science wire

Pilgrims and Boys arrive at the ADC
Dramatised and adapted by Mike Poulton, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales offers a humours and familiar collection of characters.

Mars Express reveals wind-blown deposits on Mars
Mars Express reveals wind-blown deposits on Mars New images from ESA's Mars Express show the Syrtis Major region on Mars. Once thought to be a sea of water, the region is now known to be a volcanic province dating back billions of years. Syrtis Major can be spotted from Earth even with relatively small telescopes - the near-circular dark area on the planet stretches over 1300 x 1500 km.

Professor cited in brief to U.S. Supreme Court on new public health law
In March, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in an historic legal challenge to the new health law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

Innovative composer appeals for iPad and iPhone owners to join him in music collaboration
Owners of Apple iPads and iPhones are invited to be part of an open ‘iOrchestra’ next week and perform a large-scale composition by a University composer.

Spin-out secures record sales
A Cardiff University spin-out company which develops radio frequency equipment and device measurement to the semiconductor industry has secured $1.25M in sales of its technology.

£4.5M biomedical research boost
Leading university neuroscience and immunology research which helps translate new knowledge into improved clinical practice and treatments for the benefit of patients is set to receive a £4.5M funding boost. Cardiff University has secured funding from the Wellcome Trust's new Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF) - a new fund designed to support major scientific research.

Under the Microscope #5 – Daisy
In this video Beverley Glover explains how a daisy is a collection of tiny flowers grouped together to make it look like a single big flower. " Under the Microscope is a collection of videos that show glimpses of the natural and man-made world in stunning close-up. They will be released every Monday and Thursday for the next couple of months and you can see them here: http://bit.ly/A6bwCE Glover: “The flowering plants (Angiosperms) form the dominant vegetation over most of the Earth's land surface.

£4m boost for asthma research
The Medical Research Council (MRC) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have co-funded a groundbreaking programme of asthma research at the MRC-Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma.

Public lectures explore the brain and behavior
Register for the lectures online or call 206-616-5274. See previous years' lectures on UWTV. How do fish hear and communicate with each other?

NorthStar Initiative launches corporate sustainability webinar series
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (02/03/2012) —The NorthStar Initiative for Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment is launching a free quarterly webina

New device removes stroke-causing blood clots better than standard treatment
An experimental device for removing blood clots in stroke patients dramatically outperformed the standard mechanical treatment, according to research presented by UCLA Stroke Center director Jeffrey

Aphasia: A Stanford music professor’s work about obsessive attention to ridiculous things
Aphasia: A Stanford music professor's work, with hand gestures and odd sounds, about obsessive attention to ridiculous things Mangled vocal samples, random icons and precise hand gestures come together in a mesmerizing performance by Stanford music scholar Mark Applebaum.

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.

Neurons from stem cells could replace mice in botulinum test
Using lab-grown human neurons, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have devised an effective assay for detecting botulinum neurotoxin, the agent widely used to cosmetically smooth the wrinkles of age and, increasingly, for an array of medical disorders ranging from muscle spasticity to loss of bladder control.

Gene related to fat preferences in humans found
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A preference for fatty foods has a genetic basis, according to researchers, who discovered that people with certain forms of the CD36 gene may like high-fat foods more than those who have other forms of this gene. The results help explain why some people struggle when placed on a low-fat diet and may one day assist people in selecting diets that are easier for them to follow.

BBC Chinese broadcast from Leeds explores the city’s Olympic connection
With Leeds preparing to host the Chinese Olympic team as its training camp for the London Olympics, BBC Chinese will broadcast from the University of Leeds Refectory at 14.00 GMT on Sunday 5 February.

Canopy commerce: forest conservation and poverty alleviation
Innovative approaches for protecting the future of Sierra Leone's Gola Forest - globally important for its biodiversity and its carbon reserves - are being developed by a collaboration of conservation agencies and University of Cambridge researchers.

All set and ready to glow
A breakthrough technique for manufacturing LEDs on silicon is to be exploited in the UK, putting mass-produced, energy-efficient lighting within reach. —Colin Humphreys A new technique that paves the way for manufacturing affordable LED light bulbs is to be exploited in the UK, in a deal that researchers say could have a dramatic impact on carbon emissions.

Blurting out answers in class can be good for learning
Blurting out answers in class can be good for learning Pupils who blurt out answers in class often learn more than their quieter classmates, according to new research. Test results from hundreds of schools across England show a surprising advantage for pupils with symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); pupils who shout out answers attain better results than pupils who have similar symptoms but remain quiet and interrupt less.

Eight more Galileo navsats agreed
Eight more Galileo navsats agreed ESA today signed a contract to build a further eight Galileo satellites, alongside other agreements to modify Europe's Ariane 5 launcher to carry four navigation satellites at a time.

Scientists coax shy microorganisms to stand out in a crowd
“Untangling Genomes from Metagenomes: Revealing an Uncultured Class of Marine Euryarchaeota” Science, Feb. 3, 2012 The communities of marine microorganisms that make up half the biomass in the oceans and are responsible for half the photosynthesis the world over, mostly remain enigmatic.

High-Speed Train Research Pulls into the Station
At the KTH Symposium, the director of the U.S. National Science Foundation explains how scientific co-operation with Sweden benefits American research.

Adversity can be a catalyst for positive change
Tragedy, natural disasters, terrorism, divorce; 75 per cent of us will experience some form of trauma in life. But the experience can be a catalyst for positive change. In a ground-breaking new book an expert from The University of Nottingham , who has spent the last twenty years working with the survivors of trauma, challenges the conventional wisdom about trauma and its aftermath and demonstrates that rather than necessarily ruining one's life, a traumatic event can often improve it.

Applied to autumn 2012 studies at Lund? -This is what happens next
If you made your application online before the deadline 16 January at www.universityadmissions.se for Bachelor's or Master's studies at Lund University starting in autumn 2012 and submitted your docum

Firms’ own social networks better for business than Facebook
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Using Facebook and Twitter may be good for a company's bottom line, but firms can rake in even bigger profits if they have their own virtual brand community, says a University of Michigan marketing professor.

A quantum connection between light and mechanics
EPFL researchers supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) have demonstrated a microscopic system in which light can be converted into a mechanical oscillation and back.

First international client confirmed for new marine facility at Plymouth University
A British-Italian wave energy company has become the first international client to inwardly invest in Plymouth’s burgeoning marine renewables sector. 40South Energy Ltd has signed a contract with Plymouth University to establish a base of operation in its new marine facility on campus. The deal is the first for the £19m new Marine Building, which will offer business collaboration space for marine-focussed enterprise when it opens later this year.

Scotland first to map wild land
In a first for the UK, a new map detailing Scotland's wild areas is being published today by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Some of the country's wildest landscapes are already identified and protected if they fall within national parks or national scenic areas. But many other wild areas are not identified in any way.

New investment aims to establish the UK as a global graphene research hub
Today sees the announcement of full details of how an additional £50 million will be spent to keep the UK at the forefront of research into ‘wonder material' graphene.

Objects of devotion
Why did Renaissance shoppers fill their baskets with rosaries, crucifixes, Christ-dolls and devotional paintings? A new study by historian Mary Laven investigates the significance of Catholic clutter, as she explains.

Sirtuin 1 at the pinnacle of metabolic control
Targeting Sirtuin 1 to Improve Metabolism: All You Need Is NAD+? (Review) Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is an evolutionarily conserved NAD+-dependent deacetylase that is at the pinnacle of metabolic control, all the way from yeast to humans.

AstraZeneca's cutbacks in Södertälje a hard blow to medical research in Sweden

Wireless power could revolutionize highway transportation, Stanford researchers say
Stanford researchers have designed a new technology that could lead to wireless charging of electric vehicles while they cruise down the highway.

Iconic photos of the Great Depression among the highlights in Cantor’s Walker Evans exhibit
In public programs, Stanford scholars share their views on the groundbreaking artistic endeavors of photographer Walker Evans.

Roundabouts emerging as the ideal intersection between driver safety and efficiency
They've become the subject of myriad YouTube "how-to" videos. Entire department of transportation websites explain how to navigate them.

Here is what real commitment to your marriage means
What does being committed to your marriage really mean? UCLA psychologists answer this question in a new study based on their analysis of 172 married couples over the first 11 years of marriage.

Quarter of Tweets Not Worth Reading, Twitter Users Tell Researchers
Study at CMU, MIT, Georgia Tech Finds Nine Ways To Improve Tweets : Byron Spice / 412-268-9068 / bspice [a] cs.cmu (p) edu PITTSBURGH—Twitter users choose the microblogs they follow, but that doesn't mean they always like what they get. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology found that users say only a little more than a third of the tweets they receive are worthwhile.

Q&A with Scott Centenary Tour composer
The Scott Polar Research Institute is proud to have provided the inspiration for a major new composition by leading British composer, Cecilia McDowall.

Microfluidics Research Aims for New Cancer Diagnostics
At the KTH Symposium, the director of the U.S. National Science Foundation explains how scientific co-operation with Sweden benefits American research.

Improving women’s participation in the public discourse
Research shows that female academic experts are seriously under-represented in the media, and this means that readers often lack a broader perspective on an issue, says a former journalist who monitors and studies female representation in the media.

Microfluidics and Nanotech Research Aims for New Cancer Diagnostics
At the KTH Symposium, the director of the U.S. National Science Foundation explains how scientific co-operation with Sweden benefits American research.

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.

Researchers awarded funds to develop promising technologies
Five Princeton faculty teams are the new recipients of support from a University fund designed to help propel promising discoveries out of the laboratory into products and technologies that can benefit society. The funding will support the following projects: a cheaper and more efficient solar cell for converting sunlight to electricity; a novel water-treatment technology; a microscope that uses sound waves to focus the lens; a graphene-based boost for battery-like devices; and a new class of antiviral drugs.

Self-Assembling Nanorods
A relatively fast, easy and inexpensive technique for inducing nanorods – rod-shaped semiconductor nanocrystals – to self-assemble into one-, two- and even three-dimensional macroscopic s

Straight from the gut: Microbes can cause obesity
Obesity and chronic liver disease can be triggered by a family of proteins that alter populations of microbes in the stomach, a discovery that suggests the condition may be infectious, Yale scientists report. The study, in the advance online publication of Nature , expands on earlier Yale research that showed how similar microbial imbalances caused by the same family of proteins increases the risk of intestinal diseases such as colitis.

How does the compassionate brain, measured in the lab, predict what occurs in real life?
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are launching a new series of studies to understand how laboratory measures of virtuous qualities such as compassion relate to their behavior in the real world. Richard J. Davidson , founder of the UW's Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) , at the Waisman Center, has received a three-year, $1.7 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to develop laboratory and real-world measures of virtuous qualities such as altruism and compassion.

Biodiversity conservation for life
This month, the University of Cambridge will be profiling research that addresses biodiversity conservation.

Penn State scientists elected to American Geophysical Union
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Michael Mann and David Pollard, both scientists in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, have been elected as Fellows of the American Geophysical Union for exceptional contributions in original research in climate change.

Children test the air for pollutants in Brighton science project
by Simon Levey Wednesday 1 February 2012 Children from Brighton have been testing the air quality in their school playgrounds to monitor how pollution from neighbouring roads might affect them and their environment.

Anton part of the key to diabetes mystery
When Anton was born, a test was done on the umbilical cord which showed that he had a raised genetic risk of developing type 1 diabetes. Since then he has been one of several thousand children participating in Teddy, a study which is expected to lead to a better understanding of the disease and to a vaccine.

Obesity operations a mystery for diabetes researchers
Within just a few days of having obesity surgery, the majority of patients cease to suffer from type 2 diabetes. At the Lund University Diabetes Centre, a research group is trying to get to grips with the apparently inexplicable connection. It is hoped that in the long run a cure could be developed.

Sunlight could reduce risk of diabetes
Many people spend most of their life indoors. We work indoors during the day, perhaps sit in front of the television or computer in the evenings and go to bed late.

Effective link between diabetes researches and business sector
The Lund University Diabetes centre has been conducting cutting-edge research on diabetes for a number of years.

Prostate cancer risk halved for subfertile men
Involuntary childlessness owing to reduced fertility is a concern for many men. However, these men do have one advantage – they run a significantly lower risk of suffering from prostate cancer. Researchers are interested in whether this phenomenon could be used in the fight against cancer. There is a clear link between male subfertility and a lower risk of prostate cancer.

Nano-Sized Protein Clusters Address Major Challenge of Drug Delivery
AUSTIN, TX — A new form of proteins discovered by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin could drastically improve treatments for cancer and other diseases, as well as overcome some of the largest challenges in therapeutics: delivering drugs to patients safely, easily and more effectively.

Driving the green
New study suggests that electric-powered trucks will save money for businesses.

MIT faculty speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos
Talks explore the mind/machine interface and the science of predicting the economy, among other topics.

Tool is new weapon in fight against climate change
A new service, developed by experts at The University of Manchester and The Mersey Forest, will provide vital information to help urban neighbourhoods avoid the potentially dangerous effects of climate change.

Want to understand the fluid dynamics of the oceans and atmosphere? UCLA’s got the video
Oceans and clouds, even the atmosphere itself, are in constant motion and can undergo dramatic fluctuations, like hurricanes, that lead to severe consequences.

‘Picture This #14′ Polymelus, Museum of Zoology
All British thoroughbred racehorses, including Polymelus, are descended from three stallions - the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian and the Byerley Turk.

FDA approves Novartis drug Glivec label recommending extending treatment to three years for certain GIST patients after surgery
Phase III results showed 54% reduction in risk of recurrence and 55% reduction in risk of death after three years' adjuvant Glivec in adults with KIT+ GIST Approval builds on vast experience with Glivec, first approved 10 years ago for treatment of adults with metastatic and/or unresectable KIT+ GIST Basel, February 1, 2012 - Novartis announced today that following a priority review, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

A Study on the Impact of Good Teachers Sparks National Attention
Teachers who succeed in raising standardized test scores have a lasting influence on their students' lives, helping them avoid teenage pregnancy, go to college and earn more money as adults, accordin

"How to Grow a Planet" on the BBC
Geologist Iain Stewart will demonstrate how plants are the “silent power” that has shaped the Earth, in a new three-part series for BBC2 starting this week. How to Grow a Planet will offer a totally new perspective on the world's history, and will document the crucial role that plants have played in its evolution.

Toulouse Space Show: call for papers
Toulouse Space Show: call for papers ESA is a partner in the Toulouse Space Show being held 25-28 June.

Scientists decode brain waves to eavesdrop on what we hear
Neuroscientists may one day be able to hear the imagined speech of a patient unable to speak due to stroke or paralysis, according to University of California, Berkeley, researchers. Frequency spectrograms of the actual spoken words (top) and the sounds as reconstructed by two separate models based solely on recorded temporal lobe activity in a volunteer subject.

’Shadow Education’ Affects Academic Success of East Asian Americans
A new study co-authored by University of Pennsylvania sociologist Hyunjoon Park chalks up East Asian American students' high SAT scores in part to their high level of participation in "shadow education" activities outside formal schools.

Tapping into maple success through sanitation
The secret to success for maple syrup producers may lie in the science of sanitation. Simply changing taps and tubing or using special spouts could double the amount of sap seeping from New York's maple trees, according to Cornell experts who have spent six years researching the topic.

Penn Director of Rare Book and Manuscript Library to Speak at Advanced Networks and the Arts & Humanities Symposium
MAGPI, the University of Pennsylvania's Internet2 hub, will host the Advanced Networks and the Arts & Humanities Symposium on Thursday Feb.

How Do You Fight Fire in Space? Experiments Provide Some Answers
Improving fire-fighting techniques in space and getting a better understanding of fuel combustion here on Earth are the focus of a series of experiments on the International Space Station, led by a professor at the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. A first round of experiments ran from March 2009 to December 2011.

Cultural System or norm circles? An exchange
Cultural System or norm circles? An exchange. This article takes the form of a debate between the two authors - Margaret S. Archer (CDH - Centre for Social Ontology ) and - Dave Elder-Vass (Loughborough University, UK) on the social ontology of propositional culture.

Watch the replay: Earth from Space - special edition
Watch the replay: Earth from Space - special edition Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme.

Partnership gives a voice to pressure ulcer patients
A new survey aims to give patients and carers a voice in the search to find the most effective prevention and treatment for pressure ulcers.

Risk-based passenger screening could make air travel safer
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Anyone who has flown on a commercial airline since 2001 is well aware of increasingly strict measures at airport security checkpoints.

Online news portals get credibility boost from trusted sources
University Park, Pa. - People who read news on the Web tend to trust the gate even if there is no gatekeeper, according to Penn State researchers.

Probing Question: What is the sandwich generation?
By Melissa Beattie-Moss Research/Penn State If you didn't know better, you might think the Sandwich Generation was the name of a new show on the Food Network.

U of M Physics Circus brings large-scale stunts and physics lessons to the public Feb. 9
Media Note: Members of the media may attend a daytime school group show at the Minneapolis Convention Center to get photos or video, but please Rhonda Zurn at rzurn [a] umn (p) edu to make arrangements. MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (01/31/2012) —If you've never seen a physicist drop 20 feet through thin air while a friend shoots a ball at him from a cannon, or grown men and women shooting streams of toilet paper over an audience with a leaf blower, the University of Minnesota Physics Force has a show for you.

Protein study helps superbug battle
Scientists have shed light on the way superbugs such as MRSA are able to become resistant to antibiotics. Researchers have mapped the complex molecular structure of an enzyme found in many bacteria. These molecules - known as restriction enzymes - control the speed at which bacteria can acquire resistance to drugs and eventually become superbugs.

Penn Receives NSF Grant to Research Geological Record of Chilean Earthquakes
Geological evidence of earthquakes and tsunamis aids in anticipating the timing and magnitude of future events.

Robot welding gets 5 times faster as €4 Million project replaces guess work with maths
Remote Laser Welding (RLW) is rapidly emerging as a powerful replacement for spot welding technology in vehicle manufacturing. It promises 5 times the speed of spot welding and far more efficiency – however this can only be achieved through a frustrating process of guess work and trial & error today.

Twenty Straight Wins for Top-Ranked Women’s Basketball Team
Chelsea Carlisle and the Tritons equaled their win total from last season with their triumph over the Gators on Saturday.

Inquests more likely for younger people and deaths from medical care complications
Coroners are more likely to hold inquests for deaths involving younger people or people who died of fatal complications from medical care, according to a study from University of Melbourne experts and published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal.) Coroners must usually be notified of a death if it was violent or unexpected, if the identity of the deceased is not known, or if the deceased was in the custody or care of the state when he or she died.

Climate change history reveals future threats
The historical record foreshadows a grim picture for a future threatened by even greater climate change according to a study from The Australian National University. Professor Tony McMichael from the ANU National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health looked at climate changes and their impacts over the last 6,000 to 7,000 years, as documented in historical, archaeological and fossil records.

Forging new research talent
The search is on for the next generation of talented researchers building their careers in Wales. Welsh Crucible, the development scheme for the nation's research leaders of the future, is recruiting for this summer's capacity-building programme.

Watch online: Earth from Space - special edition
Watch online: Earth from Space - special edition Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme.

Got creative block? Get out of your office and go for a walk
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The next time you're in need of creative inspiration, try thinking outside the box - or cubicle. New research by Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks and Suntae Kim of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business shows that engaging in physical acts and experiences enhances creative problem-solving.

Portable device will quickly detect pathogens in developing countries
Two Cornell professors will combine their inventions to develop a handheld pathogen detector that will give health care workers in the developing world speedy results to identify in the field such pathogens as tuberculosis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV. Using synthetic DNA, Dan Luo, professor of biological and environmental engineering, has devised a method of "amplifying" very small samples of pathogen DNA, RNA or proteins.

Watching the Engine of Life, in Real Time, to Understand How Things Go Wrong
Ruben Gonzalez views ribosomes—the minute particles in cells that make proteins—as the “machines” of life. Naturally, the associate professor of chemistry is interested in watching these little protein-producing factories in real time, especially when they malfunction and cause disease.

David and Helen Gurley Brown Gift to Create Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia and Stanford
J-School and Stanford Engineering announce joint gift from David and Helen Gurley Brown Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and Stanford University's School of Engineering today

A Man of Magnetism
At the KTH Symposium, the director of the U.S. National Science Foundation explains how scientific co-operation with Sweden benefits American research. Reception and service at central level for international students after arrival at KTH. For Master's students For Exchange students Physicist Stefano Bonetti prepares to move from KTH to Stanford on a two-year post-doctoral fellowship studying the smallest and fastest magnetic phenomena known to science.

Under the Microscope #4 – Liquid crystals
Tim Wilkinson is combining liquid crystals with nanotechnology to try and create 3D displays which would look like real life.

"Year of Proof" Is Penn Academic Theme for 2012-13
The University of Pennsylvania's academic theme for 2012-13 will be the "Year of Proof." Beginning in September at new student orientation and throughout the year, the University will hold events

The Waisman Center: Decades later, what would Harry think?
Last fall, the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison bid successfully for the same National Institutes of Health core grant that the late Harry Waisman first won 45 years ago. Harry Waisman, left, with colleagues C.S. Reiquam and Nathan J. Smith, examine pathology microscope slides in a research lab.

Is third party funding effectively regulated in the UK?
A study shows that the market for litigation funding, otherwise known as third party funding, is firmly established for commercial disputes in the UK and is extending into cases involving ordinary citizens, such as personal injury and group actions.

Photos from disaster show Japan’s people ’don’t live for the past’
A collection of images currently displayed in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel tells two stories—a story of devastation and another about the resiliency of the people of Japan.

National Labs Seek Closer Industry Ties
The network of national laboratories run by the Department of Energy (DOE) has spawned countless scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs in the last 80 years.

Novartis extends commitment to help achieve final elimination of leprosy
New five-year commitment includes donation of treatments worth an estimated USD 22.5 million and is expected to reach an estimated 850,000 patients Novartis will also intensify efforts to buil

Multitasking Can Be Done Differently, Affect Perceptions of Work Practices
AUSTIN, Texas — In an age in which "multitasking" is often cited as a core competency for employees, organizational communication researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have begun to better understand the nuances of how different individuals accomplish multiple tasks. Such nuances can be important to organizations wanting to hire the right individual for a job and for employees seeking the best organizational and cultural fit.

Better Insulation for Durable Transformers
At the KTH Symposium, the director of the U.S. National Science Foundation explains how scientific co-operation with Sweden benefits American research.

Food crops damaged by pollution crossing continents
Man-made air pollution from North America causes Europe to lose 1.2 million tonnes of wheat a year, a new study has found. The research, led by the University of Leeds and co-authored by the University of York, shows for the first time the extent of the Northern Hemisphere's intercontinental crop losses caused by ozone - a chemical partly produced by fossil fuels.

Project to improve radiotherapy planning
A collaborative project between physicists, oncologists and computer scientists at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, launched last month, will develop improved tools for the planning of high precision radiotherapy.

Early intervention may curb dangerous college drinking
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The first few weeks of college are a critical time in shaping students' drinking habits. Now Penn State researchers have a tailored approach that may help prevent students from becoming heavy drinkers. "Research shows there is a spike in alcohol-related consequences that occur in the first few weeks of the semester, especially with college freshmen," said Michael J. Cleveland, research associate at the Prevention Research Center and the Methodology Center.

Durst Gift Helps Launch New Center on Urban Real Estate
Vishaan Chakrabarti, Carole Ann Fabian and Helena Durst talk about the Durst gift and the new Center for Urban Real Estate.

Pulitzer’s New York World Reborn as Online News Site
Last fall, a private bus company operating under a city contract permitted its passengers, primarily Orthodox Jews, to enforce a religious tradition—in order to prevent physical between the sexes, women were required to sit in the back of the bus.

China’s investment flow helps region grow
A new study from The Australian National University shows that foreign direct investment (FDI) both into and out of China is improving economic stability and driving development in Asia and the Pacific. In a major study, Chunlai Chen from the ANU Crawford School examined levels of FDI in 49 developing countries between 1992 and 2008.

Addicts’ cravings have different roots in men and women
When it comes to addiction, sex matters. A new brain imaging study by Yale School of Medicine researchers suggests stress robustly activates areas of the brain associated with craving in cocaine-dependent women, while drug cues activate similar brain regions in cocaine-dependent men. The study, expected to be published online Jan.

Stanford, Columbia get a joint $30 million gift for media innovation
The gift establishes a first-of-its-kind bi-coastal Institute for Media Innovation, bringing together the best in West Coast technology with East Coast content.

Yale lectures focus on music and human evolution
The 2012 Shulman Lectures in Science and the Humanities will explore the human capacity for music-making and music perception in light of new developments in evolutionary science and theory.

Great handbags – but what about the politics?
Audiences are spellbound by Meryl Streep's performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. As a PhD student looking at British politics in the same era, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite was keen to see how the movie portrayed the woman who changed the face of Britain.

Roche commences tender offer for Illumina, Inc. for $44.50 per share in cash
Roche commences tender offer for Illumina, Inc.

Liberal-democratic ideas don't have universal support in Middle East
Liberal-democratic attitudes in the Middle East and North Africa aren't universal, say two University of Toronto sociologists.

Four decades - and counting - of feminist journalism
At a Stanford panel discussion, editors, activists and bloggers come together to salute Ms. magazine and consider the future.

Narratives of Conversion
A project concluding this weekend examines why women choose to convert to Islam - and what the experience is like.

Voyage to the most isolated base on Earth
Voyage to the most isolated base on Earth Alexander Kumar, the next ESA-sponsored crewmember to stay in Concordia, has arrived safely at the research base in Antarctica.

U of’T professors perform Ontario's first cardiac stem cell transplant
University of Toronto faculty members performed the first cardiac stem cell transplant in Ontario recently, using stem cells derived from the patient's own bone marrow, isolated completely within the operating room, and implanted into the heart at the time of coronary bypass surgery.

Half of L.A. human-services nonprofits are struggling, new UCLA report shows
Roughly half of Los Angeles County's 6,300 human-services nonprofits — which provide such services as emergency shelter, food, hospice care, and support for foster children, at-risk youth and t

The back garden as a cultural environment
A place to relax or a demanding chore? Different people will give different answers to what a garden is.“With gardens, people shape their own personal cultural environments in their backyard”, says r

Powerful testimonies in unique archive
“I’m glad I got away from the Germans and I’m grateful to the Swedes that I’m alive and that they have taken such good care of me.” These are the concluding words of a woman’s account of her years in a concentration camp.

Hope for those with a depressive disposition
Good news for the 13 per cent of the population with depressive personality traits: their negative outlook does not have to be permanent. This has been shown by psychologist Rachel Maddux in new research from Lund University in Sweden. Depression is a serious and sometimes devastating health problem which affects millions of people worldwide.

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.

From Cancer Research to Energy Storage, Berkeley Lab Scientist Takes on Big Challenges
On a typical day, Rizia Bardhan walks through the doors of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Molecular Foundry and immerses herself in the tricky business of tweaking optical spectroscopy equipment to study phase transitions in metal hydrides. It's fair to say that what she does is difficult to grasp.

Life extinguished, life rekindled
This year's Darwin Lectures address the theme of life. Tonight's speaker, Cambridge academic Robert Macfarlane, will discuss "Life in Ruins" in art and literature.

King’s India Institute launch
King's College London held the official inauguration ceremony yesterday for its new India Institute, which is aiming to become the leading international centre for the study of contemporary India.

Consumer confidence improves in January due to job gains
ANN ARBOR, Mich - Consumer confidence continued to improve in January due to positive news about potential job gains, according to University of Michigan economist Richard Curtin, director of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers.

Research into acute asthma attacks boosted with £4m award
Research into acute asthma attacks has been boosted with a £4m award from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Modelon based on simulation
Nowadays, it is cheaper and quicker to test a product or system using computer simulation than by building a prototype.

How much is an earthworm worth?
After years of paying little attention, both farmers and EU politicians have started listening in earnest to the research findings. The trick is simply to communicate on the recipient’s terms. Professor of Biology Katarina Hedlund and her colleagues have begun putting a price on nature’s own capital.

Degree project factory
For those studying engineering, a degree project usually forms the final component of the degree, often carried out in collaboration with industry.However, at the Ideon company Modelon, there are an

Turkish investment in water power led to environmental destruction
Small-scale projects with renewable energy: how can that go wrong? Mine Islar is among the first group of doctoral students in sustainability science.

New PhD programme in sustainability produces promising thesis work
A programme with a lot of potential but also many challenges ahead. This is how Paul Weaver, newly appointed professor at LUCSUS, the Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, sums up the PhD programme in Sustainability Science. Just before Christmas, the first group of doctoral students presented their research at a midway review.

Divided opinions on radical land reform at thesis defence
Was the land reform in Zimbabwe in the year 2000, when thousands of white farmers were forced off their land, a disaster or a success for the country?

Grant to UC San Diego Shiley Eye Center Supports Research in Blinding Eye Diseases
Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has awarded a grant of $100,000 to the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine to support research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of blinding eye diseases.

Pine transformed by modern alchemists
Researchers have given pinewood the hardness and smooth touch of precious wood. L'EPFL+ECAL Lab presents the first objects made of this new material in Helsinki today.

Managing the education needs of our young gifted children
PhD researcher Anne Grant is using her knowledge of gifted children in their formative educational years to help better inform and teach these bright youngsters.

ANU people given the order on Australia Day
A world-renowned quantum physicist and a researcher working to improve space travel are among the members of the ANU community recognised with 2012 Australia Day honours.

UChicago brings Akira clothing store to former Borders building on 53rd Street
The University of Chicago is bringing Akira , the apparel and shoes retailer, to Hyde Park, to occupy the majority of the first-floor space in the former Borders building at 1539 E. 53rd St&poi

Supermaterial goes superpermeable
Wonder material graphene has revealed another of its extraordinary properties - University of Manchester researchers have found that it is superpermeable with respect to water. Graphene is one of the wonders of the science world, with the potential to create foldaway mobile phones, wallpaper-thin lighting panels and the next generation of aircraft.

Caring for country creates new land of opportunity
New conservation partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are saving threatened animals, returning Aboriginal people to their ancestral homeland, discovering new types of plant species and developing novel cross-cultural ways of managing country.

’Father of green chemistry’ plans return to Yale
Paul Anastas, the Yale chemist who has been on leave while serving as head of research for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plans to return to the University full time later this winter.

Breakthrough treatment successful for patients with blocked arteries
The world's first clinical trial of a new treatment for patients with blocked coronary arteries has shown the novel approach to be safe and to yield promising success rates. The University of Toronto -Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre study involved 20 patients, each with a coronary artery completely blocked by plaque - a condition called chronic total occlusion (CTO).

Scientists Link Evolved, Mutated Gene Module to Syndromic Autism
A team led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reports that newly discovered mutations in an evolved assembly of genes cause Joubert syndrome, a form of syndromic autism. The findings are published in the January 26 online issue of Science Express . Joubert syndrome is a rare, recessive brain condition characterized by malformation or underdevelopment of the cerebellum and brainstem.

McGill University’s Life Sciences Complex earns LEED Gold certification
First university-owned laboratory in Quebec to garner top marks for sustainable construction Life Sciences video: http://www.youtube.com/watch'v=gV2MFmckUXw McGill University's Life Scienc

Commentary in Nature: Can economy bear what oil prices have in store?
Stop wrangling over global warming and instead reduce fossil-fuel use for the sake of the global economy.

Making sure the food we grow is good enough to eat
Producing enough food to feed the world's growing population is becoming a major concern. But making sure the food we grow is safe, nutritious and good enough to eat is also fraught with difficulty.

Under the Microscope #3 – mouse embryo
In this video, we see a mouse embryo developing. Erica Watson tells us that studying this process helps us better understand human pregnancy. We can get valuable information from a mouse model about how an embryo and its placenta develop over time." —Erica Watson Under the Microscope is a collection of videos that show glimpses of the natural and man-made world in stunning close-up.

UCLA Law report urges California to take action to protect public from toxic consumer products
More than 2,000 chemicals are used in consumer or commercial products such as toys, clothing and electronics; many are now also in the bodies of men, women and children.

Volunteers sought for simulated Mars mission and study of ’menu fatigue’
Astronauts on a mission to Mars will need much more than freeze-dried ice cream to sustain them, and researchers at Cornell are working to determine the best way to keep them well nourished during their three-year journeys and four-month stays on the Red Planet.

U-M, Sierra Club to study links between outdoor experience, veterans’ mental health
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - For six years, the Sierra Club has organized outdoor trips for U.S. military service members, veterans and their families. Now, the national environmental group is working with the University of Michigan on a research project to measure how those trips affect veterans' mental health.

Berkeley Lab to Develop Novel Materials for Hydrogen Storage
The biggest challenge with hydrogen-powered fuel cells lies in the storage of hydrogen: how to store enough of it, in a safe and cost-effective manner, to power a vehicle for 300 miles?  Lawrence Ber

Penn Anthropologists Clarify Link Between Asians and Early Native Americans
A tiny mountainous region in southern Siberia may have been the genetic source of the earliest Native Americans, according to new research by a University of Pennsylvania-led team of anthropologists. Lying at the intersection of what is today Russia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan, the region known as the Altai "is a key area because it's a place that people have been coming and going for thousands and thousands of years," said Theodore Schurr , an associate professor in Penn's Department of Anthropology.

LED lights point shoppers in the right direction
SAN FRANCISCO - Looking for an item in a large department store or mall can be like searching for a needle in a haystack, but that could change thanks to a hybrid location-identification system that

Exploring how a parent’s education can affect the mental health of their offspring
New research sheds light on cycle of low socioeconomic status and depression Could depression in adulthood be tied to a parent's level of education? A new study led by Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, a medical sociologist from McGill University, suggests this is the case.

Rotational Motion of Cells that Plays a Critical Role in Their Normal Development
Berkeley Lab researchers have discovered a rotational motion in human breast cells that continues through mitosis and enables the cells and their progeny to form sphere-shaped acini. In a study that holds major implications for breast cancer research as well as basic cell biology, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a rotational motion that plays a critical role in the ability of breast cells to form the spherical structures in the mammary gland known as acini.

IEEE Micro's special issue: Boris Grot is part of it !
News in brief Boris Grot from the Parallel Systems Architecture Laboratory (PARSA) has been published in the last IEEE Micro's special issue; Top Picks from Computer Architecture Conferences. His paper "Kilo-NOC: A Heterogeneous Network-on-Chip Architecture for Scalability and Service Guarantees" has been written with collaborators from the University of Texas, NVIDIA and Carnegie Mellon University.

New website matches ideas with investors
New website matches ideas with investors A new collaboration between Sussex and four of the south-east's other leading research institutions was launched on Monday (23 January).

Degree matter mimics stars
Extreme conditions of temperature and pressure found in stars have been recreated on Earth using the world's brightest X-ray source.

Using real-time road traffic data to evaluate congestion
A new project has shown that by using existing sources of information about traffic flow it is possible to create a minute-by-minute image of congestion in cities. Most cities have the types of data we have used in Cambridge and the approach could be used more extensively by Cambridge County Council and extended nationally." —Professor Jean Bacon Britain's roads are getting more and more congested.

New insightes in early specification of pancreas progenitors
RNA profiling and ChIP-Sequencing reveal that PTF1a stabilizes pancreas progenitor identity via the control of MNX1/HLXB9 and a network of other transcription factors.

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.

Roche responds to adoption of shareholder rights plan by Illumina Board of Directors
Roche responds to adoption of shareholder rights plan by Illumina Board of Directors Roche today responded to an announcement from Illumina, Inc.

Opening of UK site producing the heart of Galileo
Opening of UK site producing the heart of Galileo The first Galileo satellites are already in orbit, with more on the way.

Four Breast Cancer-Related Studies Seeking Participants
UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center researchers examine role of diet and exercise An active lifestyle and a healthy diet can help you feel more energetic, control your weight, help you sleep better, and reduce your risk of many diseases.

Stanford scholars reflect on Arab Spring
A year after the Egyptian uprising, five scholars talk about democracy in the Middle East, how lives have changed in the Arab world, and what the United States has learned from the Arab Spring.

Suomi remembered for problem-solving ability, drive
Verner Suomi's career — even his life — may not have been as long and illustrious had he not been an inveterate problem solver.

Making a ‘contract’ with society: GlaxoSmithKline’s research and development head discusses the company’s ethos
By Tanya Gubbay Wednesday 25 January 2012 The Chairman of Research and Development at one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies last night shared his insights into the philosophy behind its work, in a distinguished guest lecture at Imperial College Business School.

Learning to ’talk things through in your head’ may help people with autism
Teaching children with autism to 'talk things through in their head' may help them to solve complex day-to-day tasks, which could increase the chances of independent, flexible living later in life, according to new research from Durham University, the University of Bristol and City University London.

Rare Posters, Drawings From the Spanish Civil War on View at Geisel Library Through May 11, 2012
All images from the Southworth Spanish Civil War Collection in the UC San Diego Mandeville Special Collections Library "So There Will Be No Forgetting: Images from the Spanish Civil War," an exhib

How suppressing the immune system may prevent type 1 diabetes
A new study at Yale School of Medicine has uncovered the mechanism by which a targeted suppression of the immune system may prevent type 1 diabetes or induce sustained remission. The study appears in Science Translational Medicine. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease - the immune system goes into overdrive and attacks the body's normal cells instead of foreign invaders.

New Fluorescent Dyes Highlight Neuronal Activity
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have created a new generation of fast-acting fluorescent dyes that optically highlight electrical activity in neuronal membranes. The work is published in this week's online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .

Courts endangering religious freedom, academic claims
Religious freedom in Europe and North America is being endangered by the courts, an Oxford University academic has claimed in a new book.

Satellite renamed to honor UW-Madison space pioneer
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have renamed their newest Earth-observing satellite after Verner Suomi, a longtime UW-Madison professor who often is called the father of satellite meteorology.

Young breast cancer survivors face serious quality-of-life challenges
Quality of life in younger patients treated for breast cancer is seriously compromised, and these women face more physical and mental health issues than women their age who haven't had cancer and women over 50 who have, according to a study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Janet Rowley to receive Japan Prize for role in development of targeted cancer therapy
Janet Davison Rowley, the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago, will receive the 2012 Japan Prize for Healthcare and Medical Technology.

Robot competition in zero-gravity
Robot competition in zero-gravity School teams from Europe and America have been commanding robots competing in the Spheres ZeroRobotics tournament in space.

Attack or retreat? Circuit links hunger and pursuit in sea slug brain
CHAMPAIGN, lll. - If you were a blind, cannibalistic sea slug, living among others just like you, nearly every encounter with another creature would require a simple cost/benefit calculation: Should I eat that, do nothing or flee? In a new study, researchers report that these responses are linked to a simple circuit in the brain of the sea slug Pleurobranchaea .

How wings really work
A 1-minute video released by the University of Cambridge sets the record straight on a much misunderstood concept - how wings lift.

Novartis delivers strong underlying financial performance in 2011, expects 2012 sales to be in line with 2011
Fourth quarter sales rose 5% while core operating income grew 17% in constant currencies (cc); full year sales up 12% cc and core operating income up 16% cc Core operating income grew 12% (

History holds key to future energy policy, says report
History holds key to future energy policy, says report Policymakers should look to history to learn how best to tackle the challenges of a low carbon economy, says a new report co-authored by University of Sussex energy analyst Professor Jim Watson.

Viking mass grave linked to elite killers of the medieval world
A mass grave found in Dorset could belong to a crew of Viking mercenaries who terrorised Europe in the 11th century - according to a new documentary on National Geographic which pieces together the story behind the burial. Clearly these men had shown a level of bravery similar to the Jomsviking code." —Britt Baillie A crew of Viking mercenaries - some of the fiercest and most feared killers in the medieval world - could be the occupants of a mysterious mass grave in the south of England, according to a new theory.

Death Valley Crater May Be Younger and More Active Than Previously Thought
Death Valley's half-mile-wide Ubehebe Crater turns out to have been created 800 years ago—far more recently than generally thought.

Solar storm heading toward Earth
A large solar flare yesterday triggered a coronal mass ejection travelling at 1400 km/s that will reach Earth today.

Envelope for an Artificial Cell
Neal Davaraj watches as undergraduate student Weilong Li works on a next step in their quest to create an entirely artificial cell.

Under the Electron Microscope - A 3-D Image of an Individual Protein
When Gang Ren whirls the controls of his cryo-electron microscope, he compares it to fine-tuning the gearshift and brakes of a racing bicycle. But this machine at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is a bit more complex. It costs nearly $1.5 million, operates at the frigid temperature of liquid nitrogen, and it is allowing scientists to see what no one has seen before.

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.

Multitasking may harm the social and emotional development of tweenage girls, Stanford researchers say
Multitasking may harm the social and emotional development of tweenage girls, but face-to-face talks could save the day, say Stanford researchers Too much screen time can be detrimental to girls

Making Sense of Sensory Connections
A key feature of human and animal brains is that they are adaptive; they are able to change their structure and function based on input from the environment and on the potential associations, or consequences, of that input. For example, if a person puts his hand in a fire and gets burned, he learns to avoid flames; the simple sight of a flame has acquired a predictive value, which in this case, is repulsive.

Spin-out targets better cancer treatment
A new Oxford University spin-out firm, Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Limited, is to develop technology to ensure that only patients who are likely to benefit from anti-cancer drugs will receive them and that the best treatment for each person can be quickly identified. Isis Innovation, the University's technology transfer company, has licensed the CancerNav biomarker technology to Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Limited (OCB).

Thoroughbred speed gene has its origins in native breeds
Research by a team of scientists suggests that a variant of the so-called speed gene found in top racehorses can be traced back to a single British mare living around 300 years ago. That mare may have had a similar genetic make-up to today's sturdy native ponies.

Restored wetlands rarely equal condition of original wetlands
Restored wetlands like this pond converted from agricultural use in Aragon, Spain, may look natural, but a new study shows that it can take hundreds of years for restored wetlands to accumulate the plant assemblages and carbon resources of a natural, undamaged wetland. Credit: David Moreno-Mateos/UC Berkeley Wetland restoration is a billion-dollar-a-year industry in the United States that aims to create ecosystems similar to those that disappeared over the past century.

U-M experts available to comment on the State of the Union address
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - University of Michigan faculty are available to discuss tonight's State of the Union address, in which President Barack Obama will talk about the economy, taxes and other issues.

Supporting innovation: from green chemistry to pain research
The CFI awards more than $1 million to seven McGill researchers The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has announced it has awarded $1,072,471 to McGill University under its Leaders of Opportunity Fund (LOF).

Intelligent Buildings Project receives gift from Wells Fargo Foundation
Yale's Intelligent Buildings Project has received $200,000 from the Wells Fargo Foundation to support groundbreaking research on energy consumption in buildings.

Ancient dinosaur nursery oldest nesting site yet found
An excavation at a site in South Africa has unearthed the 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus-revealing significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behaviour in early dinosaurs. The newly unearthed dinosaur nesting ground predates previously known nesting sites by 100 million years, according to study authors.

Among disadvantaged, college reduces odds for marriage
For those with few social advantages, college is a prime pathway to financial stability, but it also unexpectedly lowers their odds of ever marrying, according to an analysis by Cornell sociologist Kelly Musick in the February issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family (74:1).