How unique is the Milky Way? To find out, a group of researchers led by Stanford University astrophysicist Risa Wechsler compared the Milky Way to similar galaxies and found that just four percent are like the galaxy Earth calls home. "We are interested in how the Milky Way fits into the broader context of the universe", said Wechsler. "This research helps us understand whether our galaxy is typical or not, and may provide clues to its formation history." The research team compared the Milky Way to similar galaxies in terms of luminosity--a measure of how much light ...

Freelance writer Robert Brault offers a metaphor for the night sky, "A trillion asterisks and no explanations." By supporting astronomers, the National Science Foundation (NSF) helps to provide explanations. A recent NSF- and NASA-funded study provides one more explanation. Astronomers have discovered a new population of Jupiter-size planets floating alone in the dark of space, away from the light of a star. According to the scientists, these lone worlds were probably ejected from developing planetary systems. The discovery is based on a joint Japan-New Zealand survey, ...

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered a protein signaling pathway that becomes hyperactivated in human sarcoma cells, suggesting that medications to inhibit this pathway may be effective in the treatment of human sarcomas. The research is published in the current issue of the journal Cancer Cell. A team of researchers led by Stuart Aaronson, MD, Jack and Jane B. Aron Professor and Chairman of the Department of Oncological Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, compared normal human mesenchymal stem cells to human sarcoma cells and found ...

American Community Television (ACT) sent letters last Thursday to Randall Stephenson, the President of AT&T, and to Jacquelyn Brand, the chair of the AT&T Advisory Panel on Access & Aging, asking that AT&T deliver Public, Educational and Government (PEG) access channels the same as all other channels on the U-Verse system. "AT&T's U-Verse platform discriminates against persons who are blind or visually impaired," said John Rocco, President of ACT. "We cannot access PEG channels through the Channel 99 on-screen menu." Mr. Rocco, ...

The Food and Drug Administration requires every drug they certify to be tested for certain poisons that damage patient health. The current gold standard for this is the limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay that involves using the blood of horseshoe crabs, which strangely enough is blue, to test for endotoxin, a substance commonly associated with many symptoms caused by bacterial infections. But researchers at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found what may be a more effective way to test for endotoxin that ...

DURHAM, N.C. – Electrical engineers at Duke University have determined that unique man-made materials should theoretically make it possible to improve the power transfer to small devices, such as laptops or cell phones, or ultimately to larger ones, such as cars or elevators, without wires. This advance is made possible by the recent ability to fabricate exotic composite materials known as metamaterials, which are not so much a single substance, but an entire man-made structure that can be engineered to exhibit properties not readily found in nature. In fact, the metamaterial ...

Just in time for summer, Whataburger today announced the Honey Mustard Chicken Club, its newest menu item available for a limited time only. The new chicken sandwich - with a choice of grilled or crispy chicken -- is available Monday, May 23 at 3 p.m. through Monday, June 27 at Whataburger's 700-plus locations across 10 states. The made-to-order Honey Mustard Chicken Club sandwich features a choice of Grilled Chicken or Whatachick'n filet, freshly chopped lettuce, tomato, bacon, Swiss American cheese and Honey Mustard sauce on a wheat bun. It is the newest addition to ...

This release is available in Spanish. WASHINGTON - Total losses from managed honey bee colonies nationwide were 30 percent from all causes for the 2010/2011 winter, according to the annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA). This is roughly similar to total losses reported in similar surveys done in the four previous years: 34 percent for the 2009/2010 winter, 29 percent for 2008/2009; 36 percent for 2007/2008, and 32 percent for 2006/2007. "The lack of increase in losses is marginally encouraging ...

This release is available in German. Scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have suc-ceeded in encoding data at a rate of 26 terabits per second on a single laser beam, transmitting them over a distance of 50 km, and decoding them successfully. This is the largest data volume ever transported on a laser beam. The process developed by KIT allows to transmit the contents of 700 DVDs in one second only. The renowned journal "Nature Photonics" reports about this success in its latest issue (DOI: 10.1038/NPHOTON.2011.74). With this experiment, the KIT scientists ...

This release is available in Spanish. This project, known as e-Moto, was created and developed by LGN Tech Design, a spin-off company that has its origins in a line of research begun in the Laboratorio de Máquinas (MAQLAB – Machine Laboratory) of UC3M and receives support from the University's Vice-Chancellor's Office of Research through the Business Incubator UC3M Science Park. "The technology that we have developed is a result of the design of a platform for the modeling, analysis and evolution of racing motorcycles, which was then applied to the development of the ...

Today Bruegger's announced the addition of a new line of "Cafe Salads" to its lunch menu. Part of its summer-long healthy menu initiative, the salads are available in five chef-created options at all of Bruegger's 300 plus bakeries. According to the National Restaurant Association, nutrition and health continue to be in high demand from consumers, along with a focus on value. Bruegger's Cafe Salads meet this growing trend, offering guests fresh, great tasting options in a lunch portion size with fewer calories and all the taste. And, at just $4.99 (prices ...

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. -- Whites believe that they are replacing blacks as the primary victims of racial discrimination in contemporary America, according to a new study from researchers at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Business School. The findings, say the authors, show that America has not achieved the "post-racial" society that some predicted in the wake of Barack Obama's election. Both whites and blacks agree that anti-black racism has decreased over the last 60 years, according to the study. However, whites believe that anti-white ...

GARY, Ind. – A group of proteins that act as the body's built-in line of defense against invading bacteria use a molecular trick to induce bacteria to destroy themselves, researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have determined. The research could point the way toward new anti-bacterial treatments that could take on bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. The proteins, called Peptidoglycan Recognition Proteins (PGRPs), are able to detect and target bacteria because bacteria are unique in having peptidoglycan polymers in their cellular walls. However, ...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville researchers have replicated the inflammatory gene changes of a human kidney as it progresses from mild to severe diabetic nephropathy, using a mouse model developed by a UofL researcher, according to an article published today in the journal Experimental Nephrology. Diabetic nephropathy is the foremost cause of kidney failure. "In 2004 we published an article that showed that our diabetic mouse model, OVE26, excreted high levels of protein in the urine, as humans with diabetes do. We continue to see resemblance to human diabetes ...

Outonline.com, OUT TV Pittsburgh and GLTV has officially added Oklahoma's Joe Exotic to Wednesday's online live video talk show Talk It Out. As an already public figure whose toured the United States, Canada, and Mexico performing magic in front of nearly two million people per year and owning one of the largest privately owned exotic animal facilities in the country, accepted the offer to be on the talk show every Wednesday at Noon eastern standard time. David Stanton, producer and co-owner of OUT TV Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offered Joe a regular spot ...

Planes, trains, and automobiles. You don't need Canadian TV to know that this summer, like every summer, Americans will be leaving their homes in order to travel all over the US. As Americans are huge consumers of gas, this will only happen if the gas prices continues to fall. As strange as it sounds, lower gas prices are great for business. High gas prices means less money to spend on the latest fashions, less money to spend on the local arts, and certainly less money to spend on all things entertainment, like tickets to a comedy club. Needless to say, what is bad for ...

Athletes for Education (AFE) will host their 6th Annual Celebrity Fundraiser and Golf Classic event on June 1-2, 2011 to benefit youth programs throughout San Diego County. The two-day event will begin with a dinner, live entertainment and live/silent auction at Humphrey's by the Bay on June 1, 2011 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and continue with a celebrity golf tournament on June 2, 2011 at the Maderas Golf Club in Poway (shotgun start at 12:00 pm). Southern California Pain and Spine is sponsoring the celebrity fundraiser and the tournament is co-hosted by Surgery One. Personal ...

Bill Howe Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. and the American Heart Association have announced the winners of the "Howe" Healthy is Your Heart Drawing Contest. The nine week contest garnered 94 drawings from children ages 5-12 throughout San Diego County who described how they keep their hearts healthy and drawings of their image of healthy hearts. Participants' descriptions included a wide variety of ways to keep their hearts healthy, ranging from exercising and eating right to not fighting with siblings to receiving flowers from a boyfriend. Grand ...

Chelsea's Agora Gallery will feature French-born artist, VeroniKaH, in Portal to Enigma. The exhibition is scheduled to run from June 4, 2011 through June 25, 2011 (opening reception: Thursday, June 9, 2011). About the Artist Boldly valiant in both theme and aesthetic, French-born artist VeroniKaH is curious to her core. Color splashes through her lively compositions, guiding our eyes in explorations of sparkling vibrancy. Through rich, nuanced texture, VeroniKaH teases out the opulent significance of her relationship with the people, places and perspectives that populate ...

In the ever changing world of sports, fans are flocking to online gaming sites like never before, and one of those sites is listening. Value Sports Picks, the Global Leader in Sports Gaming Information is expanding at an exciting rate to better serve their current and future fans. As a Global Leader in Sports Gaming, Value Sports Picks experts have a 70% winning accuracy rate and are offering Free Football Picks. Not only can you have access to your Free Football Picks at home or the office, their new VSP mobile site allows you to pick your teams on the go! VSP gives ...

Dr Roger Amar is the man behind the FAMI technique that has successfully treated women using a series of injections. This fat grafting technique enables surgeons to take a fat transfer and improve areas of the face through a fat injection. After spending years researching the subject he finally found ways to achieve surgery on the face without the incisions of a knife. Visiting the website RogerAmar.com you too could learn what this could do for you. Listed below are the 10 points that make the FAMI technique so specific. 1) The FAMI technique, 6 years ago, became ...

Business Internet Marketing, Inc., (BIM) defines onlinemarketing to be broad in scope because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless media. Digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems are also often grouped together under internet marketing. Search engine SEO ties together the creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along many different stages ...

Virginia Spine Care Chiropractic is excited to announce that Virginia Beach chiropractor ( http://www.virginiaspinecarechiropractic.com/ ), Dr. Jay Berkowitz and Dr. Thomas Skelton are focused on helping patients get lower back pain relief and avoiding unnecessary surgery. Dr. Berkowitz and Dr. Skelton use the latest chiropractic techniques and cutting edge technology to help people reduce back pain, align the spine, and optimize their patients health. Dr. Berkowitz and Dr. Skelton concentrate on restoring optimal nerve function by ensuring the proper alignment of his ...

Jamaican film is making strides to its rightful place in entertainment as the highly anticipated feature "Out the Gate" made its historic opening last weekend in New York City to enthusiastic crowds. From a list of 112 movies currently playing in United States theaters the weekend of May 13th, box office gross reports show the indie film starring Paul Campbell and Oliver Samuels at the position of #13 in the nation, in a ranking of average gross per screen. The action/drama also starring Shelli Boone and Everton (E-Dee) Dennis, opened in New York City at AMC ...

Aunsoft Studio today announced the first professional AVCHD Management Software, named Aunsoft Final Mate for Mac. It offers lossless HD videos in native format for storage, and also provides Apple ProRes/AIC for high quality video editing on Mac. The native support of AVCHD clips in Aunsoft Final Mate for Mac indicates that there is no transcoding for editing clips. When AVCHD camcorders are connected to iMac/MacBook, the Apple applications like iMovie, FCE, FCP would capture videos from camcorder, but the videos would be transcoded into Apple Intermediate codec (AIC) ...