science wire

Engineers create wireless, self-propelled medical device
For 50 years, scientists searched for the secret to making tiny implantable devices that could travel through the bloodstream.

UCLA ranks second in nation in number of 2012 Alfred P. Sloan fellows
Six outstanding young profssors from UCLA are among 126 scientists and scholars from 51 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada to receive 2012 Sloan Research Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Fifth ATV named after Georges Lemaître
Fifth ATV named after Georges Lemaître PR 3 2012 - ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs) are an essential contribution by Europe to running the International Space Station.

Puzzle play helps boost learning of important math-related skills
Children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills, a study by University of Chicago researchers has found. Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of spatial skill after controlling for differences in parents' income, education and the overall amount of parent language input.

The mathematics of a heart beat could save lives
What we perceive as the beating of our heart is actually the co-ordinated action of more than a billion muscle cells. Most of the time, only the muscle cells from the larger heart chambers contract and relax. But when the heart needs to work harder it relies on back-up from the atrial muscle cells deep within the smaller chambers (atria) of the heart.

Street smarts
Students develop hurricane response plans on Cambridge roads, gaining practical experience in computational science Debris lingered just outside New Orleans in July 2006 - almost a full year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region.

Researchers to receive high-performance computing grants
Projects will advance both basic science and applications, and accelerate development of exascale computing systems Seven Harvard-affiliated researchers will receive grants to support collaborative projects in high-performance computing.

Canadian police agencies suppressing data on race, says criminology study
While only 20 per cent of Canada's police forces have an explicit policy against reporting the race of victims and accused persons, criminologists from the University of Toronto and Nipissing show that the majority of police departments do not report race in practice.

New center developing computational bioresearch tool
The HIV virion is the virus particle that spreads the deadly AIDS infection from cell to cell. “On the molecular scale it's a huge object that probably involves a billion total atoms.

University leads the way on high performance computing
The University of Manchester is heading up a large interdisciplinary network focusing on numerical algorithms and high performance computing.

New model shows how often to review material for flashcard programs
A challenge for students and teachers - and today, for designers of educational software: How often should material be reviewed for best learning? Wait too long to review and it fades away; review too soon and the effort is wasted.

UCLA professors Andrea Ghez, Terence Tao honored by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Two internationally renowned UCLA professors — Andrea Ghez, a professor of physics and astronomy, and Terence Tao, a professor of mathematics — have been awarded the Crafoord Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The prize, which recognizes extraordinary achievements in mathematics, astronomy and other fields, is among the most prestigious honors in science.

Computational research aims to alleviate embarrassing bladder problems
Scientists from the University of Birmingham and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay are working together to develop new ways of treating bladder overactivity, a problem which affects millions of people worldwide. The joint research focuses on understanding the electrical activity in the bladder and how this goes wrong and causes urinary incontinence.

Dying at home is on the rise
Although around two thirds of us would prefer to die at home, in the developed world the trend in recent years has been for the majority to spend their final days in an institutional setting, such as a hospital or hospice.

The faster-than-fast Fourier transform
For a large range of practically useful cases, MIT researchers find a way to increase the speed of one of the most important algorithms in the information sciences. The Fourier transform is one of the most fundamental concepts in the information sciences. It's a method for representing an irregular signal - such as the voltage fluctuations in the wire that connects an MP3 player to a loudspeaker - as a combination of pure frequencies.

Climate and the statistics of extremes
EPFL mathematicians have shown that the risk of extreme climate events is largely underestimated.

Heping Zhang named the Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Biostatistics
Heping Zhang, recently appointed as the Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Biostatistics in the School of Public Health, specializes in research on substance use, statistical methods in genetic studies of substance use, and research training in mental health epidemiology. Zhang, who received his Ph.D. from Stanford University, has developed statistical methods and software to analyze data related to a broad range of health outcomes including pregnancy outcome, mental health, and substance use.

Optimized 3D inkjet printing process of hydrogels.
Microdrop Printing of Hydrogel Bioinks into 3D Tissue-Like Geometries.

Center for Advanced Computing receives national award for hepatitis research
The Cornell Center for Advanced Computing (CAC) has received a High-Performance Computing Innovation Excellence Award from the International Data Corp.

Sherlock: the case of Moriarty's maths
In the movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows the sleuth's arch-enemy has a new weapon: mathematics supplied by a team from Oxford University.

New TIP paper accepted
Scale-invariant features and novel descriptors for omnidirectional images accepted for publications in IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. Scale Invariant Features and Polar Descriptors in Omnidirectional Images Zafer Arican and Pascal Frossard We propose a method to compute scale invariant features in omnidirectional images.

Can science predict a hit song?
Most people remember listening to the official UK top 40 singles chart and watching the countdown on Top of the Pops, but can science work out which songs are more likely to 'make it' in the chart? New research has looked at whether a song can be predicted to be a 'hit'. The paper, to be presented at an international workshop this week, argues that predicting the popularity of a song may well be feasible by using state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms.

Robert Osserman, noted Stanford mathematician, dies at 84
In addition to his important research, Bob Osserman brought math to a broad audience through public conversations with comedian Steve Martin, among others.

A new home for Santa Claus?
After the many years of commuting on Christmas Eve, jolly old St. Nicholas is reconsidering his home at the North Pole.

Less knowledge, more power: Uninformed can be vital to democracy, study finds
by Morgan Kelly Contrary to the ideal of a completely engaged electorate, individuals who have the least interest in a specific outcome can actually be vital to achieving a democratic consensus. These individuals dilute the influence of powerful minority factions who would otherwise dominate everyone else, according to new research published .

Sussex and Cambridge help to share Newton treasures with the world
Sussex and Cambridge help to share Newton treasures with the world The original works of one of the greatest ever scientists – Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) – have been made available to the world online thanks to a special project that involved the University of Sussex.

Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos donate $15 million to create center in Princeton Neuroscience Institute
  Jeff Bezos, shown speaking at the University's 2010 Baccalaureate ceremony, and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, both alumni, are donating $15 million to establish the Bezos Center for Neural Circuit Dynamics in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.   Photo by Denise Applewhite   by Ruth Stevens Princeton University alumnus Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, and alumna MacKenzie Bezos, are donating $15 million to the University to create a center in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

Innovative method to measure action potentials between cells.
Parameter extraction and classification of three cortical neuron types reveals two distinct adaptation mechanisms. Cortical information processing originates from the exchange of action potentials between many cell types. In order to capture the essence of these interactions it is of critical importance to build mathematical models that reflect the characteristic features of spike generation in individual neurons.

Study debunks myths about gender and math performance
A major study of recent international data on school mathematics performance casts doubt on some common assumptions about gender and math achievement — in particular, the idea that girls and women have less ability due to a difference in biology. "We tested some recently proposed hypotheses that try to explain a supposed gender gap in math performance and found they were not supported by the data," says Janet Mertz , senior author of the study and a professor of oncology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Researcher improves needle-tip geometry For better biopsies
Student government leaders to host forum for students, administrators Penn State faculty offer teachable moments from difficult events Three forums planned for students who wish to discuss recent events University prepares for Clery Act review President gives thanks for Penn State community's support UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.

New book on Optimal Control Theory
Thomas Weber published a new book at MIT Press, which gives a rigorous introduction to optimal control theory, with an emphasis on applications in economics. Content This book bridges optimal control theory and economics, discussing ordinary differential equations, optimal control, game theory, and mechanism design in one volume.

Probing Question: Why are statistics important in modern life?
By Melissa Beattie-Moss Research/Penn State Quick! Think of professions that will be the jobs of the next decade. Statistician probably didn't leap to mind - but odds are it soon will. Number nerds, take heed: statistical skills are in increasingly high demand and being applied to an incredibly diverse set of exciting problems, said Penn State Professor of Statistics Naomi Altman.

Potential for odd outcomes in election with ranked-choice voting system, says Stanford mathematician
Ranked choice voting – in which voters rank candidates in order of preference – is an increasingly popular alternative to voting for only one candidate in each race.

Fighting violent gang crime with math
UCLA mathematicians working with the Los Angeles Police Department to analyze crime patterns have designed a mathematical algorithm to identify street gangs involved in unsolved violent crimes. Their research is based on patterns of known criminal activity between gangs, and represents the first scholarly study of gang violence of its kind.

Computer Models of "Brilliant" Engineering Professor Drive Animated Films and New Research
In September, Popular Science named Eitan Grinspun to its “Brilliant 10” list of top researchers in the U.S. Calling him a “computational contortionist,” the magazine

Gamoran testifies before House subcommittee Oct. 12
Adam Gamoran , director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will testify before the House Subcommittee on Research and Science Education on Wednesday, Oct.

Concern over accuracy of suicide rates in England and Wales
07 Oct 2011 The increasing use of “narrative verdicts” by coroners in England and Wales may be leading to greater underestimation of suicide rates, warn experts.

Less than minimum wage for some care workers
The number of social care workers being paid less than the minimum wage is five times higher than previously believed, according to research from King's College London. A study by Shereen Hussein, Senior Research Fellow at the Social Care Workforce Research Unit (SCWRU), found that nine per cent of the care workforce in England is earning less than the statutory minimum wage, which is now £6.08 per hour for adults over the age of 21.

New Labor Dynamics Institute to shed light on labor market
The new Labor Dynamics Institute at the ILR School will create and make accessible new data on the dynamics of labor markets.

Public lecture examines how collective motion in nature inspires robotic design
Oct. 11 lecture kicks off University of Minnesota Institute for Mathematics and its Applications lecture series From bird flocks to fish schools, animals move together and respond to their environment in remarkable ways.

Campus crime report shows rise in sexual assaults, burglaries, and drop in bike thefts, alcohol arrests in 2010
Most of Stanford's 2011 Safety, Security & Fire Report is devoted to promoting personal safety, protecting personal property and preventing crime.

Krakauer chosen to lead Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
David Krakauer may have lofty plans for the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, but he believes that is exactly why he was chosen to be its first director.

Bone drug is mixed blessing for breast cancer patients
A drug used to protect bone may extend survival in older breast cancer patients, according to researchers at the Universities of Sheffield and Leeds. The AZURE trial has revealed that the bisphosphonate drug zoledronic acid boosts disease-free survival in postmenopausal breast cancer patients but may have an adverse effect on younger women.

UM Collaborates on Study of Safer Diabetes Drugs
— Coral Gables — Researchers from the Miller School's Center for Computational Science (CCS) and investigators from Harvard University safer drugs to combat type 2 diabetes. The study, "Anti-diabetic actions of non-agonist PPARy ligand blocking Cdk5-mediated phosphorylation," appears in the international science weekly's September 4 online edition.

Rates are right, but could go lower
The consensus view of the panel of expert economists, who make up the Shadow Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Board, indicates stronger evidence for a rate cut at tomorrow's RBA meeting than last month.