A research team from Northeastern University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has discovered that a residue of a process used to build arrays of titania nanotubes (that wasn’t even previously noticed), plays an important role in improving the performance of the nanotubes in solar cells that produce hydrogen gas from water. Their results indicate that by controlling the deposition of potassium on the surface of the nanotubes, engineers can achieve significant energy savings in a promising new alternate energy system.

A trove of Benjamin Franklin letters has turned up in the British Library. Discovered by University of California, San Diego professor Alan Houston, the letters are copies of correspondence that hasn't been seen in more than 250 years. 

All dating from the spring and summer of 1755, the 47 letters by, to and about Franklin are in the hand of one Thomas Birch, a contemporary of Franklin's who was a prodigious – almost inveterate – compiler and transcriber of historical documents.   They are being published for the first time in the April issue of the William and Mary Quarterly. 

The circadian clock coordinates physiological and behavioral processes on a 24-hour rhythm, allowing animals to anticipate changes in their environment and prepare accordingly.

Scientists already know that some genes are controlled by the clock and are turned on only one time during each 24-hour cycle but now researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that some genes are switched on once every 12 or 8 hours.

Genome sequencing is getting better and faster.  Two months ago we had the first draft of the neanderthal genome and now scientists from the University of Maryland have published their assembly of the Bos taurus - the domestic cow.  Sure that's not as exciting to the wider population but it's important to the genetics community.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, April 23 /PRNewswire/ --

- Low International Calling Rates for Friends and Family Worldwide

Friendster, Inc., a top 20 global Web site based on traffic* and the #1 social network in Asia, today announced the launch of The Friendster Loop, a pre-paid calling card with low, competitive rates, ideal for making international calls conveniently to over 220 countries. The Friendster Loop calling card is available immediately for use by anyone, including Friendster's tens of millions of active users and Internet users around the globe. Users can register for The Friendster Loop at www.friendsterloop.com.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090422/SF03636)

PARIS and SAN FRANCISCO, April 23 /PRNewswire/ --

- This partnership, the first of its kind, will expand the reach of Wikimedia content through co-branded channels on Orange's mobile and web portals

- The two partners will work together to develop new services and features around content from Wikipedia, the flagship project of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Orange and the Wikimedia Foundation today announced a wide-ranging strategic partnership designed to mutually benefit each organization's users by extending the way people can access free knowledge.

When I was a kid, 'toxic' assets were not assets at all; they were called 'liabilities.'    That's why asset and liability columns exist on these things called 'spreadsheets.'   But I am neither a politician nor a banker so I have poor grasp of things I know nothing about.  Much like this Timothy Geithner guy.

But apparently toxic assets do exist because banks around the world are being dragged down by them.   Who would have thought that mortgage-backed securities based on a housing bubble fueled by people who couldn't afford their homes would ever be a problem?   Well, me, but I was told I hated poor people and minorities for daring to ask.

SEATTLE, April 23 /PRNewswire/ --

The Bill Melinda Gates Foundation welcomes today's news that the UK Government will deliver on its promises to the poorest people in the world, despite the current economic downturn, and achieve the EU target to increase development assistance to 0.56 percent of National Income by 2010.

The UK government's pledge to increase the amount of money it gives to poor countries at this time will contribute to real progress in the fight against poverty and disease, said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation. We know that progress is possible on the major challenges facing poor people across the world, even in difficult times. It takes sustained and smart investments to maintain progress and reach shared global goals.

LONDON, April 23 /PRNewswire/ --

Parents and caregivers concerned about the use of Bonjela and Bonjela Cool Mint Gel on children under the age of 16 should consult their pharmacist, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) recommends.

The advice comes after guidance issued by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory products Agency (MHRA) advised that products containing salicylate salts, like Bonjela and Bonjela Cool Mint Gel, should not be used for children under the age of 16.

The RPSGB's Director of Policy, David Pruce said the guidance from the MHRA was based on the slim and theoretical risk that products containing salicylate salts could increase the possibility of a child developing the rare condition of Reye's syndrome.

DOHA, Qatar, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, ASPETAR - Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital was officially named as a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence. Following the strategy implemented with the opening of the first FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence at the Schulthess Clinic in Zurich in May 2005, world football's governing body has proceeded to set a worldwide network of FIFA Medical Centres of Excellence to ensure that players have access to high quality football medicine.