We know a lot about the lifestyles of dinosaur - where they lived, what they ate, how they walked - but not much was known about their sense of smell.  Until now.

Scientists at the University of Calgary and the Royal Tyrrell Museum are providing new insight into the sense of smell of carnivorous dinosaurs and primitive birds in a research paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The study, by paleontologist Darla Zelenitsky and Royal Tyrrell Museum curator of dinosaur palaeoecology François Therrien, is the first time that the sense of smell has been evaluated in prehistoric meat-eating dinosaurs. They found that Tyrannosaurus rex had the best nose of all meat-eating dinosaurs, and their results tone down the reputation of T. rex as a scavenger.

Could eating grapes help fight high blood pressure related to a salty diet? And could grapes calm other factors that are also related to heart diseases such as heart failure? A new University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center study suggests so.    The new study published in the October issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences  outlines the potential of grapes in reducing cardiovascular risk. The effect is thought to be due to the high level of phytochemicals – naturally occurring antioxidants – that grapes contain.

The study was performed in laboratory rats, not humans, so more research needs to be done.

A new study in the Canadian Journal of Economics outlines the first evidence on sexual orientation and economic outcomes in Canada. The study found that homosexual men have 12 percent lower personal incomes and lesbians have 15 percent higher personal incomes than heterosexual men and women.

Christopher S. Carpenter of The Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California Irvine used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey which includes standard demographic questions as well as self-reports on sexual orientation.

A new study in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy explored how men and women perceive online and offline sexual and emotional infidelity. Results show that men felt sexual infidelity was more upsetting and women felt emotional infidelity was more upsetting.

Monica T. Whitty and Laura-Lee Quigley of Queen's University Belfast surveyed 112 undergraduate students and asked them questions about sexual and emotional infidelity both offline and on the internet. 

When given the choice, men were more upset by sexual infidelity and women were more upset by emotional infidelity. 

A quarter-million people were killed when a tsunami inundated Indian Ocean coastlines the day after Christmas in 2004. Now scientists have found evidence that the event was not a first-time occurrence.

A team working on Phra Thong, a barrier island along the hard-hit west coast of Thailand, unearthed evidence of at least three previous major tsunamis in the preceding 2,800 years, the most recent from about 550 to 700 years ago. That team, led by Kruawun Jankaew of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, included Brian Atwater, a University of Washington affiliate professor of Earth and space sciences and a U.S. Geological Survey geologist.

Credit: IBM

SAN FRANCISCO, California, October 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Red Herring Magazine announced today that Manthan Systems has been short listed forerunners of the Red Herring 100 Asia 2008 awards. The 100 winners will be announced at the Red Herring 100 Asia event in Hong Kong, on December 2-3, 2008.

The 200 finalists are based in 16 countries/regions including China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia and Vietnam. The 200 finalists we selected from across 16 countries and regions are all excellent contenders, said Joel Dreyfuss, Editor-in-Chief of Red Herring. They are exceptional companies who thrive on innovation and strongly define the important role of technology in Asia's economy and throughout the world.

LONDON, October 29 /PRNewswire/ --

LONDON, October 29 /PRNewswire/ --

Unite the union is to ballot 176 members today (Wednesday) at French IT company Steria in Manchester and Skelmersdale, in a bid to prevent compulsory redundancies and the transfer of their work to India.

The workers, most of whom were outsourced from the Co-op's financial services arm to Steria in 2007, were told in the summer that a third of their IT support work for the Co-op was being off shored, with a loss of 90 jobs.

As too few workers volunteered for redundancy, Steria is now proposing to make over 30 workers from Arndale House in central Manchester compulsorily redundant.

LONDON, October 29 /PRNewswire/ --

- Report Reveals the Positive Influence of Online and Offline Social Networking on Business

Business can become more resilient to the effects of economic downturn by introducing more networked working practices, according to a report published today by the think tank Demos.

The report, which was produced together with Orange, says that encouraging employees to build more relationships with colleagues across the company and utilising networking technology tools to build closer links with potential customers and partners, can help businesses become more adaptable to dealing with today's challenging economic climate.

MÄNNEDORF, Switzerland, October 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Tecan has opened its new Asia Pacific region headquarters, based in the heart of Shanghai's pharmaceutical and life science centre. The launch of the regional headquarters reflects the Company's significant growth and strong commitment to the market in China, as well as the whole Asia Pacific region, and will improve service and support for customers and distribution partners alike.