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Is Subsidized Solar Power A Bargain For New Jersey And Pennsylvania?

Is Subsidized Solar Power A Bargain For New Jersey And Pennsylvania?

Nov 09 2012 | comment(s)

Energy companies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania are required to buy some solar power each year. 

They are required to overpay for that solar power.

In return for overpaying, they get Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) which let them  pass the extra cost onto local families and taxpayers. 
2,400-Year-Old Thracian golden jewelry unearthed in Bulgaria

2,400-Year-Old Thracian golden jewelry unearthed in Bulgaria

Nov 09 2012 | comment(s)

Archaeologists have unearthed an almost 2,400-year-old treasure in an ancient Thracian tomb in northern Bulgaria. The Thracians lived in Bulgaria and parts of modern Greece, Romania, Macedonia, and Turkey from 4,000 B.C. until they were wiped out and assimilated by invading Slavs in the 7th century AD.

The treasure was found near the village of Sveshtari, 250 miles northeast of Sofia, team leader Diana Gergova said. Among the artifacts, dating back to the end of the fourth or the beginning of the third century B.C., were gold jewelry and applications for horse trappings, a tiara with reliefs of lions and fantasy animals, as well as four bracelets and a ring.
Speech Perception And Production - Why We Can Read Our Own Lips Better Than Others

Speech Perception And Production - Why We Can Read Our Own Lips Better Than Others

Nov 09 2012 | comment(s)

Most people can't read lips. If you turn down the sound on your television, you can see why it is difficule. Unless trained, if you see someone speak a sentence without the accompanying sounds, you are unlikely to recognize many words but it turns out people can lip-read themselves better than they can lip-read others, and that shows an interesting link between speech perception and speech production.
Child Care Providers Can Be Part Of The Solution For Childhood Obesity

Child Care Providers Can Be Part Of The Solution For Childhood Obesity

Nov 08 2012 | comment(s)

Should child care providers be tasked with childhood obesity too? 

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys found that over 21% of children ages 2 to 5 were considered overweight or even obese.  That has led some advocates to posit that child care settings can tackle teaching children about nutrition, since nearly 50% of children in the United States under age 5 go to some kind of child care.
The Rehabilitation Of Dr. Christmas Jones

The Rehabilitation Of Dr. Christmas Jones

Nov 08 2012 | comment(s)

When I was a young guy living in Florida, on one station we used to get reruns of a television show called "The Saint". I liked the stick figure cartoon and the halo that would appear above his head in the beginning. Roger Moore was cool.

He became the third actor to play Ian Fleming's British super spy James Bond (and the longest-running) and was the perfect choice. Yet most people remember the 'cartoon-y' James Bond films that came on his watch. He is unfairly derided as the worst James Bond now, and that is saying something in a roster that includes George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton.  "The Spy Who Loved Me " holds up pretty well, the recurring actors all have at least one good movie.
Nose-to-Brain Research Of Oxytocin In Autism Spectrum Disorders

Nose-to-Brain Research Of Oxytocin In Autism Spectrum Disorders

Nov 08 2012 | comment(s)

OptiNose US Inc. has announced that its Norwegian affiliate was awarded $2.1 million by the Research Council of Norway to study its nasal drug delivery technology in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).

OptiNose will use this research grant to investigate "nose-to-brain" transport of oxytocin via the patented OptiNose Bi-Directional delivery technology for the treatment of ASDs. Partners who have agreed to collaborate with OptiNose in the project include the Department of Psychiatry at Oslo University Hospital, SINTEF and Smerud Medical Research and Norwegian academic insitutions. 

Study Demonstrates Benefits Of Pradaxa Are Maintained For Over Four Years

Study Demonstrates Benefits Of Pradaxa Are Maintained For Over Four Years

Nov 08 2012 | comment(s)

New data from the RELY-ABLE study have provided additional support to the safety profile and efficacy of Pradaxa(R) (dabigatran etexilate) for stroke prevention in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) over a period in excess of 2 years.[*][1]

The new long-term results presented at the American Heart Association's (AHA) Scientific Sessions, are consistent with the findings from the RE-LY trial[*]. The rates of stroke and haemorrhage observed during an additional 2.3 years of blinded follow-up in RELY-ABLE correspond to the initial RE-LY results, with the benefit of both doses of dabigatran etexilate sustained throughout the study's duration.[1]-[3] 

Poor Control Of Anticoagulant Therapy Leads To Increased Adverse Events For Patients With Atrial Fibrillation

Poor Control Of Anticoagulant Therapy Leads To Increased Adverse Events For Patients With Atrial Fibrillation

Nov 08 2012 | comment(s)

Twelve-month data from the Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD (GARFIELD) show that the poor management of stroke prevention therapy is widespread in clinical practice, which may lead to elevated rates of mortality, stroke and bleeding among individuals with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation (AF).

Getting Qualified As Full Professor

Getting Qualified As Full Professor

Nov 08 2012 | comment(s)

Researchers and academics below the full-professor level in Italy are currently busy with an idle exercise - putting together their applications to a selection for would-be assistant and full professors. By the way, this is happening to me as well, so you may understand why this blog has received little attention from me this past week: the occupation is extremely time-consuming.

Becoming university professors in Italy in the last few decades has been a rather complicated business, where the merit of candidates was often overshadowed by favouritisms and private interests.
If Climate Change Is Really Important, Let's Have An Adult Talk About Nuclear Power

If Climate Change Is Really Important, Let's Have An Adult Talk About Nuclear Power

Nov 08 2012 | comment(s)

Climate change was ignored for all but the last week of the American presidential election. Then, a hurricane hit and it mobilized voters who were otherwise disappointed that neither party cared about science or the climate. 

Yet it's hard to have a real talk about climate change when activist groups are so anti-science about energy and energy produces a lot of emissions.  While Hurricane Sandy may have been the 'October surprise' that re-elected a president (1) but it may also have done something that even an earthquake in Japan could not do; force a real, adult conversation about nuclear power.
Gene, gene expression, gene silencing and RNAi

Gene, gene expression, gene silencing and RNAi

Nov 08 2012 | comment(s)

Gene Expression?–What is a Gene?

A gene codes for a homogeneous ‘functional unit’ – classically a protein, or rRNA, tRNA (other RNAs are emerging). The DNA sequence defines the gene, along with processing steps that determine the product. Generally gene product is a protein which is synthesised by a process of transcription i.e. DNA to mRNA and translation i.e. mRNA to Protein synthesis. 

A Quantum Kiss Between Nanoparticles That Changes The Color Of Space

A Quantum Kiss Between Nanoparticles That Changes The Color Of Space

Nov 07 2012 | comment(s)

Researchers have observed the quantum regime in the interaction between nano-sized spheres of gold, thanks to the change of color of the gap between these particles when they are at distances of less than one nanometer.

They have literally 'seen' a quantum kiss between nanoparticles.
Are Americans Polarized Or Is Polling More Scientific?

Are Americans Polarized Or Is Polling More Scientific?

Nov 07 2012 | comment(s)

Something happened last night that you don't see very often - almost all of the polls were right. Nearly everyone predicted the state electoral results correctly and that, my friends, is truly rare. 
Let's Talk Proposition 37.1 -- No Ballots Required

Let's Talk Proposition 37.1 -- No Ballots Required

Nov 07 2012 | comment(s)

In the shadow of Proposition 37's defeat maybe we can have a real conversation.  Angry, uninformed discussion based on fear mongering from both sides detracted from a real issue-- how do we provide complete information about food in a manner consistent with science?

Throughout the discussion scientists and some corporate officials stated repeatedly that labeling is not the problem-- Proposition 37 was the problem.  A potentially complex and expensive bureaucratic web would be created to police foodstuffs that have no inherent dangers.  That's just nuts.

At this time I think everyone in interested in this issue should coalesce around balancing two concepts in complete fairness-- information and science.

THE WIRED WORLD IN 2013 Annual Trend Report

THE WIRED WORLD IN 2013 Annual Trend Report

Nov 07 2012 | comment(s)

What big trends can you expect to take hold in 2013?  THE WIRED WORLD IN 2013 is a new annual trend report that covers a broad range of topics across eight sections; from science to arts, politics to medicine and culture to the environment.

I have two articles in the issue, one on science and one on environmental policy - that's right, Richard Branson and James Dyson only get one but they love Science 2.0 twice as much.

You can buy it on newsstands, get it within the Wired UK app on iTunes/Kindle/Android or buy a digital copy at this link:
Californians Shoot Down The Food Temperance Movement

Californians Shoot Down The Food Temperance Movement

Nov 07 2012 | comment(s)

A few months ago, before Monsanto and DuPont realized Proposition 37 may have been started by anti-science crackpots but it was not going away and I was one of the few critical of it, I would have predicted GMO warning labels to win by 66% - because that is the percentage of Democrats in California and while Republicans get attention in science media for being 'anti-science' due to global warming, the actual anti-science positions that are dangerous are bastions of the left.
Thank You America

Thank You America

Nov 07 2012 | comment(s)

Today I feel as American as I've ever felt.

I've lived there for a while, and of course as a foreigner I have many things I love and many I hate about this remarkable country. But today, Americans electing Obama as President for four more years send a message. They say that the attempts at creating a more just society, one where some basic rights of citizens are not ran over by the interests of big corporations, are valued by the American people just as some of us living in another continent do. 
Sympatric Predator-Prey Relationships: How Bear Dogs And Giant Cats Coexisted

Sympatric Predator-Prey Relationships: How Bear Dogs And Giant Cats Coexisted

Nov 07 2012 | comment(s)

The fossilized fangs of saber-toothed cats, a leopard-sized Promegantereon ogygia and a much larger, lion-sized Machairodus aphanistus, hold clues to how large, extinct mammals once shared space and food with other large predators 9 million years ago.

Paleontologists have analyzed the tooth enamel of two species of saber-toothed cats and a bear dog unearthed in geological pits near Madrid. Bear dogs, also extinct, had dog-like teeth and a bear-like body and gait. 
Overview of Pancreatic Cancer

Overview of Pancreatic Cancer

Nov 07 2012 | comment(s)

    Pancreas is an organ situated between the stomach and the backbone. Pancreas secretes juices into the first part of the small intensitne and thereby helps in the digestion of food. Addionally, Islet cells of the pancreas secrete the hormone insulin into the blood stream therby playing a major role in glucose homoeostasis. 
God's Place In Fundamental Emergence

God's Place In Fundamental Emergence

Nov 07 2012 | comment(s)

Emergence, for example emergent gravity, implies a lower stratum from which something emerges. “Fundamental emergence” is the idea that all can or must be described as emergent, without however there being a full explanation of lower layers. A lowest fundamental layer may be inconsistent almost by definition (certainly if there is any "ontological commitment") and never more than what the emergence-description must assume. This is non-reductive, since the reduction into a lowest foundation, the resting on the bottom, works only because the bottom "hangs from the top", or better, the whole "floats".