It sounds like common sense to say the level of nutrients in soil determines how many different kinds of plants and trees can thrive in an ecosystem, but it's only now that mathematicians have modelled all the different possible relationships between nutrients and biodiversity in lab-based experimental ecosystems.

Writing in Nature, they found that although nutrient availability definitely has an impact on biodiversity, the precise relationship between the two depends on which species are present in the ecosystem. This means that in some cases low levels of nutrients can lead to high levels of biodiversity.

Contrary to the national "carbon budgets" as outlined in the Kyoto Protocol, a new analysis in Nature suggests that old growth forests are "carbon sinks" and they continue to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and mitigate climate change for centuries.

Old growth forests around the world are not protected by international treaties and have been considered of no significance in the Kyoto Protocol. That perspective was largely based on findings of a single study from the late 1960s and these scientists now say it needs to be changed.

An analysis of 519 different plot studies found that about 15 percent of the forest land in the Northern Hemisphere is unmanaged primary forests with large amounts of old growth, and that rather than being irrelevant to the Earth's carbon budget, they may account for as much as 10 percent of the global net uptake of carbon dioxide.

LONDON, September 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB), the professional and regulatory body for pharmacists, is successfully deploying mvision's unique managed video conferencing service to enable them to hold regular internal face-to-face meetings. Video conferencing is also being used by the disciplinary committees for dialling in witnesses unable to attend in person.

RPSGB previously had Polycom systems all connected to ISDN running over their existing network. They were struggling to make video conferencing an easy-to-use and reliable communication tool. Martin Bagley, AV Support Manager for RPSGB, found setting up meetings stressful as he could never guarantee that they would work.

BASINGSTOKE, England, September 10 /PRNewswire/ --

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced results of its 1,200 person study across Europe and the Middle East into the behaviors of the Millennial generation (16-27 year olds) regarding their consumer technology decisions and media consumption habits.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/motorola/34727/

READING, England, September 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Windows Media Center meets requirements for Freeview certification to deliver enhanced TV content to the PC.

Microsoft Corp, working with tuner manufacturer Hauppauge Computer Works Inc, today announced the launch of the first Freeview-certified, PC-based TV solution. With Windows Media Center, found on all PCs running Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate, and Windows Media Center TV Pack, Microsoft will now be able to offer UK consumers best-in-class interactive and enhanced TV paired with some of the best personal video recorder (PVR) features available on the market today.

LONDON and CAMBRIDGE, England and PHILADELPHIA and HEIDELBERG, Germany, September 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Kinobeads(TM) Technology to Identify a New Generation of Drug Candidates for Inflammatory Diseases

Cellzome Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline (LSE & NYSE: GSK) announce the signing of a worldwide strategic alliance to discover, develop and market novel kinase-targeted therapeutics to treat inflammatory diseases.

READING, England, September 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Company Transitions to IP Telephony With Verizon Business Solutions

The Cavotec MSL Group, a global leader in power supply solutions, has entrusted its global communications infrastructure to Verizon Business, as Cavotec MSL transitions to an IP-based communications environment.

BEIJING, September 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Alliance Digital Changes Name to Alliance Development Group (ADG)

Alliance Digital today announced it has changed its name to Alliance Development Group to better reflect the Company's business of providing China-focused, cross-border market development, strategic partnering, and investment advisory services to leading global and Chinese technology companies. The Company will use the trade names Alliance Development Group and ADG, as appropriate.

COPENHAGEN, September 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- A Radically Different Approach Enables Sales Professionals to Use the SAP Variant Configurator in an Interface Very Similar to Their Microsoft Outlook(TM)

COPENHAGEN, September 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- The Danish Software Company, Configit, Releases Configit Quote - the Sales Configurator for SAP Organizations Selling Complex Products

COPENHAGEN, September 10 /PRNewswire/ --

Configit announces the October release of Configit Quote, a very different type of sales configurator for manufacturing companies using the SAP Variant Configurator.

What do you call a supernova that is not as powerful and doesn't destroy the star?

A babynova? Subnova?

We'll need to think of something, according to Berkeley astronomer Nathan Smith, because that is what happened in 1843 to Eta Carinae, the galaxy's second most studied star.

Eta Carinae (η Car) is a massive, hot, variable star visible only from the Southern Hemisphere, and is located about 7,500 light years from Earth in a young region of star birth called the Carina Nebula. It was observed to brighten immensely in 1843, and astronomers now see the resulting cloud of gas and dust, known as the Homunculus nebula, wafting away from the star. A faint shell of debris from an earlier explosion is also visible, probably dating from around 1,000 years ago.