The creation of long platinum nanowires at the University of Rochester could soon lead to the development of commercially viable fuel cells.

Described in a paper published today in the journal Nano Letters, the new wires should provide significant increases in both the longevity and efficiency of fuel cells, which have until now been used largely for such exotic purposes as powering spacecraft. Nanowire enhanced fuel cells could power many types of vehicles, helping reduce the use of petroleum fuels for transportation, according to lead author James C. M. Li, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Rochester.

A 7-year-old girl from Long Island, NY, is on her way home a little more than four weeks after receiving a historic surgery that involved the removal and partial re-implantation of six organs in order to resect an abdominal tumor that otherwise would be inoperable. The 23-hour surgery, which began on Feb. 6, was led by Dr. Tomoaki Kato at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, and is the first reported pediatric case of its kind.

Most people consume far too much salt, and a University of Iowa researcher has discovered one potential reason we crave it: it might put us in a better mood.

UI psychologist Kim Johnson and colleagues found in their research that when rats are deficient in sodium chloride, common table salt, they shy away from activities they normally enjoy, like drinking a sugary substance or pressing a bar that stimulates a pleasant sensation in their brains.

"Things that normally would be pleasurable for rats didn't elicit the same degree of relish, which leads us to believe that a salt deficit and the craving associated with it can induce one of the key symptoms associated with depression," Johnson said.

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, March 11 /PRNewswire/ --

- Unique Survey Shows Much Room for Originator Pharmaceutical Companies to Improve Their Understanding of Generic Competition

The Healthcare and Science business of Thomson Reuters today released the white paper, The Five Myths of Generic Competition, highlighting what originator pharmaceutical and biotech companies can do to improve their forecasting of the likely timing, source and intensity of competition from generic drugs.

The findings in this white paper are based on an independent survey of commercial professionals in pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The research was conducted by Thomson Reuters during May and June 2008.

LONDON, March 11 /PRNewswire/ --

New research released to mark No Smoking Day (11 March) shows more than one in three (36%) of the nine million smokers in Great Britain are thinking about or planning to cut down or quit as a direct result of the economic downturn. The poll also shows that one in ten (9%) will be taking the first step and making a quit attempt on No Smoking Day.

No Smoking Day President and Dragons' Den star, Duncan Bannatyne, commented on the findings: Everybody is feeling the pinch during the current recession.

For smokers, who can spend over GBP2000 a year on cigarettes, it's particularly tough, so for those who are ready to quit there has never been a better time.

This statement about natural selection is the last sentence of Adaptation and Natural Selection, George Williams' masterpiece about evolution. George Williams is one of the unsung heroes of 20th century science. An evolutionary biologist I know (who shall remain anonymous to spare him/her public shaming) claimed not to know who was George Williams. I was/still am aghast. This anonymous evolutionary biologist is the inspiration for this post, indeed for my series of citation classics (see also here).

SAN FRANCISCO, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- In the news release, Double Fusion Promotes Noam Korin to Vice President of Advertising Sales, Europe issued on 10 Mar 2009 08:00 GMT by Double Fusion over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that the third paragraph quotation should be attributed to Jonathan Epstein. The complete, corrected release follows:

Double Fusion Promotes Noam Korin to Vice President of Advertising Sales, Europe

NEW ORLEANS, March 10 /PRNewswire/ --

ZSL, a leading ISV Global Software Solutions and Services provider, launches Mobile Power (http://www.zslinc.com/MS-Dynamics-CRM-Add-on-Solutions.html) and Business Power (http://www.zslinc.com/MS-Dynamics-CRM-Add-on-Solutions.html), a suite of add-ons for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, GP and NAV.

(LOGO: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080602/NEM131LOGO )

ZSL will be demonstrating their Mobile Power and Business Power products suite, at the Microsoft Convergence 2009 event held in New Orleans, LA between March 10-13 at Booth #233. ZSL is the first one to release the add-ons to enable comprehensive mobile access to the MS Dynamics products.

PISCATAWAY, New Jersey, March 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Event Features Panel Discussion on Technologies That Will Change the Way Humans Interact with Machines, the World and Each Other

IEEE, the world's largest technical professional society, today spotlighted seven technologies it believes will have world changing implications on the way humans interact with machines, the world and each other, in honor of its 125th anniversary.

On 10 March 2009 at the New Yorker Hotel in New York City, a panel of technology experts, moderated by The New York Times senior editor and technology reporter Steve Lohr, discussed emerging technologies in fields ranging from biometrics, computing, wireless power, and others, that they believe have the potential to change the world.

EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Translational Molecular Medicine (CTMM) - the Dutch public-private partnership committed to the research and development of new techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of major diseases - today announced that eight new research projects will receive funding from the CTMM. It means that almost 250 million Euros have now been allocated to Netherlands-based translational projects that could radically improve patient outcomes for diseases such as Alzheimer's, rheumatoid arthritis, sepsis, cardiovascular disorders and the most important forms of cancer.