http://bigblog.com/general_science.html The latest in General Science http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/13/content_8160249.htm BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The 68 giant pandas at two research bases in Chengdu and Ya'an in southwest China's Sichuan Province were all safe after Monday's devastating earthquake, the State Forestry Administration (SFA) said on Tuesday. http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authored_newsitem.cws_home/companynews05_00924 Philadelphia, PA, 7 May, 2008 - Elsevier, the leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information, announced today that Brian Nairn, CEO of Elsevier Health Sciences, is retiring from the company. Michael Hansen, the former CEO of Harcourt Assessment Inc., has been appointed to succeed Nairn and will report to Erik Engstrom, Elseviers CEO; effective June 9th. Nairn will remain with the company during a transition period. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512120523.htm The sun has powered almost everything on Earth since life began, including its climate. The sun also delivers an annual and seasonal impact, changing the character of each hemisphere as Earth's orientation shifts through the year. Since the Industrial Revolution, however, new forces have begun to exert significant influence on Earth's climate. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508092004.htm Chiles Chaiten Volcano is shown spewing ash and smoke into the air for hundreds of kilometers over Argentinas Patagonia Plateau in this Envisat image acquired on 5 May 2008. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509110717.htm When you try to remove adhesive paper from a surface, you inevitably get a pointy flap, while what you want is to remove the entire piece. A team from the Laboratoire de physique et mcanique des milieux htrognes (CNRS/ESPCI/Universits Paris 6 and 7), collaborating with the University of Santiago in Chile and with MIT, has explained the physics behind this frustrating experience. The work is published in Nature Materials, and could be used in testing the mechanical properties of very fine adhesive film used in industry. http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUKWEL23116620080513 WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Volcanic activity at New Zealand's Mount Ruapehu is increasing and an eruption could occur at any time, scientists warned on Tuesday. The volcano in central North Island, famed as a location in the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy, last erupted on September 25 2007, spitting 2 meter (6 feet) boulders distances of up to 2 km (1.5 miles). http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSWEL23116620080513 WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Volcanic activity at New Zealand's Mount Ruapehu is increasing and an eruption could occur at any time, scientists warned on Tuesday. The volcano in central North Island, famed as a location in the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy, last erupted on September 25 2007, spitting 2 meter (6 feet) boulders distances of up to 2 km (1.5 miles). http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/12/podcast-the-hubble-space-telescope/ Our understanding of the cosmos has been revolutionized by the Hubble Space Telescope. The breathtaking familiar photos, like the Pillars of Creation, pale in comparison to the astounding amount of science data returned to Earth. Hubble's getting old, though, serviced several times already, and due for another mission later this year. Let's relive the historic observatory's amazing life so far, and see what the future holds. http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/12/help-find-the-mars-polar-lander/ NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander is just a few weeks away from landing on the surface of Mars. NASA really hopes that this spacecraft doesn't fallow in the doomed path of the previous Mars Polar Lander. What happened to the Mars Polar Lander? Nobody knows. NASA assumes it's smashed up somewhere on the surface of the Red Planet. Now you can help search for it, by looking through high resolution images of the potential crash site. http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/12/scientist-says-texting-is-more-expensive-than-downloading-from-hubble/ Does your cell phone bill ever reach astronomical proportions? Maybe you're doing too much texting. One space scientist has worked out that sending texts via mobile phones works out to be far more expensive than downloading data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Dr. Nigel Bannister from the University of Leicester looked at the cost of obtaining a megabyte of data from Hubble and compared it with the cost of sending a text. His calculations? The bottom line is texting is at least 4 times more expensive than transmitting data from Hubble, and is likely to be substantially more than that." http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authored_newsitem.cws_home/companynews05_00921 authors Erik Bichard and Cary Cooper CBE look at how individuals behave in a situation of global crisis and how businesses can start to take the necessary positive steps towards a more sustainable and financially stable future. http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=5685.php Applied Materials Announces Powerful SunFab Performance Service; Signs Multiyear Agreement with T-Solar http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=5686.php Applied Materials Announces Powerful SunFab Performance Service; Signs Multiyear Agreement with T-Solar http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1209627068357&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull The Ministry of National Infrastructure sought a private tender to build a solar power plant in the southern town of Ashalim Sunday, but no Israeli company has the required experience to offer a bid. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24581891/ Scientists observed a filament connecting two clusters of galaxies, Abell 222 and Abell 223, shown in this composite optical and X-ray image. http://www.physorg.com/news129822126.html There exists much ethical controversy brought about by advances in biology and medicine and the relationship to religion. In a new essay in The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Laurie Zoloth takes an approach to medical ethics that draws upon Jewish texts, traditions, and philosophy to show how acting to change the world is indicative of this faith tradition. http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Science/2008/05/12/new_laser_may_help_find_earthlike_planets/2527/ U.S. and German scientists say they've created an ultrafast laser that, among other things, might aid in the search for Earthlike planets. http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/Microsoft-Brings-Universe-to-Desktop/story.xhtml?story_id=0300034NKBQI Microsoft's free WorldWide Telescope software will let a home PC explore the galaxies using images taken by telescopes and spacecraft. WWT was developed with Microsoft's Visual Experience Engine and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates described it as "an observatory on your desktop." WorldWide Telescope includes commentaries. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1419204&from=rss paradoxSpirit writes "Physorg has a paper comparing the cost of text messaging versus the cost of getting data from Hubble Space Telescope. From the article: 'The maximum size for a text message is 160 characters, which takes 140 bytes because there are only 7 bits per character in the text messaging system, and we assume the average price for a text message is 5p. There are 1,048,576 bytes in a megabyte, so that's 1 million/140 = 7490 text messages to transmit one megabyte. At 5p each, that's 374.49 [$732.95] per MB or about 4.4 times more expensive than the 'most pessimistic' estimate for Hubble Space Telescope transmission costs." "Hubble is by no means a cheap mission but the mobile phone text costs were pretty astronomical!"" http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1380973/national_science_teachers_association_awarded_3_million_multiyear_grant_from/index.html?source=r_science Grant to Support Continued Growth of High-quality, Content-rich Professional Development Resources for Science Educators Nationwide http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1380855/carbon_sciences_targets_near_term_multibillion_dollar_market_for_its/index.html?source=r_science Carbon Sciences, Inc. (OTCBB: CABN), the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) into high value, earth-friendly products, today announced its first application targeting a near term multi-billion dollar global market. http://www.cellular-news.com/story/31095.php A University of Leicester space scientist has worked out that sending texts via mobile phones works out to be far more expensive than downloading data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Dr Nigel Bannister's calculations were used for the UK's Channel 4 Dispatches programme "The Mobile Phone Rip-Off". http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn13877-when-burning-gas-is-good-for-the-planet.html?feedId=online-news_rss20 Rural families can slash their energy costs, improve their health and help preserve local forests by harvesting natural gas from rotting manure, researchers argue. http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Science/2008/05/12/phoenix_spacecraft_on_course_for_mars/7638/ National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientists targeted the spacecraft's certified landing site with a trajectory correction maneuver April 10. But, since then, officials say the spacecraft's performance has been stable enough to allow Jet Propulsion Laboratory controllers to skip a scheduled opportunity for an additional trajectory correction maneuver May 10 and focus on the next such opportunity Saturday. http://www.news-medical.net/?id=38276 Add our medical news to del.icio.us - Discovery of gene mutation which causes epilepsy and mental retardation - but only in women