Yahoo! Statement
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Yahoo! today confirmed that it is taking important next steps to reshape the company for the future. (more…)
Author Archives: Guest Post
Yale Center for British Art to partner with Google on expanded Art Project
The Yale Center for British Art is partnering with the Google Art Project to share the museum’s renowned collections with viewers around the world. The collaboration is part of a major global expansion of the pioneering Art Project, which now consists of 151 partners in 40 countries.
The Yale Center for British Art — which houses the largest collection of British art outside the United Kingdom — is one of only six university museums in the world to collaborate with Google. It is one of only 29 institutions in the United States and is the only museum in Connecticut to participate. (more…)
Clocking an Accelerating Universe: First Results from BOSS
Berkeley Lab scientists are the leaders of BOSS, the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. They and their colleagues in the third Sloan Digital Sky Survey have announced the most precise measurements ever made of the era when dark energy turned on.
Some six billion light years distant, almost halfway from now back to the big bang, the universe was undergoing an elemental change. Held back until then by the mutual gravitational attraction of all the matter it contained, the universe had been expanding ever more slowly. Then, as matter spread out and its density decreased, dark energy took over and expansion began to accelerate.
Today BOSS, the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, the largest component of the third Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III), announced the most accurate measurement yet of the distance scale of the universe during the era when dark energy turned on. (more…)
Seeing Double: 1 in 30 Babies Born in U.S. is a Twin
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Women having children at older ages and the growing availability of fertility treatments has led to a marked increase in the birth of twins: In 2009, one in every 30 babies born in the United States was a twin compared with one in every 53 in 1980.
The findings, presented by Michigan State University’s Barbara Luke this week at the 14th Congress of the International Society of Twin Studies in Florence, Italy, have important health implications, including greater morbidity and mortality risks and higher health care costs. (more…)
‘Kinect Star Wars:’ A Tour de Force by Fans, for Fans
*Meet the Force-sensitive fans who helped bring the Star Wars universe to life in “Kinect Star Wars,” the ultimate Jedi experience for Padawans of all ages.*
REDMOND, Wash. – Abby Lee walked into a Seattle toy store recently and purchased two LEGO Darth Vader alarm clocks, a Star Wars pop-up book, and a few LEGO speeder bikes. The bemused checkout clerk asked if she was going to a birthday party.
“No,” Lee replied. “I’m going to work.” (more…)
comScore Reports February 2012 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share
Android Captures Majority Share of U.S. Smartphone Market
RESTON, VA, April 3, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore 
MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending February 2012. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.6 percent market share. Google Android continued to grow its share in the U.S. smartphone market, crossing the 50-percent threshold in February to capture a majority share for the first time in its history.
OEM Market Share
For the three-month average period ending in February, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 19.4 percent share. Apple captured the #3 ranking in February with 13.5 percent of mobile subscribers (up 2.3 percentage points), followed by Motorola at 12.8 percent. HTC moved into the #5 position in February at 6.3 percent (up 0.4 percentage points). (more…)
UCLA Engineering Researchers Use Electricity to Generate Alternative Fuel
Imagine being able to use electricity to power your car — even if it’s not an electric vehicle. Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have for the first time demonstrated a method for converting carbon dioxide into liquid fuel isobutanol using electricity.
Today, electrical energy generated by various methods is still difficult to store efficiently. Chemical batteries, hydraulic pumping and water splitting suffer from low energy-density storage or incompatibility with current transportation infrastructure. (more…)
Jasmine Villegas and Internet Explorer Invite Fans to Be Part of New Interactive Music Video Experience
Fans take center stage and become part of the action in new HTML5 music video.
REDMOND, Wash. — Fans of recording artist Jasmine Villegas have a new way to immerse themselves in her music as they become part of the new video for her hit song, “Just a Friend.” Villegas (known simply as Jasmine) partnered with Internet Explorer and the interactive storytellers at Digital Kitchen to create a highly interactive music video that tailors the experience to each viewer, giving everyone the opportunity to influence the outcome of the storyline, see their own Facebook photos throughout the video and even “talk” to Jasmine herself. (more…)