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Amazon.com Announces Launch of New Visual Search Capability for Customers

*Amazon customers can now refine search results by using new shape picker technology*

SEATTLE, Nov 19, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. today announced a new search capability available to all customers in Amazon’s men’s and women’s shoe stores. This new capability allows customers to search and browse for shoes based on how they look, allowing them to find the styles they want easily and quickly.

“With the launch of this new search feature, finding the right pair of shoes becomes even easier for customers,” said Bill Stasior, president of A9. “The customer is presented with a palette of shapes, representing different styles of shoes and that palette is constantly changing to match the customer’s context. Because the styles are shown graphically as silhouettes, customers don’t even need to know the name of the styles they are exploring.” (more…)

National Zoo and Partners First to Breed Critically Endangered Tree Frog

Environment, Nature

Although the La Loma tree frog, Hyloscirtus colymba, is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, the rescue project is the first to successfully breed this species. Image credit: Brian Gratwice, Smithsonian's National Zoo

As frogs around the world continue to disappear—many killed by a rapidly spreading disease called chytridiomycosis, which attacks the skin cells of amphibians—one critically endangered species has received an encouraging boost. Although the La Loma tree frog, Hyloscirtus colymba, is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is the first to successfully breed this species.

“We are some of the first researchers to attempt to breed these animals into captivity and we have very little information about how to care for them,” said Brian Gratwicke, international coordinator for the project and a research biologist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, one of nine project partners. “We were warned that we might not be able to keep these frogs alive, but through a little bit of guesswork, attention to detail and collaboration with other husbandry experts—we’ve managed to breed them. The lessons we’re learning have put us on target to save this incredible species and our other priority species in Panama.” (more…)

Mastermind Steroid Found in Plants

Nature, Science

Palo Alto, CA — Scientists have known for some time how important plant steroids called brassinosteroids are for regulating plant growth and development. But until now, they did not know how extensive their reach is.

Now researchers, including Yu Sun and Zhi-Yong Wang at Carnegie’s Department of Plant Biology, have identified about a thousand brassinosteroid target genes, which reveal molecular links between the steroid and numerous cellular functions and other hormonal and light-activated chain reactions. The study, published in the November 16, 2010, issue of Developmental Cell, provides the first comprehensive action map for a plant hormone. The research will help accelerate basic plant science and crop research. (more…)

comScore Releases October 2010 U.S. Search Engine Rankings

Technology

RESTON, VA, November 18, 2010 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in October with 66.3 percent of searches conducted, an increase of 0.2 share points from September 2010.

The October 2010 qSearch figures represent the second month of results including the impact of Google Instant Search, a Google search feature that delivers results in real-time while users type their query. To learn more about how comScore is measuring search activity as users engage with Google Instant Search, please read our blog post on the subject: https://blog.comscore.com/2010/10/comscore_september_qsearch.html (more…)

Still Feels Like a Recession, But Slow Recovery Will Pick Up

Economy

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—While the nation’s economy will gain some momentum in the second half of next year, it will take until 2012 before unemployment finally begins to subside, say economists at the University of Michigan. (more…)

‘Al Jazeera Helps Shape Political Identity of Arabs’

Culture, Politics

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Residents of the Middle East who are heavy viewers of Arab television news networks like Al Jazeera are more likely to view their primary identity as that of Muslims, rather than as citizens of their own country, a new study suggests.

Because networks like Al Jazeera are transnational – focusing on events of interest across the region rather than those in any one country – they may encourage viewers to see themselves in broader terms than simply residents of a particular nation, the researchers said.

“The goal of these relatively new networks is not to represent specific national interests, but to appeal to audiences across the region,” said Erik Nisbet, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University. (more…)

German Internet Users Received 188 Billion Display Ads in Q3 2010

Technology

*Telefonica Europe Ranks as Top Display Advertiser in Germany*

LONDON, U.K., November 18, 2010 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an overview of the German online display advertising market for Q3 2010, using the comScore Ad Metrix service. The data revealed that German internet users received more than 188 billion display ads during the quarter.

“With 188 billion online display ad impressions served in Germany in the third quarter, it’s evident that online advertising has become a sizeable market over the past few years,” said Peter Bernschneider, account manager of comScore Germany. “Social networking sites continue to attract users as well as advertisers, with the top 3 ad publishers in Germany being social networking sites.” (more…)

Trapping Antihydrogen: Antimatter Atoms Successfully Stored for the First Time

Science

An artist’s impression of an antihydrogen atom – a negatively charged antiproton orbited by a positively charge anti-electron, or positron – trapped by magnetic fields. Image credit:Katie Bertsche

Atoms of antimatter have been trapped and stored for the first time by the ALPHA collaboration, an international team of scientists working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research near Geneva, Switzerland. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have made key contributions to the ongoing international effort.

ALPHA stored atoms of antihydrogen, consisting of a single negatively charged antiproton orbited by a single positively charged anti-electron (positron). While the number of trapped anti-atoms is far too small to fuel the Starship Enterprise’s matter-antimatter reactor, this advance brings closer the day when scientists will be able to make precision tests of the fundamental symmetries of nature. Measurements of anti-atoms may reveal how the physics of antimatter differs from that of the ordinary matter that dominates the world we know today.

Large quantities of antihydrogen atoms were first made at CERN eight years ago by two other teams. Although they made antimatter they couldn’t store it, because the anti-atoms touched the ordinary-matter walls of the experiments within millionths of a second after forming and were instantly annihilated—completely destroyed by conversion to energy and other particles. (more…)