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Yale Students’ Trip to Rainforest Yields New Way to Degrade Plastic

Organisms discovered by Yale undergraduates growing within fungi in the Amazon Rainforest can degrade polyurethane, a findings that may lead to innovative ways to reduce waste in the world’s landfills.

The paper, accepted for publication in July by the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, is the work of undergraduates who participated in Yale’s Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory course, funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. (more…)

Roman Civilisation Travelled Further than History Books Tell Us

Culture, Science

A University of Exeter archaeologist’s research has uncovered the largest Roman settlement ever found in Devon. The discovery could force us to rewrite the history of the Romans in Britain.

The discovery of a large Roman Settlement in Devon was the result of a chance metal detecting coin find. Danielle Wootton, the Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and archaeologist at the University of Exeter was called on to investigate further. (more…)

Money isn’t Everything for Well-Being, Study Finds

Economy

The Pew Research Center recently reported that the wealth gap between American whites and blacks is the widest since the United States began tracking the statistic in 1984 — with whites, on average, having 20 times the net worth of blacks. However, another recent study contends traditional measures of prosperity that only look at economic factors, while important, are not the best gauges of overall well-being. (more…)

Six Million Years of African Savanna

Environment

Open, grassy environments accompanied human evolution

Scientists using chemical isotopes in ancient soil to measure prehistoric tree cover–in effect, shade–have found that grassy, tree-dotted savannas prevailed at most East African sites where human ancestors and their ape relatives evolved during the past six million years. (more…)

NASA Spacecraft Data Suggest Water Flowing on Mars

Science

PASADENA, Calif. –– Observations from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars. (more…)

Roadblocking Cancer: How Combo Therapies Can Overcome Drug Resistance in Melanoma

Health

About 50 to 60 percent of patients with melanoma have a mutation in the BRAF gene that drives the growth of their cancer. In clinical trials, most of these patients have responded remarkably well to two novel agents that inhibit the gene, but unfortunately, the response is almost always limited in duration, as the cancer develops a resistance to the drugs. (more…)

First Observational Test of the ‘Multiverse’

Science

The theory that our universe is contained inside a bubble, and that multiple alternative universes exist inside their own bubbles – making up the ‘multiverse’ – is, for the first time, being tested by physicists. (more…)

comScore Reports June 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

Technology

*2 out of 5 Smartphone Subscribers Now Use Android Platform*

RESTON, VA, August 4, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending June 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.3 percent market share. Google Android continued to gain ground in the smartphone market reaching 40.1 percent market share in June.

OEM Market Share

For the three month average period ending in June, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 0.8 percentage points), followed by LG with 21.3 percent share (up 0.4 percentage points) and Motorola with 14.5 percent share. Apple strengthened its position at #4 with 8.9 percent share of mobile subscribers (up 1.0 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 7.9 percent share. (more…)