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Most Low Birth Weight Babies Become Productive Adults

John Goddeeris, professor of economics. Image credit: Michigan State University

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Most survivors of extremely low birth weight grow up to become productive adults, according to a study led by a Michigan State University economist.

Extremely low birth weight is defined as less than about 2.2 pounds. About one in 200 babies is born at that size. But because relatively few survived prior to the 1980s, few studies have examined their adult outcomes.

The study led by MSU’s John Goddeeris found that while these survivors were somewhat less productive as adults, on average, than normal-weight subjects, the productivity deficits were not very large. The study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics, measured education and salary levels.

“Our findings suggest that the long-term economic impact of being born at extremely low birth weight is pretty modest for typical survivors,” said Goddeeris, professor of economics. (more…)

Billion Dollar Bonanza: Cyber Monday Surpasses $1 Billion in U.S. Spending as Heaviest Online Shopping Day in History

*Cyber Monday Shows 16 Percent Increase vs. Year Ago with Half of Online Spending Coming from Work Computers*

RESTON, VA, December 1, 2010 – comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 29 days of the November – December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $13.55 billion has been spent online, marking a 13-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Cyber Monday reached $1.028 billion in online spending, up 16 percent versus year ago, representing the heaviest online spending day in history and the first to surpass the billion-dollar threshold. (more…)

Made in IBM Labs: Breakthrough Chip Technology Lights the Path to Exascale Computing

*IBM Silicon Nanophotonics uses optical signals to connect chips together faster and with lower power*

Yorktown Heights, N.Y. – 01 Dec 2010: IBM scientists today unveiled a new chip technology that integrates electrical and optical devices on the same piece of silicon, enabling computer chips to communicate using pulses of light (instead of electrical signals), resulting in smaller, faster and more power-efficient chips than is possible with conventional technologies.

The new technology, called CMOS Integrated Silicon Nanophotonics, is the result of a decade of development at IBM’s global Research laboratories. The patented technology will change and improve the way computer chips communicate – by integrating optical devices and functions directly onto a silicon chip, enabling over 10X improvement in integration density than is feasible with current manufacturing techniques. (more…)

Amazon.com and Penguin Group (USA) Announce Fourth Annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition

*Two grand prize winners, one for general fiction and one for best young adult novel, to be published by Penguin Group (USA)*

SEATTLE & NEW YORK, Dec 01, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. and Penguin Group (USA) today announced the fourth annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition, the international competition seeking the next popular novel. Due to the popularity of the additional young adult category in 2010, the competition will again award two grand prizes: one for general fiction and one for best young adult novel. Each grand prize winner will be published by Penguin Group (USA). The 2011 competition will again be open to unpublished and self-published novels. Writers around the world are encouraged to begin preparing their manuscripts for entry into the competition, which will launch on Jan. 24, 2011. (more…)

5.7 Million Californians Lack Access to Job-based Coverage

Most Americans receive health insurance coverage through their employer, or through an employed family member’s dependent coverage. Yet having a job is no guarantee of coverage, according to a new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

Using data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the brief’s authors found that one-fifth of Californians under age 65 who lived in households with at least one employed family member — or 5.7 million – had no access to job-based health insurance in 2007. (more…)

Yahoo!’s Top Ten of Everything 2010

– Analysis of billions of searches used to gauge the mood of the great British public (more…)

WikiLeaks Embarrasses U.S. in Espionage Efforts

U.S. accused of sending spies to Russia, Britain, France, China and UN Secretary General

UN Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, and diplomats from Russia, Britain, France and China in the Security Council were monitored (spied on) entities by order of the Secretary of State of the United States, Hillary Clinton.

The charge is from Wikileaks, a website dedicated to revealing the secret military documents of the U.S. and other countries. The site has already released 400,000 secret documents about the war in Iraq and 90,000 confidential reports on abuses in Afghanistan. (more…)

comScore Introduces Online Video Measurement Service in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Spain

*YouTube.com Makes Google Sites the Top Ranking Video Property across Latin America and Spain*

Santiago, Chile, November 30, 2010 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today announced the launch of comScore Video Metrix in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Spain as comScore continues to expand its video measurement footprint across the globe. comScore’s industry-leading video measurement product is now available for 16 individual markets, with additional countries becoming available in the near future. comScore will be hosting a complimentary webinar How Latin America is Shaping Online Video’s Global Growth on December 1. For more details and to register, please visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/653852337 (more…)