Heavens

Montreal, QC (CNW) February 17, 2010 – A Discussion Paper released today by Science-Metrix Inc. examines geopolitical shifts in knowledge creation over the past three decades in the ex-USSR, the Middle East and Asia.

Using information extracted from the Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) database of scientific publications spanning the last 30 years (1980 to 2009), the paper examines the effects of geopolitical change on scientific production.

"We have, in effect, found a flaw in the forensic methods used until now," says Else Starkenburg, lead author of the paper reporting the study. "Our improved approach allows us to uncover the primitive stars hidden among all the other, more common stars."

Montreal, QC (CNW) February 17, 2010 – A Discussion Paper released today by Science-Metrix Inc. examines geopolitical shifts in knowledge creation over the past three decades in the ex-USSR, the Middle East and Asia.

Using information extracted from the Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) database of scientific publications spanning the last 30 years (1980 to 2009), the paper examines the effects of geopolitical change on scientific production.

New images from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope show where supernova remnants emit radiation a billion times more energetic than visible light. The images bring astronomers a step closer to understanding the source of some of the universe's most energetic particles -- cosmic rays.

Cosmic rays consist mainly of protons that move through space at nearly the speed of light. In their journey across the galaxy, the particles are deflected by magnetic fields. This scrambles their paths and masks their origins.

Tropical Cyclone Rene slammed Tonga early yesterday, February 15, with maximum sustained winds near 100 mph (160 kilometers). NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of Tropical Cyclone Rene when it was off Pago Pago yesterday, February 14 at 01:15 UTC. Rene has since moved southward and is now expected to dissipate in the next couple of days.

During the early morning hours on Tuesday, February 16, the sixteenth tropical cyclone formed in the South Pacific Ocean and NASA captured an infrared image of its cold clouds, watching as it strengthens.

Tropical Cyclone 16S has already powered up into a tropical storm, and is headed in the direction of Port Louis and Reunion Island in the next couple of days.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Migraine is seen more frequently in women with multiple sclerosis (MS) than those without, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.

Troy, N.Y - The first field study on the impact of light on teenagers' sleeping habits finds that insufficient daily morning light exposure contributes to teenagers not getting enough sleep.

"As teenagers spend more time indoors, they miss out on essential morning light needed to stimulate the body's 24-hour biological system, which regulates the sleep/wake cycle," reports Mariana Figueiro, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Program Director at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center (LRC) and lead researcher on the new study.

Previous Mars Express flybys have already provided the most accurate mass yet for Phobos, and the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) has provided the volume. When calculating the density, this gives a surprising figure because it seems that parts of Phobos may be hollow. The science team aim to verify this preliminary conclusion.

Researchers at National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado School of Medicine have used a new strategy to develop cancer vaccines that are remarkably effective in mice. In the February 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Kimberly Jordan, PhD, Jill Slansky, PhD, and John Kappler, PhD, report that 100 percent of the mice vaccinated with a peptide they developed remained alive and tumor-free for at least 60 days after inoculation with colon cancer cells.

University of Arizona astronomers have helped solve a mystery surrounding the birth of stars in galaxies that has long puzzled scientists. Their results are published in the Feb. 11 issue of Nature.

"We have known for more than a decade that in the early universe – three to five billion years after the Big Bang or nine to eleven billion years before today – galaxies churned out new stars at a much faster rate than they do now," said Michael Cooper, a postdoctoral Spitzer fellow at the UA's Steward Observatory.

A new international study reported in PLoS Medicine confirms that a single dose of nevirapine (sdNVP) can lead to HIV treatment failure in women who receive the drug to prevent transmission of the AIDS virus to their infants. However, the increased risk of failure could only be detected in women who began full HIV treatment within about a year after receiving sdNVP.

An enormous and grand ringed planet, Saturn is certainly one of the most intriguing bodies orbiting the Sun. Hubble has now taken a fresh look at the fluttering aurorae that light up both of Saturn's poles.

Wei is no stranger to applying science and technology to the world of sports. He has been working with USA Swimming for several years, using DPIV and other techniques to better understand how swimmers interact with the water. He also created a robust training tool that reports the performance of a swimmer in real-time, measuring how much energy the swimmer exerts with each kick. The tool helped several top-tier athletes trim seconds from their lap times.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Students can learn some science concepts just as well from computers simulations as they do from direct observation, new research suggests.

A study found that people who used computer simulations to learn about moon phases understood the concepts just as well – and in some cases better – than did those who learned from collecting data from viewing the moon.