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Month of birth determines who becomes a sports star

The month of your birth influences your chances of becoming a professional sportsperson, an Australian researcher has found.

Senior research fellow Dr. Adrian Barnett from Queensland University of Technology's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation studies the seasonal patterns of population health and found the month you were born in could influence your future health and fitness. The results of the study are published in the Springer book Analysing Seasonal Health Data¹, by Barnett, co-authored by researcher Professor Annette Dobson from the University of Queensland.

Olga now raining on third of 5 Australia territories

Australians in three of five territories have had enough of Tropical Cyclone Olga. After two landfalls, and three times a tropical storm, and traveling through Queensland and the Northern Territory, Olga's remnants are now raining on Australia's New South Wales Territory today, February 1.

Tropical Storm Oli forms in the southern Pacific

The twelfth tropical cyclone in the Southern Pacific Ocean has formed today, February 1, 2010, and because of its proximity to the Fiji islands, it has been dubbed "Oli." The GOES-11 satellite passed over Oli early this morning and captured an infrared image of the storm's clouds.

Innovative technique can spot errors in key technological systems

BOULDER--An innovative computational technique that draws on statistics, imaging, and other disciplines has the capability to detect errors in sensitive technological systems ranging from satellites to weather instruments. The patented technique, known as the Intelligent Outlier Detection Algorithm, or IODA, is described this month in the Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology.

Managed wolf populations could restore ecosystems

Researchers writing in the February issue of BioScience propose reintroducing small, managed populations of wolves into national parks and other areas in order to restore damaged ecosystems. The populations would not be self-sustaining, and may consist of a single pack. But the BioScience authors suggest that even managed populations could bring ecological, educational, recreational, scientific, and economic benefits.

Compound found that targets wide range of viruses

GALVESTON, Texas — The development of antibiotics gave physicians seemingly miraculous weapons against infectious disease. Effective cures for terrible afflictions like pneumonia, syphilis and tuberculosis were suddenly at hand. Moreover, many of the drugs that made them possible were versatile enough to knock out a wide range of deadly bacterial threats.

Tropical Storm Nisha being battered by wind shear

Nisha is not expected to maintain its tropical storm status this weekend, because it is being battered by wind shear.

At 10 a.m. ET, January 29, Tropical Storm Nisha was barely hanging onto its status as a tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds near 39 mph (35 knots). It was located 150 nautical miles west-northwest of Rarotonga, near 19.8 South and 161.9 West. It was moving east-northeast near 11 mph.

2 NASA satellites see TD11S going extra-tropical

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite and NASA's Aqua satellite have observed the rainfall patterns and temperatures within Tropical Depression 11S, and they indicate the storm is becoming extra-tropical.

Tropical Depression 11S (TD 11S) had maximum sustained winds near 34 mph (30 knots) on January 29 at 09:00 UTC (4 a.m. ET). It was located about 320 nautical miles southeast of La Reunion Island, near 25.5 South and 59.8 East. It was moving southeast near 11 mph (10 knots).

NASA's TRMM sees Depression 10P strengthen into Tropical Storm Nisha

The tenth tropical depression in the Southern Pacific Ocean has strengthened overnight and has been dubbed "Tropical Storm Nisha" and NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission has watched the storm's precipitation increase since yesterday.

The hidden cost of schizophrenia

People being treated for schizophrenia are more likely than the general population to have encounters with the criminal justice system in the US. A study published in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry has shown that schizophrenia patients' involvement with the criminal justice system is primarily driven by their being victims of crime and that the average annual per-patient cost of involvement with the criminal justice system was $1429.

Wireless optical transmission key to secure, safe and rapid indoor communications

Light is better than radio waves when it comes to some wireless communications, according to Penn State engineers. Optical communications systems could provide faster, more secure communications with wider bandwidth and would be suitable for restricted areas like hospitals, aircraft and factories.

University of Colorado student-built satellite selected for flight by NASA

A tiny communications satellite designed and built by University of Colorado at Boulder undergraduates has been selected as one of three university research satellites to be launched into orbit in November as part of a NASA space education initiative.

Olga restrengthens into a tropical storm

Residents of the northern coastal areas of Australia's Northern Territory and NASA's Aqua satellite have seen new life "blown into" a low pressure system that is once again Tropical Storm Olga.

NASA satellite sees Tropical Depression 10P Strengthening in south Pacific

NASA's Aqua satellite is keeping an eye on the tenth tropical depression to form in the southern Pacific Ocean. Tropical Depression 10P has formed overnight and is expected to continue strengthening.

When Aqua passed over Tropical Depression 10P (TD 10P) on January 27 at 12:17 UTC (7:17 a.m. ET) it was located near 15.1 South and 169.7 W, had maximum sustained winds near 39 mph (35 knots) and a minimum central pressure of 996 millibars. That places TD 10P's center about 45 nautical miles west-southwest of Pago Pago, American Samoa.

Astronomers find rare beast by new means

For the first time, astronomers have found a supernova explosion with properties similiar to a gamma-ray burst, but without seeing any gamma rays from it. The discovery, using the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope, promises, the scientists say, to point the way toward locating many more examples of these mysterious explosions.