Northern Rock has added another helpful video guide to its interactive savings website to help consumers with their savings choices. The video - Northern Rock's Guide to Savings - is the third guide in the series recently introduced by the bank to add a further dimension to its award-winning website. Existing videos include Northern Rock's Guide to ISAs and First Time Buyers Guide, which can be viewed on the Northern Rock website alongside the new addition. The newest guide is designed to help customers make the most of their money in an accessible way, by highlighting ...

High-tech training may trump tax breaks for creating more jobs and improving a state's economy, according to a team of economists. "We found that lower state taxes were not statistically associated with a state's economic performance," said Stephan Goetz, professor of agricultural economics and regional economics, Penn State. "The tax climate was not linked to either growth or income distribution." Goetz, who serves as director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, said states that favor low taxes do not necessarily spend funds efficiently. They may ...

Biologists worldwide subscribe to the healthy herds hypothesis, the idea that predators can keep packs of prey healthy by removing the weak and the sick. This reduces the chance disease will wipe out the whole herd, but could it be that predators can also make prey populations more susceptible to other predators or even parasites? Biologists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered at least one animal whose defenses against a predator make it a good target for one opportunistic parasite. The research appears online in the journal Functional Ecology. "We ...

Parts of Australia's fruit and vegetable industry are under threat, with Queensland University of Technology (QUT) scientists racing to find new ways to control a major horticultural pest before chemical treatments are restricted. Associate Professor Anthony Clarke, from QUT's Faculty of Science and Technology in Brisbane, is leading Australia's largest team of university researchers examining non-chemical based ways to fight fruit flies, including promising "lure and kill" techniques using ginger essence. Professor Clarke, lead author of the largest ever review of ...

The NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens mission has directly sampled the water plumes jetting into space from Saturn's moon Enceladus. The findings from these fly-throughs are the strongest evidence yet for the existence of large-scale saltwater reservoirs beneath the moon's icy crust. Enceladus' water plumes shoot water vapour and tiny grains of ice into space. They originate from the 'tiger stripe' surface fractures at the moon's south pole, and create the faint E-ring, which traces the orbit of Enceladus around Saturn. The Cassini spacecraft discovered the plumes in 2005 ...

Debenhams has revealed that parents are stockpiling cash for investment in a range of household improvements after their children have gone to University in the autumn or left home, according to a poll carried out by the high street retailer. Debenhams quizzed 1,000 parents with teens and asked them when they were likely to invest significant sums in redecorating or refurnishing their homes.  The department store found that 74% of parents, battered by the costs of raising their kids, were planning to hold on to their cash and refurbish their homes after their kids have ...

The development of 'brain-like' computers has taken a major step forward today with the publication of research led by the University of Exeter. Published in the journal Advanced Materials and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the study involved the first ever demonstration of simultaneous information processing and storage using phase-change materials. This new technique could revolutionise computing by making computers faster and more energy-efficient, as well as making them more closely resemble biological systems. Computers currently ...

A University of Exeter team has monitored the movements of an entire sub-population of marine turtle for the first time. The study confirms that through satellite tracking we can closely observe the day-to-day lives of marine turtles, accurately predicting their migrations and helping direct conservation efforts. Writing in the journal Diversity and Distributions, lead author and University of Exeter PhD student Dr Lucy Hawkes (now at Bangor University) describes the migrations of a population of loggerhead turtles in the US Atlantic Ocean over a decade (1998�). ...

iFund Lending is pleased to announce that it has made an additional $2 million available in its lending facility for western Canadian entrepreneurs and companies requiring a prudent financing alternative to banks, credit unions and other alternative lenders. iFund Lending provides entrepreneurs with business loans, bridge financing, franchise acquisition, purchase-order financing, debt consolidation, re-mortgages, SR&ED and receivables factoring, and other proven asset-based alternative methods of financing. Borrowers are able to access between $25,000 and $1 million, ...

A seminal article on language testing, co-authored by Dr Glenn Fulcher, a Reader in Education at the University of Leicester, argues that some agencies are using unsuitable language tests to achieve policy ends. Dr Fulcher, and Professor Fred Davidson of the University of Illinois Department of Linguistics, argue that generic tests are being used for multiple purposes because some policy makers go for "cheap and simple solutions" to complex problems, such as immigration. Their article, entitled Test architecture, test retrofit, which has won this year's Best Paper ...

Swinglifestyle, the largest swingers site has teamed up to sponsor two hotel takeovers with Tampa Bay Escapes and Hedo Parties. The first event is Tampa Bay Escapes 3, which Tampa Swingers have scheduled for July 28-31,2011 (Thursday - Sunday). Tampa Bay Escapes 3 is a 3 day / 3 night Complete Hotel Takeover and convention, with 15 Great Play Rooms & Hospitality Rooms, Libation Room every night courtesy of SwingLifeStyle.com. Prizes and Travel give-aways will also be included in the event. TBE has a Great line-up of entertainment and activities, plus TBE's signature ...

Anthrax, septicemia and meningitis are some of the planet's most deadly infections. In part because doctors lack basic insights to prevent and cure diseases caused by so called Gram-positive bacteria. Now, a chemist from the University of Copenhagen has revealed the mechanism behind these deadly infections. By creating a synthetic version of a Gram-positive bacterial endotoxin, Danish synthetic chemist Christian Marcus Pedersen has made a contribution that'll compel immune biologists to revise their textbooks. More importantly, he has paved the first steps of the way ...

A side effect of many commonly used drugs appears to increase the risks of both cognitive impairment and death in older people, according to new research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA). As part of the Medical Research Council's Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies (CFAS) project, the study is the first systematic investigation into the long term health impacts of 'anticholinergic activity' – a known potential side effect of many prescription and over the counter drugs which affects the brain by blocking a key neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. The findings ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Peer influence and low self-control appear to be the major factors fueling juvenile cybercrime such as computer hacking and online bullying, according to a new study led by a Michigan State University criminologist. Thomas Holt, assistant professor of criminal justice, said the findings reinforce the need for parents to be more aware of their children's friends and Internet activities. "It's important to know what your kids are doing when they're online and who they are associating with both online and offline," Holt said. The study, which ...

WASHINGTON — It will take more than tougher fuel economy standards for U.S. transportation to significantly cut its oil use over the next half century. It will likely require a combination of measures that foster consumer and supplier interest in vehicle fuel economy, alternative fuels, and a more efficient transportation system, says a new report from the National Research Council. Public interest in reducing the cost of securing the nation's energy supplies, curbing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs), and improving transportation operations ...

MINNEAPOLIS – Can a smartphone app enable meaningful, face-to-face conversation? Engineers are trying to find out, with software that helps people locate their friends in a crowd – and make new friends who share similar interests. The software, called eShadow, makes its debut at the IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS) on Thursday, June 23 in Minneapolis. It uses nearby wireless networks and smartphones' wireless communication technologies to alert users that a friend who also uses the software is in the area – and gives directions ...

This release is available in Spanish. Like diamonds, sugar crystals ideally are very pure and low in color. Now studies led by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) chemist Gillian Eggleston have provided a better understanding of the source of undesirable color in factory sugar. Eggleston works in the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Commodity Utilization Research Unit in New Orleans, La. She conducted the studies with Barbara Muir of the Sugar Milling Research Institute in Durban, South Africa. ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency. Environmental ...

URBANA – If you've been trying to lose weight and suspect your body's working against you, you may be right, according to a University of Illinois study published in Obesity. "When obese persons reduce their food intake too drastically, their bodies appear to resist their weight loss efforts. They may have to work harder and go slower in order to outsmart their brain chemistry," said Gregory G. Freund, a professor in the U of I College of Medicine and a member of U of I's Division of Nutritional Sciences. He particularly cautions against beginning a diet with a fast ...

WASHINGTON – State, national, and local policymakers should elevate science education in grades K-12 to the same level of importance as reading and mathematics, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report recommends ways that leaders at all levels can improve K-12 education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The report responds to a request from Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) for the National Science Foundation -- which sponsored the Research Council report -- to identify highly successful K-12 schools and programs in STEM fields. ...

Tampa, FL (June 23, 2011) – Education, referrals, support and other interventions by community health workers improve rates of screening mammography in the United States – especially in medical and urban settings and among women whose race and ethnicity is similar to that of the community health workers serving them. Researchers at the University of South Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center, and Georgia Southern University reported these findings earlier this month in an online first issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association ...

Besse Cooper of Monroe, Georgia, regained her title this week as the world's oldest. National photographer, Paul Mobley was in Georgia just last week to photograph Cooper for her 115th birthday, which is in August. Cooper is 114 years and 229 days, according to Guinness World Records. Mobley reflects, "Sometimes I wonder what people of this age must think of all this attention they get for leading healthy productive lives to the extent that they live longer? Maybe it's stressful or a bit unusual but I guess most accept it. At any rate, none of these things seemed ...

In the high stakes world of elite level athletics, coaches are king – but that lofty perch can prove a sword of Damocles. More often than not they're regarded as the undisputed authority on what it takes to train an athlete to maximal performance potential, and being placed on a pedestal doesn't allow for proper reflection about their coaching practices or any margin of error when there are Olympic finals and medals at stake. As a consequence, that doesn't always mean they're always doing the right thing for their athletes, says Dr. Jim Denison an expert in coach education ...

Rather than count sheep, drink warm milk or listen to soothing music, many insomniacs probably wish for a switch they could flick to put themselves to sleep. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered such a switch in the brains of fruit flies. In a study appearing June 24 in Science, the researchers show that a group of approximately 20 cells in the brains of fruit flies controls when and how long the flies sleep. Slumber induced through this sleep switch was essential to the creation of long-term memory, directly proving a connection ...

Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have developed a novel iPhone application that may enable persons with Parkinson's disease and certain other neurological conditions to use the ubiquitous devices to collect data on hand and arm tremors and relay the results to medical personnel. The researchers believe the application could replace subjective tests now used to assess the severity of tremors, while potentially allowing more frequent patient monitoring without costly visits to medical facilities. The program – known as iTrem – could be offered ...

HOUSTON – (June 23, 2011) – The remoteness and resource limitations of spaceflight pose a serious challenge to astronaut health care. One solution is ultrasound. Scientists with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) have developed tools that expand the use of ultrasound during spaceflight and on Earth, especially in rural and underserved locations. These tools include techniques that streamline training and help remote experts guide non-physician astronauts to perform ultrasound exams. Ultrasound can be used to assess numerous conditions – fractured ...