AScribe Science News Service articles from November 2003

AScribe Science News Service archives from November 2003

Berkeley Lab Mathematician Coauthors Two New Books on Experimental Mathematics.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- David Bailey, a senior scientist and applied mathematician at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who has made his mark studying problems...

Purdue Engineers: Metal Nano-Bumps Could Improve Artificial Body Parts.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Nov. 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- Biomedical engineers at Purdue University have proven that bone cells attach better to metals with nanometer-scale surface features, offering hope for improved...

November 'Star Trak': Lunar Eclipse, Meteor Shower, Auroras.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Indiana University BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Nov. 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- Viewers in North and South America, Europe, Africa and western and southern Asia will be able to see at least some phase of a total lunar eclipse on the night of...

Direct Link Found Between Chronic Inflammation, Colon Cancer.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Vanderbilt Medical Center NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- Investigators in the A.B. Hancock Jr. Memorial Research Center at Vanderbilt University have identified a type of DNA damage caused by chronic inflammation as...

Mars Rover Spirit Mission: Engineers, Scientists Find How to Work Around Problem; Tests Now Show Science Instruments Are in Suitable Condition for Rovers to Examine Mars.
November 4, 2003... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 4 (AScribe Newswire) -- A series of tests of one of the science instruments on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has enabled engineers and scientists to identify how to work...

Controversial United Kingdom Badger Killings Analyzed by UC Davis Expert.
November 4, 2003... Byline: University of California, Davis DAVIS, Nov. 4 (AScribe Newswire) -- A University of California, Davis professor is co-author of a report released today in Great Britain that says the controversial practice of killing wild badgers to...

Red Sea Urchins Discovered to Be One of Earth's Oldest Animals.
November 4, 2003... Byline: Oregon State University CORVALLIS, Ore., Nov. 4 (AScribe Newswire) -- A new study has concluded that the red sea urchin, a small spiny invertebrate that lives in shallow coastal waters, is among the longest living animals on Earth...

How Do Football Helmets Work? 'Suspension' Design Saves Heads -- and Helmets -- From Breaking.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Rochester Institute of Technology ROCHESTER, N.Y., Nov. 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- At the halfway mark of another heart-pounding NFL season, player injuries have included everything from minor scrapes, scratches and bruises to major...

Unique Molecular Structure Offers Insight Into Nanoscale Self-Assembly, Solution Chemistry.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory UPTON, N.Y., Nov. 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Bielefeld, Germany, have discovered a new type of hollow...

Deep Space Network Gears Up for Interplanetary Boom.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA'S Deep Space Network has completed a number of upgrades to help support the fleet of more than two dozen spacecraft touring the solar system. Among the...

Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Managed Missions Chosen for Study.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- A mission to study black holes, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is one of five selected recently by NASA as candidate mission...

Voyager Spacecraft Approaches Solar System's Final Frontier.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's venerable Voyager 1 spacecraft, built and operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is about to make history again. It is the...

UC Los Angeles Chemist Fraser Stoddart Named Director of California NanoSystems Institute.
November 6, 2003... Byline: UCLA LOS ANGELES, Nov. 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Fraser Stoddart, an internationally renowned chemist who will occupy UCLA's Fred Kavli Chair in nanosystems sciences, has been appointed director of the California NanoSystems...

How to Pick the Perfect Christmas Tree: Tips From Dr. Kurt Pregitzer, Michigan Technological University's School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science.
November 7, 2003... Byline: Michigan Technological University HOUGHTON, Mich. Nov. 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- When picking out the perfect tree, consider what you pine for. Is fragrance at the top of your Christmas list? You might choose a balsam or Fraser...

Two Cosmic Explorers Named 'Best of What's New'.
November 7, 2003... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Two recently launched NASA missions won "Best of What's New" awards from Popular Science magazine. The two missions, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility and...

Some Re-Established Elk Herds Lack Genetic Diversity of Ancestors.
November 7, 2003... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Nov. 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Continued monitoring is central to maintaining genetic diversity, which is the key to long-term success of animal reintroduction programs, according to research...

Four Famous Robots - Real and Fictional - to Be Inducted Into Carnegie Mellon's Newly Established Robot Hall of Fame.
November 10, 2003... Byline: Carnegie Mellon University PITTSBURGH, Nov. 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- Carnegie Mellon University will induct four famous robots into its newly established Robot Hall of Fame (TM) at 8 p.m., this evening, at Pittsburgh's Carnegie...

FleetBoston Transforms Logging Bankruptcy Into Forest Protection; Rainforest Action Network Applauds Transaction As Major Environmental Investment.
November 11, 2003... Byline: Rainforest Action Network SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 11 (AScribe Newswire) -- Rainforest Action Network (RAN) applauds FleetBoston Financial Corporation for facilitating the sale of 147,500 acres of endangered temperate rainforest to The...

Binghamton University Sensor Research Supported By $1.1 Million Federal Earmark.
November 12, 2003... Byline: Binghamton University BINGHAMTON, N.Y., Nov. 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- A $1.1 million federal earmark championed by Congressman Maurice Hinchey, NY-22, will support Binghamton University's advanced sensor design and threat detection...

NASA's Cassini Spacecraft Captures Jupiter in Close-Up Portrait.
November 13, 2003... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Jupiter, our solar system's most massive planet, has been captured in the most detailed global color view ever seen, courtesy of NASA's Cassini spacecraft....

Dinosaur Expedition 2003 Brings Scientific Discovery Onto the Web, Into the Classroom.
November 13, 2003... Byline: University of Chicago CHICAGO, Nov. 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- An innovative Web site created by Project Exploration is following University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno's dinosaur expedition into the Sahara. Online...

University of California Announces Strengthened UC Laboratory Management Organization.
November 13, 2003... Byline: University of California OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- As part of its ongoing commitment to strengthen the management of the UC-managed national laboratories, the University of California announced today (Thursday,...

Delta-Like Fan on Mars Suggests Ancient Rivers Were Persistent.
November 13, 2003... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Newly seen details in a fan-shaped apron of debris on Mars may help settle a decades-long debate about whether the planet had long-lasting rivers instead of...

San Diego Supercomputer Center to Showcase Sun Compute Grid Supercomputer; Top 500 Caliber RockStar System to be Assembled in Just Two Hours at Supercomputing 2003 Conference in Phoenix.
November 14, 2003... Byline: University of California, San Diego SAN DIEGO, Calif., Nov. 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- A team of cluster computing experts from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) will assemble, install and demonstrate real applications on a...

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Supercomputer Fifth Fastest in World in Top 500 List.
November 17, 2003... Byline: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory RICHLAND, Wash., Nov. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's supercomputer has been ranked No. 5 on the top 500 list of the fastest computers in the world that was...

Cal-(IT)2, UC San Diego Researchers Team With Canada's BigBangwidth to Speed OptIPuter Data Flows; Networking System Provides Direct, Secure Lightpaths Between San Diego Researchers, Easing Local Area Network Congestion.
November 17, 2003... Byline: University of California, San Diego SAN DIEGO, Nov. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers building a new type of Grid computing environment known as the OptIPuter have agreed to deploy BigBangwidth's next-generation lightpath...

Expert: JFK's Commitment to Manned Space Flight Was Not Good Science, But His Memory Still Invoked to Support Space Program, Duke Professor Says.
November 17, 2003... Byline: Duke University DURHAM, N.C., Nov. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- President John F. Kennedy's determination to put a man on the moon was a response to the Cold War that had little scientific merit, and the nation's determination to cling...

Purdue University Researchers Develop Alternative Heating Oil Using Soybean Blend.
November 17, 2003... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Nov. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- A team of researchers at Purdue University recently refined a method for producing home heating oil from a mixture of soybean oil and conventional fuel oil. ...

Scientists to Overfly Antarctica for Nov. 23 Total Solar Eclipse.
November 17, 2003... Byline: Williams College WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Nov. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- "The sun will be totally eclipsed for about two minutes on Nov. 23, but only a few people and lots of penguins will see it," said Jay Pasachoff, Field Memorial...

Stay South of Thunderstorm Paths, Says Purdue University Scientist.
November 17, 2003... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Nov. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Damaging winds can occur in previously overlooked places within a thunderstorm, according to a Purdue University earth scientist. The finding could help...

NASA's Deep Space Network: Calling Home Is About to Get Easier.
November 17, 2003... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- This winter an unprecedented number of spacecraft will need to call home. Playing a critical role in these planetary missions is NASA's Deep Space Network,...

National Science Board, Citing Census Stats on Foreign-Born Scientists and Engineers, Releases Workforce Report With New Sense of Urgency.
November 19, 2003... Byline: National Science Foundation WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- The National Science Board (NSB) today released a report on the U.S. science and engineering (S&E) workforce following a three-year study, saying that new...

New Nanoscience Centre to Make Montreal World Leader; Partners Invest $9 Million in Canada's Most Advanced Scientific Facilities at McGill University.
November 19, 2003... Byline: McGill University MONTREAL, Nov. 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- Nanotechnology research, the science of miniaturizing through ultra-sophisticated machinery, has obtained globally competitive headquarters at McGill University. With the...

NASA Exploration Rover Spirit Makes Third Trajectory Adjustment to Calibrate Its Flight Path to Mars.
November 19, 2003... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Spirit spacecraft made its third trajectory correction maneuver on Friday, Nov. 14, fine tuning its flight path toward Mars with an engine-firing...

Researchers Advance New Hypothesis on Origin of 'Junk' DNA.
November 20, 2003... Byline: Indiana University BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Nov. 20 (AScribe Newswire) -- The explosion of "junk" DNA in animals, plants and fungi may be the simple result of their ancestors' reduced population sizes, according to a new hypothesis...

Researchers Design, Build First Artificial Protein.
November 20, 2003... Byline: Howard Hughes Medical Institute CHEVY CHASE, Md., Nov. 20 (AScribe Newswire) -- Using sophisticated computer algorithms running on standard desktop computers, researchers have designed and constructed a novel functional protein that...

New Ecolabel Deceives Consumers, Natural Forests Being Converted to Toxic Tree Farms; American Lands Alliance Reports on Timber Industry Reveal Deception, Destruction.
November 20, 2003... Byline: Rainforest Action Network SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20 (AScribe Newswire) -- American Lands Alliance today released two shocking reports that tell the truth behind the timber industry's new "SFI" ecolabel. A 72-page detailed analysis of...

After The Fires: Please Don't Feed the Wild Animals.(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Byline: University of California, Davis DAVIS, Calif., Nov. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Feeding wild animals in Southern California's recently burned areas won't help the creatures and may even put them and people in danger, says a UC Davis...

Unusual Minerals Formed on Stored Nuclear Waste.
November 21, 2003... Byline: University of California, Davis DAVIS, Calif., Nov. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Nuclear fuel waste in long-term storage could form mineral phases that are not well understood, according to research by chemists at the University of...

Final Death Throes of Nearby Star Witnessed First-Hand.
November 21, 2003... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- It takes only a few hundred to a thousand years for a dying Sun-like star, many billions of years old, to transform into a dazzling, glowing cloud called a...

Red Cross Teams With Kintera to Quickly Mobilize Online Efforts for 2003 San Diego Wildfires Relief.
November 24, 2003... Byline: Kintera SAN DIEGO, Calif., Nov. 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- In less than two hours, an emergency website with online donation and "spread the word" capabilities was launched; to date, 6,867 donors have given over $1 million. "The...

Colgate University Panel Debates Value of Space Exploration; Panelists Available for Comment.
November 24, 2003... Byline: Colgate University HAMILTON, N.Y., Nov. 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- Colgate University faculty members debated the value of space exploration at a campus discussion, with some saying the ethical, social, economic, and practical...

Carnegie Mellon University Neuroscientist Jay McClelland Nets Prestigious Psychology Award.
November 26, 2003... Byline: Carnegie Mellon University PITTSBURGH, Nov. 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- Jay McClelland, the Walter Van Dyke Bingham Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon University, has received the esteemed William...

Book Chronicles Wings of Purdue's Flight Dreams.(Book Review)
November 26, 2003... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Nov. 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- In 1909, just as the world was awakening to the reality of flight, J. Clifford Turpin, of Dayton, Ohio, was a young engineer fresh out of Purdue University who...

Odyssey Experiment Monitors Space Radiation to Evaluate Risks to Future Mars-Bound Astronauts.(Brief Article)
November 26, 2003... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- The martian radiation environment experiment on NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter has collected data continuously from the start of the Odyssey mapping...