Washington, D.C.—Although there have been about 800 extra-solar planets discovered so far in our galaxy, the precise masses of the majority of them are still unknown, as the most-common planet-finding technique provides only a general idea of an object's mass. Previously, the only way to determine a planet's exact mass was if it transits—has an orbit that periodically eclipses that of its host star. Former Carnegie scientist Mercedes López-Morales has, for the first time, determined the mass of a non-transiting planet. The work is published by Astrophysical Journal Letters. Knowing ...

An Oak Ridge National Laboratory and University of Tennessee team has used the Department of Energy's Jaguar supercomputer to calculate the number of isotopes allowed by the laws of physics. The team, led by Witek Nazarewicz, used a quantum approach known as density functional theory, applying it independently to six leading models of the nuclear interaction to determine that there are about 7,000 possible combinations of protons and neutrons allowed in bound nuclei with up to 120 protons (a hypothetical element called "unbinilium"). The team's results are presented in ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Using studies that span the last three decades, scientists at UC Santa Barbara have compiled the first evidence-based comprehensive study of the potential for tsunamis in Northwestern California. The paper, "Paleoseismicity of the Southern End of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, Northwestern California," was co-written by professors Edward Keller and Alexander Simms from UCSB's Department of Earth Science, and published in a recent issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. The paper is based on the Ph.D. dissertation of David ...

VIDEO: Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have been able, for the first time, to watch viruses infecting individual bacteria by transferring their DNA, and to measure the rate... Click here for more information. PASADENA, Calif.—Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have been able, for the first time, to watch viruses infecting individual bacteria by transferring their DNA, and to measure the rate at which that transfer ...

Our eyes don't just take in the world around us, they can also reflect our emotional state, influence our memories, and provide clues about the way we think. Here is some of the latest research from the journals Psychological Science and Current Directions in Psychological Science in which scientists show there's much more to the eyes than people might think. Pupil Dilation Reflects the Creation and Retrieval of Memories Many people know that our pupils shrink when our eyes adjust to bright light, but the size and movement of our pupils can also reflect what's going ...

In the first side-by-side tests of a half-dozen palladium- and iron-based catalysts for cleaning up the carcinogen TCE, Rice University scientists have found that palladium destroys TCE far faster than iron -- up to a billion times faster in some cases. The results will appear in a new study in the August issue of the journal Applied Catalysis B: Environmental. TCE, or trichloroethene, is a widely used chemical degreaser and solvent that's found its way into groundwater supplies the world over. The TCE molecule, which contains two carbon atoms and three chlorine atoms, ...

27 June 2012: Element Six, the world leader in synthetic diamond supermaterials, and academic researchers from the University of Warwick's Departments of Chemistry and Physics, have demonstrated the key factors that determine the electrochemical properties of metal-like boron-doped synthetic diamond. The research shows that boron-doped synthetic diamond has outstanding electrochemical properties while retaining the full strength and durability of its chemical structure. This research opens the possibility of exploiting synthetic diamond's electrochemical technologies in ...

Scientists at UCLA have identified a new compound that could treat certain types of genetic disorders in muscles. It is a big first step in what they hope will lead to human clinical trials for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or DMD, is a degenerative muscle disease that affects boys almost exclusively. It involves the progressive degeneration of voluntary and cardiac muscles, severely limiting the life span of sufferers. In a new study, senior author Carmen Bertoni, an assistant professor in the UCLA Department of Neurology, first author ...

DA NANG, Vietnam—U.S. scientists and Vietnamese researchers will discuss coastal ocean circulation and land-ocean environmental trends this week as the R/V Roger Revelle, an auxiliary general purpose oceanographic research vessel (AGOR 28), continues its nine-day port call in the city of Da Nang. Owned by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the advanced research vessel arrived in Vietnam on June 22. Its visit highlights partnership between ONR and the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology as part of a five-year ...

In the first two years following the death of a child, there is a 133% increase in the risk of the mother dying, a new study from the University of Notre Dame shows. Titled "Maternal bereavement: the heightened mortality of mothers after the death of a child," the study is published in the current issue of Economics and Human Biology. Researchers William Evans, a health and labor economist at Notre Dame, and Javier Espinosa of the Rochester Institute of Technology, studied 69,224 mothers aged 20 to 50 for nine years, tracking the mortality of children even ...

You are what you eat, and that seems to have been true even 2 million years ago, when a group of pre-human relatives was swinging through the trees and racing across the savannas of South Africa. A study published in the journal Nature reveals that Australopithecus sediba, an ape-like creature with human features living in a region about 50 miles northwest of today's Johannesburg, exclusively consumed fruits, leaves and other forest-based foods, even though its habitat was near grassy savanna with its rich variety of savory sedges, tasty tubers and even juicy animals. ...

VERNON – Operating on the thought that, if it is not feasible, it's not going to be done, a group of Texas AgriLife Research scientists is studying the costs of getting potential bioenergy sources such as mesquite to the processed stage. AgriLife Research scientists from the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Service center at Vernon, Dr. Seong Park, economist; Dr. Jim Ansley, range ecologist; Dr. Mustafa Mirik, associate research scientist; and Marc Maindrault, a visiting forestry student intern from France, have completed a study on costs of delivered biomass. The ...

AMARILLO – Do potato psyllids migrate from one location to the next, starting in northern Mexico and moving northward as the potato season progresses, or are psyllid populations local? Knowing whether the insects are migratory or local could help more efficiently manage the insects which are increasingly inflicting damage on the country's potato industry, according to scientists working on the project. A study that is being done as a part of the national Zebra Chip Specialty Crop Research Initiative involves Dr. Arash Rashed, Texas AgriLife Research vector ecologist, ...

University of Texas Medical Branch researchers have significantly improved an existing experimental vaccine for Rift Valley fever virus, making possible the development of a more effective defense against the dangerous mosquito-borne pathogen. The African virus causes fever in humans, inflicting liver damage, blindness, encephalitis and even death on a small percentage of those it infects. It also attacks cattle, sheep and goats, producing high mortality rates in newborn animals and causing spontaneous abortions in nearly all infected pregnant sheep. In 2000, outbreaks ...

URBANA – A University of Illinois study shows that dietary fiber promotes a shift in the gut toward different types of beneficial bacteria. And the microbes that live in the gut, scientists now believe, can support a healthy gastrointestinal tract as well as affect our susceptibility to conditions as varied as type 2 diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer, and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. As these microbes ferment fiber in the intestine, short-chain fatty acids and other metabolites are produced, resulting in many health benefits ...

COLLEGE STATION – When Atlantic Richfield Co. was tasked with cleaning up a major superfund site it had purchased in Montana, Dr. Frank Hons, a Texas A&M University professor, got a call to assist the company's consultants, Pioneer Technical Services. Hons, a soil and crop science professor, spent two years leading a Texas A&M team studying revegetation solutions on land impacted by 100 years of copper mining, mineral processing and smelting in the Anaconda, Mont. area. The Anaconda Copper Co., a driving force and major employer in the region for 100 years, was purchased ...

Mathematicians at the University of Sheffield, as part of an international team, have discovered tornadoes in space which could hold the key to power the atmosphere of the Sun to millions of kelvin. The super tornadoes - which are thousands of times larger and more powerful than their earthly counterparts but which have a magnetic skeleton - spin at speeds of more than 6,000 mph at temperatures in millions of centigrade in the Sun's atmosphere. They are more than 1,000 miles wide – hundreds of miles longer than the total distance between Land's End to John O'Groats. ...

Contact: Dan Klotz dklotz@burnesscommunications.com 301-280-5756 Francesca Pispisa fpispisa@idlo.int 39-06-40403297 Burness Communications 2 year study helps African communities resolve conflicts, protect rights from land grab Communities that survived years of violent strife still struggle to secure permanent rights WASHINGTON, D.C./ROME (28 June, 2012)—A new report released today by Namati and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) details an effective and cost-efficient process to help rural communities work together to protect their lands ...

DALLAS – June 28, 2012 – Intensive early treatment of type 2 diabetes slows down progression of the disease by preserving the body's insulin-producing capacity, a UT Southwestern study has shown. "We can potentially change the course of this prevalent disease, which would represent a breakthrough," said Dr. Ildiko Lingvay, assistant professor of internal medicine and author of the study published online in Diabetes Care. "The intensive treatment regimen we propose is different from the stepwise approach recommended in standard guidelines." As one of the fastest-growing ...

Employment policy is also health policy according to a University of British Columbia study that found that workers experienced higher mortality rates if they didn't have access to social protections like employment insurance and unemployment benefits. Researchers with the Human Early Learning Partnership and the School of Population and Public Health at UBC found that low and medium-skilled workers in the United States are at a greater risk of death if they lose their job than their German counterparts, who have access to more robust employment protections and insurance. "Employment ...

In 2009 Dr. Nemeroff joined the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine as the Leonard M. Miller Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. His research has concentrated on the biological basis of the major neuropsychiatric disorders, including affective disorders, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders. His clinical research is focused on the use of genetic, neuroendocrine, neuroimaging and neurochemical methods to comprehensively understand the pathophysiology of depression. In recent years he has uncovered the neurobiological ...

Pay Per Click Club opens the half part of the year with a monthly meeting on July 10, 2012 at 6:00-9:00pm. Discussion will focus on Google Analytics, the web traffic measurement tool from Google. Bud Gibson, from Eastern Michigan University's College of Business will be the guest speaker. The event is one of the monthly "ThinkTank" meetings and is happening at Eastern Michigan University in Livonia, located at 38777 Six Mile Road
Suite 410/411. Gibson, a professor at Computer Information Systems will teach participants how to use Google Analytics, ...

Enolsoft Co., Ltd., a professional multimedia software developer, today is pleased to announce the release of ViewCHM for iOS, a free utility to help iOS users to easily view CHM eBooks on the go with their iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Enolsoft ViewCHM for iOS supports CHM documents in any languages and allows users to freely zoom-in or zoom-out the font size. Moreover, it also allows users to search by keywords, bookmark a specific page, import CHM files via Wi-Fi, Mail, iTunes, adjust display settings and import multiple CHM files to iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch at a time ...

In the market today, there are no specialized machines for the sign industry, which have to settle for generalized high-cost foam cutters. Foamlinx LLC, based in California has developed CNC Hot Wire Foam Cutters especially for the sign industry. They are operated by a computer and cutting software (numerically controlled). The machine can cut EPS, XPS and EPP types of foam, being able to produce 3D interior and exterior signs, logos, monument signs, foam numbers and letters, theme props, displays and architectural signs, and much more. Foamlinx Sign Cutters are designed ...

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