As structures made of metal get smaller — as their dimensions approach the micrometer scale (millionths of a meter) or less — they get stronger. Scientists discovered this phenomenon 50 years ago while measuring the strength of tin "whiskers" a few micrometers in diameter and a few millimeters in length.

LONDON, January 3 /PRNewswire/ --

- Higher Paycheques, Flexible Work Arrangements, Candidate Screening Online Among Major Trends for 2008 -

CareerBuilder.co.uk, a leading job site in the UK, released the results of its annual job forecast, conducted by Harris Interactive(R), tracking projected hiring and job search activities for the upcoming quarter and 2008. The survey, titled "2008 UK Job Forecast" was conducted between November 14 and December 3, 2007 and included 281 hiring managers and human resource professionals and 507 workers.

CALGARY, Canada, January 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncolytics Biotech Inc. ("Oncolytics") (TSX:ONC, NASDAQ:ONCY) announced today that the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) has filed a protocol with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for patients with metastatic ovarian, peritoneal or fallopian tube cancers using concurrent systemic and intraperitoneal administration of REOLYSIN(R), Oncolytics' proprietary formulation of the human reovirus. The NCI is sponsoring the trial under its Clinical Trials Agreement with Oncolytics, while Oncolytics will provide clinical supplies of REOLYSIN(R).

LYON, France, January 3 /PRNewswire/ --

- Exclusive Agreement for Rabies Monoclonal Antibodies to Fight Fatal Disease

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group, announced today that it has signed an exclusive collaboration and commercialization agreement with Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL) for Crucell's rabies monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), next-generation rabies biologicals to be used in association with rabies vaccine for post-exposure prophylaxis against this fatal disease.

BEVERLY HILLS, California, January 3 /PRNewswire/ --

Pop singer Alisa Apps shuns the idea of signing with major record label and decides to go her own way. Apps, who just launched her website and singing career 10 days ago, announced that she is not seeking to be signed with a major record label.

Her fantastically successful YouTube campaign started 10 days ago and has fans raving.

Alisa started with "Will somebody PLEASE sing Jingle Bells with me???" Within 2 days she had 90,000+ views.

CHICAGO, January 3 /PRNewswire/ --

- Global conferencing leader aligns with Sustainable Development International and United Nations Environment Program for worldwide communications initiative

InterCall, the world's largest conferencing provider, is now a Platinum sponsor of Climate Action, a joint development of Sustainable Development International and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) promoting environmentally-responsible business.

The activation pattern evoked by a familiar object isn’t located in just one place in the brain, according to team of Carnegie Mellon University computer scientists and cognitive neuroscientists who combined methods of machine learning and brain imaging and found a way to identify where people’s thoughts and perceptions of familiar objects originate in the brain.

For instance, thinking about a hammer activated many locations. How you swing a hammer activated the motor area, while what a hammer is used for, and the shape of a hammer activated other areas.

This new method was developed over two years under the leadership of neuroscientist Professor Marcel Just and Computer Science Professor Tom M. Mitchell.

Index to ring finger length ratio (2D:4D) is a trait known for its sexual differences. Men typically have shorter second than fourth digits; in women, these fingers tend to be about equal in length.

Smaller 2D:4D ratios have intriguing hormonal connections, including higher prenatal testosterone levels, lower estrogen concentrations, and higher sperm counts. Reduction in this ratio has also been linked to athletic and sexual prowess. Whether this trait affects the risk of osteoarthritis (OA), a progressive joint disease associated with both physical activity and estrogen deficiency, has not been examined. Until recently.

The crystal structure of a molecule from a primitive fungus has served as a time machine to show researchers more about the evolution of life from the simple to the complex.

By studying the three-dimensional version of the fungus protein bound to an RNA molecule, scientists from Purdue University and the University of Texas at Austin have been able to visualize how life progressed from an early self-replicating molecule that also performed chemical reactions to one in which proteins assumed some of the work.

"Now we can see how RNA progressed to share functions with proteins," said Alan Lambowitz, director of the University of Texas Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology.