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American Teens Are Less Likely Than European Teens to Use Cigarettes and Alcohol, but More Likely to Use Illicit Drugs

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The U.S. had the second-lowest proportion of students who used tobacco and alcohol compared to their counterparts in 36 European countries, a new report indicates.

The results originate from coordinated school surveys about substance use from more than 100,000 students in some of the largest countries in Europe like Germany, France and Italy, as well as many smaller ones from both Eastern and Western Europe.

Because the methods and measures are largely modeled after the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future surveys in this country, comparisons are possible between the U.S. and European results. The 15- and 16-year-old students, who were drawn in nationally representative samples in almost all of the 36 countries, were surveyed last spring. American 10th graders in the 2011 Monitoring the Future studies are of the same age, so comparisons are possible. (more…)

Iconic New Zealand Reptile Shows Chewing is Not Just for Mammals

Nature

The tuatara, an iconic New Zealand reptile, chews its food in a way unlike any other animal on the planet –challenging the widespread perception that complex chewing ability is closely linked to high metabolism. (more…)

Ceramics Tell the Story of an Ancient Southwest Migration

Science

Another look at a nearly 80-year-old pottery collection at the Arizona State Museum is yielding new information about migrants who abandoned the Four Corners region.

Approximately eight centuries ago, people living along the Colorado Plateau in what is now the Four Corners area faced a crisis. Environmental changes that devastated their agricultural practices and likely aggravated social unrest forced significant numbers of these people to move away. (more…)

Microsoft Marks E3 with “Halo 4,” New Entertainment Experiences

Technology

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, Microsoft announced a robust lineup of new Xbox 360 games, including a new installment of the blockbuster Halo franchise. The company also unveiled new content and entertainment experiences for Xbox LIVE and smart devices.

LOS ANGELES – The Xbox 360 console charged into its seventh Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) today buoyed by a bundle of blockbuster game releases led by Halo 4 and a set of new entertainment experiences that will push Xbox farther into the living room, and onto PCs, tablets and phones.

Microsoft also revealed a set of new Xbox content, partners and apps – including bringing Internet Explorer to the console for the first time. The company also introduced a new music service and Xbox SmartGlass, a new app that brings an immersive entertainment experience to all devices. (more…)

IBM Boosts Smarter Computing Initiative to Help Customers Tackle Big Data

Technology

• New IBM Smarter Storage approach provides for greater performance, efficiencies
• Real-time Compression, LTFS management, and Tivoli upgrades lift storage systems
• IBM makes technical computing more accessible to enterprise customers; IBM Platform Computing software enables technical computing systems to deliver faster results

Armonk, N.Y. – 04 Jun 2012: IBM today accelerated its Smarter Computing initiative by announcing a broad array of performance and efficiency enhancements to its storage and technical computing systems – the engines of Big Data. (more…)

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Entertainment

WHO WILL DIG IT?

History buffs who thought they knew everything there was to know about the 16th President of the United States, and those who appreciate slick, supernatural action. (more…)

Homing in on Higgs: Michigan Researchers Predict Summer Discovery

Science

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Whether the Higgs boson exists could be settled by the end of summer, say University of Michigan physicists involved in the search for the missing piece of particle physics’ Standard Model.

“We’re zooming in,” said Jianming Qian, physics professor in the College of Literature, Science & the Arts. “We are increasing the data set and improving our search algorithms. With certain luck, we may be able to discover it this summer, but it depends on nature.”

Qian is one of the 28 U-M researchers involved in experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland. He’ll spend most of his time through August in Geneva, where more than 1,000 scientists from around the world have been looking for Higgs since the collider turned on about four years ago. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Study Assesses Residential Cooking Exhaust Hoods’ Ability to Vent Pollutants

Environment

Cooking exhaust hoods designed for home kitchens vary widely in their ability to capture and vent away the air pollutants generated by the gas burners on cook stoves, according to a study by two Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientists. Of seven representative devices they tested, the capture efficiency varied from less than 15 percent to more than 98 percent.

The study, by Woody Delp and Brett Singer of Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division, measured their pollutant capture efficiency, sound level generated by their fans, and airflow. Cooking exhaust hoods vent such pollutants as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde, and fine particulates such as soot generated during cooking. (more…)