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Latest News
Thursday, July 3, 2008
New study points to agriculture in frog sexual abnormalities
A farm irrigation canal would seem a healthier place for toads than a ditch by a supermarket parking lot.
Source: University of Florida

Posted at: 5:14pm
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'Mind's eye' influences visual perception
Letting your imagination run away with you may actually influence how you see the world. New research from Vanderbilt University has found that mental imagery--what we see with the "mind's eye"--directly impacts our visual perception.
Source: Vanderbilt University

Posted at: 5:11pm
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Geologists push back date basins formed, supporting frozen Earth theory
Even in geology, it's not often a date gets revised by 500 million years.
Source: University of Florida

Posted at: 5:11pm
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'Smart' materials get smarter with ability to better control shape and size
A dynamic way to alter the shape and size of microscopic three-dimensional structures built out of proteins has been developed by biological chemist Jason Shear and his former graduate student Bryan Kaehr at The University of Texas at Austin.
Source: University of Texas at Austin

Posted at: 5:11pm
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Nature reserves attract humans, but at a cost to biodiversity
Rather than suppressing local communities in developing nations, nature reserves attract human settlement, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
Source: University of California - Berkeley

Posted at: 5:11pm
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Ancient marine invertebrate diversity less explosive than thought
Diversity among the ancestors of such marine creatures as clams, sand dollars and lobsters showed only a modest rise beginning 144 million years ago with no clear trend afterwards, according to an international team of researchers.
Source: Penn State

Posted at: 5:11pm
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New research sheds light on the molecular basis of SIDS
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a condition that unexpectedly and unexplainably takes the lives of seemingly healthy babies aged between a month and a year.
Source: European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Posted at: 5:11pm
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Filipina With Upside-Down Feet Walks for first Time
A Filipino teenager takes her first steps with properly turned feet.
Source: ABC News

Posted at: 5:11pm
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Red wine ingredient wards off effects of age on heart, bones, eyes and muscle
Large doses of a red wine ingredient can ward off many of the vagaries of aging in mice who begin taking it at midlife, according to a new report published online on July 3rd in Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication.
Source: Cell Press

Posted at: 5:11pm
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One Fall Could Kill Toddler With Heart Defect
Adrian Raheal's Heart Is Covered By a Thin Layer of Skin and No Sternum
Source: ABC News

Posted at: 5:11pm
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Visualizing atomic-scale acoustic waves in nanostructures
Acoustic waves play many everyday roles - from communication between people to ultrasound imaging. Now the highest frequency acoustic waves in materials, with nearly atomic-scale wavelengths, promise to be useful probes of nanostructures such as LED lights.
Source: DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Posted at: 5:11pm
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Not So Fast: Many Still Prefer Dial-Up
Pew study finds many wouldn't upgrade even if broadband were available.
Source: ABC News

Posted at: 5:11pm
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Infant formula blocks HIV transmission via breastfeeding
The transmitting routes of HIV include breastfeeding, which passes the virus from mothers to infants. This is a major problem in many areas of Africa, where HIV-positive mothers have no alternative to breastfeeding. So far, no practical and effective methods are available to prevent HIV transmission by this route.
Source: International & American Association for Dental Research

Posted at: 4:00pm
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The scientific flash behind the fireworks
The rockets' red glare, and all those bombs bursting in air, are the product of pyrotechnic chemistry that’s been refined over the course of centuries
Source: MSNBC

Posted at: 4:00pm
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Eclipses again prove key for Einstein
Eclipses in a unique system of two dead stars, called pulsars, has shown that one of the pair is 'wobbling' in space - just like a spinning top. The effect, called precession, is precisely as predicted by Albert Einstein and is thus a new and exciting confirmation of his theory.
Source: University of Manchester

Posted at: 4:00pm
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U.S. Last on G-8 Climate Scorecard
G-8 climate scorecard ranks US last among world's largest economies.
Source: ABC News

Posted at: 4:00pm
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Mercury's surface dominated by volcanism and iron-deficiency
Volcanism has played a more extensive role in shaping the surface of Mercury than scientists had thought. This result comes from multispectral imaging data gathered in January 2008 by MESSENGER, the latest spacecraft to visit the Sun's innermost planet.
Source: Arizona State University

Posted at: 4:00pm
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Human evolution: Details of being human
A difference in one molecule led physician Ajit Varki to question what sets humans apart from other apes. Bruce Lieberman meets a man who sees a big picture in the finer points.
Source: Nature

Posted at: 4:00pm
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Researchers run rings round cell division
A puzzle in the control of cell division, one of the most fundamental processes in all biology, has been unravelled by Oxford University researchers.
Source: University of Oxford

Posted at: 10:46am
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Entomology: Battlefield insectica
Entomologists are briefing the military on how to protect troops from the scourge of the desert: sandflies. Rex Dalton reports.
Source: Nature

Posted at: 10:46am
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Local elite rule over small villages in Indonesia
Dutch-sponsored researcher Y. Argo Twikromo has investigated how the local ruling elite have retained their political control over the local population. He has tried to understand and analyse the dynamic processes of state formation and the interaction between national states and local communities.
Source: Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research

Posted at: 10:36am
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Heat Waves Could Turn Blistering
By 2050, heat waves will be 3 to 5 degrees hotter than now.
Source: LiveScience

Posted at: 10:36am
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Researchers identify tumor suppressor that manages cellular cleaning and recycling proceses
Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a specific tumor suppressor that manages membrane traffic routes for cellular cleaning and recycling.
Source: University of Southern California

Posted at: 10:30am
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To Beat the Heat, Learn to Sweat It Out
No matter how much you train in the heat, it will never be easy, athletes and researchers say.
Source: NYT

Posted at: 10:30am
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Rubber 'snake' could help wave power get a bite of the energy market
A device consisting of a giant rubber tube may hold the key to producing affordable electricity from the energy in sea waves.
Source: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Posted at: 10:30am
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How to weave an invisible rug
'Sweeping it under the carpet' takes on new meaning.
Source: Nature

Posted at: 10:30am
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Woman aquires new accent after stroke
A woman in southern Ontario is one of the first cases in Canada of a rare neurological syndrome in which a person starts speaking with a different accent, McMaster University researchers report in the July issue of the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences.
Source: McMaster University

Posted at: 10:30am
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Cave Men Loved to Sing
Ancient hunters painted the sections of their cave dwellings where singing, humming and music sounded best, a new study suggests.
Source: LiveScience

Posted at: 10:30am
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Orangutan populations continue to decline
Endangered wild orangutan (Pongo spp.) populations are declining more sharply in Sumatra and Borneo than previously estimated, according to new findings published this month by Great Ape Trust of Iowa scientist Dr. Serge Wich and other orangutan conservation experts in Oryx – The International Journal of Conservation.
Source: Great Ape Trust of Iowa

Posted at: 10:20am
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Ideas fly for getting wayward dolphins back to sea
Trap them in giant cages. Use enormous nets to herd them out to sea. Play recordings of killer whales.
Source: CNN.com

Posted at: 10:20am
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Statins have unexpected effect on pool of powerful brain cells
Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins have a profound effect on an elite group of cells important to brain health as we age, scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found. The new findings shed light on a long-debated potential role for statins in the area of dementia.
Source: University of Rochester Medical Center

Posted at: 10:20am
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Glacier Bay Park's Gravity Shifts As Ice Melts
The ice sheet in Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska has receded so much that the Earth's crust is rebounding. Alaskans who live in the area have grown used to expanding properties, brown bears — even a slight drop in gravity.
Source: NPR

Posted at: 10:20am
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Researchers discover new pathway for methane production in the oceans
A new pathway for methane production has been uncovered in the oceans, and this has a significant potential impact for the study of greenhouse gas production on our planet.
Source: University of Hawaii at Manoa

Posted at: 10:20am
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Slideshow: 8 dangerous volcanoes around the world
The eruption of the Chaiten volcano in southern Chile in May claimed at least one life and serves as a stark reminder that slumbering volcanoes pose grave dangers.
Source: MSNBC

Posted at: 10:20am
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New antibiotic beats superbugs at their own game
The problem with antibiotics is that, eventually, bacteria outsmart them and become resistant. But by targeting the gene that confers such resistance, a new drug may be able to finally outwit them.
Source: Rockefeller University

Posted at: 10:20am
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Video: Penguin Chicks Frozen by Global Warming?
Young penguins are freezing to death as rainfall increases in Antarctica—one of many factors endangering two-thirds of penguin species, a new paper says
Source: National Geographic

Posted at: 10:20am
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Looking for the Founatain of Youth? Cut your calories
Want to slow the signs of aging and live longer? New Saint Louis University research suggests cutting back on calories could be a promising strategy.
Source: Saint Louis University

Posted at: 10:20am
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Interview: It's a dog's life... again
In 1997, Lou Hawthorne began a quest to clone Missy, his mother's beloved collie-husky cross. Today, this unconventional biotech entrepreneur shares his home with three Missy clones
Source: New Scientist

Posted at: 10:20am
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Mass die-offs in wild lions precipitated by extreme climate change
An international research team has published the first clear example of how climate extremes can create conditions in which diseases that are normally tolerated singly may converge and bring about mass die-offs in wildlife.
Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Posted at: 10:20am
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A Prosthesis for Speech
Decoding neural signals for speech may give voice to the voiceless
Source: Technology Review

Posted at: 10:19am
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Blood vessel inhibitor shows promise against metastatic thyroid cancer
Thyroid cancer that has spread to distant sites has a poor prognosis, but an experimental drug that inhibits tumor blood vessel formation can slow disease progression in some patients, a research team led by investigators from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the July 3rd edition of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Source: University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

Posted at: 10:19am
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Microsoft to sell Office, OneCare for $70 a year
Microsoft Corp. will begin selling its Office programs to consumers on a subscription basis starting mid-July, in a bid to reach thrifty PC buyers who would otherwise pass on productivity software.
Source: US News

Posted at: 10:19am
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Exploding asteroid theory strengthened by new evidence
Geological evidence found in Ohio and Indiana in recent weeks is strengthening the case to attribute what happened 12,900 years ago in North America -- when the end of the last Ice Age unexpectedly turned into a phase of extinction for animals and humans -- to a cataclysmic comet or asteroid explosion over top of Canada.
Source: University of Cincinnati

Posted at: 4:43pm
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Women over 90 more likely to have dementia than men
Women over 90 are significantly more likely to have dementia than men of the same age, according UC Irvine researchers involved with the 90+ Study, one of the nation's largest studies of dementia and other health factors in the fastest-growing age demographic.
Source: University of California - Irvine

Posted at: 4:43pm
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The body's own 'cannabis' is good for the skin
Scientists from Hungary, Germany and the U.K. have discovered that our own body not only makes chemical compounds similar to the active ingredient in marijuana (THC), but these play an important part in maintaining healthy skin.
Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

Posted at: 4:43pm
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Some fundamental interactions of matter found to be fundamentally different than thought
Collisions have consequences. Everyone knows that. Whether it's between trains, planes, automobiles or atoms, there are always repercussions. But while macroscale collisions may have the most obvious effects - mangled steel, bruised flesh - sometimes it is the tiniest collisions that have the most resounding repercussions.
Source: Stanford University

Posted at: 2:57pm
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Researchers identify potential new drug candidates to combat 'bird flu'
As the specter of a worldwide outbreak of avian or "bird flu" lingers, health officials recognize that new drugs are desperately needed since some strains of the virus already have developed resistance to the current roster of anti-flu remedies.
Source: University of California - San Diego

Posted at: 2:57pm
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Tigers disappear from Himalayan refuge
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is alarmed by the dramatic decline of at least 30 percent in the Bengal tiger population of Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Nepal, once a refuge that boasted among the highest densities of the endangered species in the Eastern Himalayas. The recent survey of April 2008 showed a population of between 6-14 tigers, down from 20-50 tigers in 2005.
Source: World Wildlife Fund

Posted at: 1:36pm
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Atomic tug of war
A new form of energy-transfer, reported today in Nature may have implications for the study of reactions going on in the atmosphere, and even for those occurring in the body.
Source: University of Bristol

Posted at: 1:36pm
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Discovery explains how cold sore virus hides during inactive phase
Now that Duke University Medical Center scientists have figured out how the virus that causes cold sores hides out, they may have a way to wake it up and kill it.
Source: Duke University Medical Center

Posted at: 1:36pm
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Worms do calculus to find meals or avoid unpleasantness
Thanks to salt and hot chili peppers, researchers have found a calculus-computing center that tells a roundworm to go forward toward dinner or turn to broaden the search. It's a computational mechanism, they say, that is similar to what drives hungry college students to a pizza.
Source: University of Oregon

Posted at: 1:36pm
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First images of solar system's invisible frontier
NASA's sun-focused STEREO spacecraft unexpectedly detected particles from the edge of the solar system last year, allowing University of California, Berkeley, scientists to map for the first time the energized particles in the region where the hot solar wind slams into the cold interstellar medium.
Source: University of California - Berkeley

Posted at: 1:36pm
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Species extinction threat underestimated due to math glitch
Extinction risks for natural populations of endangered species are likely being underestimated by as much as 100-fold because of a mathematical "misdiagnosis," according to a new study led by a University of Colorado at Boulder researcher.
Source: University of Colorado at Boulder

Posted at: 1:36pm
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New genome sequencing projects announced
The 44 projects, culled from nearly 150 proposals received through the Community Sequencing Program (CSP), represent over 60 billion nucleotides of data to be generated through this biodiversity sampling campaign—roughly the equivalent of 20 human genomes.
Source: DOE/Joint Genome Institute

Posted at: 12:38pm
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Gene directs stem cells to build the heart
Researchers have shown that they can put mouse embryonic stem cells to work building the heart, potentially moving medical science a significant step closer to a new generation of heart disease treatments that use human stem cells.
Source: Washington University School of Medicine

Posted at: 12:38pm
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UC San Diego undergraduates forge new area of bioinformatics
A group of undergraduate students from the University of California San Diego have forged a new area of bioinformatics that may improve genomic and proteomic annotations and unlock a collection of stubborn biological mysteries.
Source: University of California - San Diego

Posted at: 12:38pm
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Experimental philosophy movement explores real-life dilemmas
Imagine a business executive who thinks: "I know that this new policy will harm the environment, but I don't care at all about that – I just want to increase profits." Is the business executive harming the environment intentionally? Faced with this question from a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill philosopher, 82 percent of people polled said yes.
Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Posted at: 12:38pm
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Synthetic molecules emulate enzyme behavior for the first time
When chemists want to produce a lot of a substance -- such as a newly designed drug -- they often turn to catalysts, molecules that speed chemical reactions. Many jobs require highly specialized catalysts, and finding one in just the right shape to connect with certain molecules can be difficult.
Source: Ohio State University

Posted at: 11:48am
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Study shows quantum dots can penetrate skin through minor abrasions
Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that quantum dot nanoparticles can penetrate the skin if there is an abrasion, providing insight into potential workplace concerns for healthcare workers or individuals involved in the manufacturing of quantum dots or doing research on potential biomedical applications of the tiny nanoparticles.
Source: North Carolina State University

Posted at: 10:45am
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Fermilab Cancels Layoffs
Thanks to last-minute funding from Congress, U.S. particle physics lab avoids staff cuts
Source: Science

Posted at: 10:22am
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Meditation can influence expression of stress-related genes
How could a single, nonpharmacological intervention help patients deal with disorders ranging from high blood pressure, to pain syndromes, to infertility, to rheumatoid arthritis? That question may have been answered by a study finding that eliciting the relaxation response – a physiologic state of deep rest .
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital

Posted at: 10:22am
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Robot Caddy Packs Clubs, Stays Quiet
Guaranteed never to snigger if you three-putt or slice one out of bounds.
Source: LiveScience

Posted at: 10:21am
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The sound of jelly wobbling
The sound of a jelly wobbling has been recorded for the first time ever in a soundproof chamber at UCL.
Source: University College London

Posted at: 10:21am
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Condemned to single-sex life by climate change
All tuatara could be born male — and thus doomed to extinction — within decades.
Source: Nature

Posted at: 10:21am
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"Pacemaker for the Brain" Shows New Potential
Deep brain stimulation, already approved for Parkinson's disease, might provide benefits for people suffering from psychiatric conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder and depression. One or two electrodes implanted deep in the brain deliver mild electrical signals that reorganize the brain's electrical impulses.
Source: Newswise

Posted at: 10:21am
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Inside The Mind of A Suicidal Jumper
Why do some people choose to jump to their death?
Source: ABC News

Posted at: 10:21am
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Erectile dysfunction lower in men who have intercourse more often
Having intercourse more often may help prevent the development of erectile dysfunction (ED). A study published in the July 2008 issue of The American Journal of Medicine reports that researchers have found that men who had intercourse more often were less likely to develop ED.
Source: Elsevier Health Sciences

Posted at: 10:21am
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At $9 per gallon, British driving habits change
As more people opt for fewer car trips, carpooling, and public transportation, environmentalists point out that high fuel prices are also leading to reduced carbon emissions.
Source: CSM

Posted at: 10:21am
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Attitudes toward consumption and conservation of tigers in China
The potential market for tiger products in China is enormous, but a vast majority of the Chinese public would rather have wild tigers than tiger-bone wine, according to new research published in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE.
Source: Public Library of Science

Posted at: 10:21am
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Salmonella inquiry looks beyond tomatoes
The federal government has expanded its investigation into an outbreak of salmonella illness to include items commonly eaten with tomatoes
Source: CNN.com

Posted at: 10:21am
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Once a shy monkey, always a shy monkey?
We all know people who are tense and nervous and can't relax. They may have been wired differently since childhood.
Source: Public Library of Science

Posted at: 10:21am
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Slideshow: Robot invasion!
At Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute, scientists are building bots aimed at disaster zones, hospitals — and alien planets.
Source: MSNBC

Posted at: 10:21am
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A microsatellite-guided insight into the genetic status of the Adi tribe
North-east India has always been a hotspot for population geneticists due to its unique, strategic geographic location and the presence of linguistically, culturally and demographically diverse populations practicing varied occupations (from hunter-gathering to settled agriculture).
Source: Public Library of Science

Posted at: 10:21am
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Pentagon Buying More Eyes In The Sky
The Pentagon will buy and operate one or two commercial imagery satellites and plans to design and build another with more sophisticated spying capabilities, according to government and private industry officials.
Source: CBS News

Posted at: 10:21am
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Editors' leadership role impacts on quality of biomedical research journals
The factors allowing a journal to achieve high quality are not fully understood, but good editorial practices such as accurate and author-helpful peer review and in-house editing are thought to be important.
Source: Public Library of Science Public Library of Science

Posted at: 10:21am
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The Future of Space Robots
Future robots may cooperatively explore alien worlds.
Source: Space.com

Posted at: 10:21am
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Wood density explains sound quality of great master violins
The advantage of using medical equipment to study classical musical instruments has been proven by a Dutch researcher from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). In collaboration with a renowned luthier, Dr. Berend Stoel put classical violins, including several made by Stradivarius, in a CT scanner.
Source: Public Library of Science

Posted at: 10:21am
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Garbage In, Megawatts Out
Ottawa will build the first gasification facility in North America to make energy from waste.
Source: Technology Review

Posted at: 10:21am
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Annelids matter: Going beyond furry and scaly megafauna in educating future conservationists
Globally, natural ecosystems are being lost to agricultural land at an unprecedented rate. This land-use often results in significant reductions in abundance and diversity of the flora and fauna as well as alterations in their composition.
Source: Public Library of Science

Posted at: 10:21am
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Air travel in the tropics is worse for climate
The effect of bright sunlight increases the production of the greenhouse gas ozone from aircraft exhaust fumes
Source: New Scientist

Posted at: 10:21am
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