Boulder, Colo., USA – The new issue of LITHOSPHERE is online now. Papers present evidence for the on-going re-shaping of the Rocky-Mountain–Colorado Plateau region by young uplift driven from below (mantle buoyancy), research in the Aegean Sea that documents a newly defined extensional fault system, and study of the hydrologic heterogeneity of faulted and fractured sediment layers with implications for similar rocks to affect the flow of moisture downward toward the spent nuclear fuel geologic repository at Yucca Mountain. Highlights are provided below. Representatives ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The driving bass rhythm of rap music can be harnessed to power a new type of miniature medical sensor designed to be implanted in the body. Acoustic waves from music, particularly rap, were found to effectively recharge the pressure sensor. Such a device might ultimately help to treat people stricken with aneurisms or incontinence due to paralysis. The heart of the sensor is a vibrating cantilever, a thin beam attached at one end like a miniature diving board. Music within a certain range of frequencies, from 200-500 hertz, causes the cantilever ...

Japan used seawater to cool nuclear fuel at the stricken Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant after the tsunami in March 2011 -- and that was probably the best action to take at the time, says Professor Alexandra Navrotsky of the University of California, Davis. But Navrotsky and others have since discovered a new way in which seawater can corrode nuclear fuel, forming uranium compounds that could potentially travel long distances, either in solution or as very small particles. The research team published its work Jan. 23 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy ...

Los Angeles, CA - Distrust and paranoia about government has a long history, and the feeling that there is a conspiracy of elites can lead to suspicion for authorities and the claims they make. For some, the attraction of conspiracy theories is so strong that it leads them to endorse entirely contradictory beliefs, according to a study in the current Social Psychological and Personality Science (published by SAGE). People who endorse conspiracy theories see authorities as fundamentally deceptive. The conviction that the "official story" is untrue can lead people to believe ...

Dr. François Robert, molecular biology researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team confirmed that the phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II, a key enzyme in the process of gene expression, is uniform across all genes. This discovery, which contributes to numerous debates on the topic within the scientific community, will be published tomorrow in the scientific journal Molecular Cell. Phosphorylation, or the addition of phosphate to a molecule, is one of the most important regulation mechanisms for cells. It allows, among other things, ...

University of Rochester Medical Center researchers have discovered new links between leukemia cells and cells involved in bone formation, offering a fresh perspective on how the blood cancer progresses and raising the possibility that therapies for bone disorders could help in the treatment of leukemia. The research, led by graduate student Benjamin J. Frisch in the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center laboratory of corresponding author Laura M. Calvi, M.D., is featured in the journal Blood. It is accompanied by an editorial – "Bad to the Bone" -- written by another leading investigator ...

A multi-university research group which includes several University of Notre Dame faculty and graduate students, has recently published a paper detailing new work on the analysis and dating of human bruises. The research, which is funded by the Gerber Foundation, will have particular application to pediatric medicine, as bruise age is often key evidence in child abuse cases. Using a combination of modeling and spectroscopy measurements, the researchers have advanced our understanding of the changing composition of aging bruises and developed new tools for detailed biomedical ...

LA JOLLA, CA -- A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has discovered key elements of a strategy commonly used by tumor cells to survive when they spread to distant organs. The finding could lead to drugs that could inhibit this metastasis in patients with tumors. A cell that breaks away from the primary tumor and finds itself in the alien environment of the bloodstream or a new organ, normally is destroyed by a process known as apoptosis. But tumor cells that express high levels of a certain surface protein are protected from apoptosis, greatly enhancing ...

CORAL GABLES, FL. -- The key to understanding how future hurricanes and sea level rise may trigger changes to South Florida's native coastal forests lurks below the surface, according to a new model linking coastal forests to groundwater. Just inland from the familiar mangroves that line the coasts lie hardwood hammocks that are sensitive to salinity changes in water found in the soils. University of Miami (UM) Ecologist Donald L. DeAngelis, who is also a researcher for the U.S Geological Survey (USGS), has worked with collaborators to develop a novel computer model describing ...

Bethesda, Md. -- Women have long bemoaned the fact that as they have more children, their weight gain from pregnancy becomes more difficult to lose. A new study using a mouse model that mimics the human effects of multiparity (giving birth more than once) has found that mouse moms who gave birth four times accrued significantly more fat compared to primiparous females (those giving birth once) of similar age. The study also found significantly more inflammation in the livers of multiparous animals. Multiparity's effect also extended to the male offspring, who showed significant ...

Over dinner on R.V. Calypso while anchored on the lee side of Glover's Reef in Belize, Jacques Cousteau told Phil Dustan that he suspected humans were having a negative impact on coral reefs. Dustan—a young ocean ecologist who had worked in the lush coral reefs of the Caribbean and Sinai Peninsula—found this difficult to believe. It was December 1974. But Cousteau was right. During the following three-plus decades, Dustan, an ocean ecologist and biology professor at the University of Charleston in South Carolina, has witnessed widespread coral reef degradation and bleaching ...

The AIRS infrared instrument that flies on NASA's Aqua satellite has been providing forecasters with the cloud top temperatures in the Southern Indian Ocean's ninth tropical cyclone, which has officially been renamed Iggy. AIRS data showed that the area of strong thunderstorms around Iggy's center has expanded in area over the last day. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument provided an infrared snapshot of Iggy's cloud top temperatures on January 26, 2012 at 0611 UTC (1:11 a.m. EST). The AIRS image showed a large and rounded area of high, cold clouds, around ...

Powerful Cyclone Funso is now beginning to exit the Mozambique Channel, and NASA's Aqua satellite captured a stunning image of the storm that shows the depth and extent of it. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Funso on January 26 at 1110 UTC (6:10 a.m. EST). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, better known as the MODIS instrument captured a true color image of the storm that showed a 25 nautical-mile-wide (29 miles/~46 km) eye, and clouds swirling down into it. The outer extent of Funso's clouds skirted Madagascar to the east, and Mozambique ...

Stop wrangling over global warming and instead reduce fossil-fuel use for the sake of the global economy. That's the message from two scientists, one from the University of Washington and one from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, who say in the current issue of the journal Nature (Jan. 26) that the economic pain of a flattening oil supply will trump the environment as a reason to curb the use of fossil fuels. "Given our fossil-fuel dependent economies, this is more urgent and has a shorter time frame than global climate change," says James W. Murray, ...

XBOSoft, a software quality assurance services company, announced it was selected by Norway-based Marine Cybernetics to teach best practices in software testing as well as review and optimize testing processes. Marine Cybernetics provides third-party testing and verification of computer control systems for ships and offshore rigs via Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) testing technology, which simulates the conditions that the systems will experience at sea. ¡°Once the control system software is in production, fixing SW errors would require rigs to be shut down, resulting in ...

A longstanding California occupational safety program requiring all businesses to eliminate workplace hazards can help prevent injuries to workers, but only if it is adequately enforced, according to a new study by the RAND Corporation. The first-ever evaluation of the California Injury and Illness Prevention Program found evidence that the program reduces workplace injuries, but only at businesses that had been cited for not addressing the regulation's more-specific safety mandates. "We found the safety effects to be real, but not very large," said John Mendeloff, ...

In 2011 -- to the consternation of women everywhere — a systematic review of randomized clinical trials showed that routine mammography was of little value to younger women at average or low risk of breast cancer. The review showed, for example, that for every 50-year-old woman whose life is prolonged by mammography, dozens are treated unnecessarily — some with harmful consequences — or treated without benefit. Hundreds are told they have breast cancer when they do not. Cindy M. Grimm, PhD, associate professor of computer science and engineering in the School of Engineering ...

The CarrotApp team will attend ISTE conference 2012 at San Diego on Jun 25-27. We will present our unique Mobile Device Management solution for schools-EAP and AppPak during the conference. AppPak is the first education app delivery system, which features safety and filtering. Enterprise App Protector enables IT department to manage all Android devices from one desk easily and restrict the usage of the devices completely. AppPak can setup a private school app library, which gives a student "bookbag" of learning Apps and ebooks selected by schools. It can be managed ...

Power Design Services, a Silicon Valley full-service printed circuit board manufacturer and electronic assembly company, has added a state-of-the-art piece of equipment that will enhance its ability to quickly provide its customers with quality PCB prototypes and related products. Tuan Tran, Vice President of Sales for Power Design Services, said, "the EKRA E4 In-line Automatic Screen Printer uses two high resolution cameras to make the process of applying solder paste more accurate. Soldering flaws such as open joints or bridges will be greatly reduced." "The ...

VIDEO: Michigan State researchers show how new viruses evolve, and in some cases, become deadly. Click here for more information. EAST LANSING, Mich. -- In the current issue of Science, researchers at Michigan State University demonstrate how a new virus evolves, which sheds light on how easy it can be for diseases to gain dangerous mutations. The scientists showed for the first time how the virus called "Lambda" evolved to find a new way to attack host cells, an innovation that ...

A collection of essays written for the general reader who wishes to know more about contemporary Asian affairs, the focus of "Random Views of Asia from the Mid-Pacific" is largely on geo-strategic issues in Northeast Asia, although attention is given to Central Asia, Tibet, Vietnam, the Russian Far East, India, and the South China Sea Author William E. Sharp, Jr. began his association with Asia in 1968 while serving with US Army military intelligence in Vietnam. He has a B.A. Degree in Political Science focused on Chinese and Japanese politics from the University ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — In the current issue of Science, researchers at Michigan State University demonstrate how a new virus evolves, which sheds light on how easy it can be for diseases to gain dangerous mutations. The scientists showed for the first time how the virus called "Lambda" evolved to find a new way to attack host cells, an innovation that took four mutations to accomplish. This virus infects bacteria, in particular the common E. coli bacterium. Lambda isn't dangerous to humans, but this research demonstrated how viruses evolve complex and potentially deadly ...

The authors of the Amazon best-seller: "Teen Devotionals... For Girls!" have done it again. With over 2,500 subscribers to their online devotions, they have decided to publish a second devotional book. The book will contain 90 devotionals written with today's teen girls in mind. These devotions are read daily by teens around the world, used in Bible study groups, and have even been used at events such as "See You at the Pole". Here's what's being said about them: "These devotions are perfect for a teenage girl. I look forward to reading them ...

Nearly 12,000 people will die of head and neck cancer in the United States this year and worldwide cases will exceed half a million. A study published this week in the journal Carcinogenesis shows that in both cell lines and mouse models, grape seed extract (GSE) kills head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells, while leaving healthy cells unharmed. "It's a rather dramatic effect," says Rajesh Agarwal, PhD, investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and professor at the Skaggs School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. It depends in large part, says Agarwal, ...

Everyone's heard the familiar axiom "If you make a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door." Today, replace mousetrap invention with bed bug solution and they'll no doubt knock down your door. The magnitude of the bed bug epidemic in the U.S. has befuddled the pest control industry to date. Chemical solutions have only a 50% success rate, plus the bugs are becoming pesticide-resistant. Heat treatments don't penetrate wallboards where the bed bugs hide or heat the slab. Dry steam invites mold problems. (Did you ever meet dry water?) Freezing ...