Brain Size May Protect You from Memory Loss
From autopsies, researchers have long known that some people die with sharp minds and perfect memories, but their brains riddled with the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer’s disease. New research shows that those people have a larger part of the brain called the hippocampus. The research will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12 – April 19, 2008.
“This larger hippocampus may protect these people from the effects of Alzheimer’s disease-related brain changes,” said study author Deniz Erten-Lyons, MD, with Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, and member of the American Academy of Neurology. “Hopefully this will lead us eventually to prevention strategies.”
Popularity: 39% [?]
April 16, 2008 | Filed Under Health | Leave a CommentWhat Aristotle Could Teach Your Business
Public scandals, such as the Enron affair, the sub-prime mortgage problem, and the ensuing global credit crunch have led to dwindling confidence in the business world. A transatlantic study to be published in the International Journal of Business Excellence, an Inderscience publication, suggests that relearning the ancient notion of virtue could help bring business and society closer.
Businesses that excel in the services and products they offer their customers are usually the ones that succeed and post a healthy profit for their shareholders. But Alistair Anderson of the Aberdeen Business School at The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK and Carter Crockett of the Department of Economics & Business, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California, USA, suggest that conventional models of excellence are too narrow and too functional for today’s global economy. A new approach based on the ancient principle of virtue, dating back to Aristotle, could, they say, allow underachieving businesses to excel without moral compromise.
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April 16, 2008 | Filed Under Humans | Leave a CommentFaint Heart Sometimes Wins Fair Lady
The fittest males don’t always get the girl, USC biologists report. Study tackles a paradox in species from fruit flies to humans: If warriors win the spoils, why don’t males evolve towards super-aggressiveness?
There is more to mating than beating up the competition, according to a new study in PLoS ONE.
Popularity: 39% [?]
April 16, 2008 | Filed Under Biology | Leave a CommentFirst Thermal Nanomotor in the World
Researchers from the UAB Research Park have created the first nanomotor that is propelled by changes in temperature. A carbon nanotube is capable of transporting cargo and rotating like a conventional motor, but is a million times smaller than the head of a needle.
This research opens the door to the creation of new nanometric devices designed to carry out mechanical tasks and which could be applied to the fields of biomedicine or new materials.
Popularity: 36% [?]
April 16, 2008 | Filed Under Technology | Leave a CommentSuperfast Far-Infrared Computers
University of Utah engineers took an early step toward building superfast computers that run on far-infrared light instead of electricity: They made the equivalent of wires that carried and bent this form of light, also known as terahertz radiation, which is the last unexploited portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
“We have taken a first step to making circuits that can harness or guide terahertz radiation,” says Ajay Nahata, study leader and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. “Eventually – in a minimum of 10 years – this will allow the development of superfast circuits, computers and communications.”
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April 15, 2008 | Filed Under Technology | Leave a CommentToo Many Choices Can Be Mentally Exhausting
Each day, we are bombarded with options — at the local coffee shop, at work, in stores or on the TV at home. Do you want a double-shot soy latte, a caramel macchiato or simply a tall house coffee for your morning pick-me-up” Having choices is typically thought of as a good thing. Maybe not, say researchers who found we are more fatigued and less productive when faced with a plethora of choices.
Researchers from several universities have determined that even though humans’ ability to weigh choices is remarkably advantageous, it can also come with some serious liabilities. People faced with numerous choices, whether good or bad, find it difficult to stay focused enough to complete projects, handle daily tasks or even take their medicine.
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April 15, 2008 | Filed Under Humans | Leave a CommentManmade Lightning Using Laser Light
A team of European scientists has deliberately triggered electrical activity in thunderclouds for the first time, according to a new paper in the latest issue of Optics Express, the Optical Society’s (OSA) open-access journal. They did this by aiming high-power pulses of laser light into a thunderstorm.
At the top of South Baldy Peak in New Mexico during two passing thunderstorms, the researchers used laser pulses to create plasma filaments that could conduct electricity akin to Benjamin Franklin’s silk kite string. No air-to-ground lightning was triggered because the filaments were too short-lived, but the laser pulses generated discharges in the thunderclouds themselves.
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April 14, 2008 | Filed Under Weather | Leave a CommentJourney to the Center of the Earth
Uncovering a rare, two-billion-year-old window into the Earth’s mantle, a University of Houston professor and his team have found our planet’s geological history is more complex than previously thought.
Jonathan Snow, assistant professor of geosciences at UH, led a team of researchers in a North Pole expedition, resulting in a discovery that could shed new light on the mantle, the vast layer that lies beneath the planet’s outer crust. These findings are described in a paper titled “Ancient, highly heterogeneous mantle beneath Gakkel Ridge, Arctic Ocean,” appearing recently in Nature, the weekly scientific journal for biological and physical sciences research.
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April 13, 2008 | Filed Under Geology | Leave a CommentA Novel Lithium-Ion Battery
Fraunhofer researchers will be presenting a novel lithium-ion battery at Hannover Messe on April 21 - 25. It is based on a polymer electrolyte, which is – unlike the liquid electrolyte in conventional lithium-ion batteries – not inflammable. A test set-up for redox flow batteries will also be on display at the show. This makes it possible to compare different redox systems in a single test set-up.
Lithium-ion batteries supply the power for cell phones and PDAs, and larger devices such as laptops, cordless screwdrivers and lawnmowers are becoming increasingly dependent on this power source. The advantage of these power storage devices lies in their high energy density and voltage (up to four volts). In terms of safety, however, they have one disadvantage – the organic electrolytes are inflammable and can easily catch fire. This has already resulted in several fires and subsequent recall campaigns.
Popularity: 43% [?]
April 13, 2008 | Filed Under Technology | Leave a CommentTourist Information Wherever You Are
Would you like instant access to information on the buildings and scenery you see on your travels? A novel mobile phone programme, able to provide information on what you see when you see it, was a regional winner in the European Satellite Navigation Competition, sponsored by ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme.
This novel use of satellite technology, created by Ernst Pechtl and Hans Geiger, combines three of today’s modern technologies: satellite navigation localisation services, advanced object recognition and relevant internet retrieved information.
Popularity: 41% [?]
April 13, 2008 | Filed Under Technology | Leave a Comment
