Geologic evidence for recurrent moderate to large earthquakes near charleston, South Carolina

Multiple generations of earthquake-induced sand blows in Quaternary sediments and soils near Charleston, South Carolina, are evidence of recurrent moderate to large earthquakes in that area. The large 1886 earthquake, the only historic earthquake known to have produced sand blows at Charleston, probably caused the youngest observed blows. Older (late Quaternary) sand blows in the Charleston area indicate at least two prehistoric earthquakes with shaking severities comparable to the 1886 event.     

Saturn's temperature field from high-resolution middle-infrared imaging

Saturn was imaged between 8 and 24.5 micrometers at approximately 3000-kilometer resolution with the Keck I Telescope. Saturn's atmosphere has zonal temperature bands, which are mostly uncorrelated with visible cloud reflectivity, strong 100-millibar zonal temperature oscillations near 32 degrees S, a warm south polar cap, and a compact hot point within 3 degrees of the south pole.     

A large-scale hole in the ionosphere caused by the launch of skylab

A dramatic ionospheric phenomenon, unique in magnitude and in spatial and temporal extent, occurred along the Atlantic Coast of North America after the launch of the NASA Skylab Workshop on 14 May 1973. The effect was a large and rapid decrease in the total number of ionospheric electrons within a distance of 1000 kilometers of the burning engines of the Saturn V launch vehicle. The observations are interpreted in terms of exceptionally enhanced chemical loss rates due to the molecular hydrogen and water vapor contained in the Saturn second-stage exhaust plume.     

X-ray Scattering Studies of Aligned, Stacked Surfactant Membranes

X-ray scattering studies were performed to understand the structure and correlations in the lamellar phases of thick, freely suspeded films of (i) the hydrated phospholipid dimyristoylphosphotidylcholine (DMPC) and (ii) the ternar system consisting of the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cosurfactant (pentanol), and water. The films were drawn in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment, where the layers were oriented to within 0.1 degrees . In the DMPC system, this made it possible to directly observe the orientation of the P(beta') modulation and to identify phase L(beta') as three distinct phases distinguished by the direction of chain tilt with respect to the lattice. In the L(alpha) phase of the ternary system, power law behavior of the (0,0,L) structure factor arising from the algebraic decay of layer correlatios was observed in single crystals.     

Temperatures, winds, and composition in the saturnian system

Stratospheric temperatures on Saturn imply a strong decay of the equatorial winds with altitude. If the decrease in winds reported from recent Hubble Space Telescope images is not a temporal change, then the features tracked must have been at least 130 kilometers higher than in earlier studies. Saturn's south polar stratosphere is warmer than predicted from simple radiative models. The C/H ratio on Saturn is seven times solar, twice Jupiter's. Saturn's ring temperatures have radial variations down to the smallest scale resolved (100 kilometers). Diurnal surface temperature variations on Phoebe suggest a more porous regolith than on the jovian satellites.     

A single IGF1 allele is a major determinant of small size in dogs

The domestic dog exhibits greater diversity in body size than any other terrestrial vertebrate. We used a strategy that exploits the breed structure of dogs to investigate the genetic basis of size. First, through a genome-wide scan, we identified a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) on chromosome 15 influencing size variation within a single breed. Second, we examined genetic variation in the 15-megabase interval surrounding the QTL in small and giant breeds and found marked evidence for a selective sweep spanning a single gene (IGF1), encoding insulin-like growth factor 1. A single IGF1 single-nucleotide polymorphism haplotype is common to all small breeds and nearly absent from giant breeds, suggesting that the same causal sequence variant is a major contributor to body size in all small dogs.     

Observation of shoemaker-levy impacts by the galileo photopolarimeter radiometer

The Galileo Photopolarimeter Radiometer experiment made direct photometric observations at 678 and 945 nanometers of several comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments impacting with Jupiter. Initial flashes occurred at (fragment G) 18 July 1994 07:33:32, (H) 18 July 19:31:58, (L) 19 July 22:16:48, and (Q1) 20 July 20:13:52 [equivalent universal time coordinated (UTC) observed at Earth], with relative peak 945-nanometer brightnesses of 0.87, 0.67, 1.00, and 0.42, respectively. The light curves show a 2-second rise to maximum, a 10-second plateau, and an accelerating falloff. The Q1 event, observed at both wavelengths, yielded a color temperature of more than 10,000 kelvin at its peak.