NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite has provided a 3-D look at the power "under the hood" (of clouds) in powerful Category 4 Hurricane Igor as it heads toward Bermuda. In the meantime, Igor is creating dangerous surf in the eastern Atlantic, and it will affect the U.S. East coast later today. Igor is an extremely dangerous category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale today, Sept. 16, and he is expected to remain a large and powerful hurricane over the next several days. The TRMM satellite, operated by NASA and the Japanese ...

We've all heard this story: the Late Cretaceous of Asia and North America—about 65 million years ago—was dominated by several large-headed, bipedal predatory dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and Tarbosaurus that had tiny arms. But a decade of new fossil discoveries that have more than doubled the number of known tyrannosaur species has changed this tale. Older and smaller tyrannosaurs have made the evolutionary tree of this group richer and more complex. Furthermore, a series of innovative research projects on topics like bone growth and biomechanics have added an enormous ...

Risk factors for venous thromboembolism after total hip replacement (THR) surgery were identified in a new study published in the September 2010 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS). While the rate of thromboembolism has been significantly reduced through medication, understanding the risk factors could further reduce the likelihood of patients developing this potentially fatal complication. Two of the most common manifestations of a thromboembolism include: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT), in which the blood clot forms in a deep vein, commonly in the thigh ...

AUSTIN, Texas — Many women with low sex drives reported greater sexual satisfaction after taking a placebo, according to new psychology research from The University of Texas at Austin and Baylor College of Medicine. The study was conducted by Cindy Meston, a clinical psychology professor at The University of Texas at Austin, and Andrea Bradford, a 2009 University of Texas at Austin graduate and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. They found that opening a new line of communication about sex can have a positive ...

For scientists, supernovae are true superstars -- massive explosions of huge, dying stars that shine light on the shape and fate of the universe. For a brief burst of time, supernovae can radiate more energy than the sun will emit in its lifetime. With the potential energy of 25 hundred trillion trillion nuclear weapons, they can outshine entire galaxies, producing some of the biggest explosions ever seen, and helping track distances across the cosmos. Now, a Princeton-led team has found a way to make computer simulations of supernovae exploding in three dimensions, ...

INDIANAPOLIS – There is no apparent link between asthma and tooth decay, according to a study published in the September 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association. "Is There a Relationship between Asthma and Dental Caries?: A Critical Review of the Literature" examined the 27 separate studies which looked for a link between asthma and cavities that were reported in 29 papers published between 1976 and March 2010. "The notion that there is a link between asthma and tooth decay may have its origin in anecdotal statements by emergency room workers who ...

At the first sign of a disease pandemic, public health officials should begin strongly communicating about the extent of the outbreak and the steps that can be taken by the public to avoid infection. That's the recommendation of two mathematical biologists who have modified the most widely used infectious disease transmission model to account for the impact of news media coverage. During outbreaks of serious infectious diseases, many individuals closely follow media reports and as a result, take precautions to protect themselves against the disease. These precautions ...

Boulder, CO, USA – The October LITHOSPHERE examines the following key questions: (1) how do large volumes of silicic magma contribute to the growth of continental crust?; (2) how does the Tibetan Plateau grow?; (3) what are the dynamics of the lithosphere beneath the Eastern Carpathians in Romania?; (4) what's really true about the Mojave-Snow Lake fault hypothesis?; (5) can Earth's pulse be measured at its hotspots?; and (6) what is the nature of the Moho in NW Canada? Keywords: Philipsburg Batholith, Tibetan Plateau, Carpathians, Mojave-Snow Lake fault, hotspots, Moho. Highlights ...

Were our early mammalian ancestors vegetarians, vegans or omnivores? It's difficult for anthropologists to determine the diet of early mammalians because current fossil analysis provides too little information. But a new method that measures the size of chips in tooth fossils can help determine the kinds of foods these early humans consumed. Prof. Herzl Chai of Tel Aviv University's School of Mechanical Engineering, in collaboration with scientists from George Washington University and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has developed an equation ...

New Rochelle, NY, September 16, 2010—Not only do undergraduate students gain valuable hands-on experience by participating in scientific research projects, but they also make meaningful contributions, examples of which are highlighted in the current special issue of DNA and Cell Biology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The issue is available free online. This special issue features a collection of papers reporting on successful research projects in which undergraduate students played a significant role, "and undoubtedly learned much in the ...

Certain bacteria that inhabit the intestine provide the environmental trigger that initiates and perpetuates chronic intestinal inflammation in individuals who are genetically susceptible to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a study led by Harvard School of Public Health researchers has found. Inflammatory bowel disease results from a loss of homeostasis, or balance, between the immune system and the microbes that inhabit the intestine. "In this study, we identified two microbes that instigate gut inflammation that leads to inflammatory bowel disease in mice," said ...

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Sept. 16, 2010 — In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists led by UC Santa Barbara's David Valentine and Texas A&M University's John Kessler embarked on a research cruise with an urgent mission: determining the fate and impact of hydrocarbon gases escaping from a deep-water oil spill. The spill provided a rare opportunity for Valentine, a professor in the Department of Earth Science at UCSB, and Kessler, an assistant professor in the Department of Oceanography at Texas A&M, to study the behavior ...

La Jolla, CA, September 15, 2010 – Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have designed a new molecular test that will allow researchers to look for potential drugs targeting a human metabolic enzyme believed to stimulate the appetite and play a role in diabetes. The new test, which the scientists call a simple assay, will allow researchers to look through hundreds of thousands of compounds for those that have potential to block the action of an enzyme known as ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT). If drugs can be found that safely suppress the action of GOAT, they ...

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 15 – Fat-derived stem cells can be safely used to aid reconstruction of breast tissue after mastectomy as long as there is no evidence of active cancer, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their findings are available in Tissue Engineering Part A. Plastic surgeons have long moved fat from one part of the body into the breasts for reconstruction, but with some complications and a varying success rate, explained senior author Vera S. Donnenberg, Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery, Pitt School of Medicine. More ...

Significant weight loss not only improves daily life of morbidly obese woman but also decreases the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, many people can not lose weight or can not maintain weight loss without help. Bariatric surgery is emerging as a valuable procedure to help morbidly obese individuals lose weight, as studies have shown; it can improve many health profiles and lower mortality. Now, researchers have found another positive impact of significant weight loss after bariatric surgery: it can significantly improve the lipoprotein profiles of women within ...

NASA's Aqua and TRMM satellites have been watching Karl's clouds and rainfall as he moved across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico today, powering up into a hurricane. Infrared imagery of Karl's cloud temperatures from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument this morning, Sept. 16 at 0753 UTC (3:53 a.m. EDT) showed strong convective activity in his center as indicated by high thunderstorms that were as cold as -63 Fahrenheit. That strong convection was an indication that the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico were strengthening the storm. ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study by an Oregon State University business professor has found that developing countries that adopt major international economic treaties do not necessarily gain more foreign direct investment. In fact, in some cases adopting these treaties can hurt, not help a developing country, contrary to what agencies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) espouse. The study, published in the current online version of the Journal of World Business, has major implications for Latin American and Caribbean intellectual policy reform Ted Khoury, an assistant ...

GOES-13 satellite imagery this morning showed the "tropical trio": Tropical Storm Karl over the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Igor in the central Atlantic, and a waning Hurricane Julia in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Julia has now lost her Category 4 Hurricane status, and is currently a Category 2 hurricane in the eastern Atlantic and weakening. Wind shear, cooler sea surface temperatures and warmer cloud top temperatures all spell a weaker Julia. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite known as GOES-13 that monitors weather over the U.S. East Coast ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---As another round of talks continues between Israelis and Palestinians, a new University of Michigan study documents the impact the violence has been inflicting on the region's children. Palestinian and Israeli children not only suffer the direct physical consequences of violence, they are also being psychologically scarred by the high levels of violence they witness, according to the study, presented earlier this summer at the International Society for Research on Aggression. Nearly 50 percent of Palestinian children between the ages of 11 and 14 ...

The moon was bombarded by two distinct populations of asteroids or comets in its youth, and its surface is more complex than previously thought, according to new results from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft featured in three papers appearing in the Sept. 17 issue of Science. In the first paper, lead author James Head of Brown University in Providence, R.I., describes results obtained from a detailed global topographic map of the moon created using LRO's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA). "Our new LRO LOLA dataset shows that the older highland impactor ...

A multinational team that includes a North Carolina State University researcher has found another piece of the atmospheric puzzle surrounding the effects of aerosol particles on climate change. Their findings will contribute to our ability to more accurately measure human impact on climate, and to determine how much pollution may "mask" the actual rate of climate change. Dr. Markus Petters, an NC State assistant professor of marine, earth and atmospheric sciences, traveled to the Amazon rainforest in a remote area of Brazil as part of a team that wanted to study how a ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A University of Michigan-led research team has identified a gene responsible in some families for a devastating inherited kidney disorder, thanks to a new, faster method of genetic analysis not available even two years ago. The success offers hope that scientists can speed the painstaking search for the genes responsible for many rare diseases and test drugs to treat them. The U-M scientists report their success with exome capture, a groundbreaking genetic analysis technique, in the September issue of Nature Genetics. The U-M- led international ...

A discovery made by Dr. Tarik Möröy, President and Scientific Director and Director of the Hematopoiesis and Cancer research unit at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team was recently published in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology. The researchers found that a protein can regulate certain characteristics of blood stem cells, which could lead to a better treatment for leukemia patients. Dr. Cyrus Khandanpour, medical doctor and postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Möröy's laboratory, is the study's first author. The ...

Magnetometers come in many shapes and sizes – an ordinary hand-held compass is the simplest – but alkali-vapor magnetometers are extrasensitive devices that measure magnetic fields using light and atoms. They can detect archaeological remains and mineral deposits underground by their faint magnetic signatures, among a host of other scientific applications. Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Vavilov State Optical Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, have now made sensitive ...

In the world of Life Coaching there is a popular adage that states "If you do the same things in the same way, you'll get the same results. To expect different results is a sign of madness." This is what Allan Wilson, owner of Success365, Life Coaching and personal development consultants found himself doing for over a period of almost 30 years. Wilson who now heads up his own company Success365 which specialises in Life Coaching and Motivational Speaking, spent many years trying his hand at various businesses before realising that he had to change himself first before ...