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‘Gears of War 3’ is an Action-Packed Father and Son Story

By Guest PostSeptember 20, 2011Technologyamerican chopper, anya stroud, chris wynn, christmas, delta squad, discovery channel, dlcs, downloadable content, epic games, gears of war, gears of war 3, locust horde, marcus fenix, microsoft studios, new york city, new zealand, paul teutul, role playing games, rpgs, sci fi warfare trilogy, times square, troops of delta squad, xbox 360, xbox live

*Thousands of retailers around the world are opening their doors at midnight for the launch of the long-awaited “Gears of War 3,” a dramatic, action-packed finale to the Xbox 360 sci-fi warfare trilogy.*

REDMOND, Wash. – “Gears of War 3,” the dramatic, action-packed, much-anticipated conclusion to the blockbuster Xbox 360 trilogy, marches out at midnight.

Fans who have been waiting for the final chapter in the sci-fi warfare saga are lining up around the world to buy the game, which goes on sale at 12 a.m. on Tuesday, September 20. With 20,000 launch locations, the release is the franchise’s biggest, stretching from New Zealand to Times Square. (more…)

This Beetle Uses Eggs as Shields Against Wasps

By Guest PostSeptember 19, 2011Sciencebeetle larva, beetles, charismatic organisms, cocoon, eggs, joseph deas, m amicus, martha hunter, mesquite and acacia trees, mimosestes amicus, national science foundation, novel discovery, palo verde, parasitic wasps, parasitoids, red eyes, seed beetles, southwestern us, trees of tucson, university of arizona, uscana semifumipennis, wasp

*New UA research has discovered that seed beetles from the desert Southwest shelter their broods from attacking parasitic wasps under a stack of dummy eggs.*

They lead modest lives among the palo verde, mesquite and acacia trees throughout the Southwestern U.S., laying their eggs on seed pods and defending the survival of their offspring against the parasitic wasp species that attacks their eggs before their young can develop.

They are the seed beetles Mimosestes amicus, living all around us in the trees of Tucson, and yet remaining all but invisible to our eyes – or nearly so. (more…)

MU Study Finds Quitting Smoking Enhances Personality Change

By Guest PostSeptember 19, 2011Healthandrew littlefield, anti smoking efforts, kenneth j sher, key elements of smoking, neuroticism, over long term negative consequences, personality, relationship of genetic and environmental factors, smoking, tobacco use, university of missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri researchers have found evidence that shows those who quit smoking show improvements in their overall personality.

“The data indicate that for some young adults smoking is impulsive,” said Andrew Littlefield, a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Science. “That means that 18-year-olds are acting without a lot of forethought and favor immediate rewards over long term negative consequences. They might say, ‘I know smoking is bad for me, but I’m going to do it anyway.’ However, we find individuals who show the most decreases in impulsivity also are more likely quit smoking. If we can target anti-smoking efforts at that impulsivity, it may help the young people stop smoking.” (more…)

Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Minimum 2011 Extent, the Second Lowest in the Satellite Record

By Guest PostSeptember 19, 2011Environmentclimate variability, ice free summers, late season melt, satellite record, sea ice, sea ice extent

The blanket of sea ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean appears to have reached its lowest extent for 2011, the second lowest recorded since satellites began measuring it in 1979, according to the University of Colorado Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center. (more…)

Bailed-out Banks Issued Riskier Loans

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Economybailed-out, banks issued riskier loans, capital purchase program, denis sosyura, federal bailout money, federal program, loan-to-income ratio, ran duchin, risky investments, tarp banks increased 10 percent, troubled asset relief program

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Banks that received federal bailout money ended up approving riskier loans and shifting capital toward risky investments after getting government help, say University of Michigan researchers.

In a new study on risk-taking by banks that received funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, finance professors Ran Duchin and Denis Sosyura of Michigan’s Ross School of Business found that the overall risk level of TARP banks increased 10 percent. Further, these banks were no more likely to issue loans, overall, than non-TARP banks, in contrast to the declared objective of the federal program to increase lending. (more…)

Scorched Earth: The Past, Present and Future of Human Influences on Wildfires

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Environmentearth, fires, human ignition, jennifer balch, pre human fire history, relative influences of climate, role of fire in natural ecosystems, sustainable fire management practices, university of california at santa barbara, western united states, wildfires

*A new framework for evaluating human influences on wildfires is developed*

Fires have continuously occurred on Earth for at least the last 400 million years. But since the 1970s, the frequency of wildfires has increased at least four-fold, and the total size of burn areas has increased at least six-fold in the western United States alone. Steadily rising, the U.S.’s bill for fighting wildfires now totals $1.5 billion per year.

How much of the increases in the frequency and size of fires are due to human activities? No one knows for sure. But a paper in this week’s issue of the Journal of Biogeography puts the role of fire in natural ecosystems into context and provides support for efforts to plan for future risks from wildfires. (more…)

Of Mice and Men

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Sciencecommon lab mice, genetic studies, human diseases, lab mice, mouse genomes, strains of mice

The genomes of 17 common strains of lab mice were sequenced to advance genetic studies of human diseases

Scientists have sequenced the genomes (genetic codes) of 17 strains of common lab mice–an achievement that lays the groundwork for the identification of genes responsible for important traits, including diseases that afflict both mice and humans. (more…)

Look Ma, No Hands: Yale Engineers Invent a Magnetic Fluid Pump with No Moving Parts

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Scienceferrofluid pump technology, ferrohydrodynamic pumping mechanism, magnetic fluid pump, nanoparticle fluid propulsion

Used in Hollywood and the advertising industry to create exotic special effects, ferrofluids are seemingly magical materials that are both liquid and magnetic at once. In a study published today in Physical Review B, Yale electrical engineering professor Hur Koser and colleagues from the University of Georgia and Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrate for the first time an approach that allows ferrofluids to be pumped by magnetic fields alone. The invention could lead to new applications for this mysterious material. (more…)

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