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Melting ice caps may trigger more volcanic eruptions 10:38 03 April 2008 NewScientist.com news service Catherine Brahic Vatnajökull in the south-east is the largest ice cap in Iceland and conceals several volcanoes (Image: NASA) A warmer world could be a more explosive one. Global warming is having a much more profound effect than just melting ice caps – it is melting magma too. Vatnajökull is the largest ice cap in Iceland, and is disappearing at a rate of 5 cubic kilometres per year. Carolina Pagli of the University of Leeds, UK, and Freysteinn Sigmundsson of the University of Iceland have...

Moderate alcohol consumption over a relatively long period of time can enhance the formation of new nerve cells in the adult brain. The new cells could prove important in the development of alcohol dependency and other long-term effects of alcohol on the brain. The findings are published by Karolinska Institutet. The study, which was carried out on mice, examined alcohol consumption corresponding to that found in normal social situations. The results show that moderate drinking enhances the formation of new cells in the adult brain. The cells survive and develop into nerve cells in the normal manner. No increase in...

Washington, August 4 Environmental changes, such as replacing forests with ranchland, combined with genetic mutations, can produce viruses like SARS and HIV, according to a research from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). Researchers reached this conclusion after studying viruses from two late-20th-century outbreaks of Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) - a deadly illness that can cause brain inflammation in horses and people - in Mexico and compared them with a similar virus that does not usually infect horses or people. They suggested that replacing forests with ranchland along a 805-kilometre-long, 32- to 80-kilometre-wide stretch of Mexico's and Guatemala's Pacific...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 September 29 Venus: Just Passing By Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA Explanation: Venus, the second closest planet to the Sun, is a popular way-point for spacecraft headed for the gas giant planets in the outer reaches of the solar system. Why visit Venus first? Using a "gravity assist " maneuver, spacecraft can swing by planets and gain energy during their brief encounter saving fuel for use at...