Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart working in conjunction with their colleagues from the company Logos Innovationen have found a way of converting this air humidity autonomously and decentrally into drinkable water. 

Even in deserts the air contains water and the research scientists have found a way of obtaining drinking water from air humidity using a system is based completely on renewable energy, making it autonomous.

Even in places with no lakes, rivers or groundwater, considerable quantities of water are stored in the air. In the Negev desert in Israel, for example, annual average relative air humidity is 64 percent – in every cubic meter of air there are 11.5 milliliters of water.

The thinking, talking robots of Isaac Asimov science fiction are nothing like what we actually have - programmed machines that do the simplest things.   European researchers in robotics, psychology and cognitive sciences say they have developed a robot that can predict the intentions of its human partner; this ability to anticipate (or even question) actions could make human-robot interactions more natural.

You cannot make human-robot interaction more natural unless you understand what 'natural' actually means. But few studies have investigated the cognitive mechanisms that are the basis of joint activity (i.e. where two people are working together to achieve a common goal).

New research suggests that the hunger hormone ghrelin is activated by fats from the foods we eat in order to optimize nutrient metabolism and promote the storage of body fat.  The findings, the study's author says, turn the current model about ghrelin on its head and point to a novel stomach enzyme (GOAT) responsible for the ghrelin activation process that could be targeted in future treatments for metabolic diseases. 

The laboratory study, led by Matthias Tschöp, MD, UC associate professor of psychiatry and internal medicine, is published online ahead of print Friday, June 5, 2009, in the journal Nature Medicine. 

Boys who carry a particular variation of the gene Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), called the 'warrior' gene by some, are more likely to join gangs and be among their most violent members, according to a study from a Florida State University criminologist that associates MAOA to gangs and guns.

Findings apply only to males, which makes an unsubstantiated allele argument necessary.  Girls with the same variant of the MAOA gene don't show any propensity toward gang membership or weapon use.   MAOA  has also been implicated in ADHD, bipolar disorder, cancer and smoking.  Basically, if you don't have any other explanation for something, MAOA is the way to go.

Children with Angelman Syndrome develop normally until about 1 year of age and then their intellectual development stops.  They fail to develop language and other cognitive skills, are severely mentally handicapped,  but have a happy disposition, laughing, smiling and enjoying social interaction.  What could be behind this syndrome?

A new study of Angelman Syndrome shows that an interaction between the genetic defect and sensory activity robs cortical synapses of their normal plasticity. Simply using the synapses depletes them of plasticity.  This leaves neural connections in the cortex rigid, unable to be fine tuned and to develop normal function.

SYDNEY, June 5 /PRNewswire/ --

Australian researchers have developed gene expression biomarkers which can accurately discriminate pre-cancerous and cancerous colorectal growths from non-cancerous controls.

Being presented today at the Digestive Disease Week conference in Chicago, the preliminary findings are the result of a collaborative study - involving CSIRO, Flinders University and Australian healthcare company, Clinical Genomics Pty Ltd - designed to develop an improved screening/diagnostic test for detecting bowel cancer and significant pre-cancer lesions.

It feels good, for a die-hard sceptic like I am, to live and let unexplained phenomena die. The phenomena in question are measured deviations from the predictions of the Standard Model (SM), our wonderful theory of subnuclear interactions, which has been condemned to fail by theorists soon after its construction, but continues, disappointingly for many, to succeed in explaining experimental results.

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, June 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Company Also Updates Findings Related to Australian Sponsored Publication Practices From 2000-2005

The encouragement (or requirement) of diversity sometimes gets labeled reverse racism, under the assumption that encourgaing diversity is only about somehow making up for past injustices by discriminating against today's white men who may never have themselves committed such injustices.

I'm not trying to step into the touchy issue of Supreme Court politics (nor am I arguing that quotas are always a good thing), but I've run across this interesting observation in several contexts recently:

"Participants push themselves to formulate better arguments when they know they will have to justify them."

CHICAGO, June 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Vision Solution is the 'Most Innovative Value Added Service (VAS) Platform' Contender

Novarra today announces that GSMA has nominated its Vision(TM) Widgets Mobile Content Framework for the Most Innovative Value Added Service (VAS) Platform in the EMEA leg of the 2010 Mobile Innovation Grand Prix competition. This prestigious award recognizes the leaders in the development of innovative mobile products. During the EMEA event, ten companies from around the world will compete in five categories, with two overall winners awarded a trip to compete for the Mobile Innovation Grand Prix Cup at Mobile World Congress, February 2010.