Following ground-breaking research showing that neurons in the human brain respond in an abstract manner to particular individuals or objects, University of Leicester researchers have now discovered that, from the firing of this type of neuron, they can tell what a person is actually seeing.

The original research by Dr R Quian Quiroga, of the University’s Department of Engineering, showed that one neuron fired to, for instance, Jennifer Aniston, another one to Halle Berry, another one to the Sydney Opera House, etc.

The responses were abstract. For example, the neuron firing to Halle Berry responded to several different pictures of her and even to the letters of her name, but not to other people or names.

Last year, Britain imported 14,000 tons of chocolate covered waffles - and exported 15,000 tons. Doesn't make sense? It's not just bizarre waffle travels; Europeans are importing more food from overseas than ever before, even while exporting things they grow locally and get $60 billion in annual subsidies to produce.

By studying what Europeans eat and from where, scientists hope to understand the economic, political, and cultural impacts of food on European society. One obvious impact of Europeans buying food from outside Europe is that it has greater impact on the environment. For example, as food travels more, it has to be protected with more packaging.

New research at the University of Leicester reveals that plants react to change in light quality in order to develop freezing tolerance. It showed that a reduction in the ratio of red to far-red wavelengths (R:FR) of light increases the expression of freezing tolerance genes in the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana.

The ratio of red to far-red light, which is detected by specialized plant photoreceptors called the phytochromes, is highest in direct sunlight and lower in the shade of vegetation or at twilight, which is prolonged at higher latitudes.

As the giant North American ice sheets melted an enormous pool of freshwater, many times larger than all of the Great Lakes, formed behind them. About 8400 years ago this pool of freshwater burst free and flooded the North Atlantic.

About the same time, a sharp century long cold spell is observed around the North Atlantic and other areas. Researchers have often speculated that the cooling was the result of changes in ocean circulation triggered by this freshwater flood. The sudden addition of so much freshwater would have curtailed (suppressed) the sinking of deep water in the North Atlantic and as a consequence less warm water would be pulled north in the Gulf stream.

New research calls attention to the role of the expanding American waistline in health and medicine.

Researchers at the American Association for Cancer Research’s Sixth Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research presented some of the latest research linking obesity, diabetes and metabolism to cancer risk. Their findings link weight gain and diabetes to a variety of cancers affecting both men and women, including breast, prostate and colorectal cancer

Diabetes and hyper-insulinemia as predictors of colorectal cancer risk in a prospective cohort of women. Abstract no.

Measuring soot formation in a diesel engine is far from easy because the turbulent environment in the combustion cylinder means no two combustion cycles are the same. Furthermore, the measurements are difficult to reproduce as the pressure at which fuel is injected into the cylinder causes an extra source of turbulence.

Bas Bougie, a doctoral candidate at Radboud University Nijmegen created a glass cylinder with an engine so he could investigate soot formation and find ways to optimize diesel performance using laser light.

Laser Induced Incandescence (LII) can be used to investigate optimal engine conditions that reduce soot emission from the engine. LII can be deployed in different types of engines and with different fuels.

HATBORO, Pennsylvania, December 7 /PRNewswire/ --

It was announced today that IGCE, the conference division of The Sports Network, the premiere real-time sports wire service in the United States, will be "going green" for their April, 2008 event in Lisbon, Portugal. "We are not going to save the world, nor the environment," said Conference Coordinator, Amanda Manero, "but we are interested in making whatever contribution we can and 'going green' does not mean we are returning to the site of one of our prior efforts ... Dublin, Ireland. No workbooks and everything on disk, no flyers, no hard mailings and so forth. It also means catering to the market."

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, December 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Summary: Genmab has Initiated a Phase I/II Safety and Dose Finding Study of HuMax-CD38 for the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma

Genmab A/S (OMX: GEN) announced today it has initiated a Phase I/II safety and dose finding study of HuMax-CD38(TM) for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM). The study will include a maximum of 122 patients with MM who are relapsed or refractory to at least two different prior treatments and are without further established treatment options.

PITTSBURGH, December 7 /PRNewswire/ --

Vocollect, Inc., the world leader in Voice-Directed Work, today announced that it has named co-founder, chairman and chief operating officer Roger Byford as the company's new chief executive officer. Byford assumes the role effective today, succeeding Jack LeVan, who is leaving the company. Byford will remain chairman of Vocollect's board of directors. The company said that it will not seek a replacement for the role of chief operating officer.

FUZHOU, China, December 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- The Firm Warlords and the Online Game Warlords Online will be Shown Simultaneously

The first domestic online game (Warlords Online) based on the film of the same name, which is jointly produced by NetDragon (NetDragon Websoft Inc. (SEHK GEM 8288)) and Central Motion Picture Corp., will be tested officially for the first time on December 13. China's traditional recreational industry and emerging digital recreational industry will greet the first annual show of a landmark work, and it will become another important milestone in the development of China's recreational industry.