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Crisis in Academic Publishing

By Guest PostJune 18, 2012Economy, Media, Scienceacademic journals, academic publishing, academic spring, arxiv, berlin declaration, bethesda declaration, boycott, commercial publishers, crisis, diane sauve, digital publishing, dominique berube, elsevier, erudit, george lozano, harvard university, internet, jean claude guedon, joanie lavoie, latin america, marie lambert chan, open access, parallel system, personal websites, public funds, springer, taxpayers, université de montréal, vincent lariviere, yves gingras

“In almost every country in the world, research is supported by public funds. When researchers publish their results in academic journals, they do so for free. The results are also reviewed by peers for free. And journals often require researchers to give up their rights to these articles. Then, major publishers or learned societies sell their journals at exorbitant prices to libraries… which are also financed by public funds! It’s a vicious circle in which taxpayers pay for the production and access to researchers while publishers and societies make profits of 30-45% before taxes. It’s outrageous!” exclaimed Jean-Claude Guédon. This professor of comparative literature at the Université de Montréal is far from being the only one to protest. In recent months, more than 11,000 researchers worldwide have expressed their dissatisfaction through a petition calling for a boycott of Elsevier. This academic publishing giant earned profits of more than US $1.1 billion in 2011.

This movement, which many observers have called the “Academic Spring,” was born as a result of Elsevier’s support of the Research Work Act. This U.S. bill would ban open access to academic publications subsidized by the state. “It’s all anecdotal but at least has the benefit of reminding people about the importance of open access,” Guédon said. (more…)

First Commercial IBM Hot-Water Cooled Supercomputer to Consume 40% Less Energy

By Guest PostJune 18, 2012Science, Technologyartificial heart valve, computing infrastructure, europe fastest computer, german federal government, hot water cooling, supermuc, supermuc performance, Technology, zero emission

Leibniz’s “SuperMUC” named Europe’s fastest supercomputer

MUNICH – 18 Jun 2012: The Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ), in collaboration with IBM, today announced the world’s first commercially available hot-water cooled supercomputer, a powerful, high-performance system designed to help researchers and industrial institutions across Europe investigate and solve some of the world’s most daunting scientific challenges. (more…)

Recreational Fishing Brings Salt Marsh Die-Off

By Guest PostJune 18, 2012Environmentecosystem, fishing activity, fishing in rivers, recreational fishing, salt marsh, trophic cascade

As recreational fishing activity has reduced predators in many of Cape Cod’s salt marsh ecosystems, Sesarma crabs have feasted on grasses, causing dramatic die-offs of the marshes, according to a new study. The researchers assessed the “trophic cascade” in several experiments that also ruled out alternative explanations for the problem.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Recreational fishing is a major contributor to the rapid decline of important salt marshes along Cape Cod because it strips top predators such as striped bass, blue crabs, and smooth dogfish out of the ecosystem, according to new research by Brown University ecologists. (more…)

Learning About Spatial Relationships Boosts Understanding of Numbers

By Guest PostJune 18, 2012Sciencearithmetic, calculation, elizabeth gunderson, geometry, gerardo ramirez, jason smith, linear number, math problems, mathematics, number knowledge, number line, numerical representations, objects, puzzles, sian beilock, spatial learning, spatial relationships, spatial skill, stem, Technology, university of chicago

Children who are skilled in understanding how shapes fit together to make recognizable objects also have an advantage when it comes to learning the number line and solving math problems, research at the University of Chicago shows.

The work is further evidence of the value of providing young children with early opportunities in spatial learning, which contributes to their ability to mentally manipulate objects and understand spatial relationships, which are important in a wide range of tasks, including reading maps and graphs and understanding diagrams showing how to put things together. Those skills also have been shown to be important in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. (more…)

“Extremely Little” Telescope Discovers Pair of Odd Planets

By Guest PostJune 17, 2012Sciencebinary system, bluish metal, brown dwarf, constellation andromeda, constellation auriga, david salisbury, digital camera, earth, extrasolar planets, failed star, hd 42176, jupiter, kelt 1b, kelt 2ab, kelt north telescope, mercury, osmium, planet, platinum ore, robert siverd, scott gaudi, small telescope, solar system, southern arizona, thomas beatty, transit method, vanderbilt university

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Even small telescopes can make big discoveries.

Though the KELT North telescope in southern Arizona carries a lens no more powerful than a high-end digital camera, it’s just revealed the existence of two very unusual faraway planets.

One planet is a massive, puffed-up oddity that could change ideas of how solar systems evolve. The other orbits a very bright star, and will allow astronomers to make detailed measurements of the atmospheres of these bizarre worlds. (more…)

Rock of Ages

By Guest PostJune 17, 2012Entertainmentalec baldwin, bon jovi, broadway, catherine zeta jones, city boy, def leppard, drew, foreigner, golden mullet, hollywood dreams, joan jett, journey, julianne hough, night ranger, pat benatar, poison, reo speedwagon, rock n roll, rock of ages, romance, russell brand, sherrie, small town girl, sunset strip, tom cruise, tony awards, twisted sister, whitesnake, yahoo movies

Small town girl Sherrie and city boy Drew meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. Their rock ‘n’ roll romance is told through the hits of Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake, and more. (more…)

Teaching Autistic Teens to Cope

By Guest PostJune 17, 2012Healthalexander gantman, asd, autism spectrum disorder, catherine mogil, elizabeth laugeson, fred frankel, help group, knowledge, social functioning, teenagers, united states

Unique UCLA program that teaches social skills proves effective over long term

Teenagers with autism spectrum disorder are in a bind. The disorder is characterized by impairments in communication and social interaction, but it’s a continuum, so some teens diagnosed with ASD are considered high functioning and healthy enough to be “mainstreamed” in school.

But without the proper social skills, even mainstreamed teens don’t quite fit into the general social milieu of middle school or high school. As a result, they suffer from all the slings and arrows of that world.

Since 2006, however, the UCLA PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) clinic has assisted high-functioning teens with ASD by literally teaching them the strategies they need to fit in better with their peers. And while previous research demonstrated that the program was effective, it wasn’t known whether the new skills “stuck” with these teens after they completed the PEERS classes. (more…)

Offspring of Older Fathers May Live Longer

By Guest PostJune 17, 2012Healthadaptive strategy, evolution of aging, offspring, older fathers, pace of aging

If your father and grandfather waited until they were older before having children, you might experience life-extending benefits. Biologists assume that a slow pace of aging requires that the body invest more resources in repairing cells and tissues. (more…)

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