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Clocking an Accelerating Universe: First Results from BOSS

By Guest PostApril 4, 2012Scienceaccelerate, adam riess, apache point observatory, bao, baryon acoustic oscillation, berkeley lab, beth reid, big bang, brian schmidt, cmb, cosmic microwave background, dan long, dark energy, david schlegel, density peak, einstein, eric huff, euclidean universe, Galaxy, george smoot, gravitational attraction, gravity, high z supernova, hubble, martin white, megaparsecs, Milky Way, new mexico, nobel prize, phenomenon, redshifts, saul perlmutter, scp, sdss, sloan telescope, spectrograph, statistical analysis, universe, zosia rostomian

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

By Guest PostApril 4, 2012Healthbirth of twins, birth weight, fertility therapies, fertility treatment, surviving fetuses, twin births

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. (more…)

‘Kinect Star Wars:’ A Tour de Force by Fans, for Fans

By Guest PostApril 3, 2012Science Fiction, Technologyabby lee, boonta eve, c 3po, craig derrick, darth vader, david tuft, don mattrick, droids, force, galactic dance off, george lucas, Germany, han solo, jabba the hutt, jedi experience, jorg neumann, kinect, kinect star wars, lego, lucasarts, Microsoft, nahil sharkasi, padawans, princess leia, r2 d2, rancor rampage, seattle, star wars, stormtrooper, xbox 360

*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

By Guest PostApril 3, 2012Technologyamericans, apple, Comscore, google android, htc, mobile phone, mobilens data, motorola, Samsung, secondary device, us mobile

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

By Guest PostApril 3, 2012Sciencecar, carbon dioxide, carbon source, chemical batteries, chemical energy, CO2, co2 fixation, dark reaction, electric vehicle, electrical energy, electricity, electro bioreactor, hydraulic pumping, hydrogen, isobutanol, james liao, liquid fuel, lithoautotrophic microorganism, photosynthesis, ralstonia eutropha h16, solar panels

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

By Guest PostApril 3, 2012Technologydigital kitchen, jasmine villegas, just a friend, music video

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…)

Scientists Find Evidence That Human Ancestors Used Fire One Million Years Ago

By Guest PostApril 3, 2012Scienceanimal bones, ari matmon, boston university, excavation, francesco berna, hagai ron, hebrew university, homo erectus, human ancestors, james brink, kalahari, kimberley, liora kolska horwitz, marion bamford, mcgregor museum, michael chazan, microscopic traces, paul goldberg, peter beaumont, sharon holt, South Africa, stone tools, university of toronto, wonderwerk cave, wood ash

300,000 years earlier than believed

An international team led by the University of Toronto and Hebrew University has identified the earliest known evidence of the use of fire by human ancestors. Microscopic traces of wood ash, alongside animal bones and stone tools, were found in a layer dated to one million years ago at the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa. (more…)

Social Media a Key Tool for People Entering Today’s Job Market

By Guest PostApril 3, 2012Economy, General, Technologycommunication, Google, linkedIn, lisa severy, online presence, social media

Many of today’s college students use social media as their main form of communication, but getting them to use it in a professional manner can sometimes be a challenge, according to Lisa Severy, director of the University of Colorado Boulder Office of Career Services.

With many employers using social media and conducting Google searches as part of their employee screening process, creating a positive and professional online presence can go a long way in helping students land a job out of school, according to Severy. (more…)

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