A new, simpler programming language for wireless sensor networks, written with the novice programmer in mind, can be used by geologists for monitoring volcanoes and biologists who rely on them to understand birds' nesting behaviors.

Finding an embedded systems expert to program a sensor network is difficult and costly and can lead to errors because the person using the network is not the person programming it. The cost and disconnect associated with the situation means these networks aren't being used to their full potential.

Candy Gunther Brown, an associate professor in the Indiana University Bloomington Department of Religious Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a $150,000 grant to pursue research on divine healing practices and their involvement in globalization. 

The grant comes from the Flame of Love Project, funded by the John Templeton Foundation. It complements a $64,500 in research funding that Indiana University has provided Brown in the past year.

Today, if you like playing with electricity, you can hop over to Amazon and buy the Extreme Snap Circuits set and put together transistors, switches, lamps, motors, resistors, and capacitors to build all sorts of fun projects, from an auto-off night light to the perpetually entertaining space war timer. More ambitious engineers can buy off-the-shelf parts to build appliances, computers, and control systems for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

What if you could engineer biology this way? What would you build? Physicist and scientific prophet Freeman Dyson would love to build genetically engineered pets and ornamental plants. Standford biologist Drew Endy envisions a collection of standardized biological parts called BioBricks, off-the-shelf modules that biological engineers can assemble like snap circuits into amazing biological machines. An annual undergraduate competition, the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition draws teams of biogeeks who design glowing microbes that spell "Hello World" on an agar plate and  gut bacteria that smell like mint or bananas.

This all sounds exciting, but what's the reality? Do biological engineers, or synthetic biologists (as they are most commonly called) have anything close to the know-how of today's electrical or aerospace engineers? The answer, obviously, is no.

EXETER, California, April 7 /PRNewswire/ --

Leading Sucralose manufacturer Guangdong Food Industry Institute/LP Food Ingredient Co. Ltd. (GDFII/LP) today announced that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington, D.C. ruled in its favor in a Section 337 patent dispute (docket no. 337-TA-604) filed against the company by its competitor, Tate Lyle Corporation (TL).

BEIJING, April 6 /PRNewswire/ --

BioDuro announced today that they have entered into a strategic partnership with Roche to support discovery phase research efforts at Roche's global research sites. BioDuro will provide research services in the areas of discovery chemistry and biology, which can help to shorten (internal) drug discovery timelines. This agreement is an expansion of an existing relationship.

Roche has many years of experience in partnering with external companies to complement its internal drug discovery expertise with external services and innovation. After extensive evaluation of many companies, Roche selected BioDuro as a strategic partner for this effort.

You'll be forgiven if you didn't know Seki Takakazu's work on matrices came out years before Gottfried Leibniz; Japan wanted it that way.  But out-Bernoulli'ing Bernoulli?   He needs to get some respect for that and I am here to help.

POOLE, England, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- WDSGlobal announced today the signing of a global agreement enabling HP to resell WDSGlobal's DCE (Device Configuration Engine) software to HP's Mobility Solutions customers.

Targeted to mobile operators, the offering will integrate HP's MMC (Mobile Management Center) and WDSGlobal's DCE (Device Configuration Engine), delivering a comprehensive Mobile Device Management solution to better enable value-added data services across the feature phone category.

When is a Metal not a metal?  At high pressure, of course!

WASHINGTON, April 6 /PRNewswire/ --

- Former U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel Says North Korean Missile Launch Underscores Urgency for All Nuclear Powers to Support Obama-Medvedev Effort to Achieve Global Zero