U.S. warship in Russian-patrolled Georgian port

POTI, Georgia (Reuters) - The flagship of the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet dropped anchor off Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti on Friday, where Russian troops have been patrolling since last month's war with Georgia. (Read on Source)

Hurricane IKE Wind Speed Probabilities Number 17

000 FONT14 KNHC 050855 PWSAT4 HURRICANE IKE WIND SPEED PROBABILITIES NUMBER 17 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL092008 0900 UTC FRI SEP 05 2008 AT 0900Z THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IKE WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 23.7 NORTH...LONGITUDE 61.0 WEST WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR 110 KTS...125 MPH...205 KM/HR. Z INDICATES COORDINATED ... (Read on Source)

For the Brain, Remembering Is Like Reliving

For the first time, scientists have recorded individual brain cells fetching a spontaneous memory. (Read on Source)

Video Game Review: Playing God, the Home Game

As an intelligent romp through the realms of science, mythology, religion and hope about the universe around us, Spore both provokes and amuses. (Read on Source)

Hurricane Local Statement forTropical Storm HANNA issued from Wakefield, VA

000 WTUS81 KAKQ 042234 HLSAKQ URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TROPICAL STORM HANNA LOCAL STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 634 PM EDT THU SEP 4 2008 ...TROPICAL STORM WATCHES AND WARNINGS HAVE BEEN HOISTED FOR PORTIONS OF VIRGINIA...NORTH CAROLINA AND MARYLAND... .AT 500 PM EDT...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM HANNA WAS LOCATED NEAR ... (Read on Source)

Undated video shows Qaeda leader reported killed

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda issued on Friday an Internet video featuring senior group leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid who was reported to have been killed last month, but it was not immediately clear when the footage was made. (Read on Source)

New book says U.S. spied on Iraqi leaders: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has spied on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders, according to U.S. journalist Bob Woodward's fourth book on President George W. Bush, The Washington Post reported on Friday. (Read on Source)

Dual Citizenship for the Woolly Mammoth

Woolly mammoths migrated to North America, then back to Siberia, according to a new scientific analysis. (Read on Source)

ESA spacecraft set for flyby of Steins asteroid

AP - Scientists at the European Space Agency are preparing for the first fly-by of an asteroid by their deep-space explorer, Rosetta, on a mission to solve the mystery of the birth of the solar system. (Read on Source)

Yale Researchers Find "Junk DNA" May Have Triggered Key Evolutionary Changes In Human Thumb And Foot

Out of the 3 billion genetic letters that spell out the human genome, Yale scientists have found a handful that may have contributed to the evolutionary changes in human limbs that enabled us to manipulate tools and walk upright. (Read on Source)

Mine is Bigger Than Yours!

tags: Professor Steve Steve , London, England , Nature Network conference , science blog conference , Nature Network science blog conference , travel Whose is bigger? Sales person, Mark (left), and Nature science blog writer, Bob O'Hara, compare their shortbreads at the famous Twinings Tea Shop in London. Image: GrrlScientist 4 September 2008 [ ... (Read on Source)

Luftverschmutzung l�st Regen und D�rren aus

Über den Zusammenhang von Luftverschmutzung und Niederschlägen gab es bisher äußerst widersprüchliche Studienresultate. Eine neue Untersuchung bringt nun Klarheit in die Debatte: Eine relativ schwache Aerosolbelastung in der Luft unterstützt die Wolkenbildung und damit auch Regenfälle. Sind zu viele Aerosole ... (Read on Source)

As Gustav evacuees return to New Orleans, a varied homecoming

The Christian Science Monitor - As Gustav evacuees return home, and as those who stayed put survey the terrain, it's apparent how much a hurricane's unpredictability can cause varying degrees of damage. (Read on Source)

Gene Is Likely Cause Of Stroke-inducing Vascular Malformations

Scientists have discovered that a gene controlling whether blood vessels differentiate into arteries or veins during embryonic development is linked to a vascular disorder in the brain that causes stroke. (Read on Source)

International Team Reveals First Prognosticator Of Survival In Aggressive Cancer

The tumor suppressor gene pRb2/p130 may provide the first independent prognostic biomarker in cases of soft tissue sarcoma (STS), according to an international collaboration of researchers, including scientists at the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine at the College of (Read on Source)

One Laptop signs up with Amazon

Online retailer Amazon will help the One Laptop Per Child organisation with its plans to sell its XO laptop in the US. (Read on Source)

Chaos at £20,000 petrol giveaway

There are reports of chaos at a petrol station which giving away ?20,000 of petrol to promote a video game. (Read on Source)

World Cancer Declaration Sets Ambitious Targets For 2020

A summit of more than 60 high-level policymakers, leaders and health experts have adopted a global plan aimed at tackling the growing cancer crisis in developing countries. The plan, contained in the World Cancer Declaration, recommends a set of 11 cancer-busting targets for 2020 and outlines priority steps that need to be taken in order to meet ... (Read on Source)

Computerized Whiteboards Improve Classroom Learning, Study Suggests

The British government has invested more money in Interactive Whiteboards in its schools than any other government in the world. But is this huge investment worth it? Have the new data projection technologies allowed students to learn more effectively? This is the subject of recent research. (Read on Source)

Study to determine what happens to nanotechnology materials released to the environment

A new study will trace the movement of nanoparticles through the environment and determine their impact on health and natural systems. (Read on Source)

Laser printing made easy

A new laser printing technique can produce arbitrary patterns of nanoparticles over large areas using just a single laser pulse. The method, which overcomes the problems encountered in conventional laser printing, could be used to fabricate electronic devices like transistors, in a simple way. (Read on Source)

Eli and Edythe L. Broad announce $400 million endowment for the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT

Less than five years into a ten-year groundbreaking experiment in philanthropy and science, the results are in. The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, which was founded in 2003 and launched in 2004 to test how effective venture philanthropy and inter-institutional collaboration could be in propelling biomedical progress, has been declared a ... (Read on Source)

We will sweeten it up to Europe

The Czech government that will take over the EU presidency in H1 of 2009 has begun a campaign. The first video clip , masterminded by the European affairs minister Alexander Vondra, professionally realized by film director Ms Alice Nellis, and using Beethoven's de facto EU anthem, is called "We'll make things sweeter for Europe". That's an ... (Read on Source)

IPCC-Chefposten f�r deutschen Klimaforscher

Der Potsdamer Klimaforscher Ottmar Edenhofer übernimmt einen Chefposten im Weltklimarat IPCC. Er wurde zum Vorsitzenden der Arbeitsgruppe "Vermeidung des Klimawandels" ernannt. (Read on Source)

I, For One, Welcome Our New SciFi Overlord...

I've got a new post up at SciFi Scanner today: SciFi Fans, You Have a New Overlord and His Name is J.J. Abrams Watch as I denounce as driving sources in science fiction: George Lucas (easy) Ronald Moore (bold) Steven Moffat(brave) [Gasp!] Joss Whedon (foolhardy) Drop a comment over there if you want to set me straight. (Read on Source)

Urologie Innsbruck: Kinderstudien ohne Freigabe

Ohne die Genehmigung der Ethikkommission sowie ohne Wissen der ärztlichen Direktion hat die Kinderurologie an der Innsbrucker Klinik 260 Kinder und zum Teil Erwachsene "hormonell und operativ" behandelt. (Read on Source)

And the right-wing calliope plays on…

Cindy McCain is not running for high office, fortunately…but this still seems to be the predominant attitude among the Republican leadership. Couric: How do you feel about creationism? Do you think it should be taught in schools? McCain: I think both sides should be taught in schools. I think the more children have a frame of reference ... (Read on Source)

How many Steves do we have?

NCSE's "Project Steve" is a tongue-in-cheek parody of a long-standing creationist tradition of amassing lists of "scientists who doubt evolution" or "scientists who dissent from Darwinism." (For examples of such lists, see the FAQs.) (Read on Source)

Hummeln lernen bei Konflikt mit Spinnen dazu

Krabbenspinnen sind dank perfekter Tarnung für ihre Beute eine tödliche Gefahr. Auch für Hummeln sind sie fast unsichtbar. Wenn die Insekten aber einmal gefangen wurden und mit dem Leben davongekommen sind, können sie dazulernen: Beim nächsten Mal gehen sie weit vorsichtiger auf Futtersuche. (Read on Source)

Friday YouTube: Star Trek Love Boat

[via Topless Robot ] (Read on Source)

LHC switch-on fears are completely unfounded

( Institute of Physics ) A new report published Sept. 5 provides the most comprehensive evidence available to confirm that the Large Hadron Collider's switch-on, due on Wednesday next week, poses no threat to mankind. Nature's own cosmic rays regularly produce more powerful particle collisions than those planned within the LHC, which will enable ... (Read on Source)

The Difference Between Liberals and Conservatives

A good friend of mine sent me this, so I had to share. It is a wonderful picture that clearly and concisely lays out the difference between fiscal conservatives and tax and spend liberals. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Read on Source)

Effect of Physical Activity on Cognitive Function in Older Adults at Risk for Alzheimer Disease

Nicola T. Lautenschlager, MD; Kay L. Cox, PhD; Leon Flicker, MBBS, PhD; Jonathan K. Foster, DPhil; Frank M. van Bockxmeer, PhD; Jianguo Xiao, MD, PhD; Kathryn R. Greenop, PhD; Osvaldo P. Almeida, MD, PhD (Read on Source)

'Toxic time bomb' awaits Ok Tedi

More attention should be given to a potential environmental disaster in Papua New Guinea downstream from one of the world's largest copper mines, say some scientists. (Read on Source)

Compare and Contrast, Part 5

I am the Online Community Manager at PLoS-ONE (Public Library of Science). My job is to try to motivate you to comment on the papers there. My scientific specialty is chronobiology (circadian rhythms and photoperiodism), with additional interests in comparative physiology, animal behavior and evolution. You can contact me at: Cot&# ... (Read on Source)

Griffin not optimistic about new deal to buy Soyuz rides

Movement on a legislative exemption that would allow NASA to buy seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft past 2011 is at a virtual standstill, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin says. Because of the three-year lead time needed to build Soyuz vehicles, contracts must be in place by early 2009 to avoid an interruption in NASA's presence on board the ... (Read on Source)

New method detects corrosive fingerprints

British scientists have developed a new crime-fighting technique that would make even Sherlock Holmes proud. (Read on Source)

Drugs Move Slowly Through Development Pipeline

A study in the journal Science finds that it takes an average of 24 years between the first finding of a chemical compound's potential usefulness and the first publication showing clinical effectiveness. Karen Hopkin reports (Read on Source)

A double standard?

As usual, when Jon Stewart nails it: My goodness! Two political posts in a row. I'd better watch myself, or I'll become one of those dime-a-dozen political bloggers that I complain about. Not that I count this, given that it's just a Daily Show video clip. Still, it's so spot-on that I couldn't resist. Don't worry. Tomorrow it's back to medicine, (Read on Source)

Life in a Bubble - The Dangers of Triclosan

The American population is obsessed with germs. Although relatively few people are unfortunate enough to suffer from OCD, a more pervasive subclinical paranoia persists in our psyche which manifests as our culture of cleanliness. During daytime television it is almost impossible to go through an entire commercial break without seeing an ad for ... (Read on Source)

Lack of Association between Measles Virus Vaccine and Autism with Enteropathy: A Case-Control Study

by Mady Hornig, Thomas Briese, Timothy Buie, Margaret L. Bauman, Gregory Lauwers, Ulrike Siemetzki, Kimberly Hummel, Paul A. Rota, William J. Bellini, John J. O'Leary, Orla Sheils, Errol Alden, Larry Pickering, W. Ian Lipkin Background The presence of measles virus (MV) RNA in bowel tissue from children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and ... (Read on Source)

Timeline of Gasoline and Fuel Improvements

19th century fuels for the automobile were coal tar distillates and the lighter fractions from the distillation of crude oil. On September 5, 1885, the first gasoline pump was manufactured by Sylvanus Bowser of Fort Wayne, Indiana and delivered to Jake Gumper, also of Fort Wayne. The gasoline pump tank had marble valves and wooden plungers and ... (Read on Source)

Gallery: Distilling 2.0 -- Bye-Bye Boiling, Hello Health Care

: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.com PASADENA, California ? For all you moonshine makers who thought your hobby was just a guilty pleasure, a new spin on distilling may actually help save lives. Using ancient technology reduced to a microscopic scale, scientists at Caltech have created new tools to detect disease and purify water using tiny stills. ... (Read on Source)

Cancer Redefined

New studies paint an exhaustively detailed picture of two deadly cancers. (Read on Source)

Blimpin' Ain't Easy: Crossing the English Channel in a Pedal-Powered Airship*

You know it's hard up here for a blimp. Or so says Stephane Rousson, a 39-year-old Frenchman who's hoping to cross the English Channel in a homemade, pedal-powered airship. As a child, he was captivated by the Gossamer Albatross , the first entirely human-powered craft to fly the turbulent stretch from England to France. Hoping to repeat that ... (Read on Source)

A Better Way to Spot Disease

MicroRNA in blood could help doctors detect cancer and other conditions. (Read on Source)

Hurricane HQ

For many South Floridians, the big question during hurricane season is: What's it like? Every storm is different, but one way to answer that question is to explore hurricane history. Here you'll find profiles of storms that South Florida will never forget. For each storm, we've gathered storm data, photos and the front page of the Fort Lauderdale ... (Read on Source)

Asian soot, smog may boost global warming in US

(AP) -- Smog, soot and other particles like the kind often seen hanging over Beijing add to global warming and may raise summer temperatures in the American heartland by three degrees in about 50 years, says a new federal science report released Thursday. (Read on Source)

CHAOS MANOR MAIL

The book tour went very well. The average sale of copies to people I talked to about the book was six. (At least three and the most seven). The Book Managers would then have me sign four or five more (the remainder of their order of ten copies from Ingram. In two instances Ingram did not deliver in time and the store ordered directly from Pathway ... (Read on Source)

Sick... again

Once again I have manflu , the most despicable disease known to man (and to women, who also suffer indirectly from it). So blogging is patchy. Also, I have to do some teaching stuff, which involves thinking about what the essays say. I am writing, slowly, a piece about the recent paper on ratite origins first author of which is my friend and ... (Read on Source)

Meet Ivan, and Turtle Faces

Yesterday, during a fun-filled three hours of eradication along the upper SBS Creek, I rediscovered a box turtle that was previously found on April 22 2006 . He's an unusual turtle in several ways, not the least of which is the very high density of spotting on his carapace. He also has unusually bright pigmentation on his legs and face. As you ... (Read on Source)

Farewell to Fay

Fay has moved on, in the Stephen King parlance of the phrase, which means she won't be back. Others northeast of us can pick up the story. But while she was here she dropped what I esimate to be 2.19 inches of rain, and grateful are we for that. There were places around here, even very close, that got 5 and more inches, but we were not among them. (Read on Source)

S. Korea-Japan island dispute heats up

SEOUL, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- South Korea said that an official Japanese defense white paper claims a set of East Sea islets for Tokyo despite Seoul saying they are a part of its territory. (Read on Source)

Watercooler Stories

Judge orders prosthetic leg returned ? 'Lost' bus driver causes child panic ? Bakery feels sting of cupcake chain ? Police: Child caught with funny money ? Watercooler stories from UPI. (Read on Source)

Guerrilla Gardening Sunflowers Rise Up

On May 1, International Sunflower Guerrilla Day , eco-warriors around Europe planted sunflowers in celebration of the first day of summer and nature's fertility. Guerrilla gardening is a slightly subversive way of making ugly, neglected bits of public space beautiful by planting seeds and plants in the dark of night and waiting for them to grow. ... (Read on Source)

SCIENCE IS GOING TO KILL US ALL

The world is going to end on December 21st 2012. How do I know this? Because the Mayans said so and the Mayans pretty much knew it all; these are people that calculated the length of a year to a thousandth decimal place, predicted all future lunar and solar eclipses and invented gravity*. [...] (Read on Source)

The latest 'great game' involves Indian Ocean

HAMBANTOTA, SRI LANKA -- This battered harbor town on Sri Lanka's southern tip, with its scrawny men selling even scrawnier fish, seems an unlikely focus for an emerging international competition over the energy supply routes that fuel much of the global economy. (Read on Source)

Researchers to explore 'lost world' beneath Caribbean

Scientists are set to explore the world's deepest undersea volcanoes and find out what lives in a 'lost world' five kilometres beneath the Caribbean. The team of researchers led by Jon Copley of University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science, will explore the Cayman Trough, which lies between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. (Read on Source)

Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

Pet cockatoo's cries bring police ? Family gets $19,370 cell phone bill ? Police: Man ignited sleeping man's pants ? Flying Elvi are rock and roll aerial stars ? The world as we know it from UPI. (Read on Source)

DIY: Reupholster your old furniture

This is a nicely documented project that successfully recovers a 1940's chair. I really like the first step of the build: Tear up the quote from the professional upholsterer amounting to close to $1,500. You can sew, use a staple gun and a hammer - how hard can it be. Read more about how to Reupholster your old furniture More: HOW TO - ... (Read on Source)

Oldest Skeleton in Americas Found in Underwater Cave?

Deep inside an underwater cave in Mexico, archaeologists may have discovered the oldest human skeleton ever found in the Americas. Dubbed Eva de Naharon, or Eve of Naharon, the female skeleton has been dated at 13,600 years old. If that age is accurate, the skeleton—along with three others found in underwater caves along the Caribbean coast ... (Read on Source)

Strange new comet explains old mystery

The recent discovery of an odd comet orbiting far out in the solar system may shed light on the origins of Halley's Comet. (Read on Source)

West 42nd Street/Times Square Subway Art 2

tags: West 42nd street/Times Square Subway Art , The Return of Spring , subway art , NYC through my eye , photography , NYC The Return of Spring. Artist: Jack Beal (1999). West 42nd Street/Times Square glass tile mosaic art #2 [Detail 1] as seen on the mezzanine for NYC's Times Square stop at Broadway and 41st for the 1, 2, and 3 trains. Image: ... (Read on Source)

Big Numbers Pouring In - A Power Vote Pledge Update and Re-cap from the National Call

You may have noticed that the Power Vote pledge counter dramatically jumped from 2,000 to 64,327 Power Vote Pledges! There have been hundreds of people out there for the past few days collecting pledges , but the sudden spike is actually a result of us fixing some technological glitches and updating the number. Volunteers have been working hard ... (Read on Source)

Fingerprint find in decade-old double murder probe

A decade old US double murder probe has received a new breakthrough following investigations by a University of Leicester forensic scientist at Northamptonshire Police. (Read on Source)

Google's Chrome gambit

Google's browser, Chrome, is likely to point the way for computing using Web-based applications. Like a fly flitting around the kitchen, Google Inc. has pestered Microsoft Corp. with a series of free applications that nibble away at the software powerhouse's business. The lineup includes an e-mail program ( Gmail ), a photo application ( Picasa ), (Read on Source)

Seas to Rise Faster This Century

Hot on the heels of findings that tropical cyclones have been intensifying over the past few decades (ScienceNOW, 3 September), researchers report tomorrow in Science that global warming will cause sea levels to rise much faster by the end of the century than officially projected. The rising temperatures will cause the oceans to swell with melted ... (Read on Source)

DIY: Charging Station

Weekly Geek has a nice build on making a charging stand out of an old "looking" wooden box. The end results are a lot nicer than most commercial versions. I wanted a solution that would mesh well with my living room while keeping the functionality of the other stations. Something that was cheap but didn't look it. Something that was easy to use ... (Read on Source)

Clock Quotes

The time to stop a revolution is at the beginning, not the end. - Adlai Ewing Stevenson Read the comments on this post... (Read on Source)

Phoenix Probe Says Both Yes and No to Water on Mars

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has a fork-like conductivity probe on it's robotic arm, and results from the instrument are presenting a bit of a quandary for mission scientists. The thermal and electroconductivity probe has sensed humidity rising and falling in the air the near the lander, but when stuck into the ground, its measurements [.. (Read on Source)

J.J. Abrams offers terrifying sci-fi on ?Fringe?

The creator of "Lost" and "Alias" has a new project hitting airwaves next week that promises to sweep away old-fashioned notions of the sci-fi genre. (Read on Source)

Giant Ice Sheet Breaks Free in Canada

A 19-square-mile chunk of ice shelf has broken away from Ellesmere Island in Canada's northern Arctic. The 4,500-year-old Markham Ice Shelf is now adrift in the Arctic Ocean. (Read on Source)

Tales of DragonCon: Soupbone and me

So at DragonCon I see my old friends Evo Terra and his phenomenal wife Sheila (pssst: don’t tell anyone, but I might have a HUGE crush on her). Evo is a master podcaster (he wrote Podcasting for Dummies), and I met them at DC 2006 at the podcasting track. (Read on Source)

Birds

Bird, the only animal with feathers. All birds have feathers and most birds can fly. It is the possession of feathers, not the ability to fly, that distinguishes birds from other animals?some birds are flightless (such as the penguin, ostrich, emu, rhea, and kiwi) and some animals other than birds can fly (insects and bats). (Read on Source)

Positive Vibes at the RNC

The air in St. Paul is one of both tense expectation and also hoped-for disappointment. The protesters and the police are poised, waiting to see who will provoke the other first. At the same time, no one really wants a major violent confrontation. All around, people are wearing their protest on sleeves, chests and skin. The protests are here but ... (Read on Source)

Salmonella Outbreak Over, CDC Says

The government said Thursday that the salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 1,440 people appears to be over, but its ultimate source may never be known (Read on Source)

Gut Decisions May Not Be Smart

Letting your unconscious guide complex decision-making may not necessarily be the most productive way to make choices, a new study says (Read on Source)

Catwalking

Some people find them loud and scary, but my non-mandarin duck quite likes lion (and dragon) dance shows. Compared to watching real big cats forced to do silly stunts in a cage and endure the whips of showmen, it?s much more fun and interesting to see well-trained men (wonder why there aren?t any women?) prancing about in furry pants and ... (Read on Source)

Your Daily Horoscope

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your reputation can be tarnished through the people you know. Take care that you're not blamed for the mistakes of others. When you know someone is about to do the wrong thing, warn him off. (Read on Source)

John Stewart Reveals Republican Hypocrisy

I know you all will be shocked... Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Read on Source)

Wayne State SEAC Starts Semester in Full Force!

Our newly formed SEAC chapter at Wayne State University in Detroit began in full force this semester. Our top priority this fall is running Power Vote on campus. This week we had our first tabling event at the new student “I Start” day in which Freshmen and other new students come out to meet new friends and join various student ... (Read on Source)

Internally Generated Reactivation of Single Neurons in Human Hippocampus During Free Recall

2 Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. (Read on Source)

What Will it Mean to be Human in the Future?

WorldChanging Team: Just as interesting as thinking about how society will adapt to climate change or to new modes of communication, is how society will react to... (Read on Source)

The almanac

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Uranus and Saturn. The evening stars are Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Mars. Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include French King Louis XIV in 1638; outlaw Jesse James in 1847; marketing research engineer A.C. Nielsen in 1897; movie producer Darryl F. Zanuck in 1902; ... (Read on Source)

Science Weekly Extra podcast: A tour around phase two of the Darwin Centre at London's Natural Histo

An eight-storey high 'cocoon' structure has been unveiled which will open to the public in September 2009. The �78m building is the second phase of the Darwin Centre and will be home to 20 million plant and insect specimens. (Read on Source)

Researcher says: No-till practices show extended benefits on wheat and forage

With more than 3 million acres of wheat in north Texas, 50 percent or more of which is grazed by 1 to 2 million head of cattle, it is important to look at tillage practices and their effect on forage production, said a Texas AgriLife Research expert. (Read on Source)

The Republican Convention

Anyone surprised by how the Republican Convention is going? The McCain campaign to this point has been nearly one hundred percent negative, and the convention has continued that trend. There are several reasons for this. One is simply that they have nothing to run on, having made a hash of everything they have touched for the last eight years. ... (Read on Source)

Pay to learn shortchanges kids

Dozens of studies over 35 years have found that rewarding people for learning backfires. As the new school year begins, some kids will be leaving class with more than just books and homework assignments. They could also be getting money. (Read on Source)

The devil, you say

My parents have been calling me while I've been at the conventions for the last two weeks, asking if I have any "news." These people clearly don't read my columns like they say they do. (Read on Source)

Distant object found orbiting Sun backwards

Astronomers have found the first object in the icy Kuiper belt that orbits the Sun backwards compared to the planets (Read on Source)

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

When astronauts visit the Hubble Space Telescope later this year, they will perform history-making, onorbit ?surgery? on two important science instruments aboard the telescope. (Read on Source)

Birds 'behave like football fans'

Rival groups of birds behave like football fans, shouting chants at each other and commiserating after a loss, according to a UK researcher. (Read on Source)

Scientists peel away the mystery behind gold's catalytic prowess

Few materials have exercised as much of a hold on the human imagination, or on human history, as has gold. But for all of its popular uses - money, medals, jewelry and more - gold's potential as a catalyst lay hidden until the 1980s, when Masatake Haruta and Graham Hutchings independently discovered that gold, which had long been considered ... (Read on Source)

Prisons scramble to make digital TV switch

The big switch to digital TV has prison officials scrambling to keep one of the most important peacekeeping tools in prisons across the nation ? broadcast television. (Read on Source)

A soggy undertaking

Here, hidden in the ferns and nettles along our ancient track, is a bench mark from the 19th-century survey of Ireland, the epic adventure of mapmaking at the time -- the entire island on a scale of six inches to the mile, including every building and field boundary. The bench marks were cut into walls, or buildings, or even natural stones. They ... (Read on Source)

Fight for blood cancer drug goes to high court

City, proud of its heritage and excited about its future, with equestrian sports, year-round recreational sports, history, the arts, shopping, hiking, fishing... . sc. (Read on Source)

Rain Clips Greenbird's Wings

You can't set a land-speed record on mud, so British engineer Richard Jenkins packs up his wind-powered land yacht and heads home. (Read on Source)

People tend to pick spouses who resemble their opposite-sex parent

In this paper, it is shown that men are more similar to their wife's father than to a random man from the population, and similarly women are more similar to their husband's father. This was assessed both by using observers' ratings of likeness between two individuals, but also by examining the correlations between facial features. Spouses' ... (Read on Source)

Abu Dhabi group makes $354 million bid for English soccer team

The move to buy Manchester City is expected to trigger a new spiral in player costs and a fresh backlash to foreign ownership. (Read on Source)

Faking it, artfully

New York - The Brooklyn Museum of Art surprised some New Yorkers last month when it confirmed that it would show a handful of expert forgeries alongside a February exhibition on late antique art. The exhibition, tentatively titled "Unearthing the Truth: Egypt's Pagan and Coptic Sculpture," will focus on a collection of stone artwork dating from ... (Read on Source)

Nerik: Hittite holy city

Hittites' holy city Nerik to emerge Late in the second millennium B.C., as the Hittites were experimenting with bronze, they built a holy city called Nerik near the Black Sea, according to evidence being slowly gathered by archeologists. Today, excavators at the Oymaa?açmound in the Black Sea city of Samsun's Vezirk�pr� district are ... (Read on Source)

Hurricane IKE Graphics

This graphic shows an approximate representation of coastal areas under a hurricane warning (red), hurricane watch (pink), tropical storm warning (blue) and tropical storm watch (yellow). The orange circle indicates the current position of the center of the tropical cyclone. The black line and dots show the National Hurricane Center (NHC) ... (Read on Source)

DNA Shows That Last Woolly Mammoths Had North American Roots

In a surprising reversal of conventional wisdom, a DNA-based study has revealed that the last of the woolly mammoths--which lived between 40,000 and 4,000 years ago--had roots that were exclusively North American. (Read on Source)

Cancer Research Blog Carnival #13 - Stand Up To Cancer

Welcome to the 13th edition of the Cancer Research Blog Carnival, the blog carnival devoted to cancer research. Everyone knows that cancer is a devastating disease. What many people don’t know is that cancer kills more than 1,500 people a day; that’s one person every minute. Tonight, Stand Up To Cancer, a one-hour fundraising event, ... (Read on Source)

Tropical Storm JOSEPHINE Forecast Discussion Number 14

000 WTNT45 KNHC 051436 TCDAT5 TROPICAL STORM JOSEPHINE DISCUSSION NUMBER 14 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL102008 1100 AM EDT FRI SEP 05 2008 STRONG SOUTHERLY VERTICAL WIND SHEAR IS TAKING ITS TOLL ON JOSEPHINE THIS MORNING. THE LOW-LEVEL CENTER BECAME EVIDENT ON VISIBLE IMAGERY NEAR THE SOUTH EDGE OF A BLOW-UP OF DEEP CONVECTION ... (Read on Source)

Conservative Flip Flops on Palin

Jon Stewart on the Daily Show with hilarious footage of conservative pundits contradicting themselves hugely when it comes to Sarah Palin. Lots of video below the fold. The first video shows Karl Rove blasting Obama for considering Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine. Like Palin, Kaine is a newly elected governor and former mayor (he was the mayor of ... (Read on Source)

Spacecraft flies by comet

Many people have viewed the rough surface of the moon through photographs and telescopes, and some have traveled to visit Meteor Crater outside of Winslow, Ariz. But few have had a close look at one of the asteroids that created such impacts. (Read on Source)

Area man interviewed, quoted

The European spacecraft Rosetta will pass by asteroid Steins today, giving us our first close-up views of this mountain-sized rock. But far and away the most important part about this is that I am interviewed (along with my old friend Joel Parker) in The Daily Camera, Boulder’s local paper. The headline should read "asteroid", not & (Read on Source)

Collider Triggers End-of-World Fears

Scientists are dismissing critics who warn that the Large Hadron Collider could create Earth-swallowing black holes (Read on Source)

The un-recession

I can’t wait to hear how the White House tries to spin today’s employment report. But to be fair, this is an odd slowdown, by historical norms: no clear decline in GDP, no months of 6-digit job losses. Instead, the economy is being slowly ground down. (Read on Source)

PETA Names Top Five Vegetarian-Friendly Rehab Centers

As more and more people kick their meat addiction, we thought we'd rate the top five vegetarian-friendly rehab centers. More and more celebrities every day are going to rehab?to the point where it's almost become trendy. Hopefully they'll take a note from our blog and check out our list below: (Read on Source)

ESA spacecraft set for flyby of Steins asteroid

Scientists at the European Space Agency are preparing for the first fly-by of an asteroid by their deep-space explorer, Rosetta, on a mission to solve the mystery of the birth of the solar system. (Read on Source)

Google Reigns as World's Most Powerful 10-Year-Old

When Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google Inc. on Sept. 7, 1998, they had little more than their ingenuity, four computers and an investor's $100,000 bet on their belief that an Internet search engine could change the world. It sounded preposterous 10 years ago, but look now: Google draws upon a gargantuan computer network, nearly 20,000 ... (Read on Source)

Science Blogging Challenge

As announced at the London Science Blogging Conference on August 30th 2008, we hereby challenge all scientists to get a senior scientist blogging. The ultimate aim is to help scientific blogging gain more momentum and credibility - and also to have some fun. Points will be awarded for: * The seniority and reputation of the blogger (both in ... (Read on Source)

Guidelines for Embryonic Stem Cell Research Amended

The National Academies have updated their guidelines for the responsible conduct of research using human embryonic stem cells. These voluntary guidelines are based on a joint National Research Council-Institute of Medicine committee's review of scientific, ethical, and policy issues that have arisen since the guidelines were last updated in 2007. (Read on Source)

Mystery Object from London's Natural History Museum

tags: Natural History Museum , London, England , mystery object , travel Mystery object at the Natural History Museum in London, England. Image: GrrlScientist 3 September 2008 [ larger view ]. When racing through the Natural History Museum in London, I photographed this object and forgot to photograph the plaque that provided information about it. (Read on Source)

Funniest ten seconds of the conventions

More like the funniest 10 minutes of the convention coverage. (So far, the funniest moment of the convention was George Bush introducing his parents as people of "Honesty and integrity.") (Read on Source)

Prisons Scramble to Keep Key Tool: TV

The big switch to digital TV has prison officials scrambling to keep one of the most important peacekeeping tools in prisons across the nation — broadcast television. (Read on Source)

Mars Water Mystery Surfaces

SPACE.com - New data from Mars' surface is puzzling NASA scientists: A fork-like probe on the Phoenix Mars Lander has sensed changes in humidity in the Martian air, but finds the dirt below perplexingly dry. (Read on Source)

A List of how Science will kill us all.

Humour piece by Patrick Francis. Good stuff, and a list that includes "Global Warming", as well as the "Swiss" Here's an excerpt: Disease Bacteria are catching on to the whole antibiotic thing and they are doing something about it: evolving! Antibiotics are pretty much the cornerstone of our modern medical system and without them we're helpless. ... (Read on Source)

Two Degrees of Separation Between Hope and Despair: A Young People’s Summary of the United Nat

The young people of the world have produced a Youth Booklet that includes drawings, poems and human stories on climate change and development, entirely made by and for young people! The booklet has been developed by� Peace Child International jointly with HDRO, and launched on Youth Day 2008. The booklet is available for download and as an� ... (Read on Source)

Eco-Afterlife: Green Burial Options

Dear EarthTalk: I’ve heard that increasing eco-awareness around the world has now extended itself to the afterlife, whereby burials can even be “green.” Is that true? -- Mary Lewis, Duxbury, MA [More] (Read on Source)

Molecular evolution is echoed in bat ears

Bats' ability to echolocate may have evolved more than once, according to research published this week by Queen Mary, University of London scientists. read more (Read on Source)

Flying Cars

Future Cars Articles (Read on Source)

E. coli, We Hardly Knew You

Microcosm: E. Coli and the New Science of Life by Carl Zimmer Pantheon: 2008, 256 pages. Buy now! (Amazon) I come face-to-face with Escherichia coli every day. In a sense, we all do--as billions of E. coli inhabit every individual's intestines. But for me, E. coli is a protein factory. I'm a structural biologist, and my work depends on being ... (Read on Source)

Election 08 : Presidential Election

AP - Republican presidential candidate John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin have received a rousing reception in their first joint appearance in a politically vital state after the GOP convention. (Read on Source)

'Jules Verne' awaits final voyage

Europe's space freighter will undock from the International Space Station on Friday after completing its mission to the orbiting platform. (Read on Source)

Salmonella Outbreak Over, CDC Says

The government said Thursday that the salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 1,440 people appears to be over, but its ultimate source may never be known (Read on Source)

Gut Decisions May Not Be Smart

Letting your unconscious guide complex decision-making may not necessarily be the most productive way to make choices, a new study says (Read on Source)

Home foreclosures reach record high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home foreclosures and the rate of homes entering foreclosure rose to record highs in the second quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Friday. (Read on Source)

Should Babies Be Put on a Sleep Schedule?

LiveScience.com - We had only one house rule when my daughter was born - sleep when the baby sleeps. After watching countless sleep-deprived new parents, we figured that the only way to manage the unpredictability of an infant's sleep pattern was to follow her lead. This meant we napped a lot during the day, and woke up several times a night, but ... (Read on Source)

Iraq eyes Lockheed F-16 fighter aircraft purchase

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Iraqi government has asked for information about buying 36 F-16 fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corp, the U.S. Defense Department said on Friday. (Read on Source)

A Guide to Hurricanes

Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike: What's next for the U.S.? What causes nature's destructive storms? How do scientists study and predict them? How are they linked to global warming? [More] (Read on Source)

Food watchdog updates cheese recall for listeriosis

Canada's food watchdog has released an updated list of cheeses recalled by Ivanhoe Cheese Inc. for listeriosis contamination. (Read on Source)

More from the Highly Successful Republican Jewish Voter Outreach Program

If you thought Obama's minister was a piece of work, get a load of Palin's church (italics mine): Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Read on Source)

Universal flu vaccine tests start

A universal flu vaccine which could mean an end to the annual flu jab is being trialled on UK volunteers. (Read on Source)

Glaube an die Wissenschaft ist selektiv

Gesellschaftliche Reizthemen wie die Gentechnik bewegen die Gemüter: Weil es dabei oft um Wahrheitsfragen geht, hat die Wissenschaft ein entscheidendes Wort mitzureden. Doch oft wird diesem Wort nicht geglaubt. Dass Wissenschaft aber selbst für die "Ungläubigen" unverzichtbar bleibt, zeigt ein Beispiel von französischen ... (Read on Source)

Observatory: Marijuana Ingredient May Fight Bacteria

Researchers have discovered that the main active ingredient in marijuana shows promise as an antibacterial agent. (Read on Source)

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

“Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” is a new combination LucasArts video game, novel from Del Rey Books, a graphic novel from Dark Horse Comics and merchandizing action figure/toys tie-in with Lego and Hasbro. The game will be available on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, as well as, second-generation N- (Read on Source)

Snap-happy dieters reap benefits

Dieters who keep a photo diary of the meals they eat do better than people who only keep a written account (Read on Source)

Celebrate One Million Comments!

As regular Sb readers have probably noticed, we've almost reached 1,000,000 comments on our network! W00t! To celebrate, from September 14-28, our bloggers are setting up parties all over the U.S. and abroad. Below the fold is the complete list of where the parties are happening, arranged by date. Check back often for updates! Read the rest of ... (Read on Source)

Raising vegetables above the Arctic Circle

Amanda Joynt reached down and picked a fresh tomato from the vine. That's no small feat when you are living 120 miles above the Arctic Circle in Canada's Far North. (Read on Source)

Semi-Formal Friday: Driving Habits

Dave Munger does Friday polls calling them "Casual Fridays," but then, the usual run of posts at Cognitive Daily is a lot more serious than my usual standard. So I'll call this a "semi-formal Friday" poll, sort of the khaki pants and blue blazer of the online research world. I'm also too lazy to set up poll software for this, so I'd like to ask ... (Read on Source)

NASA Changes 2008 Shuttle Target Launch Dates, Schedules TCDT

NASA has adjusted the target launch dates for the two remaining space shuttle missions in 2008. Shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission is targeted for Oct. 10, while Endeavour's STS-126 supply mission to the International Space Station has moved to Nov. 12. (Read on Source)

Children With TVs Or Computers In Their Room Sleep Less

Middle school children who have a television or computer in their room sleep less during the school year, watch more TV, play more computer games and surf the net more than their peers who don't. (Read on Source)

Harninkontinenzstudie von "Lancet" zur�ckgezogen

Die Medizin-Zeitschrift "The Lancet" hat jene umstrittene Harninkontinenzstudie der Urologie an der Medizin-Uni Innsbruck offiziell zurückgezogen, die mittlerweile auch die Staatsanwaltschaft beschäftigt. (Read on Source)

‘Green-Issue’ Magazines: Which Publications Walk the Environmentally-Responsible Walk?

In keeping with what seems to be a personal theme this week about paper recycling, I was motivated by a recent commenter to learn more about magazines and their recyclability. (Read on Source)

Minnesota Powershift: Connecting Communities, Creating Change

You betcha, Powershift will soon be making a visit to the great state of Minnesota. The home of nice people, hotdish, Garrison Keillor , the Democrat-Farmer-Labor party , community wind , the highest voter participation rates in the country, and the Mall of America now has its very own Powershift! Minnesota Powershift 2008 is much more than a ... (Read on Source)

A Deep Thaw: How Much Will Vanishing Glaciers Raise Sea Levels?

Greenland, the world's largest island, holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by 23 feet (seven meters). Add the ice sheets of Antarctica and the oceans would deepen more than 200 feet (60 meters). Satellite measurements from space and speed measurements on land confirm that Greenland's glaciers are melting and on the move. And although the ... (Read on Source)

Moose Mission in New York's Adirondacks

Bushwhacking our way through nearly impenetrable bogs and blow down in the central woods of the Adirondacks in northern New York, I am wondering…how can a MOOSE move through this stuff? Weighing nearly 1400 pounds and standing six to seven feet tall, moose favor the dense mixed forests that surround the lakes and ponds of the Adirondacks, ... (Read on Source)

Cameroon and Nigeria to protect world's rarest gorilla

Cameroon and Nigeria have agreed to protect the the Cross River gorilla, world's most endangered gorilla, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society, which helped broker the deal. (Read on Source)

I'm green here

I don't know…should I reward her with a link when I'm seething with envy as GrrlScientist is in London ? Read the comments on this post... (Read on Source)

Cell phones welcome in some classrooms

Cell phones have long been anathema in the classroom, banned as a potential distraction, at best, and as a possible vehicle for cheating, at worst. But lately, educators have begun changing their tune on mobile phones. (Read on Source)

Pathwork Diagnostics Raises $20M in Private Financing

NEWSBRIEF (Read on Source)

Roche Gets FDA Clearance for Hepatitis B PCR Test

NEWSBRIEF (Read on Source)

Protective 'Skin' Could Herald Tiny Satellite Fleet

Sept. 5, 2008 -- In what could be a big breakthrough for tiny satellites, a team of researchers has created a thin plastic-like coating that can switch from cooling to warming with a quick pulse of electricity. (Read on Source)

Feds warn climate change could harm giant sequoias

AP - Federal researchers are warning that warming temperatures could soon cause California's giant sequoia trees to die off more quickly unless forest managers plan with an eye toward climate change and the impact of a longer, harsher wildfire season. (Read on Source)

Seeing stars

Another sunset, another sky over the Clark and Ivanpah ranges turned by imperceptible increment from deep blue to blood red, the slow tilting of earth and air erasing shade after subtle shade from sky. Soon all that is left is sanguinary. Soon that bloody sky flows westward and all is black. All is black and the stars shine. Loss after ... (Read on Source)

Review of CDC Great Lakes Draft Reports Released

Review of ATSDR's Great Lakes Report Drafts -- Letter Report, new from the Institute of Medicine, describes problems that limit the scientific quality and usefulness of several drafts of a report developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The drafts were written in response to a request for pollution and health data from ... (Read on Source)

Tuna: A Favorite Fish Faces Dangerous Depletion

One of the biggest, fastest and warmest fish in the sea is also one of the most sought after, and one of the most threatened. Can bluefin tuna stocks around the world be saved? Experts explain the history of the tuna, and discuss tracking methods that might help preserve the fish. (Read on Source)

Drowning New Orleans

Editor's Note: This story was originally published in the October 2001 issue of Scientific American. The boxes are stacked eight feet high and line the walls of the large, windowless room. Inside them are new body bags, 10,000 in all. If a big, slow-moving hurricane crossed the Gulf of Mexico on the right track, it would drive a sea surge that ... (Read on Source)

UN aims to protect Iraqi wetlands

The marshlands of Mesopotamia were drained under Saddam and are now recovering ? plans are now afoot to list them as a World Heritage Site (Read on Source)

Video Game Review: Playing God, the Home Game

As an intelligent romp through the realms of science, mythology, religion and hope about the universe around us, Spore both provokes and amuses. (Read on Source)

Nokia Warns 3Q Market Share Will Fall; Shares Dive

Nokia warns that its 3Q global market share will decline from 2Q levels, sending its U.S. shares tumbling more than 11 percent in premarket electronic trading. Nokia gave no figures, but in July had predicted that "its mobile device market share in the third quarter of 2008 would be approximately at the same level sequentially" as the second ... (Read on Source)

Note to self

Don't miss the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative's CO2 Allowance Auction 1 scheduled for September 25, 2008. We should learn much about the marginal cost of CO2 abatement from the bids:Bid < Marginal CO2 abatement cost (Read on Source)

Oldest Skeleton in Americas Found in Underwater Cave?

Researchers to explore 'lost world' beneath Caribbean

Cabbies Wicked Mad About Green Taxi Rule

Boston's cabbies are a crabby crew even on the best of days, but they're especially ticked off lately. The police department's hackney division, which deals with all things taxi, has decreed that all cab drivers and operators must convert their fleets to hybrids by 2015. This has, according to the Boston Metro, caused a "measure of frustration ... (Read on Source)

A "little" self-promotion

From the inbox:Dear Prof John Whitehead, Your article "Combining revealed and stated preference data to estimate the nonmarket value of ecological services: an assessment of the state of the science" is currently at the following stage of production: EarlyView: Your corrected article is published online ahead of the online publication... (Read on Source)

"Rosetta" trifft Asteroiden "Steins"

Historisches Rendezvous im All: Die europäische Raumsonde "Rosetta" besucht den bisher kaum erforschten Asteroiden "Steins". Sie soll dabei Erkenntnisse zum Ursprung der Erde liefern. (Read on Source)

Full-Blown Sci-fi ?Returns? to ABC

Of all the U.S. networks, ABC is the one offering up the least amount of sci-fi fare this fall. Of course, its Emmy award-winning series “Lost” will be returning, as well as the two surprise hits from last season, “Pushing Daisies” and “Eli Stone,” but not much new, as far as good ole’ alien-UFO [...] (Read on Source)

Camps for kids with cancer, disabilities, served recalled meat

About 480 children in New Brunswick who attended summer camps for sick and physically disabled kids may have eaten meat products since recalled for listeria contamination. (Read on Source)

Helicopters Learn Tricks 'Watching' Other Helicopters

Sept. 5, 2008 -- Birds learn to fly by watching other birds. Now helicopters can watch each other to learn complex aerial tricks and maneuvers. In 10 minutes, a computer algorithm developed by Stanford University scientists learned, and then flawlessly replicated, more than 20 years of radio-controlled helicopter expertise. (Read on Source)

Another Pharyngubrunch

I'm going to be on Atheists Talk radio on Sunday morning to talk about the Galápagos, and as long as I'm in the big city, I was also going to join the godless gang at Q. Cumbers at 11:00am Sunday for a little brunch. If you want to join us, come on down! Read the comments on this post... (Read on Source)

New Legend Productions Introduces ComicBookTrailers.com

New Legend and G.I. Studios create a website to promote comics using videotrailers New Legend Productions, Inc. introduces a new website, ComicBookTrailers.com, a new Internet service that specializes in showcasing comic book related trailers. The site was developed by GI Studios and is currently displaying promotional videos for over thirty ... (Read on Source)

Science News

My personal blog