Modern nuclear techniques are giving the world's scientists and regulators better tools to fight pollution and other environmental threats – even those that may be lurking naturally at the beach or near your backyard. Many of the world's top "radioecologists" are in Morocco this week to assess a dynamic picture.

Environmental protection is drawing more attention in countries at all stages of development. A special area is monitoring the presence and movement of radionuclides in nature -- many of which are associated with societal activities -- to track and prevent contamination of soils, water, air, and food.

Studies reported this week, for example, cover mining in Romania and Kenya, electricity generation in Spain and Serbia, waste disposal in Lithuania, well water pumping in the USA, coastal climate changes in Sweden, ocean studies in Turkey, air pollution monitoring in Morocco, and phosphate fertilizer use in Cuba. Associated environmental and radioactive elements include isotopes of radon, potassium, polonium, thorium, carbon, uranium, and lead.

Reports were presented at the 4th International Symposium on Nuclear Metrology as a Tool for Radioecology, being hosted in Rabat by Morocco's National Centre for Energy, Sciences and Nuclear Techniques (CNESTEN) with the support of the IAEA and other regional and global partners.

Many activities are outside the nuclear industry, and involve what are known as "naturally occurring radioactive materials" or NORM for short. The activities pose different levels of risk, and are regulated in different ways, sometimes not at all. Through its programmes, the IAEA is reviewing issues related to the management and regulation of NORM industries, with a view to developing additional guidance documents on specific activities.

"Human activities are increasingly having an impact on the environment," noted Francois Brechignac of the International Union of Radioecology in Morocco this week. "But we are too often reacting once the impacts are already there, sometimes too late to counteract environmental detriment."

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, October 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- Redline to Feature Voice, Video and Data Communications via RedMAX 4C (TM) Mobile WiMAX System

Redline Communications Group Inc. ("Redline") (TSX and AIM: RDL), a leading provider of WiMAX and broadband wireless infrastructure products, will feature a live demonstration of its RedMAX 4C(TM) Mobile WiMAX products at Gitex Technology Week from October 19 to 23 in Dubai, UAE.

In a series of experiments with sleeping mice, researchers at the Duke University Medical Center say they have shown that the part of the brain that processes scents is a key part of forming long-term memories, especially involving other individuals.

"We can all relate to the experience of walking into a room and smelling something that sparks a vivid, emotional memory about a family member from years or even decades ago," says Stephen Shea, Ph.D., the lead author of the study published in The Journal of Neuroscience. "This research sought to understand that phenomenon on a cellular level."

The researchers examined how strong memories are formed by creating new memories in the minds of mice while under sedation and monitoring their response to a memory-inducing stimulus afterwards, when they were awake.

Think you knew spent too much time pondering the wonders of beer in college? These Rice University students have you beat. They're using genetic engineering to create beer that contains resveratrol, a chemical in wine that's been shown to reduce cancer and heart disease in lab animals.

Rice's "BioBeer" will be entered in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition Nov. 8-9 in Cambridge, Mass. It's the world's largest synthetic biology competition, a contest where teams use a standard toolkit of DNA building blocks -- think genetic LEGO blocks -- to create living organisms that do odd things.

Paleontologists have long debated the function of the strange, bony crests on the heads of the duck-billed dinosaurs known as lambeosaurs. The structures contain incredibly long, convoluted nasal passages that loop up over the tops of their skulls.

Scientists at the University of Toronto, Ohio University and Montana State University now have used CT-scanning to look inside these mysterious crests and reconstruct the brains and nasal cavities of four different lambeosaur species.

At the annual meeting of the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology in Cleveland, Ohio, the team today announced new findings that suggest the crests were used for communication.

Eating too much fructose can induce leptin resistance, a condition that can easily lead to becoming overweight when combined with a high-fat, high-calorie diet, according to a new study with rats.

Although previous studies have shown that being leptin resistant can lead to rapid weight gain on a high-fat, high-calorie diet, this is the first study to show that leptin resistance can develop as a result of high fructose consumption. The study also showed for the first time that leptin resistance can develop silently, that is, with little indication that it is happening.

A team of researchers in Canada say they have made a bold stride in the struggle to detect dark matter - and it involves listening and WIMPS. The PICASSO collaboration has documented the discovery of a significant difference between the acoustic signals induced by neutrons and alpha particles in a detector based on superheated liquids.

Since neutron induced signals are very similar to dark matter induced signals, this new discovery published in the New Journal of Physics, could lead to improved background suppression in dark matter searches with this type of detector.

CHANDLER, Arizona, October 16 /PRNewswire/ --

MESA International, the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association, is announcing its 2008 European Plant-to-Enterprise Conference, 3-4 November, held at the Top Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic.

Building on the success of last year's conference, the second European Plant-to-Enterprise Conference will focus on "Delivering on Strategies" and the new MESA strategic initiatives. The association's efforts are focused on information technology use to support the real-time events occurring during the production process and how this same information can be used to support broader company and value chain objectives such as lean manufacturing, collaborative supply chain management, regulatory compliance, etc.

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, October 15 /PRNewswire/ --

Thomson Reuters, the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, announced today the launch of Thomson Pharma KOLexperts, a new solution designed to help pharmaceutical organizations identify, verify, and develop productive relationships with key opinion leaders (KOLs) and scientific experts. It is the first solution available to the industry that allows users to rank life sciences KOLs with a range of objective metrics. Designed for scientific expertise identification, Thomson Pharma KOLexperts offers a variety of tools to find experts with specific scientific competencies.

PALO ALTO, California, October 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- Seed Fund Helps Entrepreneurs Grow on Facebook Platform and Across the Web With Nearly US$2 Million in Grants, as Well as Mentorship and Marketing Resources