand about 30 years ago, and since then, it has multiplied at an astounding rate. New Zealand now has the highest density of wasps of anywhere in the world. Biologists and behavioral ecologists have been studying wasps to see how they will interact with native species of insects on the islands. To see just what wasps will do when food becomes scarce, biologist Julien Grangier placed a small pile of tuna in a cage with a swarm of ants. When he introduced the wasp, it started grabbing the ants one by one, in its mandibles, and dropping them just a few inches from the tuna. It did not crush them, because the ants apparently do not taste very good.

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Digging Deep into the Earth’s Past

Geologists are lucky in that their profession gets to study some of the oldest material available to observation, but just like every topic concerning origins, it is fraught with controversy and competing claims. Such elements were a prime focus of this past week’s Van Tuyl lecture by Dr. Stephen Mojzsis of the University of Colorado. Mojzsis has had the distinction of working on the rocks of the Nuvvuagittuq Supercrustal Belt, or the NSB for short. The rocks of the NSB are some of the oldest in the world, dating around 3.8 to 4.2 billion years old. The NSB exists within the Canadian Craton, which is by far one of the oldest blocks of geological material in the world.

Making fuel cells more affordable

In the search for alternatives to gasoline, many are considering the potential of fuel cells. Dr. Piotr Zelenay gave a Materials Research Seminar on his work in improving fuel cells.

Refraction microtremor testing extremely useful

Refraction microtremor testing offers a variety of applications, especially in site characterization, according to James Niehoff, PE, in his Heiland lecture “The Use of Refraction Microtremor Testing in Site Characterization. Niehoff briefly explained the testing technique before providing a plethora of miniature case studies.

Headlines from around the world: 4-4-11

Crews taking samples of the groundwater near the Fukushima Daiichi complex found doses of iodine-131, a radioactive isotope. The levels are roughly 10,000 times that of the level allowed in seawater. The government will be testing again, due to concerns that the readings may have been in error.

President Emeritus Guy T. McBride mourned

CSM is saddened by the news that Dr. Guy T. McBride, Jr., president of CSM from 1970 to 1984, passed away Monday March 21, 2011, in Lakewood at the age of 91.
McBride was born December 12, 1919, in Austin, Texas. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1940 as valedictorian with a BS in chemical engineering. He then received his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1948.

Monthly Archives: April 2011