PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New phone alerts for extreme weather may prevent casualties in India

2014-01-07
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Ben Norman
Sciencenewsroom@wiley.com
44-012-437-70375
Wiley
New phone alerts for extreme weather may prevent casualties in India When Cyclone Phailin hit India in late 2013 it became the largest storm to batter the subcontinent in over a decade. The storm, officially classified as a Category 5 tropical cyclone, affected more than 12 million people in India and neighboring countries, and required mass evacuations.

These evacuations revealed an urgent need for an effective alert system which could forewarn the majority of the population. A new paper published in Atmospheric Science Letters details how computer science undergraduates have created image based mobile phone alerts, connected to the Weather Research and Forecasting system.

India has a mobile phone subscriber base exceeding 929 million people and this is expected to touch 1.15 billion by the end of 2014. An alert system developed for mobiles could reach an estimated 97% of the population.

The paper details how, during the 2013 storm, the computer scientists were able to track its genesis, progression and landfall. By converting this information into images suitable for phones, they created a forecasting and warning system accessible to ordinary citizens.

"Cyclone alerts can save lives and property, but must be easily accessible," said Dr. Sat Ghosh. "The global perception of India's emerging IT prowess is lopsided. It is thought of as merely a manufacturing hub; however, our article puts the country's numerical literacy to practical use. The easy-to-use Weather Research and Forecasting model remains confined to an elite group of users, such as atmospheric scientists and weather forecasters. Our research explores how the WRF forecast can be interfaced with mobile telephony which has a deep penetration even in rural pockets of India."

### END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

How common is aggression in UK dogs?

2014-01-07
How common is aggression in UK dogs? Aggressive dogs represent a serious risk to human health, tragically causing fatalities in rare cases. The development of aggression can also impact on a dog's welfare, because of a breakdown of the human-pet bond, euthanasia ...

Temperature found to be most significant driver of the world's tallest trees

2014-01-07
Temperature found to be most significant driver of the world's tallest trees Understanding forest biodiversity and how carbon dioxide is stored within trees is an important area of ecological research. The bigger the tree, the more carbon it stores and a study in New Phytologist ...

MRSA drug dosage calculations found to be inaccurate for children over 10

2014-01-07
MRSA drug dosage calculations found to be inaccurate for children over 10 The emergence of MRSA (Staphylococcus aureus), dubbed a 'superbug' due to its resistance to many antibiotic drugs, has resulted in the glycopeptide antibiotic Vancomycin being commonly prescribed for patients ...

New global stroke repository offers regional comparative statistics

2014-01-07
New global stroke repository offers regional comparative statistics In many countries strokes are seen as a lower priority when compared to other diseases despite their public health impact. This is partly due to a lack of readily accessible data to make the case for the development ...

Vikings & superheroes: How interconnected characters may reveal the reality behind the stories

2014-01-07
Vikings & superheroes: How interconnected characters may reveal the reality behind the stories The Icelandic sagas of the Norse people are thousand-year-old chronicles of brave deeds and timeless romances, but how true to Viking life were they? Writing in Significance, Pádraig ...

New, simple technique may drive down biofuel production costs

2014-01-07
New, simple technique may drive down biofuel production costs Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a simple, effective and relatively inexpensive technique for removing lignin from the plant material used to make biofuels, which ...

Beating the poppy seed defense: New test can distinguish heroin use from seed ingestion

2014-01-07
Beating the poppy seed defense: New test can distinguish heroin use from seed ingestion Heroin is one of the most widely used illegal drugs in the world, but drug testing has long been challenged by the difficulty in separating results of illicit heroin users from those who ...

Neurotransmitters resarch can promote better drugs for brain disorders

2014-01-07
Neurotransmitters resarch can promote better drugs for brain disorders Hebrew University scientists decipher mechanism Jerusalem, January 7, 2014 -- Although drugs have been developed that inhibit the imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain – ...

The 5 fingers of our feathered friends: New research results on the evolution of bird wings

2014-01-07
The 5 fingers of our feathered friends: New research results on the evolution of bird wings In most tetrapods (land vertebrates) the fourth (ring) finger is the first to develop in the embryo. And in birds, the finger on the outside of the hand (posterior, ...

Gemini Planet Imager first light

2014-01-07
Gemini Planet Imager first light World's most powerful exoplanet camera turns its eye to the sky This news release is available in Spanish. After nearly a decade of development, construction, and testing, the world's most advanced instrument for directly imaging ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

Targeting FGFR2 may prevent or delay some KRAS-mutated pancreatic cancers

[Press-News.org] New phone alerts for extreme weather may prevent casualties in India