A study in Social Science Quarterly says that religious women are less likely to have abortions than secular women - not because they're more pro-life, but because they're less likely to get pregnant before marriage.

“Religious influences on attitudes are much more powerful than religious influences on behavior,” the authors note. “While religion is the main reason for differences in abortion attitudes, religion is a relatively minor reason for differences in abortion behavior.”

Based on the rapid evaporation of solvent from simple “inks,” University of Illinois researchers have demonstrated a process for fabrication of complex, three-dimensional nanoscale structures and shown the ability to grow individual nanowires of unlimited length.

The process has been used to fabricate freestanding nanofibers, stacked arrays of nanofibers and continuously wound spools of nanowires. Potential applications include electronic interconnects, biocompatible scaffolds and nanofluidic networks.

“The process is like drawing with a fountain pen – the ink comes out and quickly dries or ‘solidifies,’ ” said Min-Feng Yu, a professor of mechanical science and engineering, and an affiliate of the Beckman Institute. “But, unlike drawing with a fountain pen, we can draw objects in three dimensions.”

Studies have shown that children do not accurately use landmarks to orient themselves until about the age of six but those studies were done in an artificial environment. A new study taking place in a natural environment disputes that finding and says even children as young as three use 'reorientation.'

Reorientation is using things around us to regain our bearings.

Dr Alastair Smith from the Department of Experimental Psychology and colleagues from his department and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bristol have tested the ability of children aged between three and seven to orient themselves in the great outdoors.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus have shown they are able to use the radiocarbon dating method to study special proteins in the lens of the eye - they use a nuclear accelerator to determine the amount of Carbon-14 in as little as one milligram of lens tissue and thereby calculate the year of birth.

This will enable forensic scientists to establish the birth date of an unidentified body and could also eventually be used in cancer research.

The lens of the eye is made up of transparent proteins called crystallins. These are packed so tightly together and in such a particular way, that they behave like crystals, allowing light to pass through the lens of the eye so that we can see.

REDMOND, Washington, January 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- First eight languages available for new release as global launch tour begins.

Microsoft Corp today began the global launch of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 by announcing the availability of the first eight languages, including English, Spanish, simplified Chinese and French. As part of its commitment to a rapid global rollout, Microsoft is kicking off a 12-week global launch tour today to give organisations worldwide the opportunity to experience Microsoft Dynamics CRM for themselves.

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New CRM Release Delivers Rapid On-Demand Deployment

Ten years ago, astronomers made the stunning discovery that the universe is expanding at a faster pace today than it did in the past.

“Explaining why the expansion of the Universe is currently accelerating is certainly the most fascinating question in modern cosmology,” says Luigi Guzzo, lead author of a paper in this week’s issue of Nature, in which the new results are presented. “We have been able to show that large surveys that measure the positions and velocities of distant galaxies provide us with a new powerful way to solve this mystery.”

“This implies that one of two very different possibilities must hold true,” explains Enzo Branchini, member of the team.

Scientists at University College London say they have established a link between changes in the temperature of the sea’s surface and increases in North Atlantic hurricane activity.

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, January 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- New service simplifies customer support and reduces total cost of ownership of Psion Teklogix' line of rugged mobile computers

LONDON, January 30 /PRNewswire/ --

Fiorano Software Ltd., a leading provider of business integration and SOA-ESB middleware solutions, today announced that LiquidityHub, a consortium of leading investment banks, selected FioranoMQ(R) as its messaging infrastructure for implementation of its trade messaging system.

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FioranoMQ(R) provides superior messaging technology for the LiquidityHub, a cluster of systems for on-line negotiation of trades with a requirement for sub-micro-second latency and consistent high-performance message exchanges.

AACHEN, Germany, January 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Deal Advances the Company's Groundbreaking Smart Shape Memory Polymer (BIO-SMP(TM)) Commercialization Program -