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Microsoft Research Collaborates With Wikipedia to Enhance Multilingual Content

*WikiBhasha tool will help simplify and speed up the process of creating multilingual content in Wikipedias.*

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 18, 2010 — Microsoft Research today announced the launch of the beta version of WikiBhasha, a multilingual content creation tool for Wikipedia. The WikiBhasha tool enables contributors to Wikipedia to find content from other Wikipedia articles, translate the content into other languages, and then either compose new articles or enhance existing articles in multilingual Wikipedias. (more…)

U of T Biologists Identify Influence of Environment on Sexual vs. Asexual Reproduction

Science

Evolutionary biologists at U of T have found that environment plays a key role in determining whether a species opts for sexual over asexual reproduction. (more…)

Osteoporosis Drug Builds Bone in Patients with Gum Disease

Health

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A drug marketed to grow bone in osteoporosis patients also works to heal bone wounds in gum disease patients, a University of Michigan study suggests. (more…)

A River Ran Through It

Nature, Science

About the image: A now dry Colorado River delta branches into the Baja/Sonoran Desert near the Sea of Cortez. Image credit: Pete McBride

Rivers and streams supply the lifeblood to ecosystems across the globe, providing water for drinking and irrigation for humans as well as a wide array of life forms from single-celled organisms up to the fish humans eat.

But humans and nature itself are making it tough on rivers to continue in their central role to support fish species, according to new research by a team of scientists including John Sabo, a biologist at Arizona State University.

Globally, rivers and streams are being drained due to human use and climate change. These and other human impacts alter the natural variability of river flows.

Some affected rivers have dried and no longer run, while others have seen increases in the variability of flows due to storm floods. (more…)

Squid Studies Provide Valuable Insights Into Hearing Mechanisms

Nature

The ordinary squid, Loligo pealii—best known until now as a kind of floating buffet for just about any fish in the sea—may be on the verge of becoming a scientific superstar, providing clues about the origin and evolution of the sense of hearing. (more…)

Many Still Do Not Understand The ‘Why’ of Climate Change

Culture, Environment

Sixty-three percent of Americans believe that global warming is happening, but many do not understand why, according to a national study conducted by researchers at Yale University.

(more…)

Giant Star Goes Supernova — and is Smothered by Its Own Dust

Science

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A giant star in a faraway galaxy recently ended its life with a dust-shrouded whimper instead of the more typical bang.

Ohio State University researchers suspect that this odd event — the first one of its kind ever viewed by astronomers – was more common early in the universe. (more…)

Using Discards, Scientists Discover Different Dinosaurs’ Stomping Grounds

Science

By examining the type of rock in which dinosaur fossils were embedded, an often unappreciated part of the remains,

Certain dinosaur species liked to live in different habitats, separated by only a few miles. Image credit: Nicholas Longrich

scientists have determined that different species of North American dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous period 65 million years ago occupied different environments separated by just a few miles.

Hadrosaurs or duck-billed dinosaurs, along with the small ornithopod Thescelosaurus, preferred to live along the edge of rivers, according to the research. Ceratopsians, on the other hand, which include the well-known Triceratops, preferred to be several miles inland.

The findings, which appear in the online edition of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, give scientists a more complete picture of the distribution of different species and help explain how several large herbivores managed to coexist. (more…)