The first year I was working as a Behavior Therapist, I had a client named David*- a five year old boy with autism, who was my first case as a newly-promoted supervising Senior Therapist. My boss and I met the entire family at their home on an initial fact-gathering mission, in preparation for the beginning of an intensive 35 hr/week home therapy program. We asked David's mom the typical questions- age of onset of symptoms, verbal ability, what types of perseverative behaviors he had, etc.

By observing distant earthquakes, researchers at the University of Calgary have revealed new clues about the interior of our planet. They say they have discovered that the composition of Earth's outer core is much different than scientists previously believed.

The results appear in Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors

If you thought storing your entire music library on an iPod was cool, you haven't seen anything yet.  Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a computer chip that can store an entire library's worth of information on a single chip.

The new chip stems from a breakthrough in the use of nanodots, or nanoscale magnets, and represents a significant advance in computer-memory technology, researchers say.

Nanodots are made of single, defect-free crystals, creating magnetic sensors that are integrated directly into a silicon electronic chip. These nanodots, which can be made uniformly as small as six nanometers in diameter, are all precisely oriented in the same way – allowing programmers to reliably read and write data to the chips.

Hot peppers contain a substance called capsaicin that not only adds spice to our foods but may actually help us lose weight. A new study conducted by UCLA researchers found that a substance in hot peppers called capsaicin can actually increase our energy expenditure by increasing heat production.

If you don't appreciate the "burn" of hot peppers, researchers say there are plants that make a non-burning version of capsaicin called dihydrocapsiate (DCT) that could have the benefits of peppers without the pungency.

The study was presented earlier this week at the Experimental Biology 2010 meeting in Anaheim, CA

Astronomers have found evidence of water ice and organic material on the asteroid 24 Themis. The findings, detailed in Nature, support the idea that asteroids could be responsible for bringing water and organic material to Earth, researchers say.

Using NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, astronomers examined the surface of 24 Themis, a 200-kilometer wide asteroid that sits halfway between Mars and Jupiter. By measuring the spectrum of infrared sunlight reflected by the object, the researchers found the spectrum consistent with frozen water and determined that 24 Themis is coated with a thin film of ice. They also detected organic material.

University of Melbourne researchers writing in Nature say melting sea ice is a major cause of warming in the Arctic. The findings challenge previous theories which  propose that warmer air transported from lower latitudes toward the pole, or changes in cloud cover, are the primary causes of enhanced Arctic warming.

Using the latest observational data from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting, researchers were able to uncover a distinctive pattern of warming, highly consistent with the loss of sea ice.

Interpreting Arctic Satellite Images And Data #2 - Animations

Now that NASA's MODIS rapid response system is back online I am able to present some animations which I hope you will find interesting.

This article is a continuation of Interpreting Arctic Satellite Images And Data.

You know you've lost a lot of intellectual capital when ridiculous parodies of your work generate hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube - and threatening to sue is just making the whole thing sillier.

Michael Mann of Penn State isn't happy.   Everyone who had any sort of a clue knew his hockey stick regarding global warming wasn't literal but it also wasn't unethical.  An internal investigation cleared him of any wrongdoing despite the unfortunate use of the word "trick" by researchers referencing his methods and "hide the decline" has become something of a rallying cry for detractors.  But he is getting made fun of just the same and he doesn't like it.

The UK has a General Election looming on 6 May, thereby giving newspapers enough hot air to puff up their websites. But what should their science writers talk about during such times? With the launch of Britain's Science Party, science journalists can now also join in the ritual inflation of unlikely promises, although in science's case it is more likely a desperate attempt to be heard at all. Mark Henderson of The Times has, however, launched into this with a certain relish, without forgetting that the science reader also wants some data to bite on.

So yes, I'm launching a satellite.  And an $8K Personal Satellite needs a brain. But which brain? IOS' kits includes the BasicX processor; for Christmas I received the Arduino kit so beloved by DIY folks. Both are potentially flyable.  Let's compare.

BasicX-24 (http://www.basicx.com/): 32K memory, requires 20mA plus up to 40mA I/O loads, operates at -40C to +85C. Programmed in BASIC (ugh) via serial cable.