Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a prototype wireless sensor capable of detecting trace amounts of a key ingredient found in many explosives. (more…)
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Individuals who practice religion and spirituality report better physical and mental health than those who do not. To better understand this relationship and how spirituality/religion can be used for coping with significant health issues, University of Missouri researchers are examining what aspects of religion are most beneficial and for what populations. Now, MU health psychology researchers have found that religious and spiritual support improves health outcomes for both men and women who face chronic health conditions. (more…)
As the Byzantine Empire was in decline, Islam began to dominate the Middle East, with a remarkable culture that showed a command of technology and an appreciation of art and decoration, research by archaeologists shows.
In order to study Islamic civilization in its earliest days, Donald Whitcomb, who directs the Islamic Archaeology project at the Oriental Institute, is undertaking a project with Palestinian colleagues to further excavate an early Islamic site north of Jericho that contains a palace, a bathhouse and what was probably a settlement to the north. (more…)
*Apple iOS Accounts for 31 Percent of EU5 Mobile and Connected Devices in Use and 61 Percent of Non-Computer Digital Traffic*
LONDON, UK, 26 October 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an overview of the 
mobile and connected device landscape across five leading European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom). The data shows cross-platform digital media consumption on the rise in the region, buoyed by the growth in adoption of smartphones, tablets and other non-computer web-enabled devices, collectively termed “connected devices”. In August 2011, these devices drove 4.6 percent of total digital traffic in the EU5, fuelled primarily by the use of smartphones.
“While we have seen the increasing adoption of smartphones in the EU5 contribute to the rapid growth of mobile media consumption, we are also beginning to see tablets and other connected devices play an increasing role,” said Jeremy Copp, comScore vice president for Mobile in Europe. “With more options available for consuming digital media on the go than ever before, many users now access online content from multiple platforms throughout the day. This media fragmentation has made it more important than ever for advertisers and publishers to take a holistic view of audience measurement to effectively reach their audiences.” (more…)
Comet Elenin is no more.
Latest indications are this relatively small comet has broken into even smaller, even less significant, chunks of dust and ice. This trail of piffling particles will remain on the same path as the original comet, completing its unexceptional swing through the inner solar system this fall.
“Elenin did as new comets passing close by the sun do about two percent of the time: It broke apart,” said Don Yeomans of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “Elenin’s remnants will also act as other broken-up comets act. They will trail along in a debris cloud that will follow a well-understood path out of the inner solar system. After that, we won’t see the scraps of comet Elenin around these parts for almost 12 millennia.” (more…)
*Microsoft BizSpark One startup creates real-time workspace market, benefitting property owners and entrepreneurs alike.*
REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 26, 2011 — On the surface, the concept of Microsoft BizSpark One member LiquidSpace is simple: provide an easy way to match mobile workers with available workspace, in real time. Below the surface and behind the scenes, however, bigger currents are flowing, as the “where” of office work is being re-imagined.
Company founder Mark Gilbreath calls his vision the “consumerization of real estate.” The LiquidSpace mobile and Web-based app capitalizes on a number of important trends: the increasing mobility of workers, the real-time quality of today’s work, the economic and environmental drag of empty commercial space, and the availability of location-aware technologies and cloud services infrastructure such as Windows Azure. (more…)
*Bacterial cells have gene mutations that allow them to ‘stick’ to the devices*
New research suggests that some patients develop a potentially deadly blood infection from their implanted cardiac devices because bacterial cells in their bodies have gene mutations that allow them to stick to the devices.
Geoscientists were the major contributors to the finding.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the study results online this week. (more…)
PASADENA, Calif. — A mystery that began nearly 2,000 years ago, when Chinese astronomers witnessed what would turn out to be an exploding star in the sky, has been solved. New infrared observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, reveal how the first supernova ever recorded occurred and how its shattered remains ultimately spread out to great distances.
The findings show that the stellar explosion took place in a hollowed-out cavity, allowing material expelled by the star to travel much faster and farther than it would have otherwise. (more…)
