Featured Articles

Marte Valles: Fractured Lavas, Only Seen Before On Earth, Suggest Floods On Mars

Marte Valles: Fractured Lavas, Only Seen Before On Earth, Suggest Floods On Mars

Feb 28 2009 | comment(s)

Unique fractures in lavas on ancient Mars suggest water occasionally flooded portions of the planet's surface.   The fractures, known as "columnar joints," are the first that have been observed on a planet other than Earth. 

The characteristics of the column-like fractures can help scientists understand the role of water in geologic processes on Mars, said Moses Milazzo, a geophysicist with the U. S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Team in Flagstaff and lead author on a paper on the discovery recently published in the journal Geology.

"Columnar joints form as cooling lava contracts," said Milazzo. 

Global Humanitarian Forum To Host Live Web Panel Tomorrow To Discuss Climate Justice

Global Humanitarian Forum To Host Live Web Panel Tomorrow To Discuss Climate Justice

Feb 28 2009 | comment(s)

NEW YORK, February 28 /PRNewswire/ --

- Kofi Annan, Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu to Participate in Debate and QA at www.ghf-ge.org

The Global Humanitarian Forum will be broadcasting live a panel discussion on Climate Justice hosted by the Global Humanitarian Forum in collaboration with the University of Pretoria.

The countries most vulnerable are least able to protect themselves. They also contribute least to the global emissions of greenhouse gases. Without action they will pay a high price for the actions of others, says Kofi Annan.

Finesse Announces TruTorr(TM) Single-Use Pressure Sensor

Finesse Announces TruTorr(TM) Single-Use Pressure Sensor

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

SANTA CLARA, California, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Finesse Solutions, LLC, Santa Clara, CA, a manufacturer of measurement and control solutions for life sciences process applications, announced the release of TruTorr(TM), a single-use pressure sensor for measuring headspace pressure in single-use containers, in order to prevent overpressure damage, at Interphex in New York on March 17, 2009.

Everquest 2, Twitter, Quizilla: Information Cornucopia For Behavioral Science

Everquest 2, Twitter, Quizilla: Information Cornucopia For Behavioral Science

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

Internet phenomena has long been used by advertisers to gather data, form hypotheses, and test them in the form of ad serving—science is starting to get smart to the data-gathering possibilities spawned by voluntary internet activity. 

The most recent headline to this effect is Everquest 2 research at U of Minnesota. Jaideep Srivastava, et al are using Everquest chat logs for social network analysis, similar to the way community interactions among flesh-and-blood people. 


Chiltern Appoints Jane Turner As Late Phase Director For Europe

Chiltern Appoints Jane Turner As Late Phase Director For Europe

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Chiltern a leading global clinical research organization announced today that it has appointed Ms. Jane Turner to the post of Director, Late Phase, Europe.

Will We Say ‘Dirty’ Tomorrow?

Will We Say ‘Dirty’ Tomorrow?

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)


To the historian, English is a fascinating language.  Unlike most of the languages of Europe, it underwent an almost complete makeover following the Norman invasion (1066 and All That).  As a result, although or basic words and grammar are basically like German and especially Dutch, the lion’s share of our vocabulary is from French and Latin.  
Kitchen Science: Homemade Ginger Beer

Kitchen Science: Homemade Ginger Beer

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

My grandfather had a special room in his cellar for the various presses and casks he used to make his notoriously mouth-wrenching red wine.  I have friends whose microbrew apparatus takes up the entire spare bedroom of their house, like a permanently boozy-smelling houseguest.  Accordingly, I thought that fermenting was best left to the hardcore hobbyists-- too complicated a pursuit for the average partly-stocked kitchen.  Turns out, it's pretty simple. I recently made ginger ale with only items I had laying around my kitchen. 
ConvaTec Announces Divestiture Of Unomedical Wound Care And Ophthalmics Business

ConvaTec Announces Divestiture Of Unomedical Wound Care And Ophthalmics Business

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

SKILLMAN, New Jersey, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

ConvaTec, a world-leading developer and marketer of innovative medical technologies for community and hospital care, announced today that it has completed the divestiture of the Unomedical Wound Care and Ophthalmics business to Aspen Surgical Products Holding, Inc. Aspen is a portfolio company of RoundTable Healthcare Partners, an operating-oriented private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry.

The divestiture of the Unomedical Wound Care and Ophthalmics business was a requirement of the European Commission following the acquisition of ConvaTec by Nordic Capital and Avista Capital Partners and the subsequent integration of the Unomedical business with ConvaTec.

Somfy - Results For Financial Year 2008

Somfy - Results For Financial Year 2008

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

PARIS, February 27 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 26th 2009, the Supervisory Board of Somfy examined the annual accounts for the company and its subsidiaries for the year ending on December 31st 2008.

Consolidated figures FY 2008 FY 2007 Change in EUR million 2008/07 Sales 749.4 720.2 +4.0% Operating current income 123.9 132.3 -6.4% Non current items (2.8) (1.2) Ns Operating income 121.1 131.2 -7.7% Income before income tax 108.6 129.7 -16.2% Income tax (24.1) (38.8) -38.0% Share of associate companies' earnings 1.9 13.1 NS Net income 86.4 103.9 -16.8% Net income excluding contribution from 86.4 93.2 -7.3% Faac Cash flow from operating activities 123.9 119.7 +3.5%

OAG Metrics Added To Just-Released Financial, Traffic And Origin Destination Data Of U.S. Carriers

OAG Metrics Added To Just-Released Financial, Traffic And Origin Destination Data Of U.S. Carriers

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

CHICAGO, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Ability for in-depth analysis of the latest data

OAG, www.oagaviation.com, the industry's most accurate single source for airline schedules information, commercial fleets, analytical services and asset valuation support, has integrated its own metrics to the data just recently made public by the DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Compleat Software Declares Spend Control And EProcurement May Hold Key To Controlling Rising Business Fraud

Compleat Software Declares Spend Control And EProcurement May Hold Key To Controlling Rising Business Fraud

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

GUILDFORD, England, February 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Against a background of increasing corporate fraud, Compleat Software Limited http://www.compleatsoftware.com warns that a lack of eProcurement and spend control is a major contributor to business fraud. Compleat Software advises that businesses consider eProcurement to improve spend control and reduce opportunities to commit fraud. According to research from consultancy firm KPMG, UK companies suffered a five-fold increase in fraud last year http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7863862.stm

Telesat Successfully Launches Telstar 11N Satellite

Telesat Successfully Launches Telstar 11N Satellite

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

BAIKONUR SPACE CENTER, Kazakhstan, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Satellite Connects North America, Europe and Africa; Serves Growing Demand For Mobile Broadband From Maritime and Aero Markets

Telesat, the world's fourth largest fixed satellite services operator, has successfully launched its state-of-the-art Telstar 11N satellite. Telstar 11N will be located at 37.5 degrees West and utilize 39 high powered Ku-band transponders to support a wide range of video and data applications in North America, Europe and Africa and across the Atlantic Ocean.

Taiwan Executives To Highlight Tech Trends At CeBIT

Taiwan Executives To Highlight Tech Trends At CeBIT

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

TAIPEI, Taiwan, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Executives of Leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Companies in Taiwan and the World Will Present Their Views on Latest Products and Trends

Executives of some of the largest information and communications technology (ICT) companies in the world will present their views on new products and trends at the Taiwan - Bringing Innovations to the World press conference during CeBIT 2009.

The presentations will take place from 11:00 to 12:30 at Saal 13/14, Convention Centre (CC), Hannover Messe on Wednesday, 4th March, 2009. Members of the news media are cordially invited to join us.

Taiwan's Technology Industry Plays Key Role In World's Global Supply Chain

Taiwan's Technology Industry Plays Key Role In World's Global Supply Chain

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

TAIPEI, Taiwan, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Companies in Taiwan Have Large Stakes in Markets for PCs, LCDs, Semiconductors and Mobile Phones; Branded Businesses and Manufacturing Operations Are Becoming More Distinct

Taiwan's information and communications technology (ICT) companies play a key role in the global supply chain for electronics products. Taiwanese companies account for about three-quarters of the world's production of PCs and half of the world's liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). In addition, Taiwan makes about a quarter of the world's semiconductors and about a fifth of the world's mobile phones.

Successful Milestone In Lead Discovery Collaboration With Nerviano Medical Sciences

Successful Milestone In Lead Discovery Collaboration With Nerviano Medical Sciences

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

SAN DIEGO, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

ChemDiv, Inc. announced today that it has earned the successful milestone in its Lead Discovery collaboration with Nerviano Medical Sciences (NMS). In October 2007, ChemDiv and NMS expanded their partnership to discover and develop potential anticancer agents.

Under the terms of the collaboration, ChemDiv will receive a milestone payment for successful delivery of a lead molecule to NMS, in addition to research fees earned for discovery services.

The Daytime Astronomer on Hyper-Specialization

The Daytime Astronomer on Hyper-Specialization

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

Astronomy as a profession is hyper-specialized.  What do you study-- planets, stars, galaxies, clusters, cosmology? Oh, if only it were that simple.  Say you study stars.  It doesn't stop there!

If stars, what wavelength?  There's radio, IR, optical, UV, X-ray, gamma-ray, multi-wavelength work.  Oh, you study X-ray emission from stars?

What kind of X-ray stars-- single, binaries, compact objects, remnants?  You're into binaries?

What kind of binary star X-ray emission-- coronal, accretion disk, Roche lobe overflow?
Open-Plug Announces Telephony Capabilities For Intel Moorestown-Based Mobile Internet Devices

Open-Plug Announces Telephony Capabilities For Intel Moorestown-Based Mobile Internet Devices

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

BARCELONA - Mobile World Congress, February 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Open-Plug, the specialist in software development environments for portable devices, today announced that it is working with Intel to integrate its ELIPS Linux Telephony Stack to the Moblin Linux software stack for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) based on Intel's next generation Moorestown platform.

Xiocom Wireless Acquires New Zealand-Based RoamAD

Xiocom Wireless Acquires New Zealand-Based RoamAD

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

ATLANTA, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Integrated software and hardware technologies to increase value of broadband solution

Xiocom Wireless, Inc., a global provider of integrated wireless broadband solutions, announced today the acquisition of RoamAD, including its brand, trademarks, intellectual property and patents.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081120/CLTH100LOGO )

Australian Consulting Firm Brings SharePoint To Your Mobile

Australian Consulting Firm Brings SharePoint To Your Mobile

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

SYDNEY, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Australian consulting firm, Spyk Software, has announced the world's first application allowing employees to browse and search all their company documents from their iPhone.

iShare, released today on the iPhone App Store, connects to Microsoft's popular SharePoint Server and provides secure access to company team collaboration information including documents, lists, announcements, tasks and meetings.

Tim Kremer, CEO of Spyk Software said in an interview:

While email has emerged as a killer application on mobile devices, until now there has been poor access to other essential enterprise collaboration tools.

People want information at their fingertips said Mr. Kremer.

Samsung Adopts VIA Nano Processor For The Samsung NC20 12.1-inch Mini-Notebook

Samsung Adopts VIA Nano Processor For The Samsung NC20 12.1-inch Mini-Notebook

Feb 27 2009 | comment(s)

TAIPEI, Taiwan, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- VIA Nano processor platform enables the Samsung NC20 to deliver superior performance and battery life in a sleek 12.1 mini-notebook form factor

VIA Technologies, Inc., a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced that Samsung has adopted the VIA Nano processor in the new Samsung NC20 mini-notebook.

Combining the power efficient 1.3+GHz VIA Nano(TM) processor with the highly-integrated VIA VX800 system media processor, the Samsung NC20 also features a stunning 1280x800 12.1 display, ensuring an outstanding video experience and enabling a full-size 12 notebook keyboard with optimized 18.5mm key spacing and larger touchpad in a highly portable device that weighs just 1.52kg.