AUDIO: Humpback whale sounds were recorded in Bering Strait in October 2012. Click here for more information. The Arctic is home to a growing number of whales and ships, and to populations of sub-Arctic whales that are expanding their territory into newly ice-free Arctic waters. A study of the narrow passage of the Bering Strait uses underwater microphones to track the whales by their sounds. Three years of recordings reveal more detections of both Arctic and sub-Arctic whales ...

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have produced a synthetic air reference standard which can be used to accurately measure levels of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. This will greatly help scientists contribute to our understanding of climate change. A paper published in Analytical Chemistry describes how researchers at NPL have created a synthetic gas standard for the first time, which is comparable to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) scale and can be quickly produced in a laboratory and distributed, meeting growing demand. The ...

The annual ritual of visiting a doctor's office or health clinic to receive a flu shot may soon be outdated, thanks to the findings of a new study published in the journal Vaccine. The research, which involved nearly 100 people recruited in the metropolitan Atlanta area, found that test subjects could successfully apply a prototype vaccine patch to themselves. That suggests the self-administration of vaccines with microneedle patches may one day be feasible, potentially reducing administration costs and relieving an annual burden on health care professionals. The ...

The general state of a person's metabolism can be diversely illustrated with a new scientific blood analysis. With the aid of the analysis biomarkers predicting short-term mortality have now been discovered. If a person belongs to a risk group based on these biomarker concentrations, he/she has a multifold risk of dying in the next five years compared to the general population. The study is based on blood samples of over 17,000 Finnish and Estonian people. Mortality was related to four biomarkers in the blood: levels of two proteins (albumin and alpha-1 acidic glycoprotein), ...

How would you rate your own physical fitness? Is it good, satisfactory or maybe even poor? Surprisingly, your answer may reveal your future risk of getting dementia. A recent collaborative study from Finland, involving the follow-up of 3,559 adults for 30 years, has found that a simple question about self-rated physical fitness in midlife may reveal individuals who are at an increased risk of developing dementia. Those who reported poor self-rated physical fitness in midlife, at the mean age of 50 years, were four times more likely to get dementia during the next three ...

Are the eggs produced by adolescent girls the same as the ones produced by adult women? A recent study published in Human Molecular Genetics by Professor Kui Liu from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden shows compelling evidence that there are two completely distinct types of eggs in the mammalian ovary – "the first wave" and "the adult wave". Professor Liu's team used two genetically modified mouse models to show that the first wave of eggs, which starts immediately after birth, contributes to the onset of puberty and provides fertilizable eggs into the transition ...

DENVER – Survival among people with lung cancer has been better for women than men, and the findings of a recent study indicate that female hormones may be a factor in this difference. The combination of estrogen plus progesterone and the use of long-term hormone therapy were associated with the most significant improvements in survival. The study was designed to explore the influence of several reproductive and hormonal factors on overall survival of women with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). After adjusting for stage of disease at diagnosis, treatment type (surgery ...

"Sprouted" garlic — old garlic bulbs with bright green shoots emerging from the cloves — is considered to be past its prime and usually ends up in the garbage can. But scientists are reporting in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that this type of garlic has even more heart-healthy antioxidant activity than its fresher counterparts. Jong-Sang Kim and colleagues note that people have used garlic for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. Today, people still celebrate its healthful benefits. Eating garlic or taking garlic supplements is touted as a natural ...

Standing in a full-body scanner at an airport isn't fun, and the process adds time and stress to a journey. It also raises privacy concerns. Researchers now report in ACS' The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters a more precise and direct method for using that "terahertz" (THz) technology to detect explosives from greater distances. The advance could ultimately lead to detectors that survey a wider area of an airport without the need for full-body scanners. R. Kosloff and colleagues explain that using THz spectroscopy by itself is challenging for sensing far-away explosives. ...

The side effects of ingesting too much caffeine — restlessness, increased heart rate, having trouble sleeping — are well known, but recent research has shown that the stimulant also has a good side. It can kill cancer cells. Now, researchers report in the ACS journal Inorganic Chemistry that combining a caffeine-based compound with a small amount of gold could someday be used as an anticancer agent. Angela Casini, Michel Picquet and colleagues note that caffeine and certain caffeine-based compounds have recently been in the spotlight as possible anticancer treatments. ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Lab success doesn't always translate to real-world success. A team of Michigan State University scientists, however, has invented a new technology that increases the odds of helping algae-based biofuels cross that gap and come closer to reality. The current issue of Algal Research showcases the team's invention — the environmental photobioreactor. The ePBR system is the world's first standard algae growing platform, one that simulates dynamic natural environments. Simply put, ePBR is a pond in a jar that helps identify, cultivate and test algal ...

The mega-decline in cod and other fisheries across the North Atlantic Ocean threatens the livelihood of fishermen and communities in New England and Atlantic Canada. One suspect in the disappearance of cod and other groundfish is the food source for their young: a planktonic copepod crustacean, no larger than a grain of rice. Recent changes in local copepod populations have co-occurred with declines in fisheries elsewhere, such as the collapse of the cod fishery in Europe's North Sea. For this and other reasons, Petra Lenz and Andrew Christie are among the scientists ...

Augusta, Ga. – Cognitive decline that often accompanies obesity and diabetes can be reversed with regular exercise or surgical removal of belly fat, scientists report. A drug already used to treat rheumatoid arthritis also helps obese/diabetic adult mice regain their ability to learn and comprehend, while transplanting belly fat to a normal mouse reduces those abilities, said Dr. Alexis M. Stranahan, neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University. Studies in humans and animals indicate that obesity and diabetes – which often go hand ...

PULLMAN, Wash.—While drivers tend to believe it is dangerous to text and drive, many say they can still do it safely. Now Washington State University researchers say drivers can be discouraged from the practice with public service announcements that evoke their fear of death in graphic terms. Looking to curb what former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called "a national epidemic," WSU marketing professors Ioannis Kareklas and Darrel Muehling recently explored driver attitudes toward texting. They examined various ways to discourage texting while driving through ...

This news release is available in German. If a name is ambiguous and given without context, even humans struggle. When reading the last name "Merkel", people do not know if it refers to the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel or the famous soccer coach Max Merkel. It is a drawback for web search, too. Up to now, the programs can capture character strings like "Angela Merkel", but they do not pay attention to attributes like "German Chancellor" or "Germany's First Lady" at all. Even worse, after the word "Merkel" is entered, the search engines provide information about ...

For the past 24 years, Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, has been developing a complex computer model to study air pollution, energy, weather and climate. A recent application of the model has been to simulate the development of hurricanes. Another has been to determine how much energy wind turbines can extract from global wind currents. In light of these recent model studies and in the aftermath of hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, he said, it was natural to wonder: What would happen if a hurricane encountered a large array ...

TORONTO, Feb. 26, 2014—Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common chronic liver disease in developed countries, affecting up to 30 per cent of their populations. Since the disease is closely linked to obesity and Type 2 diabetes, there's a growing debate in the medical community about whether diet plays a role in its development, specifically the consumption of fructose. The possible link to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has become the main criticism against fructose among those who believe there is something unique about the fructose molecule or the way ...

Judging the effects of climate change on extinction may be easier than previously thought, according to a paper published today in the journal Nature Climate Change. Although widely used assessments of threatened species, such as the IUCN Red List, were not developed with the effects of climate change in mind, a study of 36 amphibian and reptile species endemic to the US has concluded that climate change may not be fundamentally different from other extinction threats in terms of identifying species in danger of extinction. The new study, funded by NASA and led by Richard ...

Wind turbines placed in the ocean to generate electricity may have another major benefit: weakening hurricanes before the storms make landfall. New research by the University of Delaware and Stanford University shows that an army of offshore wind turbines could reduce hurricanes' wind speeds, wave heights and flood-causing storm surge. The findings, published online this week in Nature Climate Change, demonstrate for the first time that wind turbines can buffer damage to coastal cities during hurricanes. "The little turbines can fight back the beast," said study ...

Pennsylvania high school takes action against distracted driving Article provided by Rieders, Travis, Humphrey, Harris Waters & Waffenschmidt Visit us at http://www.riederstravis.com Distracted driving can take on many different forms. A driver can be defined as distracted if they are eating while driving, doing their makeup, changing the station on the radio or even just talking to another person in the car with them. However, one of the most dangerous distracted driving activities is texting and driving. The dangers of texting and driving According to ...

How reasonable must "reasonable suspicion" to enter a home be? Article provided by The Law Office of James M. Caramanica Visit us at http://www.massfelonylawyer.com/ Under both federal and Massachusetts law, individuals have a right against unreasonable searches. This is especially true when the area to be searched is the home; courts have long held that an individual's home is particularly sacrosanct. In the Massachusetts Supreme Court's words, "In the home, ... all details are intimate details, because the entire area is held safe from prying government ...

Researchers find link between traumatic brain injury, premature death Article provided by The Law Firm of Ted B. Lyon & Associates Visit us at http://www.tedlyon.com A 41-year-long Swedish population study, recently published in the American Medical Association's Psychiatry Journal (JAMA-Psychiatry), shows a causal link between traumatic brain injury and a heightened risk for premature death. "Premature death," for purposes of the study, was classified as dying before the age of 56. According to researchers, excluding all other factors, premature death ...

It has never been easy to make a mark in the modeling industry. Everyone knows that as far as career paths go, one of the most competitive and difficult industries to enter is the modeling industry. Unless you are an exceptionally high profile individual, catching a break can be highly challenging and in most cases a disheartening prospect. It seeps all the time, energy and will power out of many hopeful models-to-be and has, in the past deprived the entire industry of loads of impressive talent. Thus, the true potential of the industry cannot be realized, resulting in ...

Audio specialist Sennheiser Electronic Corp. announced that it has partnered with Chester Springs, PA-based Azione Unlimited. Azione Unlimited, which celebrated its second anniversary this month, is an education and buying group for custom retailers and integrators consisting of 125 dealers and manufacturers throughout the United States. Through the partnership, Azione will have access to the entire line of Sennheiser consumer products, including its premium audiophile headphones and amplifiers. Azione's dealer network specializes in 'white glove' services for high-end ...

As the popularity of mason jars continues to grow, Detroit-based Jar Juicer - The Juicer for a Jar! launches, creating a new use for the iconic household staple. Jar Juicer is a citrus juicer that works with any wide-mouth mason jar. The Patent Pending product is BPA-Free, Dishwasher Safe and will be made in Detroit, Michigan. It is currently available for pre-order online at http://jarjuicer.com "From the classic threaded top, to the standard measurement lines, to the durable glass construction, all the classic features of a mason jar make it the perfect base for ...