Q: Which phrase, more than any other, surged in utilzation in the news during the final months of the U.S. presidential campaign?

A: Obama's "lipstick on a pig" quip

For the first time, the Web has been used to track and attempt to measure the news cycle, the process by which information becomes news, competes for attention and fades, says the NY Times.

ORLANDO, Florida, July 14 -- The Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA) is
delighted to announce that Evergreen Trade Inc. is the latest company to receive
its prestigious Best Management Practice (BMP) audited accreditation for its
aircraft disassembly and parts and materials recycling operations.

Evergreen Trade Inc. is one of the leading aircraft disassembly companies in
the US, having purchased, sold and dismantled more that 1600 aircraft, in its 47
year history.

Even in the scramble to get clean energy funding, it's not a bad idea to devote money to research technology that isn't "shovel ready" science and technology, or even available everywhere, but can still help some regions pursue alternative sources that make financial sense.

A new method for capturing significantly more heat from low-temperature geothermal resources holds promise for generating cleaner electrical energy.   Next step: the scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have to determine if their approach can safely and economically extract and convert heat from vast untapped geothermal resources. 

Nintendo is trying to sell you something so they will claim in marketing that Wii 'active' video games are good exercise for kids, but are they really?

Yes, says a new study in the journal Pediatrics, though only if they are the kind of kids who are otherwise sedentary and at high risk for obesity and diabetes.

Scientists at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center found that playing active video games like the Wii can be an effective substitute for moderate exercise.   No one is saying children should stop playing outside or doing real exercise but active video games can be a suitable alternative at times.  Basically, if an obese child is going to sit around and play video games instead of exercising, something is better than nothing.

Why are terrorists like the Taliban and al Qaeda or even insurgents on their home soil harder to defeat? 

There are many considerations.   Politically, policy-makers want approval over any military operation that has consequences at home and intelligence information found by the military has to be calibrated.

In the first study of its kind to combine military intelligence, attrition and civilian population behavior in a unified model of counterinsurgency dynamics, Moshe Kress and Roberto Szechtman of the Naval Postgraduate School stress the role of obtaining intelligence about the insurgency.

A single evolutionary event appears to explain the short, curved legs that characterize all of today's dachshunds, corgis, basset hounds and at least 16 other breeds of dogs.

The research team led by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) scientist Elaine Ostrander, Ph.D., examined DNA samples from 835 dogs, including 95 with short legs. Their survey of more than 40,000 markers of DNA variation uncovered a genetic signature exclusive to short-legged breeds. Through follow-up DNA sequencing and computational analyses, the researchers determined the dogs' disproportionately short limbs can be traced to one mutational event in the canine genome - a DNA insertion - that occurred early in the evolution of domestic dogs. 

What separates us from the animals?   Some of us contend it's technology while others say it's Pynchon novels but really how we learn has to be in the top five.

Researchers in neuroscience, psychology, education, and machine learning are trying to synthesize a new 'science of learning' that will reshape how we think about education and perhaps help us imagine a new classroom for the 21st century.

The Eagle Nebula is a dazzling stellar nursery located 7000 light-years away near the constellation of Serpens - the Snake.  In the Eagle Nebula, a region of gas and dust where young stars are currently being formed, a cluster of massive, hot stars named NGC 6611 has just been born.

The powerful light and strong winds from these massive new arrivals are shaping light-year long pillars, seen in the image partly silhouetted against the bright background of the nebula. The nebula itself has a shape vaguely reminiscent of an eagle, with the central pillars being the "talons".

As part of  their series about the cultural response toward an H1N1 flu outbreak, the Harvard Opinion Research Program is releasing a national poll that focuses on Americans' views and concerns about the potential for a more severe outbreak of Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu) in the fall or winter. The polling was done June 22-28, 2009.

Approximately six in ten Americans (59%) believe it is very or somewhat likely that there will be widespread cases of Influenza A (H1N1) with people getting very sick this coming fall or winter. Parents are more likely than people without children to believe this will occur, with roughly two thirds of parents (65%) saying it is very or somewhat likely compared to 56% of people without children.

In the early days of global warming concern, prior to 1994, there was doubt because some researchers used data that skewed results during predictable events,  like El Niño, from locations in the tropical Pacific Ocean and that lack of scientific impartiality made it more difficult to convince people going forward despite more rigorous methods.