Measuring a fuel cell's overall performance is relatively easy, but measuring its components individually as they work together is a challenge. That's because one of the best experimental techniques for investigating the details of an electrochemical device while it's operating is x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Traditional XPS works only in a vacuum, while fuel cells need gases under pressure to function. Now a team of scientists from the University of Maryland, the U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories, and DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National ...

New neuroscience research by life scientists from UCLA and Australia may potentially help people who have lost their ability to remember due to brain injury or disease. By examining how we learn and store memories, these scientists have shown that the way the brain first captures and encodes a situation or event is quite different from how it processes subsequent similar events. The study is published in the Sept. 29 edition of the online journal PLoS ONE, a publication of the Public Library of Science. Memories are formed in the part of the brain known as the ...

The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres (JGR-D), or Water Resources Research (WRR). 1. Antarctic sea ice increase not linked to ozone hole While sea ice extent has declined dramatically in the Arctic in recent years, it has increased slightly in the Antarctic. Some scientists have suggested that increased Antarctic sea ice extent can be explained by the ozone hole over Antarctica. Previous simulations have indicated that the ozone hole induces ...

The oldest evidence of the dinosaur lineage—fossilized tracks—is described this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Just one or two million years after the massive Permian-Triassic extinction, an animal smaller than a house cat walked across fine mud in what is now Poland. This fossilized trackway places the very closest relatives of dinosaurs on Earth about 250 million years ago—5 to 9 million years earlier than previously described fossilized skeletal material has indicated. The paper also described the 246-million-year-old Sphingopus footprints, the oldest evidence ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – When the economy sours, small firms seeking credit tend to face higher costs of financing, leading them to reinvest their profits before they pay off creditors, according to research published by a University of Illinois finance expert. Small firms, especially those considered financially constrained as a result of their size, low dividend payment or lack of bond rating, often become bogged down in debt because they "get hooked on cheap money, when they can find it" says U. of I. finance professor Murillo Campello. "Since small firms are usually financially ...

AMES, Iowa - Some fisheries in the United States are poised to undergo major changes in the regulations used to protect fish stocks, and Iowa State University researchers have estimated that the new system will be an economic boon to the fishing industry. Quinn Weninger and Rajesh Singh, both associate professors in economics, estimated harvesting costs under the old system and compared that to the newly proposed fishing regulations that lift many restrictions that cause inefficiency while still limiting amounts to be harvested. Their analysis focused on the Pacific Groundfish ...

The pace and extent of Marcellus Shale development across Pennsylvania can be "seen" in animated maps produced by the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research. Based on data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the animations (http://www.marcellus.psu.edu/resources/maps.php) show both the number of drilling permits issued for the Marcellus Shale target and the number of wells drilled by year from 2007 through August 2010. Although permits were issued prior to 2007, information on those permits did not include latitude and longitude. "These ...

Sensation seeking—the urge to do exciting things—has been linked to dopamine, a chemical that carries messages in your brain. For a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, scientists analyzed genes in the dopamine system and found a group of mutations that help predict whether someone is inclined toward sensation seeking. Sensation seeking has been linked to a range of behavior disorders, such as drug addiction. It isn't all bad, though. "Not everyone who's high on sensation seeking becomes a drug addict. They ...

DURHAM, N.H. -- Looking at a hagfish – an eyeless, snot-covered, worm-like scavenger of the deep –the last thing that comes to mind is sex. Yet the reproductive functioning of these ancient vertebrates is such an enduring enigma that a gold medal was once offered to anyone who could elucidate it. Although the prize expired, unclaimed, long ago, University of New Hampshire professor of biochemistry Stacia Sower and colleagues at two Japanese universities have identified the first reproductive hormone of the hagfish – a gonadatropin -- representing a significant step toward ...

Researchers from Northwestern University and NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore) have developed a method to detect early signs of lung cancer by examining cheek cells in humans using pioneering biophotonics technology. "By examining the lining of the cheek with this optical technology, we have the potential to prescreen patients at high risk for lung cancer, such as those who smoke, and identify the individuals who would likely benefit from more invasive and expensive tests versus those who don't need additional tests," said Hemant K. Roy, M.D., director ...

Berkeley – Exposure to dirty air is linked to decreased function of a gene that appears to increase the severity of asthma in children, according to a joint study by researchers at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. While air pollution is known to be a source of immediate inflammation, this new study provides one of the first pieces of direct evidence that explains how some ambient air pollutants could have long-term effects. The findings, published in the October 2010 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, come from ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Doppler weather radar will significantly improve forecasting models used to track monsoon systems influencing the monsoon in and around India, according to a research collaboration including Purdue University, the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. Dev Niyogi, a Purdue associate professor of agronomy and earth and atmospheric sciences, said modeling of a monsoon depression track can have a margin of error of about 200 kilometers for landfall, which can be significant for storms that produce as ...

The GOES-13 satellite passed over a low pressure area designated as "System 97L" earlier today and captured a visible image of the low in the eastern Caribbean Sea. System 97L appears in a good place for development into a tropical depression in the next day or two. The National Hurricane Center currently gives the low pressure area known as System 97L an "80 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression in the next 48 hours." The low pressure area is located just north of the Virgin Islands near 19.0 North latitude and 65.3 West longitude. The visible image ...

The northwestern Pacific Ocean is just as active as the Atlantic Ocean this hurricane season. The fourteenth tropical depression formed near Hainan Island, China this morning and its birth was captured by a NASA infrared satellite instrument. The NASA image showed the depression's strong thunderstorms near its center and east of its center. NASA's Aqua satellite flew over Tropical Depression 14W (TD14W) today, October 5 at 06:05 UTC (2:05 a.m. EDT). Infrared imagery from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument onboard the Aqua satellite revealed a concentrated ...

A new species of dinosaur discovered in Arizona suggests dinosaurs did not spread throughout the world by overpowering other species, but by taking advantage of a natural catastrophe that wiped out their competitors. The new dinosaur, named Sarahsaurus, was studied by an international team of scientists, including Robert R. Reisz, professor and chair of biology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Tim Rowe, professor of paleontology at the University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences and Hans-Dieter Sues, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the ...

The Red Planet bleeds. Not blood, but its atmosphere, slowly trickling away to space. The culprit is our sun, which is using its own breath, the solar wind, and its radiation to rob Mars of its air. The crime may have condemned the planet's surface, once apparently promising for life, to a cold and sterile existence. Features on Mars resembling dry riverbeds, and the discovery of minerals that form in the presence of water, indicate that Mars once had a thicker atmosphere and was warm enough for liquid water to flow on the surface. However, somehow that thick atmosphere ...

GREENBELT, Md. – NASA's mission to investigate the mystery of how Mars lost much of its atmosphere passed a critical milestone on October 4, 2010. NASA has given approval for the development and 2013 launch of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission. Clues on the Martian surface, such as features resembling dry riverbeds and minerals that only form in the presence of liquid water, suggest that Mars once had a denser atmosphere, which supported the presence of liquid water on the surface. As part of a dramatic climate change, most of the Martian atmosphere ...

With the Major League Baseball Division Series set to begin, associate math professor Bruce Bukiet at NJIT is performing his analysis of the probability of each team advancing to the League Championship Series. "Going into these series, the Philadelphia Phillies have a 64 percent chance of defeating the Cincinnati Reds in their best of five game series," he said. "The Texas Rangers, New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants have slight advantages to win series over their opponents, the Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves respectively in the first round ...

DALLAS – Oct. 6, 2010 – A set of proteins found in blood serum shows promise as a sensitive and accurate way to diagnose Alzheimer's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found as part of a statewide study. An analysis of the proteins, plus a clinical exam, proved 94 percent accurate in detecting suspected Alzheimer's and 84 percent accurate in ruling it out in people without the disease, the researchers said. "This research uses a novel technology that makes it possible to analyze several biomarkers in a single blood sample in a cost-effective ...

ST. LOUIS -- Low levels of the male sex hormone, testosterone, in older men is associated with the onset of Alzheimer's disease, according to research by a team that includes a Saint Louis University scientist. "Having low testosterone may make you more vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease," said John E. Morley, M.D., director of the division of geriatric medicine at Saint Louis University and a study co-investigator. "The take-home message is we should pay more attention to low testosterone, particularly in people who have memory problems or other signs of cognitive impairment." The ...

LOS ANGELES– In research that one day may lead to the discovery of how to regenerate tissue damaged by heart disease, investigators at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles have identified PDGF as a key factor in the proliferation and transformation of epicardial cells, one type of cell that surrounds heart muscle and contributes to vessels. The study was published online September 21 in advance of the publication of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Ching-Ling (Ellen) Lien, PhD, led a team of researchers at the Developmental ...

A new study from North Carolina State University finds that fish located near coal-fired power plants have lower levels of mercury than fish that live much further away. The surprising finding appears to be linked to high levels of another chemical, selenium, found near such facilities, which unfortunately poses problems of its own. "We found that fish in lakes located at least 30 kilometers (km) from a coal-fired power plant had mercury levels more than three times higher than fish of the same species in lakes that are within 10 km of a plant," says Dana Sackett, a Ph.D. ...

Tour d'Afrique (http://www.tourdafrique.com/), a leader in cross-continent, multi-country cycling tours, invites riders to save space on their dance cards for an Aug. 14 to Sept. 18, 2011, Samba Tango Adventure http://www.tourdafrique.com/tours/sambatango spanning 3,150 km (1,950 miles) in 36 days from Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires. The Full Tour per person rate of $3,900 offers the privilege of averaging 100 km per day in the saddle with six rest and sightseeing days sprinkled in. If full payment is made on or before Feb. 20, 2011, a discount of 5% applies. Riders ...

Calling all bakers, caterers, personal chefs and aspiring food entrepreneurs - The Culinary Studio will help local food-oriented businesses launch and grow without the burden of start-up costs. Fully equipped kitchens will be available at The Culinary Studio for hourly rental to food entrepreneurs and for special cooking events. Located in the Applegate Shopping Center on Northwestern Highway in Southfield, Michigan, The Culinary Studio will have two state of the art commercial kitchens, with areas for preparing, packaging, catering and baking along with cooking classes. ...

DPR Construction's (DPR) San Diego regional headquarters was recently honored with an "Award of Merit" for Interior Renovation by the American Institute of Architects California Council and Savings By Design group. The DPR office was recognized for its commitment to resource efficiency, responsibility for the environment, human productivity and quality of life. "Our San Diego headquarters is a true representation of DPR's culture," said Jay Leopold, regional manager of DPR Construction. "It is important for us to uphold sustainable practices while creating a positive ...