The low that forecasters were watching for development yesterday, March 9, strengthened into Tropical Storm Hubert, and is already making landfall in eastern Madagascar.
Tech
Computers should not play dice. That, to paraphrase Einstein, is the feeling of a University of Washington computer scientist with a simple manifesto: If you enter the same computer command, you should get back the same result. Unfortunately, that is far from the case with many of today's machines. Beneath their smooth exteriors, modern computers behave in wildly unpredictable ways, said Luis Ceze, a UW assistant professor of computer science and engineering.
A naturally occurring class of plant hormones called cytokinins has been found to help increase cotton yields during drought conditions, according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.
Cytokinins promote cell division and growth in plants. In cotton, cytokinins stimulate the growth of the main plant stem and branches. Commercially produced cytokinins are routinely applied in apple and pistachio orchards to promote fruit growth.
The smell of sea salt in the air is a romanticized feature of life along a seacoast. Wind and waves kick up spray, and bits of sodium chloride – common table salt – can permeate the air.
It is believed that as much as 10 billion metric tons of chloride enters the air mass through this process each year, but just a tiny fraction – perhaps one-third of 1 percent – does anything but fall back to the surface.
Scientists have leaped over a major hurdle in efforts to begin commercial production of a form of carbon that could rival silicon in its potential for revolutionizing electronics devices ranging from supercomputers to cell phones. Called graphene, the material consists of a layer of graphite 50,000 times thinner than a human hair with unique electronic properties. Their study appears in ACS' Nano Letters, a monthly journal.
Fifty years after the first laser sparked a technological revolution, the "light fantastic" continues to impact people's daily lives — by playing DVDs, speeding Internet connections, and performing intricate surgery. As the golden anniversary of the announcement of the first laser approaches on July 7th, Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine, takes a special look at the past, present, and exciting future of this amazing invention.
People in seven European countries have positive attitudes toward a new eco-friendly toilet that could reduce pollution problems and conserve water and nutrients, say scientists in Switzerland. Their article, which calls on authorities to give wider support for the innovative toilet technology, is in Environmental Science & Technology.
A team of physicists headed by Christian Roos and Rainer Blatt from the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences realize a quantum walk in a quantum system with up to 23 steps. It is the first time that this quantum process using trapped ions is demonstrated in detail.
Tears in the shoulder's rotator cuff, a common sports injury, are painful and restricting. Surgery to repair the damage is successful for pain management, but in many patients it does not result in full recovery of function due to poor healing. New research shows an approved therapy for osteoporosis, Forteo, may speed healing and improve patient outcomes. The preliminary study from Hospital for Special Surgery in New York is being presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) meeting in New Orleans March 9-13.
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new analytical method that opens the door to faster processing of large amounts of information, with applications in fields as diverse as the military, medical diagnostics and homeland security.
Bisphosphonate treatments, proven to enhance bone density and reduce fracture incidence in post-menopausal women, may adversely affect bone quality and increase risk of atypical fractures of the femur when used for four or more years, according to preliminary research presented today at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).
Bisphosphonates are designed to slow or stop the bone loss that occurs during the body's bone remodeling cycle, or the natural process that involves removal and replacement of bone tissue.
Approximately 21 million visits were made to physicians' offices due to back problems in 2006. While countless adults experience back pain and stiffness, many suffer from serious spine and back conditions –including injury, herniated discs and the deterioration of the vertebrae. Three new studies presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) detail advances in back care and treatment options for specific back and spine conditions. Each of the following three studies consider and report on the patients' best outcomes and options:
At age 55, men can expect another 15 years of sexual activity, but women that age should expect less than 11 years, according to a study by University of Chicago researchers published early online March 10 by the British Medical Journal. Men in good or excellent health at 55 can add 5 to 7 years to that number. Equally healthy women gain slightly less, 3 to 6 years.
MADISON, WI, MARCH 8, 2010--Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are components of petroleum products such as gasoline, coal, and oil. They are also produced as by-products of the combustion of fuels including petroleum and fire wood. PAHs can cause cancer and other health effects. Because they are produced during combustion, they are ubiquitous, and their levels are high enough to be a concern in all urban waterways.
ITHACA, N.Y. — Consider this T-shirt: It can monitor your heart rate and breathing, analyze your sweat and even cool you off on a hot summer's day. What about a pillow that monitors your brain waves, or a solar-powered dress that can charge your ipod or MP4 player? This is not science fiction – this is cotton in 2010.