As airports become stretched to capacity and calls mount for new runways and terminals, a computer scientist in Greece has designed a system that could ensure as many seats as possible are filled on each flight and no one is left stranded at check-in.    If you're one of those people who has logged numerous free miles giving up your seat and getting a free ticket in return, that could be bad news.

Montana State University scientists concerned about lethal mold infections have found a gene that regulates the mold's resistance to drugs.

The gene, called srbA, allows molds to thrive during infections even when inflammation reduces its oxygen supply, said Robert Cramer, senior author of a paper published in the Nov. 7 issue of PLoS Pathogens. When the gene is removed, the mold becomes much more vulnerable to lack of oxygen and can no longer grow to cause disease.

AFS Trinity Power Corporation today announced it pulled its 150 MPG plug-in hybrid SUV prototypes out of the LA Auto Show but will independently exhibit and demonstrate the super fuel-efficient vehicles on their own elsewhere in downtown LA during the show.

The company's decision followed actions by the LA Auto Show to muzzle AFS Trinity from highlighting the 150 miles per gallon fuel economy of its XH150 prototype vehicles. The suppression by the automakers of information about technologies such as this raises serious questions about the judgment, vision, intentions and capabilities of the leadership of these companies, said Edward W. Furia, Chairman and CEO of AFS Trinity.

You may recall reading a few weeks ago about a collection of Jurassic footprints so extensive it was being called a 'dinosaur dance floor' .   Another group of paleontologists visited the northern Arizona wilderness site and said it looked like a bunch of unusual potholes eroded in the sandstone to them.

So the scientist who leads the University of Utah's geology department says she will team up with the skeptics for a follow-up study.

If you've ever seen one of those "55 saves lives" signs you might wonder why we don't just lower the speed limit to 5MPH.   After all, it seems silly to think that lives lost from 56 miles and up are important but those below it are not.

General cynicism about advocates aside, it may be an issue of overestimating our abilities.     Whatever the cause, research suggests U.S. motorists are growing increasingly cynical about the relevance of speed limits, and a new study indicates many motorists are more likely to think they can drive safely while speeding - as long as they won't get caught.

A team of theoretical and experimental physicists  have designed a new black hole simulator called BlackMax to search for evidence that extra dimensions might exist in the universe. 

Black holes are theorized to be regions in space where the gravitational field is so strong that nothing can escape its pull after crossing what is called the event horizon. BlackMax simulates these regions.