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Frost Sullivan Sees Light At The End Of The Tunnel For Africa's Electricity Industry

Frost Sullivan Sees Light At The End Of The Tunnel For Africa's Electricity Industry

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, February 25 /PRNewswire/ --

The Energy Power Systems Group at Frost Sullivan is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a free online analyst briefing on the impact of the global economic slowdown on Africa's electricity sector on Wednesday 11 March 2009 at 2:00 pm GMT/ 4:00pm CAT.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO)

Despite the global economic downturn, the sub-Saharan African electricity industry is still expected to grow. This is due to strong fundamentals that include an improved investment climate, a high demand for electricity, robust economies, the pursuit of the reform of the power sector and feedstock availability.

People 1st Launches Apprenticeships Drive In Run Up To 2012 Games

People 1st Launches Apprenticeships Drive In Run Up To 2012 Games

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, February 25 /PRNewswire/ -- New research launched in Apprenticeship Week (23-27 February 2009) reveals that

Endace And Correlix Deliver First Integrated Network Monitoring Solution For Latency Intelligence

Endace And Correlix Deliver First Integrated Network Monitoring Solution For Latency Intelligence

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

CHANTILLY, Virginia and NEW YORK, February 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- Solution provides complete monitoring of complex multi-vendor trading infrastructures

Frost Sullivan: The Brazilian Municipal Water And Wastewater Treatment Market Set To Double Within The Next Seven Years

Frost Sullivan: The Brazilian Municipal Water And Wastewater Treatment Market Set To Double Within The Next Seven Years

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, February 25 /PRNewswire/ --

The Brazilian Municipal Water and Wastewater Treatment Market has been experiencing strong growth since 2004. However, 80% of the country's population still needs to be connected to sewage treatment facilities. To remedy this, the Brazilian government has launched Programa de Aceleracao e Crescimento (PAC), an investment programme aimed at financing municipal water and wastewater projects. The Brazilian government has set lofty goals; it plans to reach 80% population coverage in the next seven years and hopes to achieve 100% coverage by 2020.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO)

Lead-Acid: The coolest thing to happen to batteries since Volta

Lead-Acid: The coolest thing to happen to batteries since Volta

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

So, it has been quite some time since I've posted a blog. Unfortunately, I am trying to get this pesky degree and do some research on the side. I would like to continue my history of the battery with the development of the first rechargeable battery. Our sojourn takes us now to France; however, the year is now 1859.
Clovis-Era Tools From 13,000 Years Ago Shows They Prepared Meat

Clovis-Era Tools From 13,000 Years Ago Shows They Prepared Meat

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

A biochemical analysis of a rare Clovis-era stone tool cache recently unearthed in the city limits of Boulder, Colo., indicates some of the implements were used to butcher ice-age camels and horses that roamed North America until their extinction about 13,000 years ago, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder study.

The study is the first to identify protein residue from extinct camels on North American stone tools and only the second to identify horse protein residue on a Clovis-age tool, said CU-Boulder Anthropology Professor Douglas Bamforth, who led the study. The cache is one of only a handful of Clovis-age artifact caches that have been unearthed in North America, said Bamforth, who studies Paleoindian culture and tools. 
NGC 7293 - Into The Eye Of The Helix

NGC 7293 - Into The Eye Of The Helix

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

A deep new image of the magnificent Helix planetary nebula has been obtained using the Wide Field Imager at ESO's La Silla Observatory. The image shows a rich background of distant galaxies, usually not seen in other images of this object.
The World's Smallest Periscope Is The Width Of A Human Hair

The World's Smallest Periscope Is The Width Of A Human Hair

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

A team of Vanderbilt scientists have invented what is basically the world's smallest periscope and are using it to look at cells and other micro-organisms from several sides at once.

The researchers have officially dubbed these devices "mirrored pyramidal wells" and they consist of pyramidal-shaped cavities molded into silicon whose interior surfaces are coated with a reflective layer of gold or platinum. They are microscopic in dimension – about the width of a human hair – and can be made in a range of sizes to view different-sized objects. When a cell is placed in such a well and viewed with a regular optical microscope, the researcher can see several sides simultaneously.
Reverse Ecology - Reconstructing Bacterial Environments From Millions Of Years Ago

Reverse Ecology - Reconstructing Bacterial Environments From Millions Of Years Ago

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

We learn a lot from genes but it turns out we can learn even more - like where you lived or even who you spent time with.   It just requires knowing where and how to look.

Researchers from Stanford and Tel-Aviv University are using a technique called "reverse ecology" to examine metabolic networks and pull out proxies for reconstructing bacterial environments millions of years in the past. The work, published in the February issue of the Journal of Computational Biology, offers clues to the complex evolutionary interplay between organisms such as parasites and hosts.
Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant May Have A Clue To Origin Of Interstellar Dust

Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant May Have A Clue To Origin Of Interstellar Dust

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

Interstellar space dust from a dead star identified by a research team led by The University of Nottingham could unlock some of the mysteries of the early universe.

Dr Loretta Dunne and her team have found new evidence of huge dust production in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, the remains of a star that exploded about 300 years ago. The paper is set to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Even Racism Is Biased In White People, Says Study - Prejudice Is Distributed Unequally

Even Racism Is Biased In White People, Says Study - Prejudice Is Distributed Unequally

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

White people are having a tough 2009.   And it's going to get worse if new research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is accurate.    A series of six studies conducted by University of Washington and Michigan State University psychologists says that whites react more negatively to racial minority individuals who strongly identify with their racial group than to racial minority individuals who weakly identify with their group.

The research, they say, may provide evidence for the claim from some blacks that they personally experience more prejudice than they see  others receiving.
Fossil Of Placoderm A Clue To Possible Origin Of Sex (Though Not Reproduction)

Fossil Of Placoderm A Clue To Possible Origin Of Sex (Though Not Reproduction)

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

A pregnant fossil fish at the Natural History Museum in London has shed light on the possible origin of sex, according to a study published today in the journal Nature by an international team including Museum scientists.

The fossil is an adult placoderm, an extinct group of armored fish, and it contains a 5cm-long embryo.  It is dated to the Upper Devonian period 350 million years ago and was found in the Gogo formation of western Australia.  The fish species is Incisoscutum ritchiei and this specimen is one of the earliest examples of a pregnant vertebrate and shows that internal fertilisation, or sex, started far sooner than previously thought.
380-Million-Year-Old Placoderm Fossil Shows Oldest Evidence Of Live Birth

380-Million-Year-Old Placoderm Fossil Shows Oldest Evidence Of Live Birth

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

A 380-million-year-old fossil fish that shows an unborn embryo and umbilical cord has been discovered, write scientists from the Natural History Museum in Nature.  The extremely rare specimen shows incredible detail. The umbilical cord is attached to an area of small bones, corresponding to the embryo. This means the fish would have given birth to live young, known as viviparity and is the oldest record of this kind known.

'The find is important because it provides concrete evidence for vivparity,' says Zerina Johanson, fossil fish curator at the Natural History Museum.


Fossil specimen found in Australia showing the umbilical cord and embryo parts. © Museum Victoria
FC2 Blog Share Template Function Is Now Expanded To Multi-Language Versions

FC2 Blog Share Template Function Is Now Expanded To Multi-Language Versions

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

LAS VEGAS, February 25 /PRNewswire/ --

After the success of launching multi-language versions of FC2 Blog, FC2 has continued to expand functions within the blog service. The most popular function of FC2 Japan blog is the Share Template. And now it is available in multi-language versions for all users to share templates. FC2 Blog, which continues to provide its services in various languages in effort to achieve the cross-border blog services, has released one of the popular functions in Japanese version Share Template Function.

(Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/xprn/sa/200807180954.png )

Google Ranked Strongest UK Business Superbrand 2009

Google Ranked Strongest UK Business Superbrand 2009

Feb 25 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, February 25 /PRNewswire/ --

LONDON, February 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- As British Airways and BBC Worldwide Fall out of the Top 10

Internet giant Google has - for the second year in a row - notched the top slot in the prestigious annual Business Superbrands survey, compiled by The Centre for Brand Analysis (TCBA) on behalf of the Superbrands organisation. To generate the rankings TCBA analysed the views of an Expert Council and over 1,500 business professionals.

Are you sitting down? There's a fish with a TRANSPARENT HEAD!

Are you sitting down? There's a fish with a TRANSPARENT HEAD!

Feb 24 2009 | comment(s)

You guys....this is SO COOL!  Apparently this fish, which has a TRANSPARENT HEAD, has been known since the 1930's, but scientists just got video and photos of it for the first time.  It's scientific name is Macropinna microstoma.
Women And Minorities Prejudiced Against Themselves, Says Study

Women And Minorities Prejudiced Against Themselves, Says Study

Feb 24 2009 | comment(s)

If you're in the prejudice business the worst thing that can happen is to have a woman and an African-American fighting it out to be President.   A white guy has a tough time out there these days and that's a good thing for society because it means that America continues to be the least racist country in the world.

But if you're in the prejudice business the death of institutional racism and the demise of cultural racism means you'll need to look deeper;  namely to find people being prejudiced against themselves.    Then you can say it's the legacy of old prejudice and the cycle continues.
Science Journalism Is Not Dead - And It's Not Bad

Science Journalism Is Not Dead - And It's Not Bad

Feb 24 2009 | comment(s)

Okay, you're thinking a guy who started a site where scientists write feature articles directly to the audience must be insane to endorse big media science journalism, right?   

Not at all.  Science journalism is a different beast than what we do here but it still has more commonality than it lacks and that's why I was intrigued by a recent back and forth between Professor Larry Moran of the University of Toronto and Chris Mooney of Seed Media's Scienceblogs.com.

Moran is never one to pull punches - that's why I have him on my blogroll - but that doesn't mean I always agree with him, I just like his style.
Poor OCO, and Launching Flight Spares

Poor OCO, and Launching Flight Spares

Feb 24 2009 | comment(s)

Sadly, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) had a launch failure, and is now spread out on Antarctica somewhere. Ironically, I'd written earlier today about the economics of the New Horizons mission.

For New Horizons, well, that launched successfully. OCO did not. This is a fundamental part of rocket science-- it either works or it doesn't. It either blows up or remains intact. When you're only launching one, the stakes are high. And rockets are risky.
Evolution Of Fruit Preference In Fruit Flies

Evolution Of Fruit Preference In Fruit Flies

Feb 24 2009 | comment(s)

Show Me The Science Month Day 21



Why do certain species of fruit flies prefer some fruits over others? Two biologists have looked at the genetic basis behind the evolution of fruit preference, in a paper in this month's issue of Genetics (an incredible issue which happens to contain another amazing, pioneering, paradigm-shifting, ground-breaking paper).

Many insects specialize in feeding on just one or a few types of plants. This fact isn't that surprising, since plants have all sorts of defenses for warding off insects, including the production of toxic chemical compounds, and insects that feed on plants have typically evolved ways to get around the defenses of one type of plant, but not another. This phenomenon is dramatically played out in the hundreds of species of fruit flies around the world, many of which specialize in just one or a few types of fruit. Researchers at Michigan State and UNC Chapel Hill have looked at the genetic changes that enabled one species of fruit fly to specialize in the fruit of the Morinda plant, also known as cheese fruit, a fruit that is toxic to other flies.



Morinda citrifolia, photograph by Eric Guinther