Aggressive, vengeful behavior of individuals in some South American groups has been considered the means for men to obtain more wives and more children, but an international team of anthropologists working in Ecuador among the Waorani show that sometimes the macho guy does not do better. 

The Waorani are rainforest manioc horticulturalists and foragers. When the first peaceful contact occurred in 1958, they numbered about 500 people living in an area the size of New Jersey between the Napo and Curaray rivers in the Amazon basin east of the Andes. Their abundant resources often attracted outsiders, who were promptly killed if found.

When it comes to immunity, men may not have been dealt an equal hand. The latest study by Dr. Maya Saleh, of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and McGill University, shows that women have a more powerful immune system than men. In fact, the production of estrogen by females could have a beneficial effect on the innate inflammatory response against bacterial pathogens. The results were published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Can fundamental genes acquire new functions?  A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Indiana University Bloomington biologist Armin Moczek and research associate Debra Rose reports that two ancient genes were "co-opted" to help build a new trait in beetles -- the fancy antlers that give horned beetles their name. The genes, Distal-less and homothorax, touch most aspects of insect larval development, and have therefore been considered off-limits to the evolution of new traits.

Wood or concrete for a cleaner environment?

Wood seems like the obvious answer because it is natural, biodegradeable and renewable but  in the railway industry it isn't so simple.   Railroads around the world face environmental decisions as they replace millions of deteriorating cross ties, also known as railway sleepers - the rectangular objects used as a base for railroad tracks.

A new report concludes that emissions of carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases contributing to global warming, from production of concrete sleepers are up to six times less than emissions associated with timber sleepers. The study is scheduled for the June 1 issue of Environmental Science&Technology.

Increased competition and the global economic crisis have cast clouds upon the Western European solar energy market. Falling polysilicon and solar module prices have the potential to cement China's role as a solar manufacturing hub.

Tunable fluidic micro lenses can focus and direct light at will to count cells, evaluate molecules or create on-chip optical tweezers, according to a team of Penn State engineers. They may also provide imaging in medical devices, eliminating the necessity and discomfort of moving the tip of a probe. 

Conventional, fixed focal length lenses can focus light at only one distance. The entire lens must move to focus on an object or to change the direction of the light. Attempts at conventional tunable lenses have not been successful for lenses on the chip. Fluidic lenses, however, can change their focal length or direction in less than a second while remaining in the same place and can be fabricated on the chip during manufacture. 

TOKYO, May 11 /PRNewswire/ --

Graphin Co., Ltd., announced that the company began in April the domestic sale of isMedia camera module test equipment, CCM Test Equipment M9 (Manual) for manual operation and CCM Test Equipment S16 (Semi-Auto) for semi-automatic operation, both compatible with the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI), a widely recognized open interface for mobile devices.

LONDON, May 11 /PRNewswire/ --

LONDON, May 11 /PRNewswire/ --

- At Least 7 Postmasters Bankrupted, Prosecuted, or had Livelihoods Disrupted - we Investigate why

- Postmasters Encountered Losses They Could not Explain

Lee Castleton cannot get a mortgage or a bank account, and is unlikely to ever own his house. He works over 100 hours a week as an electrician to make ends meet and support his wife Lisa and two children, Millie, 13, and Cameron, 11.

The 40-year-old former postmaster was declared bankrupt after he refused to pay the Post Office GBP27,000, money he owed because the accounts of his Post Office branch in Bridlington, Yorkshire, showed deficits over a 12-week period in 2004.

    For life to begin, there had to be a source of organic compounds in the prebiotic environment. We now think that some of the compounds were delivered to the Earth on comets, meteorites and dust particles, but others were synthesized in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and in volcanic conditions.

How do we know? This question brings up the important topic of prebiotic simulations. In a simulation, we make a set of assumptions about local conditions on the early Earth, then reproduce those conditions in the laboratory and run experiments to see what happens.

NEW YORK, May 10 /PRNewswire/ --

The next generation of U.S. technologies - in energy, medical, aerospace and media - is now actively seeking Middle Eastern and other international investors. Representatives will be in the Gulf May 18-30 to meet interested partners.

MHM/global strategy is helping a select group of future technology leaders find the right global partners. These public and private technology companies offer international investors the chance to lead rather than follow the technology market - and to get in on the next wave of value creation.

All of these companies will consider placing operations in the Middle East or elsewhere, in exchange for significant investment.