Saturn's icy moon Enceladus should not be one of the most promising places in our solar system to look for extraterrestrial life. Instead, it should have frozen solid billions of years ago. Located in the frigid outer solar system, it's too far from the sun to have oceans of liquid water -- a necessary ingredient for known forms of life -- on its surface. Some worlds, like Mars or Jupiter's moon Europa, give hints that they might harbor liquid water beneath their surfaces. Mars is about 4,200 miles across and Europa almost 2,000 miles across. However, with a diameter ...

PHILADELPHIA - Heart muscle cells do not normally replicate in adult tissue, but multiply with abandoned during development. This is why the loss of heart muscle after a heart attack is so dire—you can't grow enough new heart muscle to make up for the loss. A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine describe the interconnections between three-molecules that control fetal, heart-muscle-cell proliferation in a mouse model that will help cardiologists better understand the natural repair process after heart attacks and help scientists learn ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois chemistry professor Alexander Scheeline wants to see high school students using their cell phones in class. Not for texting or surfing the Web, but as an analytical chemistry instrument. Scheeline developed a method using a few basic, inexpensive supplies and a digital camera to build a spectrometer, an important basic chemistry instrument. Spectrophotometry is one of the most widely used means for identifying and quantifying materials in both physical and biological sciences. "If we want to measure the amount of protein in ...

An approach pioneered by researchers at North Carolina State University gives scientists new insight into the way silicon bonds with other materials at the atomic level. This technique could lead to improved understanding of and control over bond formation at the atomic level, and opportunities for the creation of new devices and more efficient microchips. Manufacturers build silicon-based devices from layers of different materials. Bonds – the chemical interaction between adjacent atoms – are what give materials their distinctive characteristics. "Essentially, a bond ...

New Haven, Conn.—A team of Yale University scientists has engineered the cell wall of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, tricking it into incorporating foreign small molecules and embedding them within the cell wall. The finding, described online in the journal ACS Chemical Biology this week, represents the first time scientists have engineered the cell wall of a pathogenic "Gram-positive" bacteria—organisms responsible not only for Staph infections but also pneumonia, strep throat and many others. The discovery could pave the way for new methods of combating the bacteria ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A study by researchers at Purdue University suggests that some high school football players suffer undiagnosed changes in brain function and continue playing even though they are impaired. "Our key finding is a previously undiscovered category of cognitive impairment," said Thomas Talavage, an expert in functional neuroimaging who is an associate professor of biomedical engineering and electrical and computer engineering and co-director of the Purdue MRI Facility. The findings represent a dilemma because they suggest athletes may suffer a form ...

(Garrison, NY) The researcher whose revelations about unethical U.S. studies on syphilis in Guatemala in the 1940's led to apologies from the Obama administration last week has written a commentary for Bioethics Forum, the Hastings Center's online publication. She calls for the need to learn from history to better protect human subjects in the developing world. Susan M. Reverby, a professor at Wellesley College, describes how she unearthed documents about the study by accident while doing research for a book on the Tuskegee syphilis study. The documents, hidden in the ...

Talk about a walk on the wild side: University of Notre Dame researcher Joshua Shrout is co-author of a new paper that shows that bacteria are capable of "standing up" and moving while vertical. Shrout, assistant professor of civil engineering and geological sciences and a member of the Eck Institute for Global Health, has been studying the surface motility of bacteria since 2004. In 2008, UCLA researcher Gerard Wong suggested that an undergraduate bioengineering senior design group that he was advising track the bacterium Shrout was studying. After some interesting patterns ...

"Better and faster results!" is the clarion call for scientists and engineers to continually strive to improve their research tools. Of the tools used to study material structures at the atomic and molecular scales, there is none finer than Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and its daughter technology Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Now, the latest development from the research group of one of the word's foremost authorities on NMR/MRI technology promises NMR/MRI results that are better and faster than ever before – a million times faster! Through a combination ...

In a study that sheds new light on the causes of Parkinson's disease, researchers report that brain cells in Parkinson's patients abandon their energy-producing machinery, the mitochondria. A shutdown in fuel can have devastating effects on brain cells, which consume roughly 20 percent of the body's energy despite making up only 2 percent of body weight. The findings indicate that boosting the mitochondria with FDA approved drugs early on may prevent or delay the onset of Parkinson's. The study will be published in the one-year anniversary issue of the journal Science ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- The cost of obesity among U.S. full-time employees is estimated to be $73.1 billion, according to a new study by a Duke University obesity researcher, published today in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. This is the first study to quantify the total value of lost job productivity as a result of health problems, which it finds is more costly than medical expenditures. Led by Eric Finkelstein, deputy director for health services and systems research at Duke-National University of Singapore, the study quantified the per capita cost ...

The "turtle and dugong capital of the world", the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and Torres Strait region, faces increased pressure under climate change from human actions such as fishing, hunting, onshore development and pollution. "Depletion of turtle and dugong numbers increases their vulnerability to other threats and lowers their ability to cope with climate change," Dr Mariana Fuentes of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University will tell the Coral Reef Symposium in Canberra today. Dr Fuentes says that turtles in particular ...

New York, NY, October 8, 2010—Young adults continue to represent one of the largest groups of Americans without health insurance, with nearly 15 million people aged 19-29 uninsured in 2009—an increase of more than 1 million over 2008, according to a Commonwealth Fund report released today. However, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is poised to make a significant difference for this population, as up to 12.1 million could gain subsidized insurance once all of the law's provisions go into effect in 2014. The report, Realizing Health Reform's Potential: Young Adults and the ...

Austin-Lehman Adventures, Travel + Leisure's "World's Best" Operator Responds to Client Dream List Wishes - Breaks New Ground in Luxury Multisport Adventure to Israel and Morocco The active travel company that set the adventure tour standard in Yellowstone National Park and then took their winning formula to Europe, Africa and beyond just released its 2011 catalog that includes two new groundbreaking tours in Israel and Morocco. Clients of Austin-Lehman Adventures have been asking for these "dream" destinations for years and the tour company responded with Israel & Jordan ...

A few months ago, in a joint promotional event with DearCrissy.com, FloorMall began its first ever Step Into Summer Flooring Sweepstakes. In the contest, FloorMall announced that they would be giving away 500 square feet of Mohawk hardwood flooring ( http://www.floormall.com/hardwood/ ) (a total value of over 1,200) to one DearCrissy.com blog reader. The prize flooring was hand-scraped, engineered Eucalyptus from Mohawk's Raschiato Series. The contest saw over a thousand different entries before its conclusion on July 30th. Sarah, a stay at home mother and blogger, was ...

On the heels of their invitation to the prestigious Red Dot Art Fair in Miami (http://www.reddotfair.com) Anderson Art Collective (http://www.andersonartcollective.com) will open their next show Anderson Cubed with an artists' reception on Saturday, October 16th from 6-8pm at the gallery. The show features contemporary oils by Sean Anderson, monumental oils and portraits by Benjamin Anderson and 3D mixed media by Ron Anderson. "Despite the current economy, these artists have had an outstanding year. A solo show for Benjamin in Chelsea, NY, Sean's work collected ...

San Diego Ad Agency, Quantum Communications, is putting a new spin on the holiday rush this season. The agency is offering a guarantee that they will deliver any and all elements of an advertising or marketing campaign in time for the anticipated flurry of consumer spending over the holidays. "Basically, it's a money back guarantee. If we do not deliver according to the deadline, we will refund 100% of the fees for our services" states Terry Vitiello, one of the founding partners of the 22 year-old San Diego Ad Agency. "And because the agency will not assess any ...

Are you socking away money to heat your home this winter? Even though heating costs have steadily risen over the last five years, homeowners with "dinosaur" furnaces end up spending at least 30 percent more than homeowners with newer, energy efficient furnaces to heat their home each winter. Winters Company, providers of plumbing, heating and air quality home services to thousands of residents in the greater Boston area, will be awarding a brand new $2500 energy efficient York heating system, fully-installed, along with one-year service contract to the person who can ...

newScale, rPath and Eucalyptus Systems, a coalition focused on bringing self-service private and hybrid clouds to the enterprise, today announced that it has formalized its name and launched a coalition website located at http://www.NREcloud.com. The coalition, which is now called The NRE Alliance (NRE), was announced in August at VMworld 2010, where technologies from NRE members newScale and rPath won Best of VMworld 2010 awards in the "Private Cloud Computing" category. Self-service private and hybrid cloud computing continues to generate a lot of interest as pressure ...

Prospective buyers looking to get the deal of a lifetime are in luck because LennarâEUR s Virginia Division is offering a special 2.875 percent interest rate (3.09 percent APR) on new homes during their âEURœGreatest Home Sale EverâEUR event this weekend. The event will take place on Saturday, October 9 through Sunday, October 10 at LennarâEUR s new home communities including MartinâEUR s Chase in Ashburn, Melody Landing At River Oaks in Woodbridge, Virginia Heritage at LeeâEUR s Parke in Fredericksburg and Colonial Heritage in Williamsburg. âEURœWe are excited to ...

Date nights certainly aren't what they used to be! Local arts and culture fans as well as lovebirds have been flocking to Carnival of Illusion, a fun Vaudeville-inspired magical theater show presented by nationally award winning illusionists Roland Sarlot and Susan Eyed. Last season 62 out of 74 shows sold out. This season all shows to date have sold out and it looks like they've hit upon a fun, new date night experience. "We're very excited to have so many celebrations and couples at our show. We feel honored that our guests want to share their special evenings ...

TakeCare launches the NannyTest hosted assessment-center for agencies. NannyTest for agencies helps nanny, au pair and babysitter agencies in screening applicants. NannyTest is unique in combining both risk assessment (also known as an integrity test) and personal traits assessment. The test provides a better insight into the personality and traits of the nanny, as well as an assessment of possible risk factors. NannyTest for agencies is a hosted assessment-center solution that is accessed over the Internet, does not require any upfront investment and can be deployed ...

Will Sasso stars as Vince on the CBS comedy "$#*! My Dad Says," which is based on a popular Twitter feed by former Maxim online writer Justin Halpern. In a recent interview with TheCelebrityCafe.com, Sasso spoke about reuniting with MadTV alum Nicole Sullivan (who plays his wife on the show), working with William Shatner, and critics' reactions to the show. "Vince is Ed's older son, the half-brother of Henry, who doesn't live with his father. He lives with his wife, Bonnie, played by Nicole Sullivan, and he's this sweet guy with a sense of morals and he tries to live ...

Today web and marketing consulting firm, GOWeb2point0 (www.GOWeb2point.com), launched the web site http://www.ppprealestate.com with Web 2.0 features including Twitter integration and the latest blogging software from WordPress to service the Prescott and surrounding real estate markets. This new site will allow the real estate company, Prescott Premier Properties, to service their clients at a higher level with information about foreclosures, short-sales, REOs, and traditional resale properties in the real estate markets of Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, and ...

Canada Credit Fix Inc (CCF) has just announced that they will release their new system that will virtually eliminate errors, false data and reporting blunders on consumer credit reports. The revolutionary system will now go into development immediately and change the way the world sees and uses consumer credit reports. For now CCF has named the program EFC acronym for Error Free Credit but is in the process of incorporating its own division and trade mark. Many experts say, in the current credit reporting system there is a huge problem and 43% of all credit reports ...