Volcanoes and hot springs could power 25 per cent of America's power needs

Is harnessing geothermal energy just a pipe dream?
As fuel prices soar, Alaskan officials announced the exploration of the state's volcanoes, saying they could be exploited to provide energy for thousands of homes. Companies are being invited to lease the rights to explore geothermal resources beneath Mount Spurr, a snowcapped 11,070-foot volcano that most recently erupted in 1992 showering much of Anchorage with volcanic ash... [more]
Source : Telegraph

Wikipedia and other online research sources blamed for falling exam pass rates

Falling exam passes blamed on Wikipedia 'littered with inaccuracies'
Standard Grade pass rates were down for the first time in four years last year and the SPTC is now calling for pupils to be given lessons on using the internet appropriately for additional research purposes "before the problem gets out of hand". A disclaimer on Wikipedia states "it is important to note that fledgling, or less well monitored, articles may be susceptible to vandalism and insertion of false information"... [more]
Source : Scotsman

Can synthetic biology solve fuel needs?

Biofuels : Designer enzymes can they offer a long-term alternative?
You can power laptops - and, potentially cars - using hydrogen extracted from water. The trouble is that it takes a lot of electricity. A simpler way would be to do it naturally, using enzymes - proteins which catalyse reactions - and bacteria. These do exist: certain green algae and "cyanobacteria" can split water using photosynthesis to produce molecular hydrogen... [more]
Source : Guardian

Ocean temperatures and sea level increases 50 percent higher than previously estimated

Climate Change : Rising ocean and atmospheric temperatures
New research suggests that ocean temperature and associated sea level increases between 1961 and 2003 were 50 percent larger than estimated in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. The ocean warming and thermal expansion rates are more than 50 percent larger than previous estimates for the upper 300 meters of oceans... [more]
Source : Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

"China plus one" As Chinese costs soar manufacturers looking elsewhere in Asia

Multinationals diversifying out of China
China remains the most attractive destination for industrial investment in the world, drawing almost $83 billion last year. But, in a strategy that companies are calling "China plus one," multinationals - worried about soaring costs in China and about becoming overly dependent on factories in one country - are increasingly establishing or expanding bases elsewhere on the continent, particularly in Vietnam... [more]
Source : IHT

Obesity Cure, Heightened Sense Of Taste Can Promote Weight Loss

Lose weight by flavoring food with calorie-free seasonings and sweeteners
People can lose weight by flavoring their food with calorie-free seasonings and sweeteners, which may make them feel full faster and decrease their consumption, according to a new study... [more]
Source : Science Daily

US Army : Thousands of troops are being given antidepressant drugs

America's Medicated Army
The army has by far the most troops deployed to the war zones — about 20,000 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq were on such medications last fall. The Army estimates that authorized drug use splits roughly fifty-fifty between troops taking antidepressants — largely the class of drugs that includes Prozac and Zoloft — and those taking prescription sleeping pills like Ambien. The increase in the use of medication among U.S. troops suggests the heavy mental and psychological price being paid by soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pentagon surveys show that while all soldiers deployed to a war zone will feel stressed, 70% will manage to bounce back to normalcy. But about 20% will suffer from what the military calls "temporary stress injuries," and 10% will be afflicted with "stress illnesses... [more]
Source : Time

Singularity theory : What the big bang and ink jets have in common

Workshop tackles the mathematics of singularities
The workshop confirmed that most if not all singular events in the universe, ranging from microscopic cracks to the Big Bang, share one important property known as self-similarity. However it is also true that the “devil lies in the detail” when it comes to comparing different types of singularity. In other words different systems might have some common features such as self-similarity, but also unique aspects that require specialised study. Understanding the underlying mathematics would not just help understand what happens when we crumple up a piece of paper to throw away, but also other physical systems involving ridges and tips, such as the folding of proteins during their manufacture in biological cells... [more]
Source : European Science Foundation

Alien Life : New Technology to Search for ET's, Extraterrestrial Intelligence in Our Galaxy

Search for possible extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy
Employing this new equipment in a unique, targeted search for possible civilizations enhances the chances of finding one, in the same way that a search for a needle in a haystack is made easier if one knows at least approximately where the needle was dropped.
The crucial implication is that this targeted search in a favored part of the sky — the ecliptic stripe — may provide us with significantly better prospects for detecting extraterrestrials than has any previous search effort... [more]
Source : Johns Hopkins University

Engineers use high pressure to stimulate growth of new cartilage

Cartilage regeneration '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'
Bioengineers at Rice University have discovered that intense pressure -- similar to what someone would experience more than a half-mile beneath the ocean's surface -- stimulates cartilage cells to grow new tissue with nearly all of the properties of natural cartilage. The new method, which requires no stem cells, may eventually provide relief for thousands of arthritis sufferers... [more]

Source : Rice University

Lordosis : The need for sex

Flow of potassium ions in brain cells is key to sexual arousal
When it comes to sex, a female rat knows how to avoid a communication breakdown. To announce her sexual readiness, she will automatically arch her back, deflect her tail and stand rigid to allow an aroused male to mount. Now, Rockefeller University researchers have figured out the precise chemical and physical mechanism in a group of brain cells that controls this swayback posture, a reflex called lordosis that signals one of life’s most complex yet primitive instincts — the need for sex... [more]
Source : Rockefeller University

Bacteria Run living Computer Solves Math Problem

Burnt Pancake Problem solved by bacteria based computer
A new living computer, bred from E. coli bacteria instead of stamped from silica, has for the first time successfully solved a classic mathematical puzzle known as the Burnt Pancake Problem. In a biology-based computer, each bacterium becomes a single computer that runs a different part of the problem simultaneously. Since a million bacteria-based computers can fit into a single drop of water, all of them working together could speed up the calculations dramatically... [more]
Source : Discovery Channel