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Mission Possible or Impossible? UA Space Systems Engineer Has the Answer

Scientists have endless ideas for extraterrestrial exploration. Some are feasible, some not. In a two-part series, we look at how UA engineer Roberto Furfaro gives the red or green light to space missions. First, searching for Delta-V, the complex factor that makes a space mission viable

Our solar system is becoming a familiar backyard, thanks to the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, or LPL, a world leader in interplanetary exploration. (more…)

Hurricane Irene: Scientists Collect Water Quality and Climate Change Data from Huge Storm

Environment

Researchers pursue new information from East Coast hurricane

While Hurricane Irene had officials along the East Coast preparing for mass evacuations, scientists at the Stroud Water Research Center and the University of Delaware were grabbing their best data collection tools and heading straight for the storm’s path. (more…)

Smokers with Mental Disorders, Drug and Alcohol Problems Need Doctors’ Help to Quit

Health

Smokers who also have alcohol, drug and mental disorders would benefit greatly from smoking-cessation counseling from their primary care physicians and would be five times more successful at kicking the habit, a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.

Smokers with these co-morbid conditions make up about 40 percent of the smoking population, have a more difficult time quitting and represent a significant burden on the health care system. If their primary care physicians could help them to quit smoking, it would not only improve their health of patients but would reduce tobacco-related health care costs, said Dr. Michael Ong, an assistant professor of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a researcher with UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. (more…)

Free Radicals Crucial To Suppressing Appetite

Health

Obesity is growing at alarming rates worldwide, and the biggest culprit is overeating. In a study of brain circuits that control hunger and satiety, Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that molecular mechanisms controlling free radicals-molecules tied to aging and tissue damage-are at the heart of increased appetite in diet-induced obesity. (more…)

Irene Highlights Critical Roles of Government, Public

Environment, Politics

EAST LANSING, Mich. — As Tropical Storm Irene shows, dealing with natural disasters is a two-way street: Both the government and the public play a critical role in curtailing the effects, according to a Michigan State University political scientist. (more…)

NASA Satellite Shows a Mean Irene’s Fury

Environment

After pounding North Carolina and Virginia on Aug. 27, Hurricane Irene made a second landfall near Little Egg Inlet, N.J., early Sunday morning, Aug. 28, still as a category one hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kilometers per hour). It then weakened slightly before making a third landfall over Coney Island, N.Y. as a 65-mph (100-kilometer-per-hour) tropical storm. Irene’s heavy rains, winds and storm surge are causing widespread problems throughout the U.S. mid-Atlantic and Northeast. (more…)

Discovery of Why Influenza B Virus Exclusively Infects Humans Opens Door for Drugs to Fight Seasonal Epidemics Caused by Virus

Science

AUSTIN, Texas — The three-dimensional structure of a site on an influenza B virus protein that suppresses human defenses to infection has been determined by researchers at Rutgers University and The University of Texas at Austin. (more…)

Helping Keep Children Safe Online

Technology

*Organizations around the world are addressing cyberbullying — and digital safety overall — by empowering youth and providing educators with resources to help them navigate the digital world. Includes tips for preventing cyberbullying.*

Redmond, Wash. — Aug. 25, 2011 — For all the benefits that smartphones, computers and the Web have to offer — especially for young people who have embraced digital technology and use it every day — there will always be those who misuse the technology to harass others, including their peers.

Known as “cyberbullying,” this problem can occur at any time of the day or night, due to the always-on nature of the devices and technologies used to create these hurtful interactions. So, for some young people, home offers no respite from being victimized. In fact, cyberbullying has beome common enough that the term was recently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. (more…)