China and Indonesia suffered the deadliest and most destructive earthquakes in 1996, while the U.S. remained relatively quiet according to scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior. The last deadly earthquake in the U.S. was the 1994 Northridge, Calif., quake that took 60 lives.
Symmetries are evident everywhere in nature, even at the smallest scales of subatomic particles. At the AAAS meeting in Seattle, physicist Michael Dine will describe the latest work toward a theory of supersymmetry, which could round out the Standard Model of particle physics.
One of the most comprehensive World Wide Web sites for amateur bird-watchers and professional ornithologists, BirdSource, opened for business Feb. 14 by accepting data from participants in Project FeederWatch at http://www.ornith.cornell.edu/CS/PFW/main.html. Co-managed by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society and constructed by the Cornell Theory Center, the Web site was demonstrated at the Seattle annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Embargo Date: 02/14/97
Results of a survey, published in the Feb. 13 issue of the Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (MMWR), indicate that few physicians counseled patients about how physical activity, diet and weight reduction can help reduce an individual's risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack and stroke, which are the country's leading causes of death.
A half-million-year record of some deep-water cousins of crabs called ostracodes provides some of the strongest evidence yet that global climate change can reduce the variety of life forms on Earth, according to a report released Thursday (Feb. 13, 1997).
The vast majority of children with a flattened back or side of the head can be treated effectively by nonsurgical means, such as a helmet, and by alternating infant head position during sleep.
ATHENS, Ga. -- Last August, a group of scientists stunned the scientific world with evidence that life may have once existed on Mars. Their analysis of a Martian meterorite concluded that microscopic life may have been the source of "apparent" fossils it held. In the six months since then, several studies have questioned their interpretations. In a speech today (SATURDAY, 2/15, EMBARGOED) at the annual meeting of the AAAS, a key researcher in the original project called dismissals of the claims entirely premature.
Tensegrity structures that bounce back to shape after being deformed require complicated mathematics, a Cornell expert told an audience at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Embargo Date: 02/14.97
Life on Mars probably did and may still exist, a Cornell astronomer says. Mars, like Earth, has a "deep, hot biosphere" teeming with microbial life well beneath the surface, Tom Gold told the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Embargo Date: 02/13/97
The onion bulb mite -- Rhizoglyphus robini -- has begun to attack some of New York's prized onion fields. Cornell University scientists are studying management techniques to control it.
Hundreds of students in schools across the United States are helping biologists research questions about birds, a Cornell University ornithologist told an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) session on classroom science Feb. 16. When scientists and school children collaborate, everyone gains, said Andre Dhondt. Embargo Date: 02/16/97
Some of the same evolutionary "predispositions" that held together extended families for our hunter-gatherer ancestors -- and even prototypical nuclear families until recently -- are partly to blame for today's dysfunction, conflict and violence within fractured families, Cornell University biologist Stephen Emlen reported Feb. 14 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Embargo Date: 02/14/97
Thirty years after the first Green Revolution, Cornell researchers want to kick-start another one. This time, they want to add micronutrients to staple crops, making the food we eat even more nutritious. Embargo Date: 02/18/97
From upstate New York and Massachusetts Bay to Puget Sound and the Pacific shoreline, thousands of grade-school students are collecting data on Monarch butterfly migrations, songbird populations, astronomy, and environmental science. Professional researchers will use this data to advance scientific knowledge.
"There is mounting evidence that Mars is a water-rich planet that may have experienced warmer climates, and therefore, life, in the past,"according to Michael Carr, an astrogeologist with the U.S.Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif., at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in Seattle, on Thursday, Feb. 13.
Water quality and quantity on Earth and the possibility of water on Mars are the topics of presentations by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey at this week's annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) at the Seattle Convention Center.
Astrophysicist Douglas Lin of UC Santa Cruz will discuss the dramatic evolution of models of planetary formation in an invited talk at the AAAS meeting in Seattle. New models must account for the wide variety of planets found since November 1995.
Only 10 percent of children with attention deficiet hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) receive any kind of therapy to help them modify their behavior. A Purdue University expert on ADHD says that figure should be near 100 percent.
The age of information is also the age of organization. The authors set an agenda to make organizations more responsive to the ethical needs of information handling, as well as usage.
Using $1.29 acrylic boxes from a dime store and simple electronics, undergraduate students and their lab instructor at The University of Alabama in Huntsville are doing cutting edge research into sonoluminesence, a little understood phenomenon sometimes referred to as "a star in a jar."
Two viruses, the feline leukemia virus -- FELV -- and the feline immunodeficiency virus -- FIV -- are infecting the cat population in a manner similar to the AIDS-related human immunodeficiency virus -- HIV.
A special symposium, "Integrating Watershed Ecosystem Studies for Improved Natural Resource Management" will be presented in Seattle, WA, on February 15 as part of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The symposium will highlight the use of long-term, ecosystem-level studies for detecting changes in biological, chemical, and physical processes associated with watersheds.
Researchers at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center have found that population-wide sperm counts vary significantly from year to year, and that these variations coincide with yearly changes in birth rates. The findings, to be published in the March issue of the Journal of Urology, may also explain why previous fertility studies have concluded that sperm counts around the world are declining.
Scientists believe there is little doubt that compounds called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) cause cancer in animal studies. It has been illegal to produce PCBs in the United States since 1977, but huge amounts of the compounds remain in the environment, raising serious concerns for public health officials. A new study, however, has found that many of the PCBs in the environment in this country may not be as carcinogenic as previously thought.
Biochemists at the University of Georgia have discovered an unusual phosphorus-containing compound in an extreme-heat-loving bacterium -- a discovery that will advance thinking about how life exists near the boiling point in underwater volcanic vents.
Technology transfer may have found its way from "Star Trek's" starship Enterprise to Earth. Many Star Trek fans are familiar with clear "data cubes" frequently seen on the television program and used by the crew to access information. A researcher at The University of Alabama in Huntsville believes the Enterprise's technology isn't so futuristic. Using holographic technology, a similar data storage device could hold a tremendous amount of data and provide rapid access.
Rushing radically innovative new products to market with a minimum of "polish" may give large U.S. companies a competitive edge over their Japanese counterparts in emerging or "high uncertainty" markets, according to research at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. This "radical" recommendation comes from a seven-year study of 104 new electronics products developed in the U.S. and Japan.
Three-D View of Molecular Switch Assists Drug Development, Basic Science Discovery Made by Howard Hughes Researcher at Children's Hospital in Boston and Researchers at Harvard Medical School
HOUSTON, February 11, 1997 -- Of the three teams in the world that can coax the elusive Bose-Einstein condensation into existence, only the Rice University team can make it using atoms that attract each other. This provides a unique situation for studying the interactions of the atoms in this rare state of matter. For this reason, the Rice team is taking an especially close look at the mechanics of how their condensate forms and the special properties it possesses. Their findings contribute to a basic understanding of interactions on the atomic level.
With a little more than spit and a sponge, researchers at Northwestern University Medical School can now test whether an ndividual is experiencing physical or emotional stress. The test measures concentration of an enzyme, called amylase, in saliva. Researh has shown that salivary amylase concentration reflects the body's level of catecholamines, substances produced by the sympathetic nervous system in response to stress.
Two Johns Hopkins University comet experts are heading research projects on Comet Hale-Bopp and are available for comment to reporters. The astronomers have also completed a yearlong study of the comet with the Hubble Space Telescope, learning new details about the comet. This release also contains a fact sheet about Hale-Bopp and comets in general.
Picture an ideal university: it has a pervasive culture promoting collaborative research between professors and students; there are internet links between research labs, libraries and students; and there is an emphasis on discovery-based learning techniques throughout science and engineering curricula.
Cornell clinical psychologist and gradate student find that sexually abused girls have less secure intimate relationships and compromised interpersonal functioning in adulthood.
Researchers at Resources for the Future have found a deposit/refund system to be the most cost-effective policy among those that rely on economic incentives to reduce municipal solid waste. They suggest that a modest reduction in recyclable wastes -- including glass, paper and plastic -- could be achieved if the federal government used a deposit/refund policy that charged the deposit fee to manufacturers of consumer products, with the subsequent refund then granted to collectors of recyclable materials.
Southern California may soon be the best-surveyed area on the planet, thanks to powerful tools used by scientists seeking to understand the region's earthquake potential.
Communication among glial cells--once regarded as just "glue" for the brain--has been identified in intact retinal tissue by researchers at the University of Minnesota. The discovery is a step forward in understanding the function of these cells, which play a role in multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, as well as in regulating the transmission of impulses along nerve fibers and regenerating injured or severed nerves.
As Congress begins to consider the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposals to tighten standards for two major air pollutants, Resources for the Future today releases a briefing paper on the key issues in the clean air debate. It describes EPA's proposed new rules for ground-level ozone and particulate matter, both of which have been linked to adverse effects on human health, and discusses the major policy questions that the proposals raise.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is accepting requests from professional journalists to visit Antarctica during the 1997-1998 field season to report on research by the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP).
A miniature forest of robotically controlled optical fibers has sprouted from the end of the 120-inch Shane Telescope at Lick Observatory near San Jose, letting astronomers capture and analyze faint rays of light from dozens of distant stars or galaxies at the same time.
A national meeting to discuss ways to encourage minorities to join medical clinical trials will be held February 23-25 in Tuskegee, AL, the site of the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study which involved 400 impoverished African-American men.
The first national seminar March 21-28 in Community Economic Development will teach people how to make a valuable contribution in their community by helping it prosper economically. Participants gain skills in community leadership and economic development while gathering knowledge about the popular new field.
The commonly used methods for measuring the efficiency of soil to remove viruses from human waste may be providing inaccurate and misleading information about virus retention and transport in the subsurface, says Dr. Yan Jin of the University of Delaware.
The hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) used to replace the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) banned by the Montreal Protocol have low or no potential to deplete ozone in the stratosphere, but they may contribute to climatic change, says Dr. Garry D. Hayman of the National Environmental Technology Centre in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
The catalytic converter in your automobile may be removing most of the air pollutants in the car's exhaust gases, but it is also emitting a fine dust containing platinum, a precious metal that is the key ingredient in making the converter effective in controlling air pollution, according to Dr. R. R. Barefoot of the University of Toronto.
Mutagens have long been known to be present in urban air, but their detection and potency has mostly been measured with a bacterial test. However, extrapolating the observed mutagenic effects from bacteria to humans continually leads to questions about the relevance of bacterial assays. New research represents the first time a human cell mutation assay has been applied to an atmospheric particle monitoring network.
After extensively studying models of Internet pricing among competing networks, researchers at the University of Texas found that usage-based pricing can be far more profitable than the flat pricing scheme introduced by America On Line (AOL). The customer dissatisfaction with on-line congestion and pending law suits against access providers highlight the short-sightedness of this current pricing strategy.
First there was "channel surfing." Then came "surfing the Net." A Purdue University researcher now has found that spacecraft might be able to "surf" through space. Her efforts could help lower costs of planetary missions.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced the outline for the PresidentÃs fiscal year 1998 budget request to provide the agency with $3.367 billion, a three percent rise over the current yearÃs estimate.
Equity investments in entrepreneurial firms continue to grow in number and dollar amounts from both venture capital and private investment sources. Increasingly, these two sources of capital play an important role in the development of new and existing entrepreneurial ventures. Due to the sometimes hurried attempt to turn their dream into a reality, entrepreneurs may fail to consider similarities and differences in the value-added benefits supplied by venture capital firms and private investors. Who the entrepreneur gets his/her money from is just as important as how much capital is obtained initially.
Story ideas: Study shows outpatient stem cell tranplantation is safe and effective; new method allows faster recovery from shoulder injury; the last run of the day is often a skier's downfall;during heart month; heart disease still number one killer of women as well as men; new portable CT scanner helps improve patients care; new guidelines developed to prevent and treat steroid-induced osteoporosis.
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