Soon, You Will Be Able To Wear A Computer

It might be not long before you start wearing a computer just as you put on your shoes, watch and jacket.
"As general computing systems become smaller, we are reaching a point at which it becomes conceivable to don these devices easily," Andy Fagg of the computer science faculty at the University of Massachusetts has been quoted by online ScienceDaily as saying.
Fagg, who is developing a wearable computer, said such a device offers access to information and communication resources at any time during walking hours.
"It isn't about being able to write a paper or send an e-mail while you are grocery store. It's about having digital assistance as you go about your life," he added.
Fagg's aim, ScienceDaily said, is to teach the computer to "notice" a user's routines and offer information accordingly.
For instance, if the computer notices that he enters a conference room at a particular time, "it should figure out he is going to a meeting and pull out appropriate documents, including minutes of the last meeting, and notes from related discussions.
Another example offered by him: "I could tell the system I'm going to be cooking a certain recipe for dinner. The system will know what I have in the kitchen cabinets at home. If I drive near the grocery store, it wakes up and whispers, 'Don't forget to stop at the grocery store, and by the way, you need these three items for the dinner you want to cook tonight.'"

Asteroid May Strike Mars in January 2008

Scientists at the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory believe a newly discovered asteroid has a 1 in 75 chance of hitting Mars on January 30, 2008.
Astronomer Steve Chesley said,"These odds are extremely unusual. We frequently work with really long odds when we track ... threatening asteroids. We know that it's going to fly by Mars and most likely going to miss, but there's a possibility of an impact"
Halfway between Earth and Mars, the asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November and initially estimated to have a 1 in 350 chance of making impact. However, as new observations were made, the odds increased and scientists expect them to grow even more next month.
2007 WD5 is similar in size to the object believed to have impacted the Tunguska River in Siberia in 1908, devastating a huge area of land. The Tunguska blast unleashed equivalent energy to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb, wiping out over 60 million trees. An impact by 2007 WD5 could create a crater on Mars roughly equal to the size of one in Arizona known as "Meteor Crater."
If a Mars impact does occur, it will most likely be near the equator, an area that the robotic rover, Opportunity, has been exploring. The rover, itself, is not in any danger because it is outside of the possible impact area.
Chesley says, "Unlike an Earth impact, we're not afraid, but we're excited."

Active Glacier Found On Mars

A probable active glacier has been identified for the first time on Mars.
The icy feature has been spotted in images from the European Space Agency's (Esa) Mars Express spacecraft.
Ancient glaciers, many millions of years old, have been seen before on the Red Planet, but this one may only be several thousand years old.
The young glacier appears in the Deuteronilus Mensae region between Mars' rugged southern highlands and the flat northern lowlands.
"If it was an image of Earth, I would say 'glacier' right away," Dr Gerhard Neukum, chief scientist on the spacecraft's High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), told reporters.
"We have not yet been able to see the spectral signature of water. But we will fly over it in the coming months and take measurements. On the glacial ridges, we can see white tips, which can only be freshly exposed ice."
This is found in very few places on the Red Planet because as soon as ice is exposed to the Martian environment, it sublimates (turns from a solid state directly into gas).

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2007

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2007 jointly to
Albert Fert
Unité Mixte de Physique CNRS/THALES, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France,
and
Peter Grünberg
Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany

Prize amount: SEK 10 million to be shared equally between the Laureates

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2007: Peter Grünberg

Peter Grünberg, German citizen. Born 1939 in Pilsen. Ph.D. in 1969 at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. Professor at Institut für Festkörperforschung, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany, since 1972.www.fz-juelich.de/portal/gruenberg_e

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2007: Albert Fert

Albert Fert, French citizen. Born 1938 in Carcassonne, France. Ph.D. in 1970 at Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France. Professor at Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France, since 1976. Scientific director of Unité mixte de physique CNRS/Thales, Orsay, France, since 1995. www2.cnrs.fr/en/338.htm

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2007

Nanotechnology gives sensitive read-out heads for compact hard disks

This year's physics prize is awarded for the technology that is used to read data on hard disks. It is thanks to this technology that it has been possible to miniaturize hard disks so radically in recent years. Sensitive read-out heads are needed to be able to read data from the compact hard disks used in laptops and some music players, for instance.In 1988 the Frenchman Albert Fert and the German Peter Grünberg each independently discovered a totally new physical effect – Giant Magnetoresistance or GMR. Very weak magnetic changes give rise to major differences in electrical resistance in a GMR system. A system of this kind is the perfect tool for reading data from hard disks when information registered magnetically has to be converted to electric current. Soon researchers and engineers began work to enable use of the effect in read-out heads. In 1997 the first read-out head based on the GMR effect was launched and this soon became the standard technology. Even the most recent read-out techniques of today are further developments of GMR.A hard disk stores information, such as music, in the form of microscopically small areas magnetized in different directions. The information is retrieved by a read-out head that scans the disk and registers the magnetic changes. The smaller and more compact the hard disk, the smaller and weaker the individual magnetic areas. More sensitive read-out heads are therefore required if information has to be packed more densely on a hard disk. A read-out head based on the GMR effect can convert very small magnetic changes into differences in electrical resistance and there-fore into changes in the current emitted by the read-out head. The current is the signal from the read-out head and its different strengths represent ones and zeros.The GMR effect was discovered thanks to new techniques developed during the 1970s to produce very thin layers of different materials. If GMR is to work, structures consisting of layers that are only a few atoms thick have to be produced. For this reason GMR can also be considered one of the first real applications of the promising field of nanotechnology.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2007

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2007 to
Gerhard Ertl

Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany
"for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces".The Prize amount: SEK 10 million.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2007: Gerhard Ertl

Gerhard Ertl, German citizen. Born 1936 in Bad Cannstadt, Germany. Ph.D. in physical chemistry 1965, from Technische Universität München, Germany. Professor Emeritus at Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany.http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/pc/PCarchive2.html

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2007

Modern surface chemistry – fuel cells, artificial fertilizers and clean exhaust

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2007 is awarded for groundbreaking studies in surface chemistry. This science is important for the chemical industry and can help us to understand such varied processes as why iron rusts, how fuel cells function and how the catalysts in our cars work. Chemical reactions on catalytic surfaces play a vital role in many industrial operations, such as the production of artificial fertilizers. Surface chemistry can even explain the destruction of the ozone layer, as vital steps in the reaction actually take place on the surfaces of small crystals of ice in the stratosphere. The semiconductor industry is yet another area that depends on knowledge of surface chemistry.It was thanks to processes developed in the semiconductor industry that the modern science of surface chemistry began to emerge in the 1960s. Gerhard Ertl was one of the first to see the potential of these new techniques. Step by step he has created a methodology for surface chemistry by demonstrating how different experimental procedures can be used to provide a complete picture of a surface reaction. This science requires advanced high-vacuum experimental equipment as the aim is to observe how individual layers of atoms and molecules behave on the extremely pure surface of a metal, for instance. It must therefore be possible to determine exactly which element is admitted to the system. Contamination could jeopardize all the measurements. Acquiring a complete picture of the reaction requires great precision and a combination of many different experimental techniques. Gerhard Ertl has founded an experimental school of thought by showing how reliable results can be attained in this difficult area of research. His insights have provided the scientific basis of modern surface chemistry: his methodology is used in both academic research and the industrial development of chemical processes. The approach developed by Ertl is based not least on his studies of the Haber-Bosch process, in which nitrogen is extracted from the air for inclusion in artificial fertilizers. This reaction, which functions using an iron surface as its catalyst, has enormous economic significance because the availability of nitrogen for growing plants is often restricted. Ertl has also studied the oxidation of carbon monoxide on platinum, a reaction that takes place in the catalyst of cars to clean exhaust emissions.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has on 8 December 2007 decided to award The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2007 jointly to
Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies for their discoveries of "principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells".

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007: Oliver Smithies

Oliver Smithies, born 1925 in Great Britain, US citizen, PhD in Biochemistry 1951, Oxford University, UK. Excellence Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007: Sir Martin J. Evans

Sir Martin J. Evans, born 1941 in Great Britain, British citizen, PhD in Anatomy and Embryology 1969, University College, London, UK. Director of the School of Biosciences and Professor of Mammalian Genetics, Cardiff University, UK.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007: Mario R. Capecchi

Mario R. Capecchi, born 1937 in Italy, US citizen, PhD in Biophysics 1967, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics and Biology at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007

This year's Nobel Laureates have made a series of ground-breaking discoveries concerning embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination in mammals. Their discoveries led to the creation of an immensely powerful technology referred to as gene targeting in mice. It is now being applied to virtually all areas of biomedicine – from basic research to the development of new therapies.
Gene targeting is often used to inactivate single genes. Such gene "knockout" experiments have elucidated the roles of numerous genes in embryonic development, adult physiology, aging and disease. To date, more than ten thousand mouse genes (approximately half of the genes in the mammalian genome) have been knocked out. Ongoing international efforts will make "knockout mice" for all genes available within the near future.
With gene targeting it is now possible to produce almost any type of DNA modification in the mouse genome, allowing scientists to establish the roles of individual genes in health and disease. Gene targeting has already produced more than five hundred different mouse models of human disorders, including cardiovascular and neuro-degenerative diseases, diabetes and cancer.
Modification of genes by homologous recombination
Information about the development and function of our bodies throughout life is carried within the DNA. Our DNA is packaged in chromosomes, which occur in pairs – one inherited from the father and one from the mother. Exchange of DNA sequences within such chromosome pairs increases genetic variation in the population and occurs by a process called homologous recombination. This process is conserved throughout evolution and was demonstrated in bacteria more than 50 years ago by the 1958 Nobel Laureate Joshua Lederberg.
Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies both had the vision that homologous recombination could be used to specifically modify genes in mammalian cells and they worked consistently towards this goal.
Capecchi demonstrated that homologous recombination could take place between introduced DNA and the chromosomes in mammalian cells. He showed that defective genes could be repaired by homologous recombination with the incoming DNA. Smithies initially tried to repair mutated genes in human cells. He thought that certain inherited blood diseases could be treated by correcting the disease-causing mutations in bone marrow stem cells. In these attempts Smithies discovered that endogenous genes could be targeted irrespective of their activity. This suggested that all genes may be accessible to modification by homologous recombination.
Embryonic stem cells – vehicles to the mouse germ line
The cell types initially studied by Capecchi and Smithies could not be used to create gene-targeted animals. This required another type of cell, one which could give rise to germ cells. Only then could the DNA modifications be inherited.
Martin Evans had worked with mouse embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells, which although they came from tumors could give rise to almost any cell type. He had the vision to use EC cells as vehicles to introduce genetic material into the mouse germ line. His attempts were initially unsuccessful because EC cells carried abnormal chromosomes and could not therefore contribute to germ cell formation. Looking for alternatives Evans discovered that chromosomally normal cell cultures could be established directly from early mouse embryos. These cells are now referred to as embryonic stem (ES) cells.
The next step was to show that ES cells could contribute to the germ line (see Figure). Embryos from one mouse strain were injected with ES cells from another mouse strain. These mosaic embryos (i.e. composed of cells from both strains) were then carried to term by surrogate mothers. The mosaic offspring was subsequently mated, and the presence of ES cell-derived genes detected in the pups. These genes would now be inherited according to Mendel’s laws.
Evans now began to modify the ES cells genetically and for this purpose chose retroviruses, which integrate their genes into the chromosomes. He demonstrated transfer of such retroviral DNA from ES cells, through mosaic mice, into the mouse germ line. Evans had used the ES cells to generate mice that carried new genetic material.
Two ideas come together – homologous recombination in ES cells
By 1986 all the pieces were at hand to begin generating the first gene targeted ES cells. Capecchi and Smithies had demonstrated that genes could be targeted by homologous recombination in cultured cells, and Evans had contributed the necessary vehicle to the mouse germ line – the ES-cells. The next step was to combine the two.
For their initial experiments both Smithies and Capecchi chose a gene (hprt) that was easily identified. This gene is involved in a rare inherited human disease (Lesch-Nyhan syndrome). Capecchi refined the strategies for targeting genes and developed a new method (positive-negative selection, see Figure) that could be generally applied.
Birth of the knockout mouse – the beginning of a new era in genetics
The first reports in which homologous recombination in ES cells was used to generate gene-targeted mice were published in 1989. Since then, the number of reported knockout mouse strains has risen exponentially. Gene targeting has developed into a highly versatile technology. It is now possible to introduce mutations that can be activated at specific time points, or in specific cells or organs, both during development and in the adult animal.
Gene targeting is used to study health and disease
Almost every aspect of mammalian physiology can be studied by gene targeting. We have consequently witnessed an explosion of research activities applying the technology. Gene targeting has now been used by so many research groups and in so many contexts that it is impossible to make a brief summary of the results. Some of the later contributions of this year's Nobel Laureates are presented below.
Gene targeting has helped us understand the roles of many hundreds of genes in mammalian fetal development. Capecchis research has uncovered the roles of genes involved in mammalian organ development and in the establishment of the body plan. His work has shed light on the causes of several human inborn malformations.
Evans applied gene targeting to develop mouse models for human diseases. He developed several models for the inherited human disease cystic fibrosis and has used these models to study disease mechanisms and to test the effects of gene therapy.
Smithies also used gene targeting to develop mouse models for inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis and the blood disease thalassemia. He has also developed numerous mouse models for common human diseases such as hypertension and atherosclerosis.
In summary, gene targeting in mice has pervaded all fields of biomedicine. Its impact on the understanding of gene function and its benefits to mankind will continue to increase over many years to come.

Now Driving In India Is Easy with GPS Navigator

Driving in India is a tough task if you are not aware of routes. But this task has been made easier by the new MapmyIndia navigator, which is an in-car global positioning system (GPS) navigation device designed by CE Info Systems based in New Delhi.The device comes loaded with maps of Indian roads, both state- and national- highways, linking together 55,000 towns and villages, complete with landmarks. It can be placed on the dashboard or windshield of a car, and functions via a satellite system.MapmyIndia navigator has real-time voice support for each and every road turn that instructs the driver about current location as well as locations to be arrived at.The device offers entire details of streets, localities, landmarks, ATMs, hospitals, and cafeterias, based in 18 major cities, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Mohali, Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Thane, and Pune.Presently, CE Info Systems is outsourcing the MapmyIndia navigator device from Delphi and Amax. It's available in two variants; Delphi NAV 200, and Amax 06GP5A with built-in GPS (SirfStar III) having 3.5-inches color touch-screen backed by Samsung 400 MHz processor. The touch-screen even allows playing music, games, and viewing movies and photos.Rohan Verma, director of CE Info Systems, said that the market for in-car GPS navigation systems is rising across the world. Last year, 20 million personal navigation devices were sold in the US, and another 30 million in Europe. In India, the product has been introduced only two years ago, and is slowly catching on.MapmyIndia navigator is priced at Rs 21,000 in Delhi, and Rs 22,000 outside Delhi, and can be purchased through the MapmyIndia.com Web site.

CDM 'for market not reform', Says Indian Organisation

A leading Indian nongovernmental organisation has called for a complete overhaul of the clean development mechanism (CDM), saying it focuses more on the market than tackling climate change.
CDM is a mechanism that allows developed countries to invest in projects that reduce carbon emissions in developing countries and claim them against emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
"CDM is a market mechanism, not climate action," Sunita Narain, director of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, told reporters on 5 December 2007.
Narain said that the biggest flaw in CDM is that it is aimed at the cheapest reduction methods for industrialised countries. There has been no transfer of high-end technologies from the rich to poor countries, or investment in clean coal technologies for poor countries, she said.
By the end of 2005, rich countries could not cut their emissions any further, and instead chose the CDM route to meet their Kyoto commitments. Narain said that in the process, large companies, traders and consultants have taken over the market in developing countries, offering the cheapest technologies to quickly earn credit for reducing emissions.
The focus is on earning credits rather than making genuine efforts toward cleaner technology or energy, she said. For instance, there are few projects on solar energy, wind energy, high-end clean coal or forest planting in the activities available under the CDM.
She said certain clauses in the current CDM framework are providing disincentives for governments in developing countries to create policies for clean energy production.
For example, technology projects need to be 'additional' to projects already running in a developing country to qualify under the CDM. India, for instance, already has a programme on renewable energy, so any further renewable projects are not counted as part of the CDM.
Narain said one of the foremost tasks at the UN climate change conference in Bali, which began on 3 December 2007 week, should be to "reform and reinvent" CDM to make it more effective.
She suggested a system of equal, per capita emission entitlements so that the rich reduce their emissions and the poor do not go beyond their climate quota.

Bird Flu Looming Large, Many Countries Still Not Prepared

Many countries continue to be plagued by poor bird flu surveillance and diagnosis capacity, and weak national preparedness plans, experts have warned.
The third global progress report of the United Nations System Influenza Coordination (UNSIC) and the World Bank is released on December 2007. It warns that the risk of global influenza pandemic is as great in late 2007 as it was in mid-2005, when the first cases began to emerge.
Based on data from 146 countries, the report was circulated at an international ministerial conference on bird flu, in New Delhi, India in the week started on 4 December 2007.
Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general and Jacques Diouf, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization director-general, stressed the continuing threat of bird flu at the meeting.
"The next pandemic will occur through adaptive mutations [in the virus]. We have no idea when and how the pandemic will occur, or whether this high case fatality rate of 61 per cent in humans will be maintained," said Chan.
Diouf warned that the international community would have to prepare for bird flu and other major health crises of animal origin, worsened by climate change and the increased risk of pathogens travelling over large distances in a very short period, due to modern air travel.
Investments are needed to focus on prevention at the source — animals — and in developing countries, he added.
Although many countries report they have developed national preparedness plans, their preparedness for a pandemic is "patchy", and there is insufficient attention to sectors other than health and their operational aspects, said David Nabarro, senior UN system coordinator for avian and human influenza.

Plans To Curb Deforestation Need More Consideration

Incentives to tackle deforestation and forest degradation can play a key role in combating climate change and requires a strong policy framework that is fair to poor communities, says a new report.
The report from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), was launched on 7 December 2007 at the UN climate meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
It states that "an appropriate policy framework to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) would help prioritise areas with high deforestation risk and high carbon content, while ensuring the sustained well-being of forest-dependent communities".
Under the REDD scheme, developing nations could earn billions of dollars through carbon trading by simply leaving forests, such as those in Indonesia and the Amazon and Congo basins, untouched.
The authors of the report say REDD can help reduce carbon emissions if financial incentives are sufficient to overturn the political and economic causes of deforestation.
Frances Seymour, director general of CIFOR and one of the authors, hopes the report will help ensure that any initiatives to stop deforestation emerging in future climate change agreements are firmly grounded in reality.
She highlighted the need to properly consider the effects on poor forest communities. "For the system to be effective, we will need new mechanisms for allocating payments that are efficient as well as fair," Seymour told SciDev.Net.
Seymour said the most feasible techniques to monitor emissions from deforestation were remote sensing of changes in forest cover, combined with robust verification of forest types on the ground and the associated carbon stocks.

Emil Salim, head of Indonesia's delegation of climate change negotiators, said his country wants REDD to become an alternative option to Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, which could help it financially manage its forestry sector better.
CIFOR have also launched a Climate Change and Forest Initiative, focusing on the governance of forest in the global adaptation to and mitigation of climate change.

C.N.R. Rao Receives Nano Award

C.N.R. Rao, Chairman, Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and honorary president of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), was on 6 December 2007 conferred the first Bangalore Nano National Award for his outstanding achievements and sustained work in the field of nanotechnology.
Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur presented the award to Prof. Rao at the Bangalore Nano 2007 — India’s first conference on nanotechnology — organised by the JNCASR, the Department of IT, BT and Science and Technology, Government of Karnataka, and MM Activ.
In his address, Prof. Rao said that though he was involved with organising the festival, the award came as a pleasant surprise.
“We need young minds to take nano technology forward apart from intense study and research in this field.”
Prof. Rao said that with the Government having allocated Rs.1,000 crore towards the study of nanotechnology, this exciting branch of science will receive the impetus it deserves.

Safety Nets To Arrest Bird Freefall

Every monsoon, hundreds of Asian Openbill storks build small colonies atop sal trees in Arrearjhar in Dhubri district of Assam, India, and by the time the season draws to a close, dozens perish from falls or are struck by lightning during storms.
Environmentalists have long racked their brains for a plan that would help reduce the death toll, but without success. So, when some 50-odd openbill stork chicks were found dead after a heavy downpour on October 7, 2007, forest officials decided to do what immediately struck them as a possible solution. They decided to place safety nets under every sal tree so that the birds do not fall and die.
Openbill storks are listed under Schedule IV of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. They are commonly sighted in various parts of Assam but the current death rate is a cause for worry. Every year, the birds build at least 300 nests in Arrearjhar, of which very few manage to survive the monsoon. For now, the nets look like the only saviours.
A project was submitted to the Rapid Action Programme of the Wildlife Trust of India, which has agreed to provide the nets, the forest official said. He added that the project was urgent because some chicks have already emerged and the remaining will come out in the next few weeks. The official said that death from a fall is natural; but the rain and storm this year have resulted in an alarmingly high mortality rate.
The nets, however, are only a partial and temporary solution. "Even if some chicks survived the fall, there is little expertise available to hand-rear the birds. Every attempt by villagers to hand-rear the chicks has failed so far," a forest official said.

Space Technology 'Invaluable for Development'

Space technology has enormous potential to help developing countries progress, an international meeting has been told by Karl Doetsch, chairman of US-based firm Athena Global.
Doetsch told a plenary session of the International Astronautical Congress meeting in Hyderabad, India, on Friday, 28 September 2007, that sustained poverty reduction needs the application of space technology and that space scientists should play a larger role in policymaking.
India uses satellite technology to invigorate development by improving communications and the management of natural disasters and resources such as water, and for weather forecasting, long-distance education and telemedicine services. It is a model other countries should follow, Doetsch says.
At the conference, Jason Hay of the US-based Space Policy Institute at the George Washington University pointed out that developing countries are increasingly turning to space technology to speed up their development.
Space technology, he said, can also improve technical skills, infrastructure and knowledge capital, and provide services such as global positioning information.
His team has developed an analytical model of the Indian space experience and applied it to Kazakhstan and South Africa to gain insight into features that could make satellite technology as effective as in India.
Remote-sensing satellite images are useful for monitoring volcanoes, forest fires and earthquakes in Indonesia, says Harijono Djojodihardo, professor at Universitas Al Azhar in Jakarta and former head of Indonesia's space agency.
It is now the "challenge and responsibility" of space agencies to use their technology for sustainable development of Sub-Saharan Africa, said Simona Di Ciaccio from Italy's space agency, ASI.
ASI is running a project with Kenya's Marine and Fisheries Research Institute to use ASI's remote-sensing satellite for information on fish locations for Kenya's fishermen, to locate degraded land and to detect oil spills.
Di Ciaccio told reporters that ASI plans to start two new projects in October this year, setting up a remote-sensing regional centre in Kenya and launching small satellites designed for Kenya's needs.
Meanwhile, the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa is working on the design of a small satellite equipped with high- and medium-resolution cameras to monitor equatorial forests that are hard to visualise because of widespread cloud cover.
This kind of assessment is important due to the impact of climate change on equatorial forests, said Stellenbosh scientist Keijo Nissen.

Geological Experts Warns: Demolition of Adam's Bridge Will Cause Natural Disasters

Amidst debates on whether "Ram Sethu" was a man-made structure or a natural formation, geological experts, on 28 September, 2007, warned that demolition of Adam's bridge for the implementation of the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) might trigger natural disasters.
Environmental scientists and geologists who have come under the banner of 'The Movement Against Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project' said the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar area was not only fragile with respect to tectonic movements but also highly sensitive to higher heat flow manifestations coupled with seismically vulnerable nature.
Geological Survey of India (GSI) former Director K Gopalakrishnan said the Adam's Bridge was not merely a group of simple sandy shoal or sandy bars of migratory nature as was being projected by the Centre and project authorities.
"Evidences are available to prove that such physical feature forms a distinct geological, geotectonic, oceanographic and oceanic divide that has got a specific and important role to play as a barrier in controlling different geological and oceanographic activities in this highly fragile and sensitive area," he added.
Destablisation of the multifarious barrier zone of Adam's Bridge would cause submarine landslides, induce earthquakes and earth tremors and lead to tectonic movements along active fault zones bringing about subsidence and submergence of areas, he said.
Though geo-technical evaluation was mandatory for any project, no sub-surface geological survey was conducted for the SSCP, Gopalakrishnan said.
He also questioned why the Centre entrusted NEERI with the responsibility of preparing the Environment Impact Report when the GSI was the competent authority to carry out the work.
He urged the Centre to form a multi-disciplinary committee to go into the vulnerability of the project.
Dr Arunachalam, an environmental scientist and Associate professor in Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, said the project would be a major man-made stressor to fragile ecosystms such as Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar.
Apart from the loss of biodiversity, the changes brought about by breaking the Adam's Bridge would result in thorough alteration to the coromandel coast and the Indian Ocean which might lead to conditions detrimental to mankind by way of cyclones or tsunami, he added.
As the country was completely relying on the monsoon for fresh water resources and livelihood, the changes might bring a condition of floods and droughts by monsoonal changes in oceans near India, he said.

Robot Cooks So You Don't Have To

This was supposed to be the future. Where is my robot chef for days when I'm too tired to cook?

Turns out, the future is just around the corner. Liu Changfa, a retired professor in Beijing, has grabbed headlines with the prototype of his "food robot." The 5-foot-tall iron chef comprises a base that houses a computer, a gut that contains an induction cooker and a pot, and a chest that frames a screen. The chef also has a robotic arm to help with stirring as well as a C-3PO-esque mien that's far friendlier than the other robot chef we've seen.

Hungry humans can program recipes into the food robot's computer, then kick back with a cocktail while the bot assembles the meal. More than 200 diners have enjoyed the machine's cuisine thus far, and reportedly taste testers have found the food to be on par with a traditional restaurant kitchen, flavor-wise. (No mention has been made of the robot's plating abilities.)

Global Warming and the Pacific Northwest Coast

An Ecological Crisis

The Pacific Northwest is blessed with an amazing diversity of coastal habitats. These habitats support thousands of species of fish and wildlife, and they are crucial for the regional economy, culture and quality of life.

However, the region’s coastal habitats and wildlife are under pressure from human activities such as development and pollution. Now, sea-level rise due to global warming will create even greater challenges for our coasts.

We are facing an ecological crisis that could see wholesale loss of wildlife populations and profound changes in our outdoor way of life. We must address the greatly accelerating impacts of global warming before it's too late and work together to protect and conserve the Pacific Northwest and the rest of the country.

Recent studies show that the global average sea level will rise as much 20-56 inches by 2100, including in the Pacific Northwest.
Learn more major facts:

• The National Wildlife Federation looked at a number of sea-level rise scenarios for the region and found that even a relatively moderate scenario of sea level rise of just over 2-feet by 2100 will have a significant impact on coastal habitats.
• Recent studies show that it is likely the Pacific Northwest coast will have a significant sea level rise by 2100 of between 20-56 inches.
• Among the most vulnerable habitats is estuarine beach, which provides vital spawning areas for forage fish, including surf smelt and sand lance, which in turn provide food for birds, marine mammals, salmon, and other fish and wildlife.
• More than 2/3 of beaches in the Tacoma area are predicted to be lost by 2100.
• The Seattle area is built on high land, and so would have limited impact due to sea level rise. However, 741- 988 acres of dry land will become marsh or tidal flat. More than half of estuarine beaches in the area will be lost.

Bangalore Hospital Performs Rare Heart Surgery

A private super speciality hospital in Bangalore has performed a rare surgery, claimed to be the first of its kind in medical history, on a 14-year-old Pakistani boy, suffering from Pulmonary Atresia.
Tauseef Ahmed underwent the complex surgery at the Narayana Hrudayala on the city outskirts on August 22 2007, and has recovered well, Dr Shekhar Rao, whose led team performed the surgery told a press conference in Bangalore on 8 September 2007.
The boy is doing well and would be returning to Abbothbad, a village situated on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in a day or two, he said.
The doctors in Pakistan who conducted diagnostic investigations had delcared that it was impossible to subject the boy to surgery.

Now You Can Charge Mobiles With Your Body Heat!

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits in Erlangen, Germany, have developed new circuits that can harness electricity from body heat that would otherwise be dissipated into the air. The scientists say the advance could lead to battery-less cell phones and medical monitors that draw energy from their users.
“The idea behind it is that you can replace the batteries or at least you can enlarge the operation times of batteries,” said Peter Spies, electrical engineer and group manager at the institute.
Spies and his team improved upon semiconductors called thermoelectric generators that produce electrical energy in the face of temperature differences.
Normally, a difference of several tens of degrees is required in order to generate enough power, but the difference between the body’s surface temperature and that of its environment is only a few degrees. This produces about 250 millivolts, while electronic devices require at least one or two volts.
As part of their research, Spies and his team incorporated a component into the circuit called a charge pump. The pump temporarily stores the incoming millivolts until they reach 1.8 volts. At that threshold, an internal transistor turns on and delivers the higher voltage to a component that can transfer the electricity to a device.
Matthias Ueltzen, an application engineer at Freiburg, Germany-based Micropelt, a developer and manufacturer of thermoelectrics, said, while the “idea of generating some electric power from the heat of the body is a great idea,” there are certain difficulties, which lie in the low temperature differences between the skin and the outside air.
“Only a very small part of the thermal heat flow can be converted into electrical power, and for that reason, the technology may only work for applications that don’t require a lot of energy,” said Ueltzen.

Use Of Mobile Phones May Increase Risk Of Hearing Loss: Study

A preliminary study conducted by the ENT department at the PGI in Chandigarh has shown that long-term mobile phone users are at a higher risk of developing hearing loss, particularly at higher speech frequencies.
Presence of fullness in the ears, ear warmth and prevalence of strange noises in the ear were some of the complaints that long-term mobile phone users faced frequently.
The study, conducted over a period of 18 months, studied nearly 100 long-term mobile phone users in Chandigarh.
The subjects were divided into three categories — people using mobile phones for one to two years, two to four years and above four years.
“The study was aimed to assess if long term mobile use had adverse effects on hearing and central auditory pathways,” said Dr Naresh Panda, HoD, of the Otolaryngology department. “We found that people using mobile phone for more than four years and for longer periods than 30 minutes in a day are at risk of developing hearing loss at a later stage,” Dr Panda added.
He said that the hearing level of the subjects were tested at different frequencies and certain abnormalities were recorded in these subjects.He added that use of earphones would help in minimising the risks. He said that most of the risks occurring due to electro magnetic radiation will be reduced , if the phone is held away from the ear.The team, including Dr Jaimanti Bakshi and Dr Rishab Jain, emphasised that the study was only preliminary and a larger study needs to be done to arrive at concrete conclusions.
“We want to tell people that there is a possibility of hear loss, which cannot be reversed,” said Dr Panda. The department has applied to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for more funds to conduct a larger study on the issue. “In order to reach a scientific conclusion we need to cover a larger population,” Dr Panda said.

Workshop On Developing Low Cost Communication Materials

A Daylong Teachers’ Workshop on Low Cost Communication Materials Development was held on 12 May 2007 at Birjhora Higher Secondary School, Bongaigaon, Assam. Mr. Pulin Choudhury, Principal of Birjhora HS School, inaugurated the workshop that was organized by Aaranyak, a society for bio-diversity conservation in Northeast India, and supported by Rufford Foundation. Mr. Choudhury, in his speech, pointed out that though the Environment Education is already introduced in our educational institutes, we have lots to do for proper utilization of the course.
Mr. Dhrubajyoti Kalita, Organizing Secretary, Aaranyak discussed about various techniques of developing low cost communication materials which may be used in interior places for making the environment education effective and joyful. He displayed various types of communication materials made of wastes available in our surrounding. As a part of the practical session, the participants prepared a model Hand Written Magazine.
Dr. Hillol Jyoti Singha, Publicity Secretary, Aaranyak, briefed up the practical session and appealed the participants to prepare more such types of materials with a view to make the environment education learning process to children more effective. School Teachers, NGO workers and Science Communicators from different places of Bongaigaon District attended the programme.
Mr. Ananta Bora & Mr. Dipak Konwar, environmentalists of Aaranayak, coordinated the programme.
The detail about this event was stated in a press release by Mr. Dhrubajyoti Kalita, Organising Secretary, Aaranyak, Guwahati-28, Mobile: 9864069583. The office of the organization is situated at Samanwoy Path, Survey, Beltola, Guwahati-28, and Ph. 0361-2228418.

Talk & Slide Show On Snakes At “Aarohan”, Guwahati

In an effort to popularize science and sanitize children about environmental issues, Aarohan (run by Bhabendra Nath Saikia Children Welfare Trust, Guwahati-28, Assam) recently organized a series of popular scientific talks at its own premises. As a part of this programme, on 14 May 2007, Mr. Abhijit Das, herpetologist of Herpetology Division, Aaranyak (a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) delivered a talk on Snakes. With the help of beautiful slides, Mr. Das described about variety and variability of shapes, sizes, and colours of different groups of snakes, their diverse mode of life, adaptations in their surrounding environment, and other interesting biological facts about snakes. Colour pictures of all the venomous snakes found in and around human habitation were also showed to the students with an in-depth discussion about snakebite managements.
At the talk, importance of the snakes in our natural environments, scientific facts about snake myths and various conservation issues for these ecologically valuable fauna were discussed. The whole session was interactive in nature and all students came up with their questions, snake experiences and myths about snakes known to them. Besides the children of Aarohan, volunteers, teachers & many guardians attended the programme.
Purnima Devi, a Volunteer of Aaranyak presented a Slide Show related to conservation of Environment.
Dr. Shyamaprasad Sharma, Chairman of Aarohan, also briefed up his practical experiences with snakes around his houses and delineated about the necessity for conservation of these little appreciated animals. He appealed to all students and their guardians to discourage the snake charmers and snake traders who use to take snakes from households. Dr. Sharma also promised students to arrange more talks about snakes in future at Aarohan.
The detail about this event was stated in a press release by Mr. Dhrubajyoti Kalita, Organising Secretary, Aaranyak, Guwahati-28, Mobile: 9864069583. The office of the organisation is situated at Samanwoy Path, Survey, Beltola, Guwahati-28, and Ph. 0361-2228418.

Ramar Sethu Not A Man Made Structure: EarthWeb

EarthWeb, a division of NASA that hosts astronaut photography of the Earth, has said that the 'Ramar Sethu' or Adams Bridge was not a man made structure and that their occurrence was not evidence of any human activity. This was in reply to an e-mail sent by the Sethusamudram Corporation on July 26, 2007 to clarify whether it was a man made structure or not.
"Our office supports only astronaut photography of the Earth. The chain of small islets connecting India and Sri Lanka are real geographical features that have been mapped for centuries. Chains of islands form a variety of natural geological processes and their occurrence is not evidence of any human activity," EarthWeb said.
An official of the Sethusamudram Corporation had mailed Earthweb on the satellite image of Adams Bridge.
"In India a burning question is going on whether this bridge is man made or not. Religious fundamentalists insist that the bridge was once constructed by human beings in order to invade Sri Lanka long ago. Some say it is not man made and the area is covered by shallow water and the sediments under the water appear like a narrow bridge. The third group say that the Bridge is nothing but a peak of a large mountain that has submerged," the Email said and asked for a clarification on the issue.
A copy of the Email was circulated to the media during a press conference addressed by N K Reghupathy, Chairman, Tuticorin Port Trust and Chairman and Managing Director, Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd in Chennai on July 28, 2007.

Indian Space Varsity Takes Wings In August

India’s first space university is all set to take wings in August seeking to groom tailor-made experts to fuel the country’s satellite and rocket programmes.
”August middle is our target”, said G Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is setting up the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) and expected to meet the high technology requirements of ISRO.
It would initially operate from the campus of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram, a lead centre of ISRO, which will create a full-fledged infrastructure for IIST on a picturesque site in Ponmudi near the Kerala state capital in about two years.
The Institute, which offers technically tuned courses in space science and technology, has already attracted some of India’s bright minds encouraging India’s space agency.
”The response is really good. Original plan was to take from the so called extended list of IIT JEE. But we could see large number of applicants from the main list of IIT itself”, Nair told in an interview.
ISRO sources said around 150 students were expected to be enrolled in aeronautical and avionics engineering and integrated MSc in space sciences in the first academic year.
Nair said ISRO came up with the idea of setting up of the institute as it was faced with a “very alarming situation” in terms of attracting the right talent for India’s space programmes.
”Most of the students who come out of IIT and IISc etc..they go to either Management, IT or abroad. So, they are not available to the Indian scientific community,” Nair said.
The IIST students “will be taught in propulsion, aero dynamics, navigation, guidance, sub-systems, avionics, control systems and so on”, he said. “So, that way, as soon as they come out of the Institute, they will be usable by us”.
ISRO has totally subsidised the education and the students passing out of the IIST are required to serve the space agency for five years. If not, they would have to pay the bond amount.

Chandigarh Becomes First Smoke-Free City Of India

Chandigarh has taken a lead over other cities in becoming the country’s first smoke-free city as provisions of the Central Tobacco Control Act were implemented in all parts of the Union Territory from July 15, 2007.
The Chandigarh Administration has said that smoking cigarette or bidi or any form of tobacco at any public place is an offence, and officials notified by the administration including police officers, food and drug inspectors have been empowered to book on the spot any person found smoking at a public place.
Not just smoking, but throwing cigarette butts in open would be considered a violation and anyone doing so is liable to be fined.
On the first day of implementing the Act, the Administration carried out a special challan drive and within the first five days itself, 741 people had been fined for smoking in public places.
Any non-smoker aggrieved by unwilling exposure to tobacco smoke can make a complaint to the Chandigarh Police, Department of Health or Chandigarh Tobacco Control Cell in writing at any of the E-Jan Sampark centres.

Robots Will Become Lazy!

The future will see more human-robot interactions, and humans will expect robots to move more like them. Scientists at Stanford University, California, have said that robots must be made as lazy as possible, in their gestures, if we want them to be more interactive.
During the course of their study, Oussama Khatib and his team modelled out how humans naturally minimised the energy used by their muscles.
They then applied the same energy-minimising criteria to direct the way a computer model of a robot moved.
“In that way, we are able to produce motions with the robot that look very natural,” said Khatib.
"Humans are sort of lazy. That is why we sip coffee with our arm at a 30 to 45-degree angle to our bodies, not with our elbow higher up or tight against our torso,” New Scientist quoted him as saying.
In a related development, scientists at the University of Göttingen, Germany, have simulated in a walking robot, those very neuronal principles that help humans adapt their gait to the slope of an incline.
‘RunBot’, which holds the world record in speed walking for dynamic machines, uses reflexes driven by peripheral sensors to adjust its movement. Control circuits ensure that the joints are not overstretched or that the next step is initiated as soon as the foot touches the ground.
Only when the gait needs to be adapted, higher organizations, like the brain in the case of humans, and the infrared eye, in RunBot’s case, step in.
The infrared eye leads on to a simpler neural network, which by changing only a few parameters, allows RunBot to adjust its walk, which is then automatically tuned through the robot’s regular circuits.

Water Discovered On Extra-solar Planet

An international team of scientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered water on an extra-solar planet for the first time, the science magazine Nature reported Thursday, 12 July, 2007.
The planet with water in its atmosphere is known as HD189733b, and orbits a star in the constellation of Vulpecula, 63 light years from Earth, according to the report.
Planet HD189733b, a gas giant about 15 percent bigger than Jupiter, is known as a "transiting planet" as it passes directly in front of its star, as viewed from the Earth.
Unlike Jupiter, which is over five times as far away from the Sun as the Earth is, HD189733b is over 30 times closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun - which is why it is so hot.
The researchers, led by Giovanna Tinetti, an ESA (European Space Agency) fellow from the Institute d'Astrophysique de Paris and University College London (UCL), found that HD189733b absorbs the starlight of its "sun", as it passes in front of it, in a way that can only be explained if it has water vapor in its atmosphere.
This is the first time that astronomers have demonstrated for certain that water is present in an extra-solar planet with the infrared analysis of the planet's transit across its parent star providing the breakthrough.
"Although HD189733b is far from being habitable, and is actually quite a hostile environment, our discovery shows how water might be common out there and how our method can be used in the future to study more life-friendly environments," Tinetti said.

Moles Could Be The Secret To Looking Young

A new study has found that moles on the skin help maintain youthful looks for a longer period. Scientists have claimed that people with lots of moles are years younger biologically than those with mark-free skin. These spots may preserve the youthful looks for longer and could lower the risk of a range of age-related diseases such as heart disease or osteoporosis.
And, in some way, they offset the link between moles and an increased risk of skin cancer.
"Dermatologists have always said that nature doesn`t give us something for no reason. If the only reason for moles was to increase the risk of melanoma, it wouldn`t be very clever,” lead researcher, Dr Veronique Bataille, a consultant dermatologist, said. Bataille’s team, from King`s College London, associated moles with ageing after studying the DNA of more than 900 sets of female twins. In particular, they focused on telomeres, the bundles of DNA that restrict the ends of chromosomes. Considered as biological clocks, telomeres get shorter as our cells partition over time.
Previous studies have shown that those with long telomeres are likely to be biologically younger than those of the same age but with shorter telomeres. The study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, demonstrated that those with more than 100 moles tended to have longer telomeres than those with fewer than 25. The difference in length equated to six or seven years of ageing. The results showed that twins with longer telomeres seemed to keep their moles for longer and to have delayed ageing.
Dr Bataille added that although a person is ten times more likely to develop skin cancer if they have more than 100 moles, the overall possibility of the disease is still very low.

India To Host 58th International Astronautical Congress, Sunita Williams May Join

The International Astronautical Congress (IAC), one of the world’s largest and authoritative forum of the Global Space Community, will be held in Hyderabad from September 24-28.
The Congress is hosted by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Astronautical Society of India (ASI), in conjunction with powerful global organisation like IAF, IAA and IISL, National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) Director K Radhakrishnan said on Thursday, 12 July 2007.
About 2500 space professionals, journalists and students engaged in space activities all over the world will participate in the week-long Congress, 200 organisations will be exhibiting from across the globe and the event expects over 10,000 business visitors. Radhakrishnan said that they are awaiting confirmation from Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams who has only recently returned from the mission in space. He added that they are expecting that Williams will accept to attend the plenary session on the last day of the congress.
The theme of this Congress is “Touching Humanity: Space For Improving Quality of Life,” he said.

Indians becoming more Net Savvy

A recent survey concluded by Juxtconsult, an independent consultancy this week says that nine per cent, or nearly one in 10 urban Indians, now use the Net.
Overall, Internet users in urban India have grown by a healthy 28 per cent over the past year. The survey studied growth between April 2006 and 2007 in the country.
There are 30.32 million Internet users now, says the survey that sampled 10,000 households in 31 cities of varying population sizes. The offline survey was followed in May by an online survey of 14,200 responses on usage behaviour and Website preferences.
Results of the survey says a significant finding is that all sorts of activities and businesses have grown on the Net, though travel has emerged as undisputed leader. Emailing, dating and matrimonial connections are among other key drivers of Internet growth.
Of the total 30.32 million urban Internet users, 25.17 million, or 83 per cent, are the ‘regular’ users who log on at least once a month and the remaining 5.15 million are ‘occasional’ users who use the Internet with a lesser frequency than that. Some 20 million Internet users do so on a daily basis.
Juxtconsult says Internet usage is seeing “slow but steady” growth but notices that online buying, especially in travel products, is showing “tremendous growth”. However, software and content in local languages and wider, speedier, affordable connectivity are crucial to drive future growth, it adds.

Oldest DNA shows earth much warmer

A team of international researchers used oldest DNA to show that Greenland was much warmer at some point during the last Ice Age than most people have believed.
The DNA samples were collected by the scientists from the bottom of a two kilometer thick ice sheet and from the trees, plants and insects of a boreal forest estimated to be between 450,000 and 900,000 years-old.
Previously, the youngest evidence of a boreal forest in Greenland was from 2.4 million years ago.
The DNA samples suggest the temperature of the southern Greenland boreal forests 450,000 to 900,000 years ago was probably between 10 degrees Celsius in summer and -17 degrees Celsius in winter.
Also, the reduced glacier cover in that region means the global ocean was probably between 1 and 2 meters higher during that time compared to current levels.
“These findings allow us to make a more accurate environmental reconstruction of the time period from which these samples were taken, and what we’ve learned is that this part of the world was significantly warmer than most people thought,” said Martin Sharp, a glaciologist at the University of Alberta and a co-author of the paper.
Sharp said the silty ice found underneath the huge Greenland glacier created a perfect, natural “freezer” to preserve the prehistoric DNA. Scientists have, in the past, found older organic matter, but they have not found any uncontaminated DNA that is as old or older than the Greenland samples.
Sharp and his PhD student Joel Barker contributed to the research by providing DNA samples from the silty ice of much younger glaciers (3,000 years old) on Ellesmere Island in Arctic Canada. The Canadian DNA samples offered a control sample for the researchers around the world who worked to estimate the age of the Greenland DNA samples.
Sharp, who has been a supporter of the idea that the current global warming trend is human induced, believes the new research offers evidence that climate warming on the current scale is possible through natural conditions. However, he cautions that this research does not prove the current global warming trend is not human induced. He says that our current warming could be the result of both natural processes and human influences, and we may be heading for even bigger temperature increases than we previously thought.
The results of the research were published in the latest issue of the Science Journal.

Florida Clears Artificial Reefs Of Tyres

When people began dumping used tyres in the ocean 40 years ago to create artificial reefs, they gave little thought to the potential environmental cost, or to how difficult it would be to pick them up.
Now, local authorities have started clearing some 700,000 tyres dumped off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, up the coast from Miami, US. A team of 40 divers from the U.S. Army, Navy and Coast Guard spent three weeks in June 2007, pulling up 10,373 sand-filled and slime-coated tyres from the ocean floor.
The military divers soon realised that they could strap together 50 to 70 tyres with wire cables and lift them to the surface with inflatable air bags, where a crane hauled the bundle from the water.
Millions of tyres, usually bundled with nylon straps or steel cables, were cast into the sea off Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and off the U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, California and Florida. The idea was to provide habitat for fish while disposing of trash from the land; but in the rugged and corrosive environment of the ocean, nylon straps wore out and snapped, cables rusted, and tyres broke free.
The tyres dumped off Fort Lauderdale posed a particular threat. When they broke free they migrated shoreward and ran into a living reef tract, climbing up its slope and killing everything in their path.
“If we can keep the project going we think they can get all the tires and then the reef can recover,” said Ken Banks of Broward County’s Environmental Protection Department. “But the reef recovery will probably take decades.”
The cleared tyres were trucked to a disposal plant in Georgia, where they were chipped into fuel for a waste recycling plant.

Australia To Build Cross-Continent Climate Corridor

Australia will create a wildlife corridor spanning the continent to allow animals and plants to flee the effects of global warming, scientists said on Monday.
The 2,800-kilometer (1,740 mile) climate “spine” will link the country’s entire east coast, from the snow-capped Australian alps in the south to the tropical north. This distance is almost equal from London to Romania.
The corridor, under discussion since the 1990s as the argument in support of climate change strengthened, will link national parks, state forests and government land, and help preserve scores of endangered species.
The creation of the corridor was agreed by state and federal governments this year amid international warnings that the country — already the world’s driest inhabited continent — is suffering from an accelerated Greenhouse effect. Climate scientists have predicted temperatures rising by up to 6.7 degrees Celsius (12 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2080 in the country’s vast outback interior. A 10-year drought is expected to slash one percent from the A$940 billion (US$803 billion) economy. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology last year said climate change was occurring so fast in Australia that cooler southern towns were moving to the warmer north at the rate of 100 kilometres each year.

Indian Scientist Wins Award For Research On Glass Atom-Jellyfish Link

Mr Himanshu Jain, who first compared the fluctuations of atoms and of jellyfish, has received the world’s top prize for glass science research.
The scientist compared the movements of atoms in glass to the wiggling of jellyfish in water.
Mr Jain, director at the International Materials Institute for New Functionalities in Glass at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, in neighbouring Pennsylvania, received the Otto Schott Research Award on July 2, at the International Congress on Glass in Strasbourg, France.
The biennial award, which carries a cash prize of 25,000 euros, is the most valuable prize for glass research. Mr Jain, a professor of materials science and engineering at Lehigh, is sharing the award with Walter Kob of the University of Montpellier in France.
Mr Jain is being cited for ‘’outstanding work towards advancing fundamental understanding of the movements of atoms inside glass.’’ The Indian-American is a professor of materials science and engineering and director of the International Materials Institute for New Functionalities in Glass at Lehigh University.

Yawning Helps Brain Keeping Cool

Latest research shows that yawning helps in keeping the brain cool, contradicting the popular belief that yawning promotes sleep and is a sign of tiredness.
Yawning involves opening the mouth involuntarily while taking a long, deep breath of air. It is commonly believed that people yawn as a result of drowsiness or weariness because they need oxygen.
However, researchers at the University of Albany in New York said their experiments on 44 students showed that drawing in air helps cool the brain and helps it work more effectively.
Their experiments showed that raising or lowering oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood did not produce that reaction.
Study participants were shown videos of people laughing, being neutral and yawning, and researchers counted how many times the volunteers responded to their own ‘contagious yawns,’ reported the online edition of BBC News.
The researchers found that those who breathed through the nose rather than the mouth were less likely to yawn when watching a video of other people yawning. This was because vessels in the nasal cavity sent cool blood to the brain. The same effect was found among those who held a cool pack to their forehead, whereas those who held a warm or room-temperature pack yawned while watching the video.
‘Since yawning occurs when brain temperature rises, sending cool blood to the brain serves to maintain optimal levels of mental efficiency,’ the authors wrote in the journal Evolutionary Psychology.