As federal regulators consider issuing a requirement that automakers put black boxes in all vehicles, emerging reports indicate that the data recorders installed in Toyota vehicles are passing bad information. According to the New York Times, automotive websites have been reporting that the devices used to download data from the black boxes in Toyota cars and trucks have a software bug corrupting information about vehicle speed. Impossible Speed Doubts about Toyota data reliability arose after a readout from a Toyota pick-up truck indicated the vehicle had been ...

We may not yet have the flying cars that countless movies have promised us -- it is 2010, after all -- but we are getting closer. Google has recently garnered significant media attention for the computer-driven cars it has been testing on the West Coast. Among the infinite possibilities that "robot cars" present, the legal issues that will arise when a computer-driven car is in a motor vehicle accident are complex. The Google Car Google cars -- Toyota Priuses equipped with cameras, sensors and other tools -- have traveled more than 140,000 miles with minimal human ...

Product recall alerts are nothing new. There are literally hundreds of product recalls every year, issued by state and federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). News programs are full of them, and entire websites are devoted to them, so what is an information-inundated consumer to do? The American Association of Poison Control Centers understands the confusion and concern that the slew of recalls ...

Rhode Island has the highest percentage of uninsured drivers in New England. Therefore, it is important to add uninsured-motorist coverage to your auto-insurance policy before an accident with an uninsured driver puts a potentially big dent in your piggy bank. Uninsured Driver Statistics A study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC), a nonprofit division of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters and the Insurance Institute of America, estimated that one in six drivers in the United States does not have car insurance. The IRC study ...

Debenhams has revealed that over 80% of presents under the Christmas tree are selected, purchased and wrapped by women. A new survey from the department store revealed that most women buy the majority of Christmas gifts for partners, children, grandparents, neighbours, friends and even themselves, plus stock up on expertly-wrapped standby unisex gifts such as wine and chocolates for unexpected Christmas visitors. Debenhams spokesperson Michelle Dowdall commented: "While tradition states that the male is the head of the household, when it comes to Christmas shopping, ...

Kuoni, the luxury holiday specialist, recently launched its all new brochure for 2011 holidays in Italy. In its pages, readers will find quintessential Italian experiences ranging from cookery lessons in Tuscany and visits to Lake Como to zooming round the countryside in a Maserati and climbing up Mount Etna. These experiences prove that La Dolce Vita is thriving in our Italy holidays with a selection of colourful activities on offer in Kuoni's latest Italy brochure, which is valid between January and December 2011. "From city breaks and glorious Italian lake holidays, ...

The National Trust and Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks' A Plant in Time touring garden exhibition has won the best Green Event Award (shows/exhibitions) at the prestigious global Green Awards 2010 gala ceremony. The award was presented at the Natural History Museum in London. Judging was based on the criteria of creativity, innovation, effectiveness of the communication campaign and media vehicles employed. The winning entries were the judges pick of the best global campaigns communicating sustainability. 'A Plant in Time' was an innovative, fun, inter-active exhibition, ...

Superbreak, the short break specialist, has announced the launch of its royal wedding packages, allowing customers the opportunity to secure a break in advance of the April wedding date. The York-based tour operator has launched a selection of royal wedding breaks ranging from 2- to 3-night breaks to ensure customers have the chance to celebrate the royal wedding in April next year. Customers can choose from a range of 3- to 5-star hotel breaks in central London, securing hotel rooms in Kensington, Knightsbridge and the West End to appeal to most budgets and tastes. ...

Standard Life and Life Academy, the life and retirement planning charity, have published the report 'Everyone Needs a Plan', to coincide with the launch of Financial Planning Week. The report suggests that consumers are in the eye of a financial storm with only 51% of adults currently saving while 28% actively choose not to save*. Authored by Alan Pickering, CBE and chairman of Life Academy, 'Everyone Needs a Plan' examines the UK savings culture and examines, case by case, the repercussions of non saving to consumers from all walks of life. It finds that the penalty ...

Debenhams has reported that the trend for designer donkeys, Virgin Marys and Josephs is stronger than ever, with competitive parents splashing out up to GBP150 to ensure that their youngster is the brightest star in the nativity play. Grandma's chequered tea towels and chintzy tinsel from last year's tree are just not good enough it seems, as parents shape up their shepherds using the finest of materials. Designer chinos, shearling throws and fine silk party dresses are instead adorning this year's cast in community centres, churches and school halls for the annual ...

The fact that Rev. Fred Phelps' Kansas-based, Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket Elizabeth Edwards' (the estranged wife of Presidential Candidate John Edwards) funeral this Saturday, along with the fact that repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) got defeated, and the recent gay bullying ending in teen suicides, all combines to show that racism and bigotry toward the GLBT community is still very much a part of American life and is entrenched in the belief systems of people. The independent film, "Change of Life", 2009 Winner Best Spiritual Film at the Great Lakes Independent ...

Researchers at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa have developed innovative techniques that could have profound effects on congenital cervical vertebrae malformation research. In the cover-featured research article of the November issue of Molecular Reproduction and Development, researchers looked into congenital cervical vertebrae malformation in humans that can cause neural problems and increase susceptibility to stillbirth in women. Research advancement on abnormal vertebrae development has been limited due to the lack of lab animals with taxonomic equivalency ...

Like the mute button on the TV remote control, our brains filter out unwanted noise so we can focus on what we're listening to. But when it comes to following our own speech, a new brain study from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that instead of one homogeneous mute button, we have a network of volume settings that can selectively silence and amplify the sounds we make and hear. Neuroscientists from UC Berkeley, UCSF and Johns Hopkins University tracked the electrical signals emitted from the brains of hospitalized epilepsy patients. They discovered that ...

SAN ANTONIO — Postmenopausal women who take aromatase inhibitors as a treatment for breast cancer may be at an increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease, according to the results of a meta-analysis. These data, presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, indicate that women presenting with breast cancer treatment who have risk factors for cardiovascular disease should be considered for a shorter duration of use of aromatase inhibitors. "It appears that aromatase inhibitors have a significant increase in cardiotoxic side effects, ...

SAN ANTONIO — Obesity was associated with worse overall and disease-free survival in women with operable breast cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, but for the first time, researchers observed this finding in only a specific subset of patients – those with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive/HER2-negative disease. About one third of all adults in the United States are obese, posing a major public health problem because of obesity's association with an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. This study indentified a new hazard associated with obesity. Results ...

SAN ANTONIO — Only half of eligible women in the United States are getting their annual mammograms, even if they have insurance to pay for the procedure, according to data presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Last year the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of non-federal experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine, recommended that the age of first mammogram be lifted from 40 to 50 years of age, at which biennial mammography begins, and caused a public outcry. To date, no major insurance company or other ...

SAN ANTONIO — While endogenous estrogen (i.e., estrogen produced by ovaries and by other tissues) does have a well-known carcinogenic impact, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) utilizing estrogen alone (the exogenous estrogen) provides a protective effect in reducing breast cancer risk, according to study results presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12. "Our analysis suggests that, contrary to previous thinking, there is substantial value in bringing HRT with estrogen alone to the guidelines. The data show that for selected ...

SAN ANTONIO — The long-awaited results of the Adjuvant Treatment with Zoledronic Acid in Stage II/III Breast Cancer, the AZURE trial, will be presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held here Dec. 8-12. "Adjuvant use of bisphosphonates like zoledronic acid is widespread among women with breast cancer, and the results of this trial will help answer many questions as well invite new ones," said Robert Coleman, M.D., professor of medical oncology at the University of Sheffield in England. Coleman will present the results of AZURE during ...

SAN ANTONIO — Exemestane, an aromatase inhibitor that blocks production of estrogen, may provide another post-surgery option for postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor positive, early-stage breast cancer. In the first head-to-head adjuvant clinical trial comparing two aromatase inhibitors, anastrozole and exemestane, the drugs resulted in similar survival rates and prevention of breast cancer recurrences. Some differences in the side effect profile were seen, including a potential difference in the risk of developing osteoporosis. Paul E. Goss, M.D., Ph.D., professor ...

Scientists have sequenced the genome of a major fungal disease that affects barley and other cereal crops, a breakthrough that could lead to significant advances in our understanding of how plant diseases evolve. The research, published today in the journal Science, suggests that parasites within the genome of the fungus help the disease to adapt and overcome the plant's defences. The study could help with the development of new agricultural techniques for protecting cereal crops from infection. Barley grains are the basis of many staple foods, and also central to the ...

New research reveals that the abundance of so-called highly siderophile, or metal-loving, elements like gold and platinum found in the mantles of Earth, the Moon and Mars were delivered by massive impactors during the final phase of planet formation over 4.5 billion years ago. The predicted sizes of the projectiles, which hit within tens of millions of years of the giant impact that produced our Moon, are consistent with current planet formation models as well as physical evidence such as the size distributions of asteroids and ancient Martian impact scars. They predict ...

Norwich scientists are on the trail of some of the most economically damaging organisms that infect crops worldwide. Their latest targets are the parasitic water fungus that causes powdery mildew and the water molds that cause late blight in potatoes and tomatoes and downy mildew in cruciferous vegetables and other crops. "We have been studying the late blight pathogen for a while," said Professor Sophien Kamoun, head of the Sainsbury Laboratory on the Norwich Research Park. "In separate research we are trialling plant genes that mediate blight resistance, while in this ...

A team of scientists led by Melissa Rolls, an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State University, has peered inside neurons to discover an unexpected process that is required for regeneration after severe neuron injury. The process was discovered during Rolls's studies aimed at deciphering the inner workings of dendrites -- the part of the neuron that receives information from other cells and from the outside world. The research will be published in the print edition of the scientific journal Current Biology on 21 December 2010. "We already ...

PITTSBURGH—If you're looking to lose weight, it's okay to think about eating your favorite candy bar. In fact, go ahead and imagine devouring every last bite — all in the name of your diet. A new study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, published in Science, shows that when you imagine eating a certain food, it reduces your actual consumption of that food. This landmark discovery changes the decades-old assumption that thinking about something desirable increases cravings for it and its consumption. Drawing on research that shows that perception and mental ...

An international team of scientists, which includes researchers from Virginia Tech, has cracked the genetic code of a plant pathogen that causes downy mildew disease. Downy mildews are a widespread class of destructive diseases that cause major losses to crops as diverse as maize, grapes, and lettuce. The paper describing the genome sequence of the downy mildew pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis, which attacks the widely studied model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, is the cover story of this week's edition of the journal Science. In the paper, the sequence of H. arabidopsidis ...