Featured Articles

The Olympic Medal Results Forecast

The Olympic Medal Results Forecast

Jul 26 2012 | comment(s)

Can anyone accurately forecast the result of the London Olympics while they are a week away?

Even more daring, can they forecast results without in depth knowledge of athlete training?

Economists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum are taking a shot at it and, if it sounds like complete madness, we'll go ahead and spoil it and tell you they believe that China, USA, and Russia will top the score table with 102, 100, and 71 medals, respectively, so you can move on to another article. 

But if you are interested in the nuts and bolts, read on.  You can decide if this is mumbo-jumbo or solid science.
Lancelet Genetic Mistake Was A Big Win For Humans

Lancelet Genetic Mistake Was A Big Win For Humans

Jul 25 2012 | comment(s)

How did we arrive where we are? A dainty, quill-like sea creature called a lancelet provides the best evidence that vertebrates evolved over the past 550 million years through a four-fold duplication of the genes of more primitive ancestors.
Climate Change

Climate Change

Jul 25 2012 | comment(s)

In recent years, international climate  policy has increasingly focused  on limiting temperature rise,as opposed  to achieving greenhouse-gas-concentration-related  objectives.  The agreements reached at the United Nations  Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in Cancunin 2010  recognize that countries  should take urgent action to limit the increase in global  average temperature  to less  than  2 ◦ C relative to pre-industrial  levels. 

What The Iliad Can Tell Us About Science 2.0 And Networks

What The Iliad Can Tell Us About Science 2.0 And Networks

Jul 25 2012 | comment(s)

Can modern physicists examine ancient myths and teach us about modern social networks, even science ones like Science 2.0?

Pesky humanities types are always butting into science and a new article in EPL (Europhysics Letters) turns the tables.  Pádraig Mac Carron and Ralph Kenna from Coventry University performed detailed text analyses of the Iliad, Beowulf and the Táin Bó Cuailnge and found that the interactions between the characters in all three myths were consistent with those seen in real-life social networks. Taking this further, the researchers compared the myths to four known works of fiction -- Les Misérables, Richard III, Fellowship of the Ring, and Harry Potter -- and found clear differences.
Dogs And DoggieBots - An Encounter

Dogs And DoggieBots - An Encounter

Jul 25 2012 | comment(s)

How might real dogs react to robotic dogs? 

The Sony Corporation has been investigating. Researchers at its Computer Science Laboratory in Paris, which “… engages in fundamental research in cutting edge areas of science that are relevant for pushing the state of the art in computing.” tested the ground by exposing real dogs to AIBO – their now-famous computer-controlled semi-autonomous dog-bot.
Product Failure: The Food Industry's Area 51

Product Failure: The Food Industry's Area 51

Jul 25 2012 | comment(s)

Null results are important in science, but that doesn't mean scientists want other people to see theirs. The reason is obvious: competition.  If one group has a null result and another group is working on something similar, they potentially give the competitor a shortcut by publishing a negative result.

So it goes in just about every field. The food industry has its own null results, but they can be a lot more expensive.  The failure rate of new product launches is a shocking (to outsiders) 50%. It seems shocking because these are experts, armed with expensive demographic analyses and psychological information on the marketplace. They should know what people want.
BIO-MIMETICS: Human Body On A Chip

BIO-MIMETICS: Human Body On A Chip

Jul 25 2012 | comment(s)

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are teaming up to provide $32 million for development of a technology platform that will mimic human physiological systems in the laboratory, using an array of integrated, interchangeable engineered human tissue constructs - a human body on a chip.

The new program is called “Barrier-Immune-Organ: MIcrophysiology, Microenvironment Engineered TIssue Construct Systems” (BIO-MIMETICS) and includes the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT, the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, MatTek Corp. and Zyoxel Ltd.
Arianna Huffington Can Save Science

Arianna Huffington Can Save Science

Jul 24 2012 | comment(s)

Do you care about children?  

If so, says Arianna Huffington, you'd better ask for more regulations that augment helicopter parenting with nanny government - and you'd better be part of the 1% that will be able to afford food when all pesticides are banned. What is her evidence?  Rachel Carson started telling us 50 years ago that scientists were out to kill us all.
Is Two A Goup?

Is Two A Goup?

Jul 24 2012 | comment(s)

Is ‘a pair’ big enough to be called ‘a group’? The tricky subject of dyads has recently been causing considerable professorial debate in the journal ‘Small Group Research’. (Note: the word ‘dyad ‘ is derived from the Greek ‘dýo’, meaning ‘two’.)
What diet should we all be on, anyway?

What diet should we all be on, anyway?

Jul 24 2012 | comment(s)

In the last 2 years, ever since my daughter was diagnosed with a milk protein allergy, I have done a lot of personal research on diets and the effects of food on our bodies.
FDA Approval Of Tudorza Pressair For Long-term Treatment Of COPD

FDA Approval Of Tudorza Pressair For Long-term Treatment Of COPD

Jul 24 2012 | comment(s)

Almirall, S.A. (ALM.MC) and Forest Laboratories, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tudorza(TM) Pressair(TM) (aclidinium bromide inhalation powder) for the long-term maintenance treatment of bronchospasm associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. 

COPD is a common, progressive, and debilitating lung disease characterized by persistent airflow limitation that makes it hard to breathe; it is currently the third leading cause of mortality in the US. Characteristic symptoms include breathlessness, excessive production of sputum, and a chronic cough.

Forest Dilemma - Clear Trees Or Boost Global Warming From Wildfires

Forest Dilemma - Clear Trees Or Boost Global Warming From Wildfires

Jul 24 2012 | comment(s)

In the 1990s, life was simpler for environmentalists.  Crippling the logging industry was all that was needed to protect trees and birds.  

But, as in abortion or gun control, you have to sue everyone or you can sue no one and even responsible logging and clearing brush was stopped by environmental lawsuits and as a result, wildfires have become far more frequent and far more devastating.  Now add a new wrinkle - no logging is leading to more global warming.
Emotional Brain Gets Patent For Female Sexual Dysfunction Drug

Emotional Brain Gets Patent For Female Sexual Dysfunction Drug

Jul 24 2012 | comment(s)

Emotional Brain has announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has awarded a new patent (US Patent No. 8,227,453, issued today) for its combination of a PDE5-inhibitor and testosterone for the treatment of Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD).  

There is no FDA-approved medicine available yet for this particular indication area, so American physicians annually prescribe off-label drugs for the treatment of FSD.  Dr Adriaan Tuiten, PhD, CEO of Emotional Brain, explains, 'It ensures protection of our medical applications and medical procedures aimed at the treatment of Female Sexual Dysfunction. The issuance of new patents in a country such as the United States is tremendously important and has a huge impact.' 

The New Date For The End Of The Universe Will Be...

The New Date For The End Of The Universe Will Be...

Jul 24 2012 | comment(s)

How will the Universe end?  And when? It's been speculation in religion and philosophy since man realized he was special.  Can physics offer anything new?

Let's go to the Dark Energy hypotheses and see.  1998 really messed us up, theoretically. Until then, we knew the Universe had to slow down - well, theoretically.  But then the Hubble showed us truly distant supernovae and we got the uncomfortable reality that the Universe was actually expanding more slowly in the past than it is now.  That meant gravity has not been slowing Universal expansion, it has been accelerating. 
Quantum Randi Challenge News And Plea

Quantum Randi Challenge News And Plea

Jul 24 2012 | comment(s)

Slowly but surely, because it is a good idea, the Quantum Randi Challenge (QRC) generates interest behind the curtains. Some think that because of this, it is all over, but they are mistaken. Several researchers wanted to properly quote the QRC despite of it finding still no support by ‘professional’ journals on the grounds that it is “extremely important but just not quite right for our fine publication”.

IRVE-3: Hypersonic Inflatable Heat Shield Is A Go

IRVE-3: Hypersonic Inflatable Heat Shield Is A Go

Jul 24 2012 | comment(s)

NASA's Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3), a large inflatable heat shield developed, was launched by sounding rocket at 7:01 a.m. Monday from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va.  It successfully survived a trip through Earth's atmosphere while traveling at hypersonic speeds of 7,600 mph.
For The FDA, Biologics In The Balance: Will Cost Saving 'Biosimilars' Undermine Innovation And Patient Safety?

For The FDA, Biologics In The Balance: Will Cost Saving 'Biosimilars' Undermine Innovation And Patient Safety?

Jul 23 2012 | comment(s)

When it comes to new legislation, sometimes what you see is not all you get. Just ask Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader who two years ago uttered the now infamous words, “We have to pass the [Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act] so that you can find out what is in it….” Whether or not you support the president's healthcare reform initiatives, the implementation of any vast, complex legislation can result in unintended consequences.

The Research Case For Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

The Research Case For Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Jul 23 2012 | comment(s)

No one is asking the Department of Energy to play venture capitalist with taxpayer money again, but basic research in dye-sensitized solar cells may bring the cost of solar down enough to allow for mainstream acceptance - primarily because dye-sensitized solar cells (also known as DSCs) are less fragile than panels that use crystalline silicon, also a benefit of thin-film panels, and don't require a clean room.
Global Warming Upside; Better Produce

Global Warming Upside; Better Produce

Jul 23 2012 | comment(s)

Temperatures above 100 degrees and drought-like conditions have taken a toll on corn and soybeans in the upper Midwest for weeks but it has brought a benefit to peppers and other crops: Their flavors have become unusually concentrated, producing some of the most potent-tasting produce in years.

"Peppers really like hot weather," said Irwin Goldman, a horticulture professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "When it's dry and hot outside, you'll get a higher concentration of alkaloids."
A Treatment For Neurodegenerative Machado-Joseph Disease?

A Treatment For Neurodegenerative Machado-Joseph Disease?

Jul 23 2012 | comment(s)

Researchers have moved a step closer to find a treatment for the fatal neurodegenerative disorder Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) after a Portuguese team from the Centre for Neurosciences at the University of Coimbra was able to halt the brain degeneration in mice, by blocking a molecule called calpain. Calpain are known to cut ataxin-3 (the mutant protein behind MJD) into fragments, and the study proves that these fragments are crucial to trigger the neurodegeneration.