It seems obvious; even in a noble profession like education, if you pay people more who are better at it, better people are incentivized to do it. Obviously a number of people do it despite the money, just like science and academia, and the overall quality of education has improved a lot this decade but America has a way to go if we are going to keep at the forefront of science and technology in the face of huge populations in China and India.

But there has been resistance to that from educational lobbyists and a hardline union that only votes Democrat, which has unfortunately made education a political football.

Nyiragongo, an active African volcano, possesses lava unlike any other in the world, which may point toward its source being a new mantle plume says a University of Rochester geochemist.

The lava composition indicates that a mantle plume—an upwelling of intense heat from near the core of the Earth—may be bubbling to life beneath the soil of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The findings are presented in the current issue of the journal Chemical Geology.

Women with certain gene variations appear to be protected against cervical cancer, according to a study led by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and reported in Clinical Cancer Research. Knowing whether or not women have these genetic variants could help physicians to better tailor treatment strategies.

Virtually all cases of cervical cancer are caused by persistent infections from several of the human papillomaviruses (HPV) — a family of viruses that also cause common skin warts and genital warts. HPV is the most commonly sexually transmitted infection in young adults, yet only a small subset of these infections lead to cervical cancer.

A move from the big city to a small village is always a culture shock, but can it affect just more than your Friday night plans?

Now, I've lived in rural and urban locales. But either the local water utilities people put happy pills in the water supply here, or my overstimulation cup had overfloweth'd, because this latest move seemed more a stark contrast.

ABBOTT PARK, Illinois, March 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- Data Demonstrate Bioabsorbable Stent Is Absorbed Within Two Years, Leaving Behind Blood Vessels that Appear to Move and Function Similar to Untreated Vessels

Show Me The Science Month Day 24 Installment 24



How do new genes arise? One common way is through gene duplication - the creation of a second copy of a gene when the DNA replication or repair machinery goes awry, followed by the the evolution of a new function for one copy. How genes are accidentally duplicated is reasonably well understood, but once a gene is duplicated, but how does the new copy acquire a new function?

A pair of researchers in New York have looked at the role of a class of reproductive proteins in the mating behavior of different species of flies. One thing you can learn from this paper is that biologists will go to any length to learn about evolution - nobody watches fly sex for fun. Except for fly number three: (which was apparently put in by Photoshop):


But there are more lessons here. Mating behavior is in fact an excellent place to look for lessons about evolution, since reproduction is subject to strong evolutionary pressures.

PITTSBURGH, March 12 /PRNewswire/ --

The University of Bath's Integrated Environmental Management Programme has selected Panopto to help extend the reach of conferences and courses on carbon footprints.

Beginning this month, The University of Bath will deliver new training to bridge business knowledge gaps in the fast-developing area of product and service carbon footprinting and carbon labeling. As explained in the University's guide to training options (www.learnaboutcarbon.net/guide.pdf), this new range of training is designed to help organizations from small to very large understand how world-leading businesses are using new carbon footprint skills to achieve both economic and environmental benefits.

LEUVEN, Belgium, March 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- ThromboGenics Reports Pre-Tax Profit of EUR12.2 Million For 2008

ThromboGenics NV (Euronext Brussels: THR), a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of innovative treatments that will make a real difference to patient care in a number of important therapeutic areas, is today issuing a business update and its financial results for the full year ending December 31, 2008.

LONDON, March 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- That's the Message from Lord Laming's Review, Says Unite

The best way to implement Lord Laming's report into child protection is to employ more frontline professionals, such as social workers and health visitors, Unite, the largest union in the country, said today (Thursday, 12 March).

Unite said it was 'an immense sadness' that nine years after the death of eight-year old Victoria Climbie - prompting the first Laming report containing 108 recommendations - there was still so much more room for improvement in child protection services.

NEU-ISENBURG, Germany, March 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- UL offers complimentary product assessments on April 22-23 at Hannover's Messe Convention Center