Stories of modern science ...

, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- MAGMA RESERVOIR BENEATH MT. VESUVIUS

Italy's Mt. Vesuvius -- the ancient volcano famous for burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 A.D. -- rests eight kilometers above a 400 square kilometer-wide reservoir of magma, according to a report in this week's edition of the journal Science. The knowledge won't help researchers predict when the next eruption will take place, but it does identify a zone to monitor for seismic clues, such as small earthquakes, that may signal an impending eruption. "This also tells us that there is a huge amount of available magma under Vesuvius," said Paolo Gasparini of the Università di Napoli Federic II in Naples. "It was really unexpected for the reservoir to be that size, so very wide and large. It underlies a very large area under the Neapolitan volcanoes." The researchers used seismic tomography to probe beneath Mt. Vesuvius, following explosion-induced seismic waves as they traveled through the crust. Regional 'listening stations' collected data on the speed and direction of the waves and pinpointed the magma reservoir.

NEW VIEW OF SAN ANDREAS FAULT IS MORE ACCURATE

A new image of the shallow San Andreas Fault at a spot near Parkfield, CA shows the structure with more detail and accuracy than other earthquake data have provided, according to a report in this week's edition of the journal Science. A better understanding of the structure of a fault zone helps researchers determine where the most intense surface deformation may occur -- knowledge that engineers and homeowners in earthquake-prone zones would like to have. Standard seismology uses waves reflected from a horizontal fault back to receivers on the surface, but Virginia Tech professor John Hole and his colleagues adopted oil-drilling technology capable of using waves reflected from a vertical fault. The results should help seismologists understand how energy from a deeper earthquake is transferred and distributed along the shallower structure of the fault.

NO PLACE FOR PLUTONIUM

The United States and Russia are eager to begin dismantling nuclear stockpiles, but experts say that the two countries don't have a good way to dispose of the excess plutonium. The Bush administration is abandoning programs to lock it into radioactive waste or burn it in nuclear reactors because of the high cost. The other option available is to store it, but that leaves it vulnerable to theft. "The two presidents sit at a summit getting rid of thousands of nuclear weapons when they have no idea what to do with the plutonium if the weapons are dismantled," Matthew Bunn, a nuclear policy advisor to the Clinton administration, told New Scientist. The other leftover from nuclear weapons -- uranium -- is creating a different problem. A program to blend 500 tons of uranium from Russia with low enriched uranium to make fuel for commercial reactors has been too successful: there is now more reactor fuel than anyone knows what to do with.

PROTEIN GOVERNS BEHAVIOR OF FIRE ANTS

University of Georgia scientists have discovered a protein in fire ants that may lead to a new way of using their own biology against them, according to a report in this week's edition of the journal Science. They analyzed fire ants for the presents of different variants of a particular protein, and found that one variant was found exclusively in colonies with multiple queens. "It made us wonder whether this protein could affect the social behavior and structure of the colony," said Ken Ross, an entomologist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. As it turns out the protein transports odor molecules from its surroundings to the ant's neuroceptor, helping it to perceive its environment. "We know the ants smell and taste queens, recognize them individually and either accept or don't accept them as egg-laying queens. And now we've discovered a protein that is likely involved in this process." The protein could be the basis of a novel pest control method. "We could make the ants see and smell queens that aren't there by sending them false signals. This would disturb the whole social organization," said Ross. If the ants think they smell too many queens, they would get agitated and kill other ants in the colony.

(Editor; for more information on Mt. Vesuvius, call 202-326-7088; on San Andreas, call 540-231-3858; on ants, call 706-583-0913)