In the beginning was the word – yes, but where exactly? Last year, Quentin Atkinson, a cultural anthropologist at Auckland University in New Zealand, proposed that the cradle of language could be localized in the southwest of Africa. The report, which appeared in Science, one of the world's leading scholarly journals, was seized upon by the media and caused something of a sensation. Now however, linguist Michael Cysouw from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich has published a commentary in Science which argues that this neat "Out-of-Africa" hypothesis for the ...

Let's be clear: I'm going to make a pitch for you to vote for Clarke Ahlers, who has entered the Howard County Judicial race, but in order for me to convince you, we'll start with the basics about judges. Circuit Court Judges Sit on the Bench for 15 Years Circuit court judges in Maryland are elected every 15 years and must retire at age 70. Circuit court judges go through a process of being nominated to a "committee" appointed by the governor. After an interview process, names are sent to the governor for selection and appointment. But here is where ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Astronomers are watching the astronomical equivalent of an instant replay of a spectacular outburst from the unstable, behemoth double-star system Eta Carinae, which was initially seen on Earth nearly 170 years ago. Astrophysicists affiliated with UC Santa Barbara and Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) contributed to the study. Dubbed the "Great Eruption," the outburst lasted from 1837 to 1858 and temporarily made Eta Carinae the second brightest star in the sky. But luckily for today's astronomers, some of the light from ...

The local law firm of Rittgers & Rittgers is giving back to the Warren County community in a generous way. Through its annual high school essay contest, Rittgers & Rittgers will award four scholarships totaling $10,000 to deserving high school seniors in Warren County Ohio. Between now and April 1, students can go to http://www.rittgersinjurylaw.com/Resources/Scholarships.shtml to apply. Partner Charles H. Rittgers said, "My wife and I created this scholarship to help promising local high school students. We wanted to create something to give back to the ...

In October of 2010, the FDA approved Pradaxa for the treatment of atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem. Atrial fibrillation is a condition which occurs when part of the heart does not beat properly causing blood cells to form clots, or coagulate. These blood clots may lead to stroke and in some cases, death. Pradaxa is included in a class of drugs known as direct thrombin inhibitors. Use of direct thrombin inhibitors is used in blood thinning treatments to prevent coagulation of blood cells. However, shortly after the FDA approved Pradaxa for the ...

URBANA – When food prices spiked in 2008, the number of households that moved into poverty was overestimated by about 60 percent, according to a recent University of Illinois study. In middle-income countries such as Mexico that have more diversity in their diets, households are able to substitute other foods and cope with the change in prices. "In 2008, there was a lot of quick-response research trying to measure the poverty effect across the world from the food price increase," said U of I agricultural economist Carl Nelson. "They adopted an older research method ...

According to a new study co-authored by SFU communication professor Adam Holbrook, national, provincial and local economic development policy makers need to pay closer attention to Vancouver's uniqueness as a space for economic innovation. Holbrook and Brian Wixted, another study co-author, say: "Vancouver must build on its economic, social and natural advantages. Otherwise, Vancouver could lose its global edge as an innovator in the development of knowledge-based high tech industries." Holbrook is as an adjunct professor and associate director at SFU's Centre for ...

The federal Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act were once embraced by law enforcement and the public alike. Requiring convicted sex offenders to submit to monitoring by registering their names, addresses and workplaces with the state made people feel safer. The push to make registration mandatory at the federal level and in all 50 states (plus the District of Columbia) was prompted by several high-profile cases. The1989 disappearance of Minnesotan Jacob Wetterling, ...

(WASHINGTON, February 15, 2012) - As the world's largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders, many of ASH's more than 16,000 members are on the front lines of dealing with the country's severe shortage of methotrexate, a drug critical in the treatment of children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). This morning the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that two manufacturers plan additional releases at the end of this week, at the end of February, and continuing into March, which it anticipates will meet all patient needs. While ...

Empathy is an essential quality in caregivers. For hospital nurses, who routinely interact with patients at their most vulnerable, it is an absolute necessity. However, the trauma of constantly confronting others' suffering, coupled with burnout from ongoing demands, has the potential to cause what hospitals call "compassion fatigue" -- a stress-related loss of compassion that can damage patient quality of care or result in medical malpractice. Identified in the early 1990s, the implications of compassion fatigue go beyond patient annoyance at the occasional ...

Cambridge, Mass. - February 15, 2012 - A new technique inspired by elegant pop-up books and origami will soon allow clones of robotic insects to be mass-produced by the sheet. Devised by engineers at Harvard, the ingenious layering and folding process enables the rapid fabrication of not just microrobots, but a broad range of electromechanical devices. In prototypes, 18 layers of carbon fiber, Kapton (a plastic film), titanium, brass, ceramic, and adhesive sheets have been laminated together in a complex, laser-cut design. The structure incorporates flexible hinges ...

Advances in technology in the medical field have done wonders for patients. Thousands of medical devices, for instance, have improved and saved the lives of so many people. However, negative consequences go in tandem, unfortunately, with the positive aspects of these technological wonders. One U.S. patient was diagnosed with Chondrolysis after the risks about the medical device that caused the injury were not adequately revealed to him. The patient's family has since filed a lawsuit, which has prompted many to wonder who is responsible for the injury--the doctor or ...

Fish are as good at evaluating numerical ratios as college students are, says a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of the open access journal PLoS ONE. Both the fish and the college students had to determine which of two collections of objects was larger. The students played a computerized game in which they chose the display showing more dots, without verbally counting them. The guppies were given the option to join either of two groups of fish, in adjoining tanks to each side; previous work has shown that guppies show a strong preference for larger groups. The results ...

While often difficult to reach, settlements between debtors and creditors involving debt forgiveness are usually not as attractive as they seem, and can often lead to additional, unforeseen burdens on consumers. This irony may become all too clear to the consumer trying to settle his or her high credit card debt. Credit cards are a popular vehicle for consumers to obtain and use debt. Astonishingly, the total consumer debt in the United States stands at nearly $2.5 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve. Of that amount, credit card debt is categorized as "revolving ...

Does it matter whether long periods of hot weather, such as last year's heat wave that gripped the U.S. Midwest, happen in June or July, August or September? Scientists studying the subtle effects of heat waves and droughts say that when such events happen makes a big difference. Based on more than 25 years of data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Kansas--one of 26 such NSF LTER sites across the globe--ecologists looked at how droughts and heat waves affect grass growth during different months of the ...

Hampton Inn Spartanburg Hotel - North I-85 offers close lodging to holiday shoppers attending the President's Day Sale at Gaffney Premium Outlets. The annual event will take place, Friday, February 17 - Monday, February 27, 2012. Shoppers can enjoy extra discounts on top of already low outlet prices. Gaffney Premium Outlets offers over 70 outlet stores in a beautiful village-style setting. Stores include: COACH Factory, Brooks Brothers Factory Store, Ann Taylor Factory Store, Pottery Barn Outlet, J. Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store, OshKosh B'gosh, Under Armour, ...

Ghost imaging (GI), and its even more oddly named cousin virtual ghost imaging (VGI), seem to contradict conventional wisdom by being able to image an object by simply counting photons in a "light bucket." This non-intuitive technique, however, can lead to better images when conditions are less than ideal. In a first-of-its-kind demonstration, a team of researchers from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Md., and the University of Maryland in Baltimore, captured reflected photons from a highly specialized laser beam to create a VGI image of a remote target. In ...

4t Networks is pleased to offer a $50 discount on their already amazing Cloud hosting service prices. From now through February 29th, 2012, enter coupon code FIFTYOFF98 to save $50 on any customized Virtual Machine! "Cloud machines are an essential component of modern business," says Kevin Gray, President of 4t Networks. "We feel that our superior Cloud hosting services will be a welcome addition to any company, and with $50 off, there's no reason not to give it a try." Cloud Virtual Machine hosting, utilizing 4t Networks' VMware infrastructure, ...

"Perhaps the earliest public demonstration of an electric motor," writes a team of researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, "involved the automatic rotation of a turkey on a spit over a fire" at a party put on by Benjamin Franklin in 1749. Franklin's electrostatic motor was self-commutating, meaning that it was able to provide a continuous torque while it turned without requiring external electronics to control its progress. Using artificial muscles, hyper-elastic materials that expand when a charge is applied, the New Zealand team has made a prototype ...

By adding an incredibly thin coating of alumina to a metal surface, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have doubled the rate that heat travels from a solid surface – such as a pot on a stove – into the liquid in the pot. The results are published in the American Institute of Physics' journal Applied Physics Letters. Pool boiling is the most common and familiar method of heating a container's contents, and is a remarkably efficient heat transfer method. The transfer of heat in this case is referred to as the "heat flux." There exists, however, a critical ...

Atlanta tree services company Yellow Ribbon Tree Experts wants everyone to remember that Arbor Day comes much earlier in Georgia than the Nation's Arbor Day. Arbor Day in Georgia is the third Friday in February, the 17th this year, to align with optimal tree planting season in Georgia, which is between November and mid-March. Arbor Day is observed nationally on the third Friday in April. Arbor Day is a reminder to take a moment and reflect on the important role that trees play in the great state of Georgia and across the nation. Arbor Day should be about the future and ...

Cyclone Giovanna crossed over the island of Madagascar leaving flooding and damages in its wake and has now entered the Mozambique Channel. NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image that showed a ragged eye still exists, and the storm is regaining strength in the warm Channel waters. Once Giovanna traversed the island nation of Madagascar and entered the Mozambique Channel, the body of water between Madagascar and Mozambique on the African mainland, NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured a visible image with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ...

With more than 900,000 people travelling with British Airways this February half-term, the airline is giving travellers a light-hearted helping hand with their top travel and baggage tips collected from their staff all over the airline. The videos, which are located on YouTube, can be found at: http://bit.ly/y0jiLN (Travel) and http://bit.ly/xNZFgE (Baggage). The videos include tips pertaining to travelling with small children, remaining comfortable when travelling between different climates, how to remember passports and other essentials, and practical packing and ...

A UCLA study has found that a new parent-training program is effective in reducing the risk of low-income, preschool-age Latino children being overweight. Researchers found that after one year, there was a 9 percent reduction in overweight and obese children in the parent-training intervention group, while a control group that did not receive the parent training had a 16 percent increase in overweight and obese children. "This is the first pilot intervention study that reversed the weight gain seen in preschool Latino children living in low-income families," said ...

The Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa Sligo has revealed that Dublin based couple, Delia Teahan and Neil O'Donnell have won the wedding of their dreams with the hotel. The competition was announced in the Sligo Champion, with hundreds of entries from couples longing to win a perfect wedding from the Rosses Point hotel. Ten deserving couples were chosen for the final and had to come face to face in the annual 'Wedding Olympics' competition which was held in the hotel. There were several rounds in the Wedding Olympics, including going against the clock dressing their partner ...