This spring, scientists from the California Academy of Sciences braved leeches, lionfish, whip-scorpions and a wide variety of other biting and stinging creatures to lead the most comprehensive scientific survey effort ever conducted in the Philippines, documenting both terrestrial and marine life forms from the tops of the highest mountains to the depths of the sea. They were joined on this unprecedented, multi-disciplinary undertaking by more than two dozen colleagues from the Philippines, as well as by a team of Academy educators who worked to share the expedition's ...

Pinpoint, LLC announces the launch of Pinpoint, an innovative web application that allows people to point, store, and share their personal locations with the world. Pinpoint will save businesses and people time by enabling them to create pins on a map. Users can give each pin its own customized URL, which makes referring back to a particular place easier than ever! Businesses can also use their office pin as an alternative to their postal address. "I invented Pinpoint when I found myself searching the same place over and over again on Google Maps and sending ...

Marine biologist David Wiley of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and others report in the latest issue of Behaviour (Volume 148, Nos. 5-6) how humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine catch prey with advanced water technology. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are large baleen whales (up to 14 m long) that feed on a small prey in dense concentrations, such as krill or herrings. Humpbacks whales have large flukes relative to their size providing greater thrust for quick maneuvers. While other baleen whales feed by swimming rapidly forward, ...

Fruits and vegetables that provide the highest levels of vitamins and minerals to the human diet globally depend heavily on bees and other pollinating animals, according to a new study published in the international online journal PLoS ONE. The new study was carried out by an interdisciplinary research team, comprised of pollination ecologists and a nutrition expert, based at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, the University of Berlin in Germany, and the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco. The research team showed that globally "animal-pollinated ...

URALCHEM Holding P.L.C., one of the largest producers of nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers in Russia, today announced its unaudited IFRS financial results for the 1st Quarter of 2011 ending 31 March 2011. - Revenue increased to US $ 566 million, compared to US $ 325 million in Q1 2010 - Operating profit increased to US $ 160 million, compared with US $ 39 million in Q1 2010 - Adjusted EBITDA grew to US $ 186 million, compared to US $ 66 million in Q1 2010 - Net profit amounted to US $ 161 million compared to US $ 19 million in Q1 2010 URALCHEM Holding P.L.C. (hereinafter ...

Over the next eight weeks, eight lucky customers of Carrentals.co.uk, the leading comparator for car hire, will win their hire car booking for free. The lucky winners will be drawn at random, every Tuesday, and be announced on the Facebook page of Carrentals.co.uk. The competition is called 'Carrentals.co.uk 8 Weeks Car Hire Give Away' and for those customers who book their rental car online either by the Facebook App or on the main site, they will be entered into the draw automatically. "The competition is fantastic for those looking to save a some money this ...

Scientists from the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), an institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), in collaboration with the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI), have discovered how the body uses a single communication system to decide the fate of stem cells. The study, published in the scientific journal PLoS Genetics on 23rd June 2011, paves the way for the development of new methods of stem cell therapy with fewer side effects. Dr Kian Leong Lee and his team of scientists studied how a single signaling system known as the Nodal/Activin ...

This release is available in German. Valves, nozzles, pistons, spark plugs and camshafts – the heart of each car is its engine. It is a complex structure with many levels and individual parts and must therefore be assembled in a correspondingly precise way. Parts that are slightly damaged, malformed or assembled the wrong way can cause engine damage. The results would be an angry customer and damage to the reputation of the car manufacturer. While assembly is mostly automated for the construction of the body, the engine is still assembled by hand over long stretches. ...

The 14th annual conference is the premier, daylong, and statewide conference for Alternative Dispute Resolution professionals: negotiators, mediators, arbitrators and neutral experts, with special presentations and interactive workshops on today's cutting-edge ADR issues. It is a "must attend" event for all attorneys, arbitrators, mediators and other professionals who want to enhance their conflict management techniques. The Conference Sessions are taught by highly authoritative national and state experts, providing proven practice tips, CLE credits, and ...

Making arrangements for child custody and visitation can be difficult in the best of situations, but even more so if the parents are unmarried. Unwed parents have to work even harder to ensure that the best interests of their children are protected when making decisions about child custody and parenting time (perhaps better known as "visitation"). Since roughly 40 percent of children are now born out of wedlock, issues surrounding parenting plans for the children of unmarried parents are more important than ever. While it is always advisable to craft a comprehensive ...

Professor Jeremy O'Brien, Director of the University of Bristol's Centre for Quantum Photonics, and his Japanese colleagues have demonstrated a quantum logic gate acting on four particles of light – photons. The researchers believe their device could provide important routes to new quantum technologies, including secure communication, precision measurement, and ultimately a quantum computer—a powerful type of computer that uses quantum bits (qubits) rather than the conventional bits used in today's computers. Unlike conventional bits or transistors, which can be in one ...

The eye of the peacock mantis shrimp has led an international team of researchers to develop a two-part waveplate that could improve CD, DVD, blu-ray and holographic technology, creating even higher definition and larger storage density. Peacock mantis shrimp are one of only a few animal species that can see circularly polarized light -- like the light used to create 3-D movies. Some researchers believe the mantis shrimp's eyes are better over the entire visual spectrum than any man-made waveplates. A waveplate is a transparent slab that can alter the polarization of ...

According to Maryland driving instructor Charlie Hook (who has been teaching people how to drive for more than 40 years), teen drivers can be "just as good" as drivers with years of experience, as Vanessa Junkin of the Carroll County Times reports. But, Hook also said, "The attitude's more important than anything," weighting attitude as a heavier factor than age when it comes to good driving. And when you think of attitude, you think of your orientation to responsible driving. A teen driver with the right attitude will avoid drinking and driving, ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Astronomers' research on celestial bodies may have an impact on the human body. Ohio State University astronomers are working with medical physicists and radiation oncologists to develop a potential new radiation treatment – one that is intended to be tougher on tumors, but gentler on healthy tissue. In studying how chemical elements emit and absorb radiation inside stars and around black holes, the astronomers discovered that heavy metals such as iron emit low-energy electrons when exposed to X-rays at specific energies. Their discovery raises the ...

This release is available in German. The quantum mechanical entanglement is at the heart of the famous quantum teleportation experiment and was referred to by Albert Einstein as "spooky action at a distance". A team of researchers led by Anton Zeilinger at the University of Vienna and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences used a system which does not allow for entanglement, and still found results which cannot be interpreted classically. Their findings were published in the latest issue of the renowned scientific ...

In September and October 2010, several major mortgage lenders confessed that many of their employees had been signing and notarizing home foreclosure documents (affidavits) without reviewing their content. Lenders including GMAC/Ally, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase all revealed they had filed thousands of documents without verifying the underlying mortgage information. As these documents were used in court proceedings, the inaccuracies often resulted in unintended and unfortunate outcomes for people trying to salvage what they could after a foreclosure. The revelation ...

AURORA, Colo. (June 25, 2011) New research shows that adolescents and young adults with type 1 (juvenile) diabetes have thicker and stiffer carotid arteries, also known as atherosclerosis, a risk factor for heart attack and stroke in adults. This research is believed to be the first to examine whether type 1 diabetes has a measurable effect on carotid arteries in this age group. The research is part of The SEARCH CVD Study, a collaborative effort between investigators at the Colorado School of Public Health and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Dana ...

DALLAS – June 24, 2011 – A new anti-inflammatory drug used by patients with type 2 diabetes improved their kidney function during a year-long study involving researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center. The study findings, reported in today's New England Journal of Medicine, mark the first time a drug therapy has led to improved kidney function for patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Previous studies have identified drugs that slowed the deterioration of kidney function, said Dr. Robert Toto, director of the Houston J. and Florence A. Doswell ...

INDIANAPOLIS – A large, long-term study confirms that medications with anticholinergic activity, which include many drugs frequently taken by older adults, cause cognitive impairment. The research is also the first to identify a possible link between these drugs – which include over-the-counter and prescription sleep aids and incontinence treatments – and risk of death. The two-year study of the impact of these medications on 13,000 men and women aged 65 and older is part of the Medical Research Council (UK) Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies (CFAS), a large UK-based ...

May was a popular month for auto accidents on Florida's I-95. Several car accidents took the lives of a handful of Florida drivers. Northbound I-95 Car Accident Causes Explosion, Kills Taxi Cab Driver Last month, a vehicle struck the rear end of a taxi cab while traveling northbound on I-95 in close proximity to 95th street causing both vehicles to catch on fire. The Florida Highway Patrol indicates that the vehicle struck the rear of the cab after the taxi blew a tire. The cab driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the other vehicle sustained minor ...

(Boston) - Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found four new genetic variants in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) that confer a higher risk of systemic lupus erythemathosus ("lupus") in African American women. The study, which currently appears on-line in Human Genetics, is believed to be the first to comprehensively assess the association between genetic variants in the MHC region and risk of lupus in African American women. The findings were based on the ongoing Black Women's Health Study, a prospective study of the health ...

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - An archaeological team from the University of Maryland is unearthing a unique picture of the Baltimore-area's early Irish immigrants - of city children taught to read and write at home before widespread public education and child labor laws, as well as insular rural residents who resisted assimilation for one hundred years. The excavation in the city represents the first formal archaeological research to focus on Baltimore's early Irish settlement and labor force. "Behind the closed doors of their modest Baltimore homes, beyond the view of their ...

The process of sorting out contested child-custody or visitation arrangements is almost always hard on families. And, individuals with disabilities commonly face additional challenges in these circumstances. The story of one California mother and her parents demonstrates these challenges as they fight to prove in court that even severely disabled parents have the right to see their children. Fighting for Visitation In 2006, Abbie Dorn was paralyzed following several medical errors during the process of giving birth to triplets. She was left unable to speak or move, ...

Mate choice, competition, and the variety of resources available are the key factors influencing how a species evolves into separate species, according to a new mathematical model that integrates all three factors to reveal the dynamics at play in a process called sympatric speciation. Titled "Factors influencing progress toward sympatric speciation," the paper appears in today's edition of the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. New species more commonly occur when plants or animals cannot interbreed because of strong mate choice, and therefore they become isolated genetically. ...

(CHICAGO) – An innovative approach for implanting a new aortic heart valve without open-heart surgery is being offered at Rush University Medical Center to patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at high-risk or not suitable candidates for open heart valve replacement surgery. "This breakthrough technology could save the lives of thousands of patients with heart valve disease who have no other therapeutic options," says Dr. Ziyad Hijazi, director of the Rush Center for Congenital and Structural Heart Disease and interventional cardiologist of the Rush Valve Clinic. ...