A reconstruction of an extreme warm period shows the sensitivity of the climate system to changes in carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels as well as the strong influence of ocean temperatures, heat transport from equatorial regions, and greenhouse gases on Earth's temperature.

The researchers say the new data allow for more accurate predictions of future climate and improved understanding of today's warming because past warm periods provide insight into climate change and are natural laboratories for understanding the global climate system.

Scientists from the Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) group, led by the U.S. Geological Survey, examined fossils from 3.3 to 3.0 million years ago, known as the mid-Pliocene warm period.

Showing loved ones that you're thinking of them is still the main focus at Christmas time but are traditional cards becoming outmoded by technology?   Results of a survey published today conducted by Christmas video messaging site Christmasee.com shows that whilst cards remain popular, nearly one in four (23 per cent) of those surveyed intend to send fewer cards or no cards at all this Christmas.

As daily use of the internet becomes more commonplace, almost a quarter (24 per cent) of under 45's quizzed view sending Christmas cards as old fashioned and believe that there are more effective ways to share greetings.

Half of those cutting back on the number of cards they'll send this year attribute their decision to the current economic climate.

A growth hormone that had shown some promise for treating people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) showed no benefit in a new study published in Neurology. 

Two previous, shorter studies using growth hormone insulin-like growth factor-1, or IGF-1, to treat ALS had conflicting results. A North American study found that the drug was beneficial, while a European study found no benefit. 

Don't give up the driving range just yet, but a group of physicists at the 61st Meeting of the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics say they can optimize a golf ball with numerical simulations, leaving prototyping to verify manufacturing rather than as part of the design.

That means some day you could have a golf ball optimized for your swing.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia and NEW YORK, November 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- Identifies the Web's 20 Most Heard Voices in the United Kingdom

- World's Largest Participatory News Network Measures the Visibility and Connectedness of the United Kingdom's Movers and Shakers

Were you first in line to buy a new iPhone?   Or are you still using your handy Motorola StarTAC from 1998?    Do you like changing jobs now and again because you get bored?

These personality traits may be hard-wired in your brain, according to scientists at the University of Bonn.   They say the neural connection between the ventral striatum and the hippocampus is what makes the difference. Both of them are reward centers in the brain. The reward system which urges us to take action is located in the striatum, whereas the hippocampus is responsible for specific memory functions.

Russian semiologist Yuri M. Lotman has analyzed how epidemics of fear work through the study of witch-hunting processes that claimed thousands of victims in Catholic and Protestant countries centuries ago.

In the article, published in the latest edition of the Revista de Occidente magazine, the most senior representative of cultural semiotics in Spain highlighted that the witch persecution intensity curve “paradoxically coincides with progress in the field of culture and science”. “As Renaissance ideas spread, so do fear and processes”, asserted the expert.

It's classical music for the "Guitar Hero" generation - a way to compose and perform at the same time, with infinite variations.    That's right, you can be Ludwig van Beethoven (except not deaf) and perform his Ninth symphony, armed with a laptop and a midi system that samples different tones, processes them, and sends them back in ever-changing variations.  And an orchestra, if that helps.

You can call it “Ode to Joy 2008” because the basic theme is instantly recognizable but you can alter it in real-time, with ever-changing variety.

Official professional standards in both Scotland and England which aim to nurture the development of new teachers pay too little attention to what 'becoming' a teacher is really like, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) which finds that existing standards ignore the emotional, relationship and personal issues which are the real challenge for teachers starting out in their careers, focussing instead on the acquisition of skills and knowledge.

Resulting from the study, researchers propose a new model which aims to improve existing standards by capturing the multi-dimensional experience of new teachers.

Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Strathclyde, Jim McNally, says: "Existing competence-based professional standar

Multiple high-definition videos and other data-rich services may soon stream through homes, offices, ships and planes via new hybrid optical/ultra-wideband-radio systems developed by European researchers.

Moshe Ran, Coordinator of the EU-funded project, UROOF (Photonic components for Ultra-wideband Radio Over Optical Fiber), has a vision. He wants to see streams of high-definition video and other high-bandwidth services flowing through homes, office buildings, and even ships and planes, through a happy marriage of optical and ultra-wideband radio technologies.

“It’s a natural combination that can bring a lot of advantages to the world,” says Ran.