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Pray Tell: Americans Stretching the Truth About Church Attendance

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2010Cultureactual behavior, american behavior, american religiosity, americans, attendance, canada, catholic countries, Europe, Germany, Netherlands, philip brenner, religious services, sunday activities, u s, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A new University of Michigan study finds that Americans are much more likely to exaggerate their attendance at religious services than are people in many other countries.

“Americans have long been viewed as exceptionally religious compared to other nations in the developed world,” said Philip Brenner, a research fellow at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR) and the author of the study. “But this study suggests that American religiosity may be exceptional not in terms of actual behavior, but rather in terms of identity. (more…)

Many Coastal Wetlands Likely to Disappear this Century

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2010Environmentatlantic coast, coastal marshes, coastal wetlands, sea-level rise, sediment levels, sedimentation in wetlands, tidal ranges

Many coastal wetlands worldwide — including several on the U.S. Atlantic coast — may be more sensitive than previously thought to climate change and sea-level rise projections for the 21^st century. (more…)

LivingSocial Announces $175 Million Investment by Amazon.com

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2010TechnologyAmazon, ceo, commerce space, investment, lightspeed venture partners, livingsocial, tim o'shaughnessy, urban escapes

WASHINGTON (PRNewswire via COMTEX) — LivingSocial (www.livingsocial.com) has secured a $175 million investment from Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN). LivingSocial has also secured an additional $8 million investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners. LivingSocial will use this investment to maintain a steady drumbeat of worldwide launches and overall business growth while continuing to serve more than 10 million subscribers across the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland and Australia in more than 120 locations. Because of LivingSocial’s rapid expansion, the company is currently booking revenues of more than $1 million a day on average and is projected to book well over $500 million in revenue in 2011. (more…)

2011 Common Platform Technology Forum to Feature Leading-Edge Manufacturing Solutions from IBM, Samsung and GLOBALFOUNDRIES

By Guest PostDecember 2, 2010Technology20nm, 32/28nm low-power high-k metal gate process technology, 32/28nm technology generation, california, cmos, common platform technology forum, convention center, ecosystem partners, eda, globalfoundries, hkmg, ibm, industry, michael cardigan, microelectronics, samsung electronics, santa clara, silicon valley

*Daylong event January 18 will highlight technology delivery at 32/28nm and beyond*

SANTA CLARA, Calif., – 02 Dec 2010: IBM Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd., and GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced the 2011 Common Platform Technology Forum will be held Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California’s Silicon Valley. This free, daylong event will feature the Common Platform’s innovative collaboration to deliver semiconductor manufacturing solutions that address the challenges of the 32/28nm technology generation and beyond. (more…)

Rewarding Eco-Friendly Farmers Can Help Combat Climate Change

By Guest PostDecember 2, 2010Environmentatmosphere, carbon dioxide, chesapeake bay, cier, climate change, combat, eco-friendly, ecosystem markets, farmers, fertilizer, fertilizer run-off, greenhouse gas, management practices, maryland, maryland farmers, matthias ruth, nitrogen, nutrient trading market, phosphorous, techniques, total maximum daily load, trading market

*UMD Study Advises State on Creation of ‘Nutrient Trading Market’*

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Financially rewarding farmers for using the best fertilizer management practices can simultaneously benefit water quality and help combat climate change, finds a new study by the University of Maryland’s Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER). (more…)

Discovery Triples Number of Stars in the Universe

By Guest PostDecember 2, 2010Scienceastronomers, charlie conroy, dark matter, dim stars, earths, elliptical galaxies, evolution, galaxies, galaxy formation, gliese 581, hawaii, keck observatory, Milky Way, optical telescopes, pieter van dokkum, red dwarfs, sun, theoretical models, twin telescopes

Astronomers detected the faint signature of small, dim red dwarf stars in nearby galaxies (right), and found they are much more numerous than in our own Milky Way (left). Image credit: Patrick Lynch/Yale University

Astronomers have discovered that small, dim stars known as red dwarfs are much more prolific than previously thought — so much so that the total number of stars in the universe is likely three times bigger than previously believed.

Because red dwarfs are relatively small and dim compared to stars like our Sun, astronomers hadn’t been able to detect them in galaxies other than our own Milky Way and its nearest neighbors before now. Therefore, they did not know how much of the total stellar population of the universe is made up of red dwarfs.

Now astronomers have used powerful instruments on the Keck Observatory in Hawaii to detect the faint signature of red dwarfs in eight massive, relatively nearby galaxies called elliptical galaxies, which are located between about 50 million and 300 million light years away. They discovered that the red dwarfs, which are only between 10% and 20% as massive as the Sun, were much more bountiful than expected. (more…)

Norton Healthcare Enters Agreement with Microsoft

By Guest PostDecember 2, 2010Technologyaccountable care organization, aco, aco pilot, greater louisville, health solutions platforms, humana, johns hopkins health system, Microsoft, microsoft amalga uis, microsoft amalga unified intelligence system, microsoft healthvault, newyork-presbyterian hospital, norton healthcare, peter neupert, southern indiana, steven t hester, uis, wisconsin health information exchange

*Norton Healthcare has entered into an agreement with Microsoft to use its health solutions platforms to support its Accountable Care Organization (ACO) initiative.*

REDMOND, Wash., and LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Dec. 2, 2010 — Norton Healthcare has entered into an agreement with Microsoft Corp. to use its health solutions platforms, Microsoft Amalga Unified Intelligence System (UIS) and Microsoft HealthVault. These systems will allow Norton Healthcare to aggregate and mine data in a highly efficient manner and will assist the Louisville, Ky.-based health care system in its Accountable Care Organization (ACO) initiative.

Norton Healthcare and Humana Inc. are working together to establish the first ACO in the region, which represents one of four national pilot sites for the Brookings-Dartmouth ACO Pilot Project. The ACO model Norton and Humana are co-creating established incentives for health systems to increase quality and efficiency, better coordinate patient care, eliminate waste, and reduce the overuse and misuse of care (see Nov. 23 news release: “Norton Healthcare and Humana Launch Accountable Care Organization”). (more…)

Most Low Birth Weight Babies Become Productive Adults

By Guest PostDecember 2, 2010Economy, Generalbabies, canada, education, john goddeeris, long-term economic impact, low birth weight, neonatal care, productive adults, salary levels, saroj saigal, survival rates, survivors, united states

John Goddeeris, professor of economics. Image credit: Michigan State University

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Most survivors of extremely low birth weight grow up to become productive adults, according to a study led by a Michigan State University economist.

Extremely low birth weight is defined as less than about 2.2 pounds. About one in 200 babies is born at that size. But because relatively few survived prior to the 1980s, few studies have examined their adult outcomes.

The study led by MSU’s John Goddeeris found that while these survivors were somewhat less productive as adults, on average, than normal-weight subjects, the productivity deficits were not very large. The study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics, measured education and salary levels.

“Our findings suggest that the long-term economic impact of being born at extremely low birth weight is pretty modest for typical survivors,” said Goddeeris, professor of economics. (more…)

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