ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Under the cold clear waters of Lake Huron, University of Michigan researchers have found a five-and-a-half foot-long, pole-shaped piece of wood that is 8,900 years old. The wood, which is tapered and beveled on one side in a way that looks deliberate, may provide important clues to a mysterious period in North American prehistory. (more…)
Corporate directing in the UK has radically changed over the last 24 years yet some board conduct, such as the persistent under-representation of women on boards, has only changed marginally, a unique series of ESRC-funded studies reveals.
The research by Annie Pye, Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter Business School, is based on a series of interviews, which first took place in 1988, with directors who lead some of the UK’s largest listed companies, including Lloyds Banking Group, Marks & Spencer, and Prudential. Described by Sir Adrian Cadbury as “ground-breaking”, the research spans a period of significant change for British business, predating the first code of governance practice for UK companies, through to the present global economic crisis. (more…)
*Windows and Southwest Airlines team up to offer free holiday photos at select airports and shopping malls across the country.*
REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 12, 2011 — The holiday rush can be overwhelming. With shopping, traveling and holiday parties galore, people run around like crazy and still don’t have enough time to do everything they’d like with friends and family.
But with a little help from Santa, Windows and Southwest Airlines are hoping to relieve that stress and bring families some holiday cheer this season. With A Picture Perfect Holiday, Microsoft and Southwest Airlines are partnering to offer free holiday photos in convenient locations for the second year in a row. (more…)
Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a universal technique for stripping nanocrystals of tether-like molecules that until now have posed as obstacles for their integration into devices. These findings could provide scientists with a clean slate for developing new nanocrystal-based technologies for energy storage, photovoltaics, smart windows, solar fuels and light-emitting diodes.
Nanocrystals are typically prepared in a chemical solution using stringy molecules called ligands chemically tethered to their surface. These hydrocarbon-based or organometallic molecules help stabilize the nanocrystal, but also form an undesirable insulating shell around the structure. Efficient and clean removal of these surface ligands is challenging and has eluded researchers for decades. (more…)
Rats use their knowledge to make decisions when faced with ambiguous situations, UCLA psychologists report.
“Rats often make judgments and behave as if they’re rational creatures,” said UCLA associate professor of psychology Aaron Blaisdell, a member of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute and senior author of a new study published in the December issue of the journal Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. (more…)
About 3,700 years ago, people on Earth would have seen a brand-new bright star in the sky. It slowly dimmed out of sight and was eventually forgotten, until modern astronomers later found its remains, called Puppis A. In this new image from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Puppis A looks less like the remains of a supernova explosion and more like a red rose.
Puppis A (pronounced PUP-pis) was formed when a massive star ended its life in a supernova, the most brilliant and powerful form of an explosion in the known universe. The expanding shock waves from that explosion are heating up the dust and gas clouds surrounding the supernova, causing them to glow and appear red in this infrared view. While much of the material from that original star was violently thrown out into space, some of it remained in an incredibly dense object called a neutron star. This particular neutron star (too faint to be seen in this image) is moving inexplicably fast: over 3 million miles per hour! Astronomers are perplexed over its absurd speed, and have nicknamed the object the “Cosmic Cannonball.” (more…)
*A new study of health insurance in nine Chinese provinces shows that individual coverage surged within a two-year time frame, from 2004-2006, coinciding with new government interventions designed to improve access to health care. The changes were most dramatic in rural areas.*
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Health care coverage increased dramatically in parts of China between 1997 and 2006, a period when government interventions were implemented to improve access to health care, with particularly striking upswings in rural areas, according to new research by Brown University sociologist Susan E. Short and Hongwei Xu of the University of Michigan. The findings appear in the December issue of Health Affairs.
Led by Xu, a former Brown graduate student, the study analyzed data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, which follows households in nine provinces that are home to more than 40 percent of China’s population. Xu and Short specifically focused on patterns of coverage among rural and urban residents. (more…)
An image taken by UA astrophotographer Adam Block, chosen by NASA as Astronomy Picture of the Day, brings us the best yet glimpse into a stellar nursery about 450 light years away from Earth.
An image of a stellar nursery about 450 light years away featured as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day on Dec. 8 reveals the beauty and violent story of Sh2-239, a region where stars are being born and ignite the cosmic dust with their new-found energy. (more…)
