My colleague Peter Turchin over at the University of Connecticut (my Alma Mater) has recently published an intriguing short article in Nature (3 July 2008) on what he termed “cliodynamics,” the possibility of turning history into a science. The word comes from Clio, the muse of history for the Greek and Romans, with the “dynamics” part referring to the central concept proposed by Turchin, that history -- contrary to what most historians might think -- is not just one damn thing after another, that there are regular and predictable patterns, from which we can learn and that we can predict.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Version of Software Empowers Users to Take Advantage of Multicore, FPGA and Wireless Technologies

NIWeek -- National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) today announced LabVIEW 8.6, the latest version of the graphical system design software platform for control, test and embedded system development. Building on the inherent parallel nature of graphical programming, LabVIEW 8.6 delivers new tools to help engineers and scientists take advantage of the benefits of multicore processors, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and wireless communication.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080804/LAM510)

FRAMINGHAM, Massachusetts, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

Everything Channel (formerly CMP Channel), the leader in accelerating global technology sales channels, today announced that it will name the VARBusiness Annual Report Card (ARC) award winners at an event at XChange '08 on Monday, August 18 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Dallas.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080505/NYM117LOGO-a )

LONDON, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- With Photos

Successful results and growing sales of Michelson Diagnostics Ltd's (MDL) Optical Coherence Technology (OCT) systems have encouraged investors to place a further GBP600K into the business to help develop the in vivo technology. The capital injection forms part of a new funding round of almost GBP600k into pioneering MDL, with Catapult Venture Managers investing a further GBP250k, London Seed Capital a further GBP50k and the balance of the money coming from private investors. The money will be used to complete development of its hand-held OCT probe for applications in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080804/316330-a )

SCHIPHOL-RIJK, The Netherlands, August 4 /PRNewswire/ -- SecondFloor, a rapidly expanding IT services company based in The Netherlands will take a core role in an ambitious project to develop a risk management platform for Allianz Group. The custom built solution provides Allianz with auditable, automated, centralized and SOX compliant risk calculations on the basis of a new replication portfolio approach. SecondFloor will be responsible for the analysis, information architecture, server based implementation, testing, deployment and support, providing Allianz with a robust, reliable and auditable solution.

MANHASSET, New York, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Industry Veterans Rank Financial Engineering Programs Based on Wall Street Recruitability

TechWeb's Advanced Trading, the premiere source for objective industry-specific content for trading executives, today announced the Top Ten schools for quantitative analysts. Working closely with Wall Street veterans, Advanced Trading chose the top schools in terms of financial services recruitability. Published in the August issue, the article entitled, "The Top 10 Quant Schools, According to the Street" was written by executive editor, Cristina McEachern. The feature story can be found online at: http://www.advancedtrading.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209102204.

BERLIN, August 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments DLP Products will be showcasing the latest in DLP projector technology at IFA this year in Berlin. We would like to invite you to attend the Texas Instruments stand in Hall 26, Booth 102, where exciting innovations in products and technology await you.

Texas Instruments DLP Products will offer exclusive interviews with DLP experts in the field of home theatre projectors, pico projection, HDTV and DLP Cinema, as well as providing journalists with the opportunity to discuss the following topics with us:

- The industry's first DLP home theatre lamp-free projector

- Leading 3D projectors innovated from DLP's foundation in digital Cinema

- Stand-alone pico projector for mobile applications

REDWOOD CITY, California, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Pediatrics publishes data on Re-Mission(TM) video game showing young cancer patients who played the game took their medications more consistently

Video games are among the most popular entertainment media in the world. Now, groundbreaking research shows that a specially designed video game can promote positive behaviors in young cancer patients that enhance the effectiveness of medical treatment. This research, sponsored by the nonprofit organization HopeLab and published today in the medical journal Pediatrics, provides scientific evidence for a growing field of product development that taps into the positive potential of video games and other popular technology to improve human health.

The architecture of haematopoiesis – which is the process by which all blood cells originate – is essentially the same throughout the mammal world, report scientists in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. This is an unexpected result considering the thousands of mammals’ species with a myriad of habitats and lifestyles, as so well demonstrated when comparing the 30 mm flying bumblebee bat and the 30 metre-long aquatic blue whale both mammals. But the work now published shows that the variations in the blood system - necessary to adapt to the evolutionary changes found within the mammals’ world -can be explained quantitatively (for example by producing more cells or having the cells dividing faster), and are directly correlated to the animals’ body mass and do not require any fundamental alteration in the haematopoietic process.

PALO ALTO, California, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --