Posts Tagged ‘Berlin’
Written by admin on 11 May 2012
Berlin, May 11 (IANS) The mismatch between the body’s internal clock and our daily schedules not only make us sleepy, but it also contributes to the growing tide of obesity, according to a large-scale study.
“We have identified a syndrome in modern society that has not been recognized until recently,” said Till Roenneberg of the University of Munich, who led the study.
“It concerns an increasing discrepancy between the daily timing of the physiological clock and the social clock. As a result of this social jetlag, people are chronically sleep-deprived,” the journal Current Biology reported.
“They are also more likely to smoke and drink more alcohol and caffeine. Now, we show that social jetlag also contributes to obesity; the plot that social jetlag is really bad for our health is thickening,” added Roenneberg, according to a university statement.
Each of us has a biological clock, he explained. We can’t set those clocks according to our whims like watches. They are rather entrained by daylight and night-darkness to provide the optimal window for sleep and waking. In modern society, we listen to those clocks “less and less due to the increasing discrepancy between what the body clock tells us and what the boss tells us.”
Roenneberg’s team is compiling a vast Utabase on human sleeping and waking behaviour, which they’ll eventually use to produce a world sleep map. Now 10 years into the effort, they already have lots of information, including participants’ height, weight, and sleep patterns.
Their analysis shows that people with more severe social jetlag are also more likely to be overweight. In other words, it appears that living “against the clock” may be a factor contributing to the epidemic of obesity, the researchers say.
“Waking up with an alarm clock is a relatively new facet of our lives,” Roenneberg says. “It simply means that we haven’t slept enough and this is the reason why we are chronically tired. Good sleep and enough sleep is not a waste of time but a guarantee for better work performance and more fun with friends and family during off-work times. And slimmer waistlines, too,” he added.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 10 May 2012
Berlin, May 10 (IANS) Scientists have punched holes in Antarctic’s viability by refuting the prevalent assumption that its Weddell Sea ice shelves would remain impervious to global warming due to the sea’s peripheral location.
Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, fringing the Weddel Sea, may start to melt rapidly this century and no longer act as a barrier for ice streams draining the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
“The Weddell Sea was not really on the screen because we all thought that unlike the Amundsen Sea its warm waters would not be able to reach the ice shelves,” said Hartmut Hellmer, oceanographer at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Germany, who led the study, the journal Nature reported.
“But we found a mechanism which drives warm water towards the coast with an enormous impact on the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in the coming decades,” added Hellmer, according to a Alfred Wegener statement.
Using different calculations, Hellmer and colleagues Frank Kauker, Ralph Timmermann and Jurgen Determann, besides Jamie Rae from Met Office, Hadley Centre, Britain, demonstrate that large ice masses could presumably slide into the ocean within the next six decades, thanks to a chain reaction.
This chain reaction is triggered by rising air temperatures above the southeastern Weddell Sea. “Our models show that the warmer air will lead to the currently solid sea ice in the southern Weddell Sea becoming thinner and therefore more fragile and mobile in a few decades,” said Kauker.
If this happens, fundamental transport processes will change. “This will mean that a hydrographic front in the southern Weddell Sea will disappear which has so far prevented warm water from getting under the ice shelf. According to our calculations, this protective barrier will disintegrate by the end of this century,” explained Hellmer.
An inflow of warmer water beneath the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf will melt the ice from below. “We expect the greatest melting rates near the so-called grounding line, the zone in which the ice shelf settles on the sea floor at the transition to the glacier,” said Determann.
“At this point the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf is melting today at a rate of around five metres per year. By the turn of the next century the melt rates will rise to up to 50 metres per year,” added Determann.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 09 May 2012
Berlin, May 9 (IANS) German Bundesliga side Schalke 04 and goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand have agreed on a contract extension until the end of the 2012-13 season.
Schalke now has three goalkeepers under contract in Rolf Faehrmann, Lars Unnerstall and Hildebrand.
Schalke signed the former German international in October 2011, when he was out of contract, and they were looking for someone to fill in for the injured goalie Ralf Faehrmann.
“I am delighted to continue at Schalke as I feel very comfortable here. For me the contract in October was a huge opportunity,” Hildebrand, 33, said.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 08 May 2012
Berlin, May 8 (IANS) Germany’s football coach Joachim Loew has introduced two uncapped players in his provisional 27-man squad for the Euro 2012 Championships.
Monchengladbach’s goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Schalkes midfielder Julian Draxler are the only surprises of the squad picked Monday in Rastatt, Baden Wurttemberg.
Besides these two uncapped players, Loew will rely on established players such as team captain Philipp Lahm, midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and veteran striker Miroslav Klose, Xinhua reported.
“Julian Draxler has an enormous amount of potential, especially in one on one situations and in quickness. He still lacks in consistency but the nomination will certainly give him a further boost,” Loew said.
The 18-year-old midfielder turned professional at Schalke when he was fielded in 2011, since then he scored three goals in 45 matches.
Furthermore Loew explained his nomination of youngster goalkeeper Andre ter Stegen: “I am convinced by his good appearance. He played a fantastic season for his young age at Monchengladbach.”
The provisional squad will be reduced from 27 to 23 men by May 29 and will be submitted UEFA.
The final squad for UEFA Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine will face Israel for a friendly May 31 before they take on Portugal at first group fixture June 9.
Provisional squad:
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (FC Bayern Munich), Marc Andre ter Stegen (Borussia Monchengladbach), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen), Ron Robert Zieler (Hannover 96).
Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Bendedikt Hoewedes ( Schalke 04), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Philipp Lahm ( Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Marcel Schmelzer ( Borussia Dortmund).
Midfielders: Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Sven Bender ( Borussia Dortmund), Julian Draxler (Schalke), Mario Goetze ( Borussia Dortmund), Ilkay Guendogan (Borussia Dortmund), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Oezil (Real Madrid), Lukas Podolski ( Cologne), Marco Reus (Monchengladbach), Andre Schuerrle (Bayer Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich).
Strikers: Cacau (Stuttgart), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Miroslav Klose (Lazio Rome).
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 07 May 2012
Berlin, May 7 (IANS) Sensors, transmitters and GPS modules need only a few milliwatts of power to operate, which could also be met by vibrations produced by moving objects, thanks to a new technology – “energy harvesting”.
But is this really enough to supply electronic microsystems? The answer lies in a compact data-logger installed on board, designed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, Germany.
This compact system analyses and characterises usable energy – in this case, the oscillations created during the ride. Data logger includes an acceleration sensor, a GPS module, a micro-controller, an SD card and a WiFi interface.
Experts refer to this underlying technology as “energy harvesting.”
For instance, the vibrations generated by a high speed freight train could deliver enough energy to charge small electronic equipment: this is how the sensors that monitor temperatures in refrigerator cars, or GPS receivers, can receive the current they need to run, according to a Fraunhofer statement.
“We can use the data collected to design vibration converters, such as the piezoelectric generators, to feed the sensors, radio transmission receivers, tracking systems and other low-power-consuming devices with enough energy to power them,” explains the Fraunhofer group manager and engineer Peter Spies.
“The tracking systems in use to date run on just a battery. These batteries need constant replacement, but that involves a lot of effort and expense. Thanks to energy harvesting, we can replace the batteries and wiring,” adds Spies.
The energy “harvested” can be used for a great many other applications as well – to charge heart-rate monitors, sensors in washing machines and production plants, or measurement systems in cars to measure the air pressure in tires. The data logger is already in use in freight cars, trucks and machinery.
The researchers are showcasing a prototype of the data logger at the Sensor+Test 2012 trade fair, May 22-24 in Nuremberg, Germany.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 06 May 2012
Berlin, May 6 (IANS) Cologne were relegated on the final day of the Bundesliga football season following a 1-4 home defeat to Bayern Munich while champions Borussia Dortmund broke the league record for the most points in a season with a 4-0 thrashing of Freiburg.
“My team has erased any doubts and proven their character,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp after his side finished the season eight points clear of Champions League finalists Bayern Munich.
“They have shown an impressive appetite for football. Something extraordinary has happened: we have got 81 points, which no team will beat anytime soon.”
Dortmund’s second consecutive title triumph allowed them to break Bayern’s long-held record of 79 for the most points amassed in a season. Dortmund also extended their unbeaten run to 28 games, Xinhua reported Saturday.
All four Dortmund goals came from Poland internationals as Robert Lewandowski netted twice, while international team-mate Jakub Blaszczykowski also hit two goals to make it 4-0 at the break.
In contrast, Cologne’s 4-1 defeat at home to Bayern saw them drop to 17th in the league and suffer automatic relegation, after Hertha Berlin’s 3-1 home win over 10-man Hoffenheim lifted them to 16th.
Hertha must now win a two-leg play-off against a team from the second division to stay in the top tier.
Arsenal-bound Lukas Podolski marked his Cologne farewell, but could not prevent his team suffering a home defeat by Bayern.
German international Thomas Mueller put Bayern on 34 minutes and Cologne captain Pedro Geromel then turned the ball into his own net on 52 minutes and Bayern’s Dutch star Arjen Robben curled in the third on 54 minutes.
The hosts pulled a goal back, but Mueller netted Bayern’s fourth to compound Cologne’s misery and send them down.
Hannover claimed the last available Europa League qualification spot as their 2-1 win at home to Kaiserslautern left them seventh, while Stuttgart’s 3-2 win over Wolfsburg denied Wolves a top-seven finish and a place in Europe.
Germany’s Stefan Kiessling hit a hat-trick in Bayer Leverkusen’s 4-1 victory at Nuremberg as ex-Germany captain Michael Ballack made his final appearance for Leverkusen.
Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was Bundesliga’s top scorer with 29 goals in 32 games after he scored twice in his team’s 3-2 win at Werder Bremen.
Elsewhere, having finished 14th in their first season in Germany’s top flight, Augsburg enjoyed a 1-0 win over Hamburg.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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