Featured Articles

IPoint 3D - Your Next Remote Control Device Could Be Your Fingers

IPoint 3D - Your Next Remote Control Device Could Be Your Fingers

Feb 21 2009 | comment(s)

Maybe you just want to wait until you can control television with your thoughts or even have it beamed directly into your brain but if you don't mind interim steps, and won't feel vaguely silly with two hands pointed at a screen, the iPoint 3D may be just what you want next.

The iPoint 3D allows people to communicate with a 3-D display through simple gestures – without touching it and without 3-D glasses or a data glove. What until now has only been seen in science fiction will be presented at CeBIT from March 3-8 by experts from the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut, HHI (Hall 9, Stand B36).
5 Things About The Orbiting Carbon Observatory

5 Things About The Orbiting Carbon Observatory

Feb 21 2009 | comment(s)

Here are some quick facts about the Earth-orbiting satellite, scheduled to launch on Feb. 24, 2009. 

-- It will study carbon dioxide sources (where it comes from) and sinks (where it is pulled out of the atmosphere and stored). Carbon dioxide is a major contributor to global warming. The new data will help scientists more accurately forecast global climate change. 

-- Data collected by the OCO mission may help policymakers and leaders make more informed decisions to ensure climate stability and retain our quality of life. 
The Fossils Of Chuckanut Drive

The Fossils Of Chuckanut Drive

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

Chuckanut Drive, in northwestern Washington provides a visual feast from sea to sky.  An amazing array of plants and animals call this coastline home.

For the fossil enthusiast, it is a chance to slip back in time and have a bird’s eye view to a more tropical time. Snug up against the Pacific Ocean, this 6000 m thick exposure yields a vast number of tropical and flowering plants that you might see in Mexico today. Easily accessible by car, this rich natural playground makes for an enjoyable daytrip just one hour south of the Canada/US Border.

Dinosaur BMI: Computer Model Decides Fattysaurus Versus Thinnysaurus

Dinosaur BMI: Computer Model Decides Fattysaurus Versus Thinnysaurus

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

A team of biomechanical and paleontological researchers at University of Manchester are exploring a question that teenaged dinosaur girls have wondered for years: how thin should a dinosaur model be?

Karl Bates and his team built their supermodels using a framework reconstructed from museum-installed skeletons, using an infrared laser scanning technique called LiDAR.
How Single-Cell Organisms Evolve Into Multicellular Ones

How Single-Cell Organisms Evolve Into Multicellular Ones

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)


Show Me The Science Month Day 18



The transition from one-celled microbes to multicellularity was a huge step in the evolution of life on this planet, but as daunting as this evolutionary step seems, it didn't happen just once. Today's plants, fungi, animals, and various types of algae are all descendants of separate transitions to multicellular life.

All of these transitions from a single-cell lifestyle to multicellularity occurred in the very distant past, so how can we learn anything about them? It turns out that it is not hard to find living, modern examples that closely parallel the momentous evolutionary transitions that led to animals, plants, and fungi. Right now on earth there are primitive multicellular organisms that, in many ways, resemble the first multicellular creatures that existed a billion years ago. Researchers are using these organisms to understand what kinds of genetic changes are needed to turn a single-celled organism into a multicellular one.
Results Of NeuroThera Effectiveness And Safety Trial - 2 (NEST-2) Presented At International Stroke Conference 2009

Results Of NeuroThera Effectiveness And Safety Trial - 2 (NEST-2) Presented At International Stroke Conference 2009

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

CARLSBAD, California, February 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Encouraging Safety and Efficacy Results Support Follow-on NEST-3 Trial

In a clinical trial sponsored by PhotoThera, Inc., transcranial laser therapy (TLT) for acute ischemic stroke within 24 hours of stroke onset demonstrated improved outcomes for patients, but did not meet statistical significance for efficacy. A post-hoc analysis in patients who had moderate to moderately severe strokes revealed a statistically significant treatment effect. These encouraging results support a follow-on phase III trial, NEST-3.

/C O R R E C T I O N -- Unite The Union/

/C O R R E C T I O N -- Unite The Union/

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, February 20 /PRNewswire/ -- In the news release, Unite Shocked by Panasonic's Redundancy Proposals issued on 20 Feb 2009 16:20 GMT, by Unite the Union over PR Newswire, we are advised by a representative of the company that in the last line of the first paragraph the number of job losses should have read 15,000 rather than 1500 as originally issued inadvertently. Complete, corrected release follows:

Unite the Union and its members in Panasonic PCCUK Newport have been demanding assurances regarding the future of Panasonic in Newport following weeks of uncertainty after a Panasonic Global announcement that 27 Panasonic plants were to close and 15,000 job losses were expected worldwide.

Another Breakthrough For Neural Adult Stem Cells

Another Breakthrough For Neural Adult Stem Cells

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

The floodgates have opened, and through it rushes advances in stem cell research. It seems that every day, another effort makes a push forward for medical stem cell therapy.

Earlier this week, a team of research scientists published a study evaluating long term clinical results of treating patients with Parkinson’s disease with autologous neural stem cells. The results of the study demonstrated that stem cells from cerebral tissue could form differentiated neurons and could produce dopamine and reverse symptoms of Parkinson’s.  Restored GABA and dopamine signals can restore and provide long term motor improvement.
Unite Shocked By Panasonic's Redundancy Proposals

Unite Shocked By Panasonic's Redundancy Proposals

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, February 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Unite the Union and its members in Panasonic PCCUK Newport have been demanding assurances regarding the future of Panasonic in Newport following weeks of uncertainty after a Panasonic Global announcement that 27 Panasonic plants were to close and 1500 job losses were expected worldwide.

Unite and employees onsite were finally informed today (Friday) of the potential impact of a restructuring proposal that might result in 139 out of 413 current employees being at risk of redundancy.

Bryan Godsell, Unite Regional Officer, said:

Shire Announces Opening Of Office In Japan

Shire Announces Opening Of Office In Japan

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

TOKYO, Japan and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, February 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Soh Fujiwara is Appointed Managing Director

Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it has officially opened a new representative office in Japan and has appointed Soh Fujiwara as Managing Director for Japanese operations.

Unite Slams SNP-Tory Vote To Close Stirling Care Homes

Unite Slams SNP-Tory Vote To Close Stirling Care Homes

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, February 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Unite, Scotland's largest trade union, has slammed SNP and Conservative councillors at Stirling Council after they voted to close two local residential care homes last night as part of the local budget proposals.

Amid angry scenes at the Stirling City Chambers, Labour and Liberal councillors voted 11-11 against their SNP and Tory counterparts on a budget plan shaped by private-hire consultants KPMG.

The SNP Provost then cast the deciding vote in favour of the budget, closing the Beech Gardens and Wellgreen residential homes at a cost of 40 full-time residential placements and potentially 50 local jobs.

Earth-killing asteroids and satellite collisions

Earth-killing asteroids and satellite collisions

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

My Satellite will either save or destroy the Earth. I work as a Daytime Astronomer on the STEREO mission, a pair of identical satellites sent into an Earth-sized solar orbit to stare at the Sun.

Apparently, we also kill satellites. Our PI-- Principal Investigator-- took the role of private investigator and forwarded a Russian newspaper article on the recent satellite collision. Unjustly, they took an artist's conception of our satellite and added in some debris and wreckage to implicate us in the collision!

Global Warming: All Lies, Err Hype?

Global Warming: All Lies, Err Hype?

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)


In 2004, a scientific crew braced the cold and the odds to extract a sediment core from 400m below the seabed of the Arctic Ocean. The core showed that Fifty-five million years ago, deep in the Eocene, the North Pole was ice-free and enjoying tropical temperatures. It also told us that the temperature of the ocean was 20C, instead of the coolish –1.5C we see today, a truth that is hard to imagine today with all the hype around global warming -- even from bright folks like Al Gore.

The Australian Research Council Selects Scopus For The Evaluation Of The Australian Research Landscape

The Australian Research Council Selects Scopus For The Evaluation Of The Australian Research Landscape

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

AMSTERDAM, February 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Elsevier announced today that Scopus(R), its flagship product and world's largest abstract and citation (AC) database, was chosen by the Australian Research Council (ARC) for its Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative.

The ERA initiative will assess research quality within Australia's higher education institutions using a combination of indicators and expert review by committees comprised of experienced, internationally-recognized experts.

Scopus Custom Data will be the sole provider used to assess the country's higher education research output for the ERA's first group of science disciplines: Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences (PCE).

Mouth Cancer - A Deadly Disease - Are You At Risk?

Mouth Cancer - A Deadly Disease - Are You At Risk?

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, February 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- With Photo

Mouth cancer (also called oral cancer) is a malignant growth which can occur in any part of the mouth including the lips and tongue. Mouth cancers often appear as a painless mouth ulcer that does not heal normally or, less often, as a red or white patch in the mouth. Dental Authorities seek to encourage people to understand their level of risk for the disease and to advise dentists to be vigilant in their examination procedures.

KIT Digital Appoints Marcus Evans Chief Marketing Officer

KIT Digital Appoints Marcus Evans Chief Marketing Officer

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, February 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Accomplished CRM and new business expert to lead sales and marketing effort

2009 KIT digital, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: KITD), a leading provider of Internet Protocol-based video enablement technologies, announced today that Marcus Evans has joined the firm as chief marketing officer, based in the company's Dubai headquarters.

Evans brings over 20 years of expertise in consumer engagement and high-level agency experience to KIT digital, underscoring the firm's differentiation as a provider of enterprise-level, strategic counsel to help clients maximize the benefits of deploying IP-based video solutions.

Frost Sullivan Recognizes WCC For Its Unique Multimodal Platform

Frost Sullivan Recognizes WCC For Its Unique Multimodal Platform

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, February 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Higher Accuracy Through Biographic and Biometric Fusion

Corning To Highlight Leadership In Data Centre Applications At The 2009 Data Centre World Exhibition

Corning To Highlight Leadership In Data Centre Applications At The 2009 Data Centre World Exhibition

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

BERLIN, February 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Corning Cable Systems GmbH Co KG, part of Corning Incorporated's (NYSE:GLW) Telecommunications segment, will demonstrate its leadership and innovation in data centre solutions at the 2009 Data Centre World Exhibition in London, Feb. 24-25.

The exhibit (booth #106) will feature Corning Cable Systems' Plug Play(TM) Universal Systems. Plug Play Universal Systems address the unique challenges of data centres with factory-terminated, modular components that reduce the data centre footprint and promote air flow for lower cooling and electrical costs. While offering one of the best bandwidth performances available, connectivity is as simple as pulling in the cable assemblies, mounting the hardware and plugging in the connectors.

Tata Interactive's 3D Animation Film On Learning Disabilities Wins The FICCI BAF Award 2009

Tata Interactive's 3D Animation Film On Learning Disabilities Wins The FICCI BAF Award 2009

Feb 20 2009 | comment(s)

MUMBAI, India, February 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Global Leader in Learning Solutions, Tata Interactive Systems, Receives Recognition for its Corporate Sustainability Film

Tata Interactive Systems' (TIS) 3D animation film titled 'Special Deeds for Special Needs' (http://www.tatalearningforum.com/TLDF/TLDFMedia.htm) has won the top spot in the 'Best Animated Film on Social Welfare' category at the FICCI Best Animated Frames Awards 2009. The awards were announced at a ceremony on February 18, 2009 in Mumbai.