‘Truthiness,’ according to fount-of-all-important-wisdom and television host Stephen Colbert, represents the human preference to follow our intuition despite the presence of actual facts or evidence - and the more ambiguous an answer to a question, the more likely an individual will believe it is truthful.

Psychologists Rick Dale of the University of Memphis, Michael Spivey of Cornell University and the late Chris McKinstry affirmed this when they asked college students questions that ranged in levels of vagueness and tracked their corresponding arm movements to clicking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on a computer screen.

Specifically, questions such as “is murder sometimes justifiable?” are considered ambiguous and could cause the sensation of being ‘pulled’ in both directions at once; however, questions like “can a kangaroo walk backwards?” have a high probability of ‘no’ responding.

Genes have the ability to recognise similarities in each other from a distance, without any proteins or other biological molecules aiding the process, according to new research published this week in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B. This discovery could explain how similar genes find each other and group together in order to perform key processes involved in the evolution of species.

In a project funded by Technology Foundation STW, Haimin Tao examined the conditions a good regulation system for energy transfer must meet. As the sources and storage elements vary considerably in terms of aspects such as voltage level, the conventional conversion technique needed to be improved. The search for improvements focused on soft switching, reduction of current amplitudes and a greater efficiency.

To safeguard the quality of the power flows, the researcher sought the appropriate regulators and storage systems so that the energy generated by external sources could be (temporarily) stored in suitable components, such as batteries and supercapacitors. Eventually he arrived at a triple port system that rendered energy transfer between different sources possible. As the new triple port converter transforms the energy in a single step, it could be more cost effective, flexible and efficient than the conventional approach.

Researchers of the Group of Recent Prehistory Studies (GEPRAN) of the University of Granada, from the department of Prehistory and Archaeology, have taken an important step to determine how life was in the Iberian Peninsula in the Bronze Age.

Since 1974, archaeologists from Granada, directed by professors Trinidad Nájera Colino and Fernando Molina González, have been working on the site of the Motilla del Azuer, in the municipal area of Daimiel (province of Ciudad Real), in search of the necessary information to reconstruct the day by day in this thrilling and unknown historical period.

The sites, known as “motillas”, represent one of the most peculiar types of prehistoric settlements in the Iberian Peninsula.

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pennsylvainia and LEXINGTON, Massachusetts, January 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- Acquisition Expands Size and Scope of GSI's Interactive Marketing Services Capabilities in U.S. and Europe; e-Dialog to Operate as Stand-Alone Subsidiary

CLAREMONT, California, January 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- FAWE Increases Educational Access, Retention and Performance for Girls in 33 African Nations

Claremont McKenna College and the Kravis Leadership Institute announced today the selection of The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), to receive the third annual Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership.

The Kravis Prize, which carries a US$250,000 award designated to the honoree organization, recognizes extraordinary leadership in the nonprofit sector. FAWE was selected for its outstanding record providing an estimated 12 million girls and women with access to education, thereby contributing to improving their standard of economic and social well being.

NUREMBERG, Germany, January 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- OSBF Presents the Open Source Business Award 2008

LONDON, January 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- With Over Two Million Impressions, Campaign Illustrates the Power of Online Video Advertising to Build Stronger Brand Awareness

Real Time Content (RTC), a leader in Adaptive Media, today announced the results of an interactive online adaptive media campaign conducted during October with Nationwide Building Society, a leading financial institution in the UK. The adaptive video campaign quadrupled click-through rates for product offerings versus traditional video campaigns online. The campaign provided nearly 2,000,000 impressions and delivered more than a 100,000 adaptive video adverts.

HAIFA, Israel, January 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Oil Refineries Ltd. (TASE: ORL.TA) (the "Company" or "ORL"), Israel's largest oil refiner, announced today that a wholly owned foreign subsidiary of Carmel Olefins Ltd. (a private company in which ORL holds 50%, hereinafter: "COL") signed an agreement to acquire 49% of the outstanding share capital of Domo Polypropylene BV (hereinafter: "Domo").

MOSCOW, January 24 /PRNewswire/ --

Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces the appointment of Mukhamed Tsikanov as its Senior Vice President on Economics and Management.

Previously, Mr. Tsikanov (52) was Acting General Director of Mechel's Yakutugol OJSHC subsidiary. In his new position, Mr. Tsikanov will be responsible for the strategic development of Mechel OAO's economic and management organization, management accounts policies and planning, and implementation of internal management and control systems.