Principal Vibration Modes of the LaO-GaO Binary Glass Originated from Diverse Coordination Environments of Oxygen Atoms.

LaO-GaO binary glass exhibits unusual optical properties owing to its high oxygen polarizability and low vibration energy. These optical properties include high refractive indices and a wide transmittance range. In this study, we performed classical molecular dynamics simulations on LaO-GaO glass synthesized by an aerodynamic levitation technique.

Permanent El Niño during the Pliocene warm period not supported by coral evidence.

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) system during the Pliocene warm period (PWP; 3-5 million years ago) may have existed in a permanent El Niño state with a sharply reduced zonal sea surface temperature (SST) gradient in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. This suggests that during the PWP, when global mean temperatures and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were similar to those projected for near-term climate change, ENSO variability--and related global climate teleconnections-could have been radically different from that today. Yet, owing to a lack of observational evidence on seasonal and interannual SST variability from crucial low-latitude sites, this fundamental climate characteristic of the PWP remains controversial.