Warming oceans could cause flooding
Environmental Research.org - December 14, 2007
The warm pool - regions where sea surface temperatures are more than 28°C - has increased in size by 67% over the last 80 years and is expected to double in area by 2100. These changes will alter both atmospheric circulations and the hydrologic cycle. With this in mind, Peter Webster of Georgia Tech has looked at the effects this will have on the Yangtze, Brahmaputra and Ganges river basins - areas that sustain a total of 35% of the world's human population. Webster's models show that the rivers will experience a 20-30% increase in discharge by 2100, as well as an increase in flow variability. The risk of flooding will increase in the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers, which will see five-day floods three times more frequently. There was not enough data available for Webster and his team to analyse flood risk for the Yangtze river, however. (full story ...)

Small Infinity, Big Infinity
Science News - January 12, 2008
Infinity is bigger than any number. But saying just how much bigger is not so simple...Using a method entirely different from Cantor's, Matthew H. Baker of the Georgia Institute of Technology recently came up with a new proof that the real numbers aren't countable. (full story... )

Hot Fusion: Omega Minor - author (and GT Psych Professor) Paul Verhaeghen and his acclaimed 2nd novel
Time- December 5, 2007
Einstein called it Omega, the ratio between the actual density of the universe and the density required to keep it from imploding. If the two levels are not equal, the universe is doomed. Einstein also called Omega "the biggest blunder of my life" and eventually disowned the idea.
But what if he were right? Flemish author Paul Verhaeghen explores that possibility - and galaxies of others - in OmegaMinor, his sprawling, provocative, nuclear nightmare of a novel. (full story... )

Learning to say no to cookies might help you say no to overspending too
The Ottawa Citizen - January 05, 2008
It's January. In other words, it's time to start exercising your self-control muscle....Not everyone agrees self-control is a muscle. Some psychologists say Baumeister is making a mistake, for instance, in arguing that self-control is significantly different from other cognitive activities. Randall Engle, a professor of psychology at Georgia Tech, thinks the sorts of things that hurt cognitive performance in general probably hurt self-control, too...."I do think you can get better at control, but it's not exercising a muscle," Engle says. "I think No. 1 is avoiding distraction. When you walk into a room where there is an opportunity to eat or drink, don't get too distracted to handle that." (full story...)

Mother Nature, design guru
The Wall Street Journal - January 11, 2008
What do sunflowers, lotus leaves, owls and sea urchins have in common?
Designers are imitating both the way they look and the way they work to create better-functioning products for the home -- a process known as biomimicry. Companies are coming out with bathroom fixtures, draperies, paint -- even swizzle sticks -- inspired by designs from nature. (full story...)

Tabula Rasa? Not anymore!
O&P Edgee - January 2008 (2nd in ongoing series by MSPO grad student Kristin Carnahan)
Kristin Carnahan is sharing her experiences in the two year MSPO (Master of Science in Prosthetics & Orthotics) program through periodic articles in the O&P Edge magazine. This is her second installment. (full story...)

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