Lithium-ion batteries are commonly regarded as promising for the cars of the future (at least until hydrogen fuel cells are ready for prime time) but environmentalists interested in electric or hybrid vehicles are concerned about the acid rain caused by battery manufacturing and high replacement cost for the batteries, which will last about the same as a standard car battery but are a terrific expense.

Anthropomorphizing, the process, as Twain might say, of “underestimating the animal by assigning to him human traits,” has had a good year. The reasons range from the continuing dominance of the Obama dog, Bo, on Fox News (Bo: “Socialist or simple anarcho syndiclist?”), to the rise of kitty cat “jammers” for tabby sleepover night. Not kidding. On the sleepover thing.

Astronomers report they have measured the distance to the most remote galaxy and have found that they are seeing it when the Universe was only about 600 million years old (a redshift of 8.6), making those the first confirmed observations of a galaxy whose light is clearing the opaque hydrogen fog that filled the cosmos at this early time. 

A Nuclear Eco-Catastrophe

One of the most recognized markers of cellular aging is the progressive accumulation of damage in the DNA, a molecule that cannot tolerate the alteration of the genetic information coded in its bases.

comScore, Inc. , a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of Internet usage in Russia based on August 2010 data from the comScore Media Metrix service and the data revealed that Russians are the heaviest social networkers worldwide in terms of time spent per user and that Yandex is the leading property in the Russian Federation. 

 Russia #1 Worldwide in Time Spent on Social Networking Sites 

 In August 2010, 34.5 million Russian Internet users (74.5 percent of the online population) visited at least one social networking site.