Author Archives: Guest Post

High-Tech Software and Unmanned Planes Allow Scientists to Keep Tabs on Arctic Seals

A novel project using cameras mounted on unmanned aircraft flying over the Arctic is serving double duty by assessing the characteristics of declining sea ice and using the same aerial photos to pinpoint seals that have hauled up on ice floes.

The project is the first to use aircraft to monitor ice and seals in remote areas without putting pilots and observers at risk, said Elizabeth Weatherhead of the University of Colorado at Boulder, who is leading the study team. Weatherhead is a senior scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a joint venture of CU-Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (more…)

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IBM’s “Watson” Computing System to Challenge All Time Greatest Jeopardy! Champions

*Competition Scheduled for February 2011*

ARMONK, N.Y. & CULVER CITY, Calif. – 14 Dec 2010: IBM and America’s Favorite Quiz show® Jeopardy! today announced that an IBM computing system named “Watson” will compete on Jeopardy! against the show’s two most successful and celebrated contestants — Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. 

The first-ever man vs. machine Jeopardy! competition will air on February 14, 15 and 16, 2011, with two matches being played over three consecutive days.  (more…)

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‘Music and Caroling an Important Part of Holiday Celebrations’

During the holidays, no matter how you celebrate or what your beliefs, music is almost always an important part of the celebration, according to Thomas Riis, a musicologist and director of the American Music Research Center in the University of Colorado at Boulder’s College of Music.

“Singing brings people together and is a natural and comfortable community activity,” Riis said. (more…)

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19.2 Million Spanish Internet Users watched 2.9 Billion Online Videos in October 2010

YouTube Leads Ranking with Nearly 3.3 Hours per Viewer During the Month

Madrid, Spain, December 14, 2010 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from its recently launched Spanish comScore Video Metrix service, indicating that 2.9 billion videos were viewed online in Spain in October 2010. (more…)

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Atomic Weights of Ten Chemical Elements About to Change

For the first time in history, a change will be made to the atomic weights of some elements listed on the Table of Standard Atomic Weights of the chemical elements found in the inside covers of chemistry textbooks worldwide.

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry’s (IUPAC) Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights is publishing a new table that will express atomic weights of ten elements as intervals, rather than as single standard values. The new table is the result of cooperative research supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, IUPAC, and other contributing Commission members and institutions. (more…)

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Ice-Age Reptile Extinctions Provide a Glimpse of Likely Responses to Human-Caused Climate Change

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A wave of reptile extinctions on the Greek islands over the past 15,000 years may offer a preview of the way plants and animals will respond as the world rapidly warms due to human-caused climate change, according to a University of Michigan ecologist and his colleagues.

The Greek island extinctions also highlight the critical importance of preserving habitat corridors that will enable plants and animals to migrate in response to climate change, thereby maximizing their chances of survival.  (more…)

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New Kindle Exclusive: Bestselling Author Warren Adler Releases Five New E-Books Exclusively in the Kindle Store

*New books by the author of “The War of the Roses” and “Random Hearts” available for Kindle and Kindle app customers in less than 60 seconds*

SEATTLE, Dec 13, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com today announced that bestselling author Warren Adler has made five e-books, none of which have been previously published in any format, available in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore). These books, all of which draw from Adler’s skill as a novelist and his keen insight into the nature of intimate human relationships, will also be available in print editions through CreateSpace. All five books in the series – “The David Embrace,” “Flanagan’s Dolls,” “The Womanizer,” “Residue” and “Empty Treasures”–are available for sale today for $7.95 with the e-books exclusive to the Kindle Store for two years. (more…)

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