National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Arden L. Bement Jr. has presented the agency's proposed $6.85 billion budget for fiscal year (FY) 2009, a 13 percent increase over its actual FY 2008 budget. The additional $822.10 million would increase funding for agency programs that advance the frontiers of research and education in science and engineering.

Bement said the increase reflected a growing consensus that the United States needs to invest more resources in basic scientific research if it is to remain a global leader in science and technology. "More than a dozen major studies have now concluded that a substantial increase in federal funding for basic scientific research is critical to ensure the preeminence of America's scientific and technological enterprise," Bement said.

LONDON, February 8 /PRNewswire/ -- ALK Technologies today announced that customers of its award-winning CoPilot Live mobile phone navigation system will be able to benefit from an integral connection to Microsoft's Live Search(TM) API.

Simply key-in a search query into a free-text input box, for example 'bank', 'coffee' or a favoured brand, and a list of the matches closest to the current location is displayed. It's a significant enhancement to CoPilot's on-board address and points of interest search, providing access to a huge variety of dynamic real-time information.

BAAR, Switzerland, February 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Manas Petroleum Corporation moves to an independent management structure in order to enhance corporate governance. Manas is pleased to announce the appointment of Thomas Flottmann, PhD, as Chief Executive Officer and Rahul Sen Gupta, CFA as Chief Financial Officer. The former CEO, Alexander Becker PhD, and CFO, Peter-Mark Vogel CFA have been appointed Director, New Ventures and Director, Finance. Mr. Becker and Mr. Vogel will continue to play an active role in the company to increase the value of the company by acquiring new projects and negotiating with potential partners and financial institutions.

SAO PAULO, Brazil, February 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- Considered the world's third largest IT market, the country is the company's focus in 2008

The English office of Stefanini IT Solutions, one of Brazil's major IT consulting companies, has completed its second year, and operations are going full force. The unit celebrates its fast growth. Operations volume has doubled each year.

The colugo doesn't fly and is not a lemur but it's still called a "flying lemur" - and it's the champion of all gliding mammals, able to drop from the forest canopy in Malaysia, glide more than the length of two football fields, execute 90-degree turns and then alight gently on a tree trunk.

The colugo looks like a very large squirrel with membranous skin stretching from each limb and even between its toes to catch the wind and work as a parachute. When fully spread, the skin flaps reach the size of a large doormat.

Researchers are discovering how these animals move with the help of a miniature backpack outfitted with accelerometers.

ZUG, Switzerland, February 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Swiss Hawk AG announces today that it will adjust its business model and focus on major investments made during 2007 in the environmental sector.

Due to the performance of EDG AG in Frankfurt the Swiss Hawk management has decided to follow the EDG strategy and to invest solely in environmental technologies and projects.

Collaboration is a requirement for the advancement of modern science. Researchers cannot be expert at everything and must specialize to make a unique contribution. But if coordinating research within a group is challenging, effective collaboration between groups is even more so. There is often a strong temptation for research units to treat each other like black boxes. There is some logic to this - the point of having a collaborator is to distribute the responsibility of tasks in a project. If I get involved with every detail of my collaborator's work I may as well do the work within my own group. But problems can arise because of unstated assumptions between groups.

Michael Barton has posted a brief essay on Open Notebook Science on his research web site:

As you might expect from the name, Open Notebook Science (ONS) has similarities with Open Source Software. The clearest likeness between the two, is the belief that by sharing and collaborating, more can be achieved than through secrecy and competition.

BARCELONA, February 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- NXP Software's Unique LifeVibes(TM) MixDJ Helps Create a Party Atmosphere Anytime and Anywhere

NXP Software is demonstrating its LifeVibes MixDJ software at the Mobile World Congress 2008. MixDJ brings a new experience to mobile phones and music players. With its automatic professional DJ-style mixing, it can help create a party atmosphere anytime and anywhere, and device makers can offer distinctive functionality designed to increase the appeal of music on mobile phones and players. Moreover, thanks to NXP Software's experience in optimized solutions for mobile multimedia, MixDJ targets most embedded platforms.

LONDON, February 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- Wide Success in Energy Risk's Annual Rankings

GFI Group, Inc (Nasdaq: GFIG) has been named top commodity broker in Energy Risk magazine's annual rankings.

In the results, released today, GFI was also named number one in the following individual categories: UK/Europe Oil products (ultra-low sulphur diesel); Electricity: overall, France and Belgium; Gold: spot and forwards; Silver: options and forwards; Platinum and Palladium spot and options; Nickel and Zinc options and dry freight FFAs.

US-based Amerex, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GFI, was placed first in 14 of the 16 North American natural gas and electricity categories.