AScribe Science News Service articles from May 2009

AScribe Science News Service archives from May 2009

University of Virginia to Lead New $11 Million Center to Make Methane Economically Feasible Fuel.
May 5, 2009... Byline: University of Virginia CHARLOTTESVILLE, May 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- A new center to develop technologies for converting methane gas and other hydrocarbon and fossil resources into readily transportable and higher-value liquid fuels...

Oakland Unified School District Students Invited to Dinner With a Scientist at Chabot Space & Science Center.
May 5, 2009... Byline: Chabot Space & Science Center OAKLAND, Calif., May 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- Chabot Space & Science Center will be a unique setting for a celebration of the Year of Science, as the Oakland Unified School District hosts two "Dinner...

Experts List: Airplane Bird Strike Experts Available at Purdue; Bird Vision and Behavior, Methods to Deter Birds.
May 6, 2009... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETT, Ind., May 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Esteban Fernandez-Juricic, assistant professor of biological sciences. Fernandez-Juricic studies the evolution of visual systems in birds and strategies to solve...

Purdue Alumnus to Fly on NASA's Challenging Hubble Servicing Mission.
May 6, 2009... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., May 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Andrew Feustel, a Purdue University alumnus and NASA mission specialist, is scheduled to make three spacewalks during a May 11 shuttle mission to upgrade the...

MSRI and NSF Math Institutes Create New Jobs; New Mechanism for Investing in Postdoctoral Associates in Mathematics Brings Their Talent to New Settings, Supports Career Pipeline.
May 11, 2009... Byline: Mathematical Sciences Research Institute BERKELEY, Calif., May 11 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), along with six other NSF-funded Mathematical Sciences Research Institutes, announces the...

Bell Labs Spin-Off S-F-D Labs' Microwave Amplifiers Now Power U.S. Navy's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System Radar.
May 11, 2009... Byline: The Drexler Foundation LOS ALTOS HILLS, Calif., May 11 (AScribe Newswire) -- S-F-D Laboratories Inc., a Bell Labs microwave power tube spin-off named for its three founders, was established in May 1959 by Jerome Drexler, Joseph...

Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status Report: Soft Ground Puts Spirit in Danger Despite Gain in Daily Energy.
May 11, 2009... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., May 11 (AScribe Newswire) -- The five wheels that still rotate on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit have been slipping severely in soft soil during recent attempts to drive, sinking...

Conservationists Seek to Identify Prime Stopover Sites for Migrating Birds; Pilot Project Led by Rochester Institute of Technology Scientist Precedes Larger Study in the Fall.
May 13, 2009... Byline: Rochester Institute of Technology ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- An ambitious effort in avian conservation is underway this spring throughout the New York portion of the Lake Ontario watershed. A legion of highly...

Chabot Space & Science Center Hosts Oakland Unified School District Science Fair.
May 15, 2009... Byline: Chabot Space & Science Center OAKLAND, Calif., May 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- - Chabot Space & Science Center will host the Oakland Unified School District's Science Fair on Wednesday May 20, 2009. Over 180 K-12th grade science...

Factual Analysis Debunks Corn Ethanol Industry's Call to Waive Clean Air Act Fuel Standards; Deceptive Push for Higher Ethanol Blends Will Jeopardize Human Health and Harm Vehicle and Engine Performance.
May 18, 2009... Byline: Environmental Working Group WASHINGTON, May 18 (AScribe Newswire) -- The corn ethanol industry is misrepresenting scientific facts in efforts to dupe the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) into waiving critical public health...

Mars and Earth Activities Aim to Get Spirit Rolling Again.
May 18, 2009... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., May 18 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's rover project team is using the Spirit rover and other spacecraft at Mars to begin developing the best maneuvers for extracting Spirit from the soft...

ACM Group Honors Researchers Who Discovered Zig-Zag Graph That Improves Design of Robust Computer Networks; Godel Prize Awarded for Advances in Constructing and Applying Efficient Expander Graphs That Help Resolve Complex Computing Issues.
May 19, 2009... Byline: Association for Computing Machinery NEW YORK, May 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- ACM's Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computing Theory (SIGACT) has recognized the contributions of three computer scientists who developed a new...

Mockingbirds in Fickle Climates Sing Fancier Tunes.
May 21, 2009... Byline: Duke University DURHAM, N.C., May 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Why are some birds simple singers and others vocal virtuosos? Researchers at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent), the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and...