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The Rise Of Slime - No, It's Not An Irwin Allen Movie, It's The Future, Says Scripps Researcher

The Rise Of Slime - No, It's Not An Irwin Allen Movie, It's The Future, Says Scripps Researcher

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

Jeremy Jackson, a professor of oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, is not an optimistic guy about the future. He says human activities are cumulatively driving the health of the world's oceans down a rapid spiral and the result will be mass extinctions in the oceans on par with vast ecological upheavals of the past.

He cites the synergistic effects of habitat destruction, overfishing, ocean warming, increased acidification and massive nutrient runoff as culprits in a grand transformation of once complex ocean ecosystems. Areas that had featured intricate marine food webs with large animals are being converted into simplistic ecosystems dominated by microbes, toxic algal blooms, jellyfish and disease.

Jackson, director of the Scripps Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, has tagged the ongoing transformation as "the rise of slime."

Declaration Of Istanbul On 'Transplant Tourism'

Declaration Of Istanbul On 'Transplant Tourism'

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

All countries should take steps to govern organ donation and transplantation, thereby ensuring patient safety and prohibiting unethical practices, according to an article appearing in the September 2008 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

The document is a consensus of more than 150 representatives of scientific and medical bodies from around the world, government officials, social scientists, and ethicists, who met in Istanbul, Turkey, this spring.

Peoplesafe In Housebuilding Innovation Awards

Peoplesafe In Housebuilding Innovation Awards

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

SHEFFIELD, England, August 13 /PRNewswire/ --

- With Photo

Rocksure Systems in association with leading housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has been announced as a finalist in the prestigious Housebuilding Innovation Awards 2008. Rocksure's Peoplesafe system is entered into the Best Innovation in Technology category, the winner of which will be announced on the 23rd of October.

Taylor Wimpey's comprehensive health and safety policy was the prime reason behind signing a national agreement for the Peoplesafe service which is a comprehensive lone worker safety system - not just a panic alarm.

The Stephen Colbert Show Is Good ... For Democrats

The Stephen Colbert Show Is Good ... For Democrats

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

In prior articles, we found the scientific validation of Stephen Colbert's 'truthiness', and now it turns out that anecdotal evidence of a 'Colbert bump' following an appearance (anecdotal evidence provided, naturally, by Colbert himself) on the show has legs as well - but only if you're in one political party. Democratic politicians receive a 40% increase in contributions in the 30 days after appearing on "The Colbert Report" while Republicans essentially gained nothing.

Stephen Colbert is right - the "Colbert bump" boosts campaigns.

This analysis of one of America's most well-known pop icons of recent years is conducted by political scientist James H. Fowler (University of California, San Diego), who is also a self-identified fan of the show. The research appears in the July issue of PS: Political Science and Politics.

QAI's Certification Examinations Now Available In Over 135 Countries, Announces Partnership With Prometric

QAI's Certification Examinations Now Available In Over 135 Countries, Announces Partnership With Prometric

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

ORLANDO, Florida, August 13 /PRNewswire/ --

- QAI's Certifications in Areas of Software Testing, Software Quality and Process Engineering are now Available as Computer-Based Examinations Through Prometric, to Consistently Assess and Certify Individuals Internationally

To address the growing demand of consistently assessed talent and to address the requirements of the customers and the industry, Quality Assurance Institute (QAI) (http://www.qaiworldwide.com) has made it's certifications available online. To meet this objective, QAI has partnered with Prometric, a world leader in assessment testing services. This will provide IT professionals better access to take the computer-based exams at Prometric test centers in more than 3000 locations across the globe.

No Surprise - Young, Middle Class Men And Women Disagree On Abortion And Housework

No Surprise - Young, Middle Class Men And Women Disagree On Abortion And Housework

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

Young people from 10 countries around the world have shared their views on housework and abortion issues in a new study from the University of Adelaide, Australia. Small surveys were conducted at high schools and universities in the United States, Canada, Australia, Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Indonesia.

The research, conducted by Professor Chilla Bulbeck in the University's Discipline of Gender, Work and Social Inquiry, looked at the attitudes of young men and women to a number of gender equality issues.

In The Middle East, Climate 'Change' WIll Probably Be Welcome

In The Middle East, Climate 'Change' WIll Probably Be Welcome

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

The prospect of climate change sparking food and water shortages in the Middle East is less likely than previously thought, with new research by an Australian climate scientist suggesting that rainfall will be significantly higher in key parts of the region.

Recent projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) raised fears that storm activity in the eastern Mediterranean would decline this century (if global warming continues on the predicted curve) and that would reduce rainfall by between 15 and 25 per cent over a large part of the so-called Fertile Crescent, the land encompassing parts of Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq, and north-eastern Iran and the strategically important headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

But the IPCC projections were based on the results of global modelling of climate change, which tends to obscure smaller-scale regional effects.

Common Herb Ashwagandha Plus Cow's Milk Boosts Immunity, Says Study

Common Herb Ashwagandha Plus Cow's Milk Boosts Immunity, Says Study

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

Eastern and Oriental medicine practitioners have long said that Ashwagandha, an herb commonly used in the 5,000-year old practice of Ayurvedic medicine, helps fight disease when used in combination with a liquid known as anupana. Anupana may be derived from many different substances, from olive oil, to beer, to ghee.

Each liquid is thought to have different properties, so an Ayurveda practitioner selects an anupana that has the qualities that best fit a given situation. Traditionally, one method of administering Ashwagandha and milk was to boil them together.

A team of American researchers is examining whether drinking whole cows’ milk with the herb can increase the body’s white blood cells, which help boost immunity. They have found that it does.

Extensively Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Found In California

Extensively Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Found In California

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

In the first statewide study of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) in the United States, California officials have identified 18 cases of the dangerous and difficult-to-treat disease between 1993 and 2006, and 77 cases that were one step away from XDR TB. The study appears in the August 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

California reports almost 3,000 cases of tuberculosis annually, the largest number of TB cases of any U.S. state. California has also led the nation since 2002 in the number of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) cases—those that are resistant to isoniazid and rifampin, the two antibiotics that form the backbone of TB treatment. XDR TB is resistant to even more classes of antibiotics, including fluoroquinolones and one of three injectable second-line drugs. The authors of the new study evaluated drug susceptibility data of MDR TB cases identified by the California TB Registry between 1993 and 2006, looking for cases that fit the XDR TB definition.

Applebooster - Organic Applesauce Gets An Olympics Diet

Applebooster - Organic Applesauce Gets An Olympics Diet

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

An apple peel powdering process developed at Cornell University to fortify foods has made its first appearance in the Olympics Games. Six thousand 32-gram tubes of “Applebooster" an organic applesauce fortified with dried apple peel powder were given to approximately 750 U.S. Olympic athletes and 250 coaches as they boarded their flights to China earlier this month.

The company says their process enhances the nutritional value of foods by reintroducing ground apple peel into the manufacturing process.

Thomson Reuters Adds New Resources To Citation Impact Center

Thomson Reuters Adds New Resources To Citation Impact Center

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, August 13 /PRNewswire/ --

The Scientific business of Thomson Reuters today announced the addition of new features to the Citation Impact Center -- a Web-based resource devoted to scholarly resources and discussion about the many facets of citation-based evaluation.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080424/NYTH069LOGO )

U. of California can reject creationist college prep classes

U. of California can reject creationist college prep classes

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

Religious conservatives who decry postmodernism in the academy, and object to what they see as identity-based scholarship, such a Marxist school of history or African American Studies, have no problem trying to push their own Christianity-based science on academic institutions. These efforts hit a major legal setback recently, as a California judge ruled that it's OK for the Unversity of California system to reject creationist high school biology classes as valid pre-college course work. An association of Christian schools had sued the University of California for not considering creation-based high school biology classes as adequate preparation for college classes.
Interview: Professor Otto Rössler Takes On The LHC

Interview: Professor Otto Rössler Takes On The LHC

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

On the vast CERN landscape outside Geneva, there’s only one figure in science tilting at the LHC windmill, Dr Otto E Rössler(Roessler). An aged veteran with some 300 research papers under his belt, sometimes called the father of Chaos theory, he looks the part of a sprightly campaigner for human rights, for knowledge and the imagination, poised now to do battle with the fiercest demons of all, the dreaded micro black holes from the Large Hadron Collider, should they appear. He worries they will consume the earth for breakfast.

CERN, the arch enchanter of nuclear physics, isn’t much concerned, with an underground lab to rival any fortress ever built, bolstered by an army of 2,500 physicists and another 6,000 worldwide just in case.


The ALICE Experiment, Time Projection Chamber, LHC, courtesy CERN 2007
SFILOE Project, Search For Intelligent Life On Earth SFILOE

SFILOE Project, Search For Intelligent Life On Earth SFILOE

Aug 13 2008 | comment(s)

I am looking for intelligent life on earth. I have a problem finding intelligent life on this planet so at this moment I would like to launch the SFILOE Project from this blog. I am doing this in the hopes I can communicate with other problem solvers and intelligent thinkers that together sharing intelligent thought we can solve more problems improve old technologies and create new ones. You can reach me through this blog. Thank You!!!
Genius Learned or Inherited?

Genius Learned or Inherited?

Aug 12 2008 | comment(s)

Genius Learned or Inherited? I was a wild child I saw the sunrise and viewed the sunset almost everyday. Growing up we had big ranches and farms, sometimes 50 women cutting fruit in the drying shed. Seemed like hundreds in the fields they would come and go. I was privileged I did not have to work as a child, I was the owners child. I remember a overseer, who I did not like saying "the owners son does not work in the field". I told him "I am the owners son, and if I want to work in the field I will". No one else would have said that to him and got away with it. But that didn't keep me away from the fields and orchards crossed with ditches and canals, I stayed outside from dawn to dusk. I took my meals outside on the steps close to where cats and dogs were fed.
Rosetta Genomics Announces Conference Call And Webcast Of Second Quarter Financial Results

Rosetta Genomics Announces Conference Call And Webcast Of Second Quarter Financial Results

Aug 12 2008 | comment(s)

REHOVOT, Israel and JERSEY CITY, New Jersey, August 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Rosetta Genomics (Nasdaq: ROSG), today announced it will release first quarter financial results on August 19, 2008, before the U.S. markets open. Rosetta Genomics will host a conference call with a simultaneous webcast to discuss these results at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, August 19.

To access the live conference call, U.S. and Canadian participants may dial 1-866-966-5335; international participants may dial +44-20-3023-4460. To access the 24-hour audio replay, U.S. and Canadian participants may dial 1-866-583-1035; international participants may dial 44-20-8196-1998. The access code for the replay is 181543#. The replay will be available until August 26, 2008.

Platts Survey: OPEC Crude Oil Output Rises 300,000 B/d To 32.77 Million Barrels Per Day In July

Platts Survey: OPEC Crude Oil Output Rises 300,000 B/d To 32.77 Million Barrels Per Day In July

Aug 12 2008 | comment(s)

LONDON, August 12 /PRNewswire/ --

Platts -- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) 13 members boosted their collective crude oil production by 300,000 barrels per day (b/d) in July to average 32.77 million b/d over the month, according to a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials just released.

Excluding Iraq, the 12 members bound by output agreements produced an average 30.31 million b/d in July, or 330,000 b/d more than June's 29.98 million b/d and 637,000 b/d in excess of their 29.673 million b/d target, the survey showed.

Potential Oil Fields Being Opened For Exploratory Drilling In The Atlantic Northeast Of Iceland

Potential Oil Fields Being Opened For Exploratory Drilling In The Atlantic Northeast Of Iceland

Aug 12 2008 | comment(s)

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, August 12 /PRNewswire/ --

Following the decision of the Icelandic government to start tendering exclusive licences in January 2009 for oil exploration in the Dreki area (in the Atlantic, northeast of Iceland on the Jan Mayen Ridge, between Iceland and Jan Mayen Island), an international conference has been announced in Reykjavik on 4-5 September. The Icelandic National Energy Authority and the Ministry of Industry have organized the conference, which is entitled Iceland Exploration Conference 2008.

Speed-Trap Abolishes Tagging And Provides Marketers With 360-Degree Online Customer Visibility

Speed-Trap Abolishes Tagging And Provides Marketers With 360-Degree Online Customer Visibility

Aug 12 2008 | comment(s)

NEWBURY, England, August 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- Speed-Trap Launches New 'Zero-Touch' Deployment Software That Removes the Need to add Tags to Websites and Delivers Complete Client-Side Data Capture Accuracy

Speed-Trap, the online customer insight specialist, today launches new 'zero-touch' deployment for its suite of customer insight software - Speed-Trap 6.1. The software captures complete, accurate, detailed, real-time information from every user, visitor or customer of 'instrumented' on-line applications and web sites.

Customer Data for CRM and Targeted Marketing Applications

Can Carbon Nanotubes really cause Mesothelioma?

Can Carbon Nanotubes really cause Mesothelioma?

Aug 12 2008 | comment(s)

The easy answer to whether or not Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) can cause mesothelioma similiar to asbestos exposure is a quick "maybe."

The truth is there have been some studies that have shown that the longer, thin nanotubes can cause lesions and scars in the lungs of throats, similiar to what happens from asbestos exposure. With other types of CNTs, no such affect is applicable.