EAST LANSING, Mich. — In a head-to-head battle of harvesting the sun's energy, solar cells beat plants, according to a new paper in Science. But scientists think they can even up the playing field, says researcher David Kramer at Michigan State University. Plants are less efficient at capturing the energy in sunlight than solar cells mostly because they have too much evolutionary baggage. Plants have to power a living thing, whereas solar cells only have to send electricity down a wire. This is a big difference because if photosynthesis makes a mistake, it makes toxic ...

Since 2008, the U.S. economy has been "seizing" uncontrollably. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher says that a comparison of the multifaceted economic downturn with the uncontrolled spasms of an epileptic is not inappropriate — and may say something about the origins of the disaster. In a recent article published in the journal PLoS ONE, Prof. Eshel Ben-Jacob of Tel Aviv University's School of Physics and Astronomy, his doctoral student Dror Y. Kenett and economist Dr. Gitit Gur-Gershgorn examined the dynamics of the S&P 500 over the last decade, employing methods originally ...

The Wildlife Conservation Society and other organizations released a new study recommending a disease screening program for farm-raised caiman in ranching facilities in Argentina to ensure the safety of people and wildlife alike. The recommendations focus on two crocodilian species, the yacare caiman and broad-snouted caiman, both of which are reared in caiman ranches for sustainable harvest. The research team sought to assess the presence of potentially harmful bacteria in captive-raised caiman at a typical ranching facility in Argentina's Chaco region, where several ...

Vidaroo Corporation today announced that it has contracted with Emmis Radio, a subsidiary of Emmis Communications Corporation, for use of its video distribution and syndication platform for Emmis' 22 radio stations. Vidaroo's Enterprise software will allow Emmis' radio stations to deliver its website's video distribution through use of Vidaroo's centralized management platform, as well as distribute live and on-demand content and branded time-of-day programming. In addition to use of the Vidaroo platform for video distribution and syndication, Emmis will also be able ...

The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), Water Resources Research (WRR), the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans (JGR-C), and the Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth (JGR-B). In this release: New freshwater source for Antarctic coastal waters Phytoplankton affect clouds and precipitation River model enhanced by floodplain dynamics Weighing natural variability in projected precipitation change Study suggests no slowing of Atlantic 'conveyor belt' current Warming, salinity ...

Contour, Inc is a market leader in wearable video technology, introducing innovative new features such as integrated GPS tracking and bluetooth connectivity to smartphone devices. Contour have just announced the release of their latest product, the Contour+ camera. The Contour+ builds on the popular Contour GPS model with added connectivity and refined features and has been designed with the broadcast and pro-sumer market in mind. Contour cameras are renowned for their ease of use thanks to the large sliding start/stop switch on top of the camera and their unique rotating ...

If pending clinical trials prove successful, a new discovery published in The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) could represent a major scientific leap toward human tissue regeneration and engineering. In a research report appearing online, Yale scientists provide evidence to support a major paradigm shift in this specialty area from the idea that cells added to a graft before implantation are the building blocks of tissue, to a new belief that engineered tissue constructs can actually induce or augment the body's own reparative mechanisms, including complex tissue ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers tracking the spread of Toxoplasma gondii – a parasite that reproduces only in cats but sickens and kills many other animals – have found infected wildlife throughout a 1,500-acre (600-hectare) natural area in central Illinois. The researchers also found dozens of free-ranging cats in the area, the Robert Allerton Park, near Monticello, Ill. Two years of tracking, trapping and motion-triggered night photography at eight sites in the park found no evidence of bobcats, but plenty of examples of feral or abandoned house cats, many of them infected ...

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin's Cockrell School of Engineering have created a new porous, three-dimensional carbon that can be used as a greatly enhanced supercapacitor, holding promise for energy storage in everything from energy grids and electric cars to consumer electronics. The findings of the group, led by materials science and mechanical engineering Professor Rodney S. Ruoff, will be published May 12 by Science magazine in its online publication ScienceXpress. The significance of the discovery by Ruoff's team, which included postdoctoral fellow ...

Since the notorious Black Friday of the online poker world, CarbonPokerRakeback.com has been working diligently to ensure that American players, as well as European and Canadian poker fans, are aware that Carbon Poker is not just a viable online poker option for each of these regions; the site has some of the most unique perks for members, including free poker training, a surfeit welcome bonus and 35% rakeback. Three short weeks ago, the US Department of Justice and FBI set off a string of virtual missiles that rocked the online poker industry to its core. The online ...

A report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy has concluded that a novel University of Colorado Boulder method of producing hydrogen fuel from sunlight is the only approach among eight competing technologies that is projected to meet future cost targets set by the federal agency. The process, which is being developed by Professor Alan Weimer's research team of CU-Boulder's chemical and biological engineering department, involves an array of mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays and create temperatures as high as 2,640 degrees Fahrenheit. The process consists ...

New data offer hints to why Parkinson's disease so selectively harms brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine, say researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dopamine is involved in brain cell communications including the signals that control movement. As Parkinson's kills the dopamine-producing cells, patients begin to develop tremors, problems moving and other symptoms. The new research shows that a drug known to damage dopamine-producing nerve cells and mimic Parkinson's disease does so by rapidly damaging cellular energy generators ...

ARLINGTON, VA (May 3, 2011) – Cancer studies from Mercer University (Ga.) headline groundbreaking research that will be unveiled at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference (NBC). The conference takes place Monday, May 16 -Wednesday, May 18 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. Developing an Oral Vaccine for Cervical Cancer Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the world . Two preventative vaccines are currently available, but are expensive, require complex storage, and trained personnel ...

This is the last of a six-part series on improving your writing style. Whether you write for business or academic purposes, there are a few golden rules that will help you sharpen up your prose. Part 6 - Adjust your style to fit your audience "Well, duh!", I hear you say; unfortunately this is not as obvious as it might seem. Basic rule of thumb: professional documents require a professional writing style whereas informal documents allow you to be more relaxed. That said, if an informal document is being written in a professional or business related environment, ...

Which is more efficient at harvesting the sun's energy, plants or solar cells? This salient question and an answer are the subject of an article published in the May 13 issue of the journal Science. Although both photosynthesis and photovoltaics harvest energy from the sun, they operate in distinctly different ways producing different fuels. It is not a simple task to find common ground between the two in order to compare energy conversion efficiency. "In order to make meaningful comparisons between photosynthesis (which provides stored chemical potential) and photovoltaic ...

Locust Capital Management is proud to announce the appointment of Henry J. Miller III, "Doc" as a Managing Director. Mr. Miller's responsibilities include Sales, Marketing, and Relationship Management for the firm. Prior to Locust Capital Mr. Miller was President of Miller & Company, LLC, a strategic Investment Consultant to institutional investors and Asset Management companies. Mr. Miller has held senior leadership positions with Wachovia Wealth Management, Neuberger Berman, Mellon Financial, CoreStates Bank, and Fidelity. Mr. Miller's Clients have included ...

PORTLAND, Ore. — A comprehensive report based on the National Survey of Children's Health conducted by children's health researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau finds insurance duration, consistency and adequacy, and the corresponding access to health care, are lacking for many U.S. children and have a detrimental effect on their health and well-being. The researchers cite a need for improvement in all states, with wide variations across states that can inform improvement efforts. The results especially support national ...

Athens, Ga. – In a time of transition for rural African-American young adults, natural mentors in the community help them stay focused on their goals and avoid potential difficulties associated with emerging adulthood, according to findings from an ongoing University of Georgia study. The study, published in the early online edition of American Journal of Community Psychology, is part of a broader research program called the Adults in the Making project, which is aimed at helping rural African Americans transition to adulthood. The researchers found that behaviors such ...

This press release is available in French. They may be uncomfortable talking about it, but it's definitely going on. A recent survey, led by McGill Psychiatry Professor and Senior Lady Davis Institute Researcher Amir Raz, reports that one in five respondents – physicians and psychiatrists in Canadian medical schools – have administered or prescribed a placebo. Moreover, an even higher proportion of psychiatrists (more than 35 per cent) reported prescribing subtherapeutic doses of medication (that is, doses that are below, sometimes considerably below, the minimal recommended ...

Pets Best Insurance says it has seen an alarming trend in the number of snakebite claims in the past few years--and the most notable claim of the season so far was for a dog who was bitten on the tongue by a rattlesnake in early April. Although this dog's owner had pet insurance, many owners end up incurring huge costs for snake bites. That's why the company wants to remind pet owners to practice caution when outdoors with pets this spring--as rattlesnake season is now in full swing. President and Founder of Pets Best Insurance, Dr. Jack Stephens, said the bites ...

A new set of buoys in Alaska waters will help scientists understand how climate change may be affecting the pH level of northern seas. Researchers placed the first buoy last month. "This is the first dedicated ocean acidification mooring to be deployed in a high-latitude coastal sea," said Jeremy Mathis, principal investigator for the project and an assistant professor of chemical oceanography at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. "Other moorings have been deployed with ocean acidification sensors, but this is the first complete package in Alaska." The first buoy is ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers have identified characteristic patterns of molecules called microRNA (miRNA) in the blood of people with lung cancer that might reveal both the presence and aggressiveness of the disease, and perhaps who is at risk of developing it. These patterns may be detectable up to two years before the tumor is found by computed tomography (CT) scans. The findings could lead to a blood test for lung cancer, according to a researcher with the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research ...

A little bit of home is always special when you're far away, but for the 100,000 plus troops serving overseas in Afghanistan, a little bit of home is a big morale booster. The World's Largest Brat Fest, which takes place over Memorial Day weekend every year in Madison, Wisconsin, was recently contacted by a squadron in Afghanistan who wanted to attend Brat Fest this year but are unable to due to their deployment. They asked for a poster to hang up to help them celebrate the event a half a world away. Brat Fest organizers, however, wanted to give them more than just ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – There is no practical, economic way to build structures that could stand up to the savagery of EF5 tornadoes like those that ripped through the South in late April, experts say, but damage from lesser storms could be reduced by better building practices and better enforcement of existing codes. Researchers with a rapid assessment team supported by the National Science Foundation say that much of the damage could be linked to inadequate connections between building members, especially trusses, roof rafters and walls. And even though modern codes are generally ...

What if you were told you carried a gene that increases your risk for Alzheimer's disease? And what if you were told this gene starts to do its damage not when you're old but when you're young? Brace yourself. Scientists know there is a strong genetic component to the development of late-onset Alzheimer's. In 1993, researchers discovered a gene known as ApoE4 — carried by about a quarter of us — that triples the risk for getting Alzheimer's. In 2009, three more risky genes were discovered, and one of them, called clusterin, or CLU, was found to up the risk of getting ...