Ancient footprints show that some of the earliest humans walked like us and did so on anatomically modern feet 1.5 million years ago. 

This anatomical interpretation is the conclusion of Rutgers Professor John W.K. Harris and an international team of colleagues. Harris is a professor of anthropology, a member of the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies and director of the Koobi Fora Field Project.

Harris is also director of the field school which Rutgers University operates in collaboration with the National Museums of Kenya. From 2006 to 2008, the field school group of mostly American undergraduates, including Rutgers students, excavated the site yielding the footprints. 
 

Ice in Antarctica suddenly appeared — suddenly in geologic terms being a little different than how we think of it — about 35 million years ago. For the previous 100 million years the continent had been essentially ice-free.  Even after Antarctica had drifted to near its present location, its climate remained subtropical but then, 35.5 million years ago, ice formed on Antarctica in only about 100,000 years, which is an "overnight" shift in geological terms. 

What triggered the sudden shift?

Like it or not, your mouth is home to a thriving community of microbial life. More than 600 different species of bacteria reside in this "microbiome," yet everyone hosts a unique set of bugs, and this could have important implications for health and disease. In a new stud, scientists have performed the first global survey of salivary microbes, finding that the oral microbiome of your neighbor is just as different from yours as someone across the globe.

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California have identified a common Achilles' heel in a wide range of seasonal and pandemic influenza A viruses.

The study found an infection-fighting protein, or human antibody, that neutralizes various influenza A virus subtypes by attaching to these viruses in the same place. This common attachment site provides a constant region of the flu virus for scientists to target in an effort to develop a so-called universal flu vaccine.

Such a vaccine would overcome the annual struggle to make the seasonal flu vaccine match next year's circulating flu strains and might help blunt emerging pandemic influenza viruses as well. 

SINGAPORE, February 26 /PRNewswire/ --

- With Photo

SINGAPORE, February 26 /PRNewswire/ --

- Company's Largest Nutrition Manufacturing Facility Will Serve Up to 1 Million Asian Infants and Children Each Year

- Announces Agreement to Open a New Nutrition Science Research and Development Center

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) opened its largest nutrition product manufacturing facility in Singapore to meet increasing regional demand for its pediatric nutrition products, including Similac(R). The facility will serve up to 1 million Asian infants and children each year. This represents the company's growing commitment to the region, its single largest investment in Asia and its largest nutrition investment at US$300 million (S$450 million).

BILLERICA, Massachusetts, February 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- US$5000 prize to develop best indexing system for main memory data

Vertica Systems announced today that it is sponsoring the first annual Special Interest Group on Management of Data (SIGMOD) programming contest. Students at a degree-granting institution have until March 15, 2009, to submit a prototype for consideration as a finalist to participate in a bake-off at this year's Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM) SIGMOD conference in Providence, Rhode Island. Vertica, in conjunction with a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and additional funding from Microsoft Corp., is sponsoring the contest to generate better ideas in transactional indexing systems for main memory data.

LONDON, February 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) invites you to attend the Traditional Herbal Medicines: opportunities and challenges in a changing regulatory environment conference, on Friday 6 March 2009.

Topics under the spotlight include:

- The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency strategy for effectively regulating herbal medicines - The quality of herbal medicines in the UK - Avoiding the pitfalls when registering a herbal product - The development of new traditional herbal medicinal products

The one-day conference will be held at the RPSGB's headquarters in London and opens at 9.30am.

The full conference programme can be found at http://www.rpsgb.org/pdfs/sciconf090306.pdf

WARSAW, Poland, February 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- New DKMS Poland Office Expands Coty-DKMS: Linked Against Leukemia Partnership

Coty Inc., a leader in the global beauty industry and the world's largest fragrance company, and DKMS, the world's largest non-profit bone marrow donor center, are pleased to announce the opening of DKMS Polska, the expansion of the Coty-DKMS: Linked Against Leukemia global initiative.

LONDON, February 25 /PRNewswire/ -- LastPost.com, the iconic UK remembrance website, announces a new email and letters service.

Users can send up to 10 free emails immediately after death and store letters for delivery many years later. Letters can be sent to coincide with anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, births, graduations, and other special days.

The World Health Organisation estimates that 1 person dies every 30 seconds in a car crash, says Andrew Campbell, the Founder and CEO of LastPost.com, not having an opportunity to say goodbye makes the loss of a loved one even harder to bear. Our service provides peace of mind for a sender and support and encouragement for recipients.

HONG KONG, February 25 /PRNewswire/ --

Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (HKEx: 2332; NYSE: HTX) will publish its 2008 annual results on Wednesday, 4 March 2009. Chief Executive Officer Mr Dennis Lui and Chief Financial Officer Mr Christopher Foll will host an investor conference call on the day. Estimated upload time of information and details of the conference call are: