Featured Articles

Endemol Extends Global Embedded Advertising Footprint With MirriAd

Endemol Extends Global Embedded Advertising Footprint With MirriAd

Mar 30 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- MirriAd , the embedded advertising specialist, today announces it has extended its global partnership reach with Endemol to exploit embedded advertising opportunities. The new deals follow MirriAd's joint venture with Endemol India and cover the Latin American and Hispanic markets, and Spain. They are expected to produce revenues approaching $1m in the first year.

Math Separates Magicicadas From Regularcicadas

Math Separates Magicicadas From Regularcicadas

Mar 30 2009 | comment(s)

Cicadas are nature’s candy—fat meaty bugs straight out of a Temple of Doom buffet.  Though most cicadas worldwide live typical insect lives, the Magicicada genus in the eastern US has a special power move to counterbalance its deliciousness: periodicity. 
W.D. Hamilton, Selfish Herds, And Other Biological Oddities

W.D. Hamilton, Selfish Herds, And Other Biological Oddities

Mar 30 2009 | comment(s)

I recently saw W D Hamilton’s 1970 paper “Geometry for the Selfish Herd” described as “a classic in its own right.” As a long-time bibliophile this made it irresistible, but I was also intrigued by the incongruity of “selfish herd” and of linking geometry to animals. I have to report that the paper certainly is a classic, for all the wrong reasons, but it contains a valuable message.

The introduction to the paper began with:
This paper presents an antithesis to the view that gregarious behaviour is evolved through benefits to the population or species. Following Galton (1871) and Williams (1964) gregarious behaviour is considered as a form of cover-seeking in which each animal tries to reduce its chance of being caught by a predator.

Get Fit For It! - World Health Day 7th April

Get Fit For It! - World Health Day 7th April

Mar 30 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, March 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- Body in Balance TV - A New Channel on SKY 275 and at http://www.bodyinbalance.tv

LONDON, March 30 /PRNewswire/ --

Body In Balance (BIB) is Europe's first fully integrated television network and web based operator dedicated to health, fitness and wellbeing programming. It is aimed primarily at ABC1 Women, who represent a fast growing demographic committed to maintaining health and fitness primarily through Yoga, Pilates, Exercise and Nutrition.

BIB is located on SKY channel 275 and at http://www.bodyinbalance.tv and is endorsed by celebrity hosts and yoga teachers who include, Deepak Chopra, Maya Fiennes and Katy Appleton with students ranging from Sarah, The Duchess of York to Goldie Hawn.

Frost Sullivan: Shrinking Profits, Fiercer Competition, And Price Wars In Some Green Energy Sectors, But 2009 Is A Good Time To Invest Or Buy

Frost Sullivan: Shrinking Profits, Fiercer Competition, And Price Wars In Some Green Energy Sectors, But 2009 Is A Good Time To Invest Or Buy

Mar 30 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, March 30 /PRNewswire/ --

Eaten Alive: Massive Swarm Consumes Hopes

Eaten Alive: Massive Swarm Consumes Hopes

Mar 30 2009 | comment(s)

 

'Holy Grail' Of Plant Biology - Gene Responsible For Global Warming Growth

'Holy Grail' Of Plant Biology - Gene Responsible For Global Warming Growth

Mar 30 2009 | comment(s)

Researchers at the universities of Leicester and Oxford have made a discovery about plant growth which could potentially have an enormous impact on crop production as global warming increases.

Dr Kerry Franklin, from the University of Leicester Department of Biology led the study which has identified a single gene responsible for controlling plant growth responses to elevated temperature.
Going Under The Knife To Treat Diabetes

Going Under The Knife To Treat Diabetes

Mar 30 2009 | comment(s)

As more research is conducted on the development and spread of pandemic type II diabetes, there is more evidence than ever that diabetes is intricately linked to obesity, which is spreading in the US at an alarming rate.

To combat the struggle of managing type II diabetes, physicians have turned to unconventional methods to reduce fat and likewise combat diabetes symptoms.  Obesity reduction was the theme of the 2009 UK Diabetes Professional Conference in Glasgow, and efforts to treat and reverse diabetes through bariatric surgery was one of the most controversial topics.
James Hansen Sets The Record Straight On The New York Times Article 'The Civil Heretic'

James Hansen Sets The Record Straight On The New York Times Article 'The Civil Heretic'

Mar 29 2009 | comment(s)

Dr. James E. Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York and an adviser to Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” is quoted and referred to in the New York Times article "The Civil Heretic - Freeman Dyson - Profile"  - by Nicholas Dawidoff, March 29, 2009, New York Times, page MM32 and in the New York Times Magazine, March 25, 2009.

Dr. Hansen sent his response to the article to those who have subscribed to his e-mail commentaries the day before its publication in the Sunday New York Times. He has given me permission to convey his clarification in its entirety:

New York Times Magazine
 
The Science Of Baseball: What Is The Farthest Home Run (And Did Mickey Mantle Hit It)?

The Science Of Baseball: What Is The Farthest Home Run (And Did Mickey Mantle Hit It)?

Mar 29 2009 | comment(s)

 As I briefly laid out in The Science Of Baseball: Coefficients And Happy Haitians, people like home runs though baseball purists don't necessarily think much of them - unless their team gets one.
 
Intelligence Made Simple: Part 2

Intelligence Made Simple: Part 2

Mar 29 2009 | comment(s)

Intelligence Made Simple: Part 2
Please see also Part 1
Are there other intelligences in the cosmos?  
How would we know?
By what universal standard can we know intelligence when we see it?


A Universal Definition of Intelligence.

This is what I call 'square one'  analysis.  Putting aside all unanswerable questions about metaphysical entities, let us look at the basic building blocks of, not life as we know it, but the chemistry of the cosmos.
Earth Hour Photos 2009

Earth Hour Photos 2009

Mar 29 2009 | comment(s)

A few photos from around the world of cities that participated in Earth Hour 2009.
Nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries took part in an effort to call attention to climate change. The event, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, called on cities to dim nonessential lights from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Earth Hour 2009 - Sydney
Earth Hour Sydney
Abbott's Market-Leading XIENCE V(R) Shows Increasing Clinical Advantages Over TAXUS(R) Express2(TM)/TAXUS(R) Liberte(TM) Between Two And Three Years

Abbott's Market-Leading XIENCE V(R) Shows Increasing Clinical Advantages Over TAXUS(R) Express2(TM)/TAXUS(R) Liberte(TM) Between Two And Three Years

Mar 29 2009 | comment(s)

ORLANDO, Florida, March 29 /PRNewswire/ --

- In SPIRIT II Trial, XIENCE V Drug Eluting Stent Demonstrates Clinically Meaningful Reductions Compared to TAXUS in Key Safety Endpoints, Including an 88 Percent Reduction in the Risk of Cardiac Death at Three Years

Video Games Improve Some Vision Up To 58 Percent

Video Games Improve Some Vision Up To 58 Percent

Mar 29 2009 | comment(s)

Video games that involve high levels of action,like first-person-shooter games, can increase real-world vision, according to research in Nature Neuroscience, including discerning slight differences in shades of gray; an attribute of the human visual system that can't be improved, it has been believed.

Daphne Bavelier, professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester, says that very practiced action gamers can actually become 58 percent better at perceiving fine differences in contrast.
Autism - Why Some Avoid Eyes And Stare At Mouths

Autism - Why Some Avoid Eyes And Stare At Mouths

Mar 29 2009 | comment(s)

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) tend to stare at people's mouths rather than their eyes. A new study of 2-year-olds with the social deficit disorder suggests why they might find mouths so attractive: lip-sync—the exact match of lip motion and speech sound. Such audiovisual synchrony preoccupied toddlers who have autism, while their unaffected peers focused on socially meaningful movements of the human body, such as gestures and facial expressions. 

Stretching Molecules Atom By Atom

Stretching Molecules Atom By Atom

Mar 29 2009 | comment(s)

Chemists at the University of Illinois have created a simple and inexpensive molecular technique that replaces an expensive atomic force microscope for studying what happens to small molecules when they are stretched or compressed. 

The researchers use stiff stilbene, a small, inert structure, as a molecular force probe to generate well-defined forces on various molecules, atom by atom. 

"By pulling on different pairs of atoms, we can explore what happens when we stretch a molecule in different ways," said chemistry professor Roman Boulatov. "That information tells us a lot about the properties of fleeting structures called transition states that govern how, and how fast, chemical transformations occur." 
Fish Oil - The Solution To The Livestock Methane Issue?

Fish Oil - The Solution To The Livestock Methane Issue?

Mar 29 2009 | comment(s)

The benefits to animals of omega 3 fatty acids in fish oils have been well documented – helping the heart and circulatory system.   Can they also help in improving meat quality and reducing methane emissions?

Perhaps.   Methane given off by farm animals is a major contributor to greenhouse gas levels and researchers from University College Dublin have reported that by including 2% fish oil in the diet of cattle they achieved a reduction in the amount of methane released by the animals.
An open Letter to the World's Leaders

An open Letter to the World's Leaders

Mar 28 2009 | comment(s)

An open Letter to the World's Leaders

Honorable Leaders,

As our climate continues to change due to our extravagant use of fossil fuels, new sources of those fuels are being discovered in the Arctic regions.

Given that it is our own profligate use of fuels that has caused these new sources to be revealed, does it not make sense to conserve them?  Is it not blindingly obvious that burning these fuels will make climate change  worse?

And yet there is a race to be first to reach, extract, and profit by this new 'wealth'. Some of the Arctic oil and gas is already in the pipelines. Much has already been consumed.
Sparks ahoy!

Sparks ahoy!

Mar 28 2009 | comment(s)

Recently, walking through the grounds of HASYLAB at the German Synchrotron DESY (we are NOT a Daisy!) I was reminded of my favourite book on radio, namely The Science of Radio, by Paul J.
MitraClip(R) Therapy Data Shows Important Clinical Benefit In High Risk Patients With Functional Mitral Regurgitation At 12-Month Follow Up

MitraClip(R) Therapy Data Shows Important Clinical Benefit In High Risk Patients With Functional Mitral Regurgitation At 12-Month Follow Up

Mar 28 2009 | comment(s)

ORLANDO, Florida, March 28 /PRNewswire/ --

- EVEREST High-Risk Registry Data Shows Improved Symptomatic Status and Cardiac Function in Functional MR Patients Treated with the MitraClip(R) System

Percutaneous mitral valve repair using the MitraClip(R) system in symptomatic high-risk surgical patients with functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) improves patient clinical status, and left ventricular function, according to 12-month data from the high-risk registry arm of the EVEREST II (Endovascular Valve Edge-to-Edge REpair STudy) study presented today at the 58th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) i2 Summit Scientific Sessions.