Evolutionary divergence of humans from chimpanzees likely occurred some 8 million years ago rather than the 5 million year estimate widely accepted by scientists, a new statistical model suggests. The revised estimate of when the human species parted ways from its closest primate relatives should enable scientists to better interpret the history of human evolution, said Robert D. Martin, curator of biological anthropology at the Field Museum, and a co-author of the new study appearing in the journal Systematic Biology. Here is a link to the article: http://sysbio.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2010/11/04/sysbio.syq054.full.html?ijkey=CaQif1LgTAd7xOD&keytype=ref Working ...

HOUSTON -- (Nov. 5, 2010) -- A new study by Rice University bioengineers finds that the workhorse proteins that move cargo inside living cells behave like prima donnas. The protein, called kinesin, is a two-legged molecular machine. Rice's scientists invented tools that could measure the pulling power of kinesin both singly and in pairs, and they report this week in Biophysical Journal that kinesins don't work well together -- in part because they are so effective on their own. "Researchers have been investigating the mechanical properties of individual motor proteins ...

VEHICLES -- Charge on the fly . . . A prototype charging system for electric and hybrid vehicles is helping demonstrate a technology that could one day play a key role in the electrification of America's highways. The bench-scale prototype developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is allowing researchers to quantify the power transfer parameters necessary to wirelessly charge stationary and moving vehicles. "Our laboratory tests have been successful in transmitting greater than 4 kilowatts," said Laura Marlino of the Energy and Transportation Science Division. "This ...

Tomas strengthened to hurricane status and is currently lashing Hispaniola and eastern Cuba today and the GOES-13 satellite provided a visible image of its extensive cloud cover. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite known as GOES-13 captured a visible image of Hurricane Tomas on Nov. 5 at 1331 UTC (9:31 a.m. EDT) centered over the southwestern tip of Haiti. In the image the clouds to the north of Tomas are associated with a cold front off the eastern U.S. coast. GOES satellites are operated by NOAA. The NASA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight ...

Nine years after beginning its unprecedented look at the gateway between Earth's environment and space, not to mention collecting more data on the upper atmosphere than any other satellite, NASA's Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) mission has been extended again. Before the launch of TIMED, the mesosphere and lower thermosphere/ionosphere -- which help protect us from harmful solar radiation -- had been one of the least explored and understood regions of our environment. "The middle part of the atmosphere was the part we kind of ignored," ...

United States and Japanese researchers have identified a key step in metabolic pathways linked to diabetes and cancer. The study on activation of the protein complex TORC 2 was published online in the journal Current Biology Oct. 28. TORC 2 activates a protein called Akt, which plays a crucial role in how cells respond to insulin, said Kazuo Shiozaki, professor of microbiology in the College of Biological Sciences at UC Davis and senior author on the paper. Normally, insulin triggers fat and muscle cells to take up sugar from the blood. Patients with type II diabetes ...

By tracking the flow of information in a cell preparing to split, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a protein mechanism that coordinates and regulates the dynamics of shape change necessary for division of a single cell into two daughter cells. The protein, called 14-3-3, sits at an intersection where it integrates converging signals from within the cell and cues cell shape change and, ultimately, the splitting that allows for normal and abnormal cell growth, such as in tumors. In a report published Nov. 9 in Current Biology, the Hopkins team links 14-3-3 directly ...

If you name it, they will use it, according to a team of international researchers who investigated how people perceive the trustworthiness of online technology. In an experiment, participants said they trusted websites, recommendation-providing software and even computers labeled to perform specific functions more than the same Internet tools with general designations, according to S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communications, Penn State. "In general, the attribution of specialization can increase the credibility of a product or any kind of object," Sundar ...

November 5, 2010 -- The devastating 2008 Wenchuan earthquake marks a defining moment for China's earthquake science program. The focus of a special November issue of the prestigious Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA), the M 7.9 earthquake has garnered intense interest among seismologists, allowing the Chinese science community to demonstrate its capability to a global audience. The earthquake produced an enormous disaster, killing more than 80,000 people and leaving more than four million people homeless. Destruction was widespread, though recent ...

Restaurants could play an important role in helping to reduce the growing obesity epidemic by creating reduced-calorie meals, according to Penn State researchers. The researchers surveyed chefs, restaurant owners, and culinary executives from across the country to assess their perceptions of serving healthy foods in restaurants. In the survey, 72 percent of the 432 respondents said they could trim off 10 percent of the calories in meals without customers noticing differences in taste, and 21 percent said they could trim off at least 25 percent of the calories. This ...

The oldest ground-edge stone tool in the world has been discovered in northern Australia by a Monash University researcher and a team of international experts. Evidence for stone tool-use among our earliest hominid ancestors dates to 3.4 million years ago, however, the first use of grinding to sharpen stone tool edges such as axes is clearly associated with modern humans, otherwise known as Homo sapiens sapiens. Monash University archaeologist and member of the team who made the discovery, Dr Bruno David said while there have been reports of much older axes being ...

Photo Card Maker http://www.photo-card-maker.com/index.html is a professional and totally free photo cards designer, which can help people make beautiful and unique holiday photo cards. Besides making holiday photo cards, people can also use it to design photo greeting cards, Christmas cards, photo invitation cards, birthday cards, thank you cards, announcements and more. Photo Card Maker is quite easy to operate, for it mainly contains three components, namely Template, Photo and Text. There are various kinds of templates within the program for designers to choose, ...

Lanner Group, the process improvement solution provider, has welcomed leading IT authority Gartner's recognition of simulation modeling as a strategic technology for mainstream business in its list of 'top 10 strategic technologies' for a second year. Gartner, Inc., which outlined its leading technology tips for 2011 last month at its annual symposium in Orlando, FL, advised that companies need to develop "operational analytics" to make predictions and use data mashups. "This recognition is testament to the fact that businesses continue to recognise the benefits ...

eRepair SQL Server, a new addition to its line of award-winning data recovery tools. This highly efficient and fast tool is intended for extracting data from damaged MS SQL (.MDF) files and saving them either on the user's hard drive or directly to SQL Server. eRepair SQL available at: http://www.erepairsqlserver.com/ The program features an extremely simple and intuitive wizard-based interface that enables users with minimal or no recovery experience to cope with this task on their own. The user only needs to specify the key parameters of the recovery process and the ...

As the Christmas season of shopping begins, DiscountWatchStore.com is expanding its inventory of Seiko wristwatches. Discount Watch Store currently carries over 3,500 watches in its inventory, and is very excited to introduce new Seiko watches from the Coutura, Grand Sport and Premier series. Seiko - the maker of the world's first modern battery powered watch - releases new watch models every year, and 2010 is anticipated to be one of the company's most successful seasons yet. Seiko's history can be traced all the way back to 1881, when its founder opened a jewelry store. ...

How cool and wonderful to create thank you cards with a marvellous free thank you card editing software! Photo Card Maker is a such photo editing freeware, helping us make all kinds of thank you cards - thank you cards for family, friends, relatives, colleagues, seniors and subordinates, wedding thank you cards, business thank you cards, and more. With its hundreds of exquisite and stylish photo frame templates and practical photo edit functions, it is easy for us to make our own distinctive thank you cards, no matter we are a photo editing novice or professional. Want ...

Solar light solution provider, DaylightGifts.com, has added new solar lamp adapter kits to its product selection as of Oct. 29. The product line, GS-94F, of solar lamp adapter kits has expanded to include double and triple lamps. The original single lamp adapter kit is still available as well. "I feel this product line expansion is a great way to offer more light to an existing pole that customers may have," said Daysi Gonzalez, owner of DaylightGifts.com. The adapter kits fit standard three-inch diameter poles and serve as replacements for existing gas lamp lights. The ...

In light of this, HR Knowledge, Inc., providers of best-in-class integrated HR services to clients throughout New England, will hold a "Navigating a New Course - Celebrating Charter School Excellence" event on Friday, November 19, 2010, from 11 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street in West Newton, MA. Celebrating charter schools throughout New England, HR Knowledge is providing Charter school administrators and staff with a luncheon and private screening of "Waiting for Superman", a documentary film that analyzes the challenges facing public ...

Gardening is a pleasurable pastime that can be enjoyed by all the family, but modern lifestyles mean that outdoors space is often limited. For those with small gardens, balconies and patios, why not try growing one of these top five fruit trees for small spaces, and enjoy the incomparable taste of freshly picked fruit? Our Atlanta tree service did some research for our clients and wanted to share the news. Here are the Top 5 Fruit Trees for Small Spaces. 1. The Dwarf variety of the Meyer Lemon will flourish in a large pot on a sunny patio or balcony. The Meyer Lemon ...

It's a dog life at San Diego's pet-friendly Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina where four-legged guests receive top dog treatment when vacationing with their families. Often cited as best of show when it comes to catering to their human companions, the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay is now letting "sleeping dogs luxuriate" at its two-acre waterfront retreat. And with its new Gold Pawsport Program, these pampered pets will be upgraded to first-class status at this world-class resort property just minutes from downtown, beaches and popular tourist attractions. "Stainless ...

After years of engineering and development, KVA STAINLESS is introducing its new, patented, custom-made stainless steel bicycle tubing called MS² for high-performance bicycle frame applications. You can purchase on-line or give us a call... Already proven by KVA STAINLESS in other industries, patented KVA STAINLESS martensitic stainless structural tubing can now be integrated into high performance bicycle frames to reduce weight, increase strength and stiffness, at a significant cost savings over competitive materials. KVA STAINLESS controlled atmosphere thermal processing ...

CollabNet , the leader in Agile application lifecycle management (Agile ALM) in the Cloud, announced today that CollabNet's Brian Zeichick, an expert in goal-directed and user-centric design theory, will deliver a presentation in the Solutions track at the QCon 2010 conference. In the presentation, titled "Adopting Agile Approaches for Enterprise Architecture," Zeichick will discuss how team leads and architects can easily develop Agile approaches to enterprise architecture. Topics will include supporting governance requirements, managing change, facilitating adoption, ...

Women's clothing company, Royal Bitch Couture announced today its launch to help save dogs from euthanasia. Founded by philanthropic entrepreneur Shane O'Neill, this Brentwood, California cause-based company encourages women to do their part in helping save the millions of dogs in America that are euthanized each year. Royal Bitch has pledged to donate 50% of the proceeds from the sales of their fashionable, yet comfortable clothing line to spay and neuter organizations across the country. "I'm donating 50% of the profits from Royal Bitch Couture to shelters as well ...

Amazing Kids! is proud to announce their newest addition to their youth reporting staff for the Amazing Kids! Online Magazine (amazing-kids.org). 17 year old Genevieve L'Esperance ("Gen"), the host and co-producer of GenINCtv, and a self-described "techonomist," will be adding her unique perspective and technical expertise to the Amazing Kids! Online Magazine, a kid-created publication which helps foster kids' creativity and love of learning while inspiring them to "Dream Big," so they may one day realize their own amazing potential. The tech-savvy teen is the co-columnist ...

VQ ActionCare, creator of mature adult fitness and lifestyle equipment, is proud to announce that the SmoothRider II is now available for shipment. The custom-designed exercise cycle is the newest accessory for the Resistance Chair to give users additional cardio and leg exercise. "The SmoothRider II adds to our already impressive portfolio of mature adult fitness and lifestyle products," said Andrew Siminoff, media director, VQ ActionCare. "We continue to design quality, affordable equipment to help the mature adult population increase mobility, strengthen muscles, improve ...