Astronomers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have discovered a new comet that they expect will be visible to the naked eye in early 2013.
Originally found by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Haleakala, Maui, on the night of June 5-6, it was confirmed to be a comet by UH Mānoa astronomer Richard Wainscoat and graduate student Marco Micheli the following night using the Canada-France-Hawaiʻi Telescope on Mauna Kea. (more…)
*Yahoo! to premiere select short films from the Festival online and launch online audience award*
SUNNYVALE, Calif.-– To further demonstrate the company’s commitment to the creative community, Yahoo!, the 
premier digital media company, today announced it is the Official Sponsor of the Short Film Program at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, which runs January 19-29, 2012 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
As a sponsor, Yahoo! will premiere a select number of short films from the Festival on Yahoo! Movies, a leading online movie destination that reaches 27.5 million users per month. Consumers will also be able to vote for an audience award, which will be presented to the winning filmmaker at the Short Film Awards party taking place during the Festival. (more…)
Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have developed a novel iPhone application that may enable persons with Parkinson’s disease and certain other neurological conditions to use the ubiquitous devices to collect data on hand and arm tremors and relay the results to medical personnel.
The researchers believe the application could replace subjective tests now used to assess the severity of tremors, while potentially allowing more frequent patient monitoring without costly visits to medical facilities. (more…)
Acclaimed by her peers in the United States as “possibly the greatest woman scientist of the 20th century” and known in her native New Zealand as a “world leader in modern cosmology and one of the most creative and significant theoreticians in modern astronomy,” the late Yale astronomer Beatrice Tinsley has certainly earned a place in the annals of history.
Now she’s earned a place in the World Atlas as well. (more…)
Rate is greater now than at any time during past 2,100 years
The rate of sea level rise along the U.S. Atlantic coast is greater now than at any time in the past 2,000 years–and has shown a consistent link between changes in global mean surface temperature and sea level. (more…)
*Voting opens for Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011 People’s Choice Award.*
NEW YORK — June 20, 2011 — Today, activist, actor, author and philanthropist Eva Longoria asked people around the world to celebrate the amazing work of student humanitarians by voting for the Imagine Cup 2011 People’s Choice Award at https://www.imaginecup.com/pca. Imagine Cup by Microsoft Corp. is the world’s premier student technology competition, challenging students from around the globe to use technology to tackle social issues, such as helping with disaster recovery, improving access to clean water, and expanding rural education and health care.
In an online video, Longoria spoke about how students can make a difference by using technology to address the world’s toughest problems, and she encouraged people to vote for the People’s Choice Award, in which the public chooses their favorite projects from this year’s Imagine Cup. Voting begins today and runs through July 12. (more…)
*Evaluation of numerous automated traffic studies indicate safety benefits outweigh drawbacks*
COLUMBIA, Mo. — As automated traffic monitoring systems such as red light cameras keep a law enforcement “eye” on the streets across the country, many drivers accuse city governments of installing the monitors as a way to generate revenue. New research from the University of Missouri says the safety benefits of automated traffic monitoring systems far outweigh the potential for abuse. (more…)
The prevailing narrative of the financial crisis revolves around banks’ reduced ability to issue loans, but a new paper by University of Arizona associate professor of finance Kathy Kahle reveals that the credit supply shock did not affect publicly traded firms as much as expected.
Bank losses from toxic assets were responsible for the credit contraction, but those toxic assets – mostly mortgage-backed securities – are not directly related to the performance of industrial firms. (more…)
