This Week, June 6 - 10, 2011
New Study Finds Rapid Changes in Greenland Climate Last 5,000 Years
Abrupt average temperature changes of as much as 4 or 5 degrees Celsius over a few decades may have profoundly affected human civilization for cultures that occupied western Greenland over the past 5,000 years. Those are the findings of a study published in the May 30-June 3 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by a group of scientists that included Sherilyn Fritz of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Using a new technique that measures the qualities of haptophytes (salt-loving microscopic plants), the scientists studied carbon-dated sediment cores recovered from the beds of two saline lakes near Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland, an area north of the two major medieval Viking (Norse) settlements. Read more on Today@UNL.
UNL in the National News: February 2011
National media outlets featured and cited UNL sources on a number of topics in the past month. Appearances included:
Kristin Anderson, general studies, was quoted in early May in a Yahoo! Education story about choosing the right degree program. Marion Ellis, entomology, was quoted in a May 13 Associated Press report on UNL's role in determining if pesticides are behind the mysterious disease that has been decimating U.S. bee colonies. The story moved on national wires and appeared in hundreds of media outlets.
Andrew Jewell, English and University Libraries, and Guy Reynolds, English, were quoted in a story from The Associated Press, which appeared in hundreds of media outlets around the nation and world, including CBS News, ABC News, Newsday, the Dallas Morning News, the Denver Post, the Sacramento Bee, the Seattle Times, Yahoo! News, Salon.com, the Huffington Post and many others. Read a full list of national news mentions.
Jazz in June Kicks Off With The Nebraska Jazz Orchestra
Celebrating its 20th season, the Jazz in June concert series opens on Tuesday June 7 with The Nebraska Jazz Orchestra with guest Greg Abate. The concerts begin at 7 p.m. and will draw thousands of revelers to sit under the trees on the plaza west of the Sheldon 12th and R streets. In conjunction with the performances, the Jazz in June Market offers dinner or shopping. Dinner items, fresh produce, baked goods, ice cream from the UNL Dairy Store and many more delights are available for purchase.
The Nebraska Jazz Orchestra was founded in 1975 and is one of the Midwest's premier big bands. The ensemble's concerts feature a variety of traditional big band compositions by jazz masters such as Woody Herman, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, reflecting the rich legacies of the Mississippi Basin territory bands. The ensemble also adds to this legacy by performing new compositions and arrangements regularly. Read more...
'Into Eternity', 'Le Quattro Volte' Screen at the Ross
The documentaries "Into Eternity" and "Le Quattro Volte" continue at the Ross.
"Into Eternity" is a mind-bending film that explores the pitfalls of storing nuclear waste for 100,000 years - the time estimated by scientists to render it safe. The documentary features the Onkalo storage facility under construction in Finland. Onkalo is a gigantic network of underground tunnels that will be filled with high-level radioactive waste.
Le Quattro Volte" is inspired by Pythagora's belief in four-fold transmigration, by which the soul is passed from human to animal to vegetable to mineral. Directed by Michelangelo Frammartino, the documentary traces the cycle of life through daily rituals in the southern Italian region of Calabria. The film is structured in four parts, opening with a shepherd tending a heard of goats. The storyline transitions to one of the goats, a tree the goat seeks shelter under, and the industrialized fate of the tree. Read more...
