Unique fractures in lavas on ancient Mars suggest water occasionally flooded portions of the planet's surface.   The fractures, known as "columnar joints," are the first that have been observed on a planet other than Earth. 

The characteristics of the column-like fractures can help scientists understand the role of water in geologic processes on Mars, said Moses Milazzo, a geophysicist with the U. S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Team in Flagstaff and lead author on a paper on the discovery recently published in the journal Geology.

"Columnar joints form as cooling lava contracts," said Milazzo. 

NEW YORK, February 28 /PRNewswire/ --

- Kofi Annan, Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu to Participate in Debate and QA at www.ghf-ge.org

The Global Humanitarian Forum will be broadcasting live a panel discussion on Climate Justice hosted by the Global Humanitarian Forum in collaboration with the University of Pretoria.

The countries most vulnerable are least able to protect themselves. They also contribute least to the global emissions of greenhouse gases. Without action they will pay a high price for the actions of others, says Kofi Annan.

SANTA CLARA, California, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Finesse Solutions, LLC, Santa Clara, CA, a manufacturer of measurement and control solutions for life sciences process applications, announced the release of TruTorr(TM), a single-use pressure sensor for measuring headspace pressure in single-use containers, in order to prevent overpressure damage, at Interphex in New York on March 17, 2009.

Internet phenomena has long been used by advertisers to gather data, form hypotheses, and test them in the form of ad serving—science is starting to get smart to the data-gathering possibilities spawned by voluntary internet activity. 

The most recent headline to this effect is Everquest 2 research at U of Minnesota. Jaideep Srivastava, et al are using Everquest chat logs for social network analysis, similar to the way community interactions among flesh-and-blood people. 

LONDON, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Chiltern a leading global clinical research organization announced today that it has appointed Ms. Jane Turner to the post of Director, Late Phase, Europe.

To the historian, English is a fascinating language.  Unlike most of the languages of Europe, it underwent an almost complete makeover following the Norman invasion (1066 and All That).  As a result, although or basic words and grammar are basically like German and especially Dutch, the lion’s share of our vocabulary is from French and Latin.  

My grandfather had a special room in his cellar for the various presses and casks he used to make his notoriously mouth-wrenching red wine.  I have friends whose microbrew apparatus takes up the entire spare bedroom of their house, like a permanently boozy-smelling houseguest.  Accordingly, I thought that fermenting was best left to the hardcore hobbyists-- too complicated a pursuit for the average partly-stocked kitchen.  Turns out, it's pretty simple. I recently made ginger ale with only items I had laying around my kitchen. 

SKILLMAN, New Jersey, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

ConvaTec, a world-leading developer and marketer of innovative medical technologies for community and hospital care, announced today that it has completed the divestiture of the Unomedical Wound Care and Ophthalmics business to Aspen Surgical Products Holding, Inc. Aspen is a portfolio company of RoundTable Healthcare Partners, an operating-oriented private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry.

The divestiture of the Unomedical Wound Care and Ophthalmics business was a requirement of the European Commission following the acquisition of ConvaTec by Nordic Capital and Avista Capital Partners and the subsequent integration of the Unomedical business with ConvaTec.

PARIS, February 27 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 26th 2009, the Supervisory Board of Somfy examined the annual accounts for the company and its subsidiaries for the year ending on December 31st 2008.

Consolidated figures FY 2008 FY 2007 Change in EUR million 2008/07 Sales 749.4 720.2 +4.0% Operating current income 123.9 132.3 -6.4% Non current items (2.8) (1.2) Ns Operating income 121.1 131.2 -7.7% Income before income tax 108.6 129.7 -16.2% Income tax (24.1) (38.8) -38.0% Share of associate companies' earnings 1.9 13.1 NS Net income 86.4 103.9 -16.8% Net income excluding contribution from 86.4 93.2 -7.3% Faac Cash flow from operating activities 123.9 119.7 +3.5%

CHICAGO, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Ability for in-depth analysis of the latest data

OAG, www.oagaviation.com, the industry's most accurate single source for airline schedules information, commercial fleets, analytical services and asset valuation support, has integrated its own metrics to the data just recently made public by the DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.