Electronics recycling: Dealing with skeletons in the wardrobe

With America Recycles Day coming around on Monday, it's a good time to consider the impact of digital technology on waste.

It doesn't require too much imagination. Just visualize the obsolete cell phones, computers, TVs, modems, and tangle of wires sitting somewhere in your home--I suspect many of us have electronic stuff that's basically just baggage. The EPA estimates that nationwide there were 2.25 million U.S. tons of PCs, peripherals, TVs, and phones discarded in 2007, and e-waste is the fastest growing category of waste.

AT&T prepares for the close to iPhone restrictiveness

The end of 2010 is close and it looks like AT&T is beefing up its device portfolio and app offerings for a day when it isn't the only U.S. operator offering the Apple iPhone.

Earlier this week, the nation's second largest wireless operator launched the first Microsoft Windows Phone 7 phones, and it also added two new Android smartphones to its line-up. Additionally, it announced a new deal with app store provider GetJar, which will help it address the app market beyond smartphones.

Formation of Bulge on Far Side of Moon Explained

A bulge of elevated topography on the far side of the moon -- known as the lunar far side highlands -- has defied explanation for decades. But a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, shows that the highlands may be the result of tidal forces acting early in the moon's history when its solid outer crust floated on an ocean of liquid rock.

Ian Garrick-Bethell, an assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz, found that the shape of the moon's bulge can be described by a surprisingly simple mathematical function. "What's interesting is that the form of the mathematical function implies that tides had something to do with the formation of that terrain," said Garrick-Bethell, who is the first author of a paper on the new findings published in the November 11 issue of Science.

NASA finds faulty seal after delayed shuttle launch

A potentially dangerous hydrogen leak that forced NASA to cancel last week's launch of space shuttle Discovery may have been due to a misaligned seal, a NASA spokesman said on Thursday.

"They're analyzing the flight seal, which they found wasn't properly aligned," NASA spokesman Allard Beutel wrote in an e-mail to Reuters.

NASA called off its planned November 5 launch of Discovery on a mission to deliver a storage room, spare parts and a prototype humanoid robot to the International Space Station when gaseous hydrogen began leaking from a vent line as the spaceship was being fueled for flight.

Pain Gene Common to Flies, Mice and Humans, Researchers Discover

While it has become clear in recent years that susceptibility to pain has a strong inherited component, very little is known about actual "pain genes" and how they work. In the November 12th issue of Cell, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and their collaborators report on a novel human pain gene. People with minor variations in this gene showed clear differences in susceptibility to acute heat pain and chronic back pain. Corroborating mouse studies give some clues as to how the gene controls pain sensitivity. The gene was uncovered in a genome-wide hunt for pain genes in fruit flies, which revealed hundreds of other candidate pain genes that await further study.

Understanding the genetic basis of pain will lead to the development of new analgesics, the identification of risk factors for chronic pain and improved decision-making about the suitability of surgical treatment for different patients, says Clifford Woolf, MB, BCh, PhD, the study's senior co-author and director of the F.M. Kirby Center and Program in Neurobiology at Children's.

Nexus Protein Controlling Blood Vessel Growth Into Brains of Mice Identified

One protein single-handedly controls the growth of blood vessels into the developing brains of mice embryos, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Understanding how the protein, a cellular receptor, functions could help clinicians battle brain tumors and stroke by choking off or supplementing vital blood-vessel development, and may enhance the delivery of drugs across the blood-brain barrier.

"The strength and specificity of this receptor's effects indicate that it could be a very important target," said Calvin Kuo, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine. "It's really a spectacular phenotype. For a stroke, we might want to stimulate the function of this receptor; for a brain tumor, we might want to inhibit it."

A Love Game: Fish Courtship More Complex Than Thought

Monash University researchers have discovered that male Australian desert goby fish are surprisingly strategic when it comes to courtship, adapting their tactics depending on the frequency of their contact with females.

Attracting females involves significant time, energy and exposure to predation and previous research has indicated that male gobies are more likely to court larger females due to the number of eggs they carry compared with their smaller counterparts.

Utilizing CT, Radiologists Can Pinpoint Cause of Some Strokes

Multidetector computed tomography (CT) helps pinpoint the causes of ischemic strokes, the most common type of stroke, potentially speeding the delivery of life-saving treatments, according to a study published online and in the January issue of Radiology.

"Our results suggest that multidetector CT could become the first-line imaging tool for identifying the cause of acute ischemic stroke," said the study's lead author, Loic Boussel, M.D., Ph.D., professor of radiology at Louis Pradel Hospital in Bron, France.

Unique Highly Stable Fuel Cell Catalyst Gets Strength from Its Nano Core

Stop-and-go driving can wear on your nerves, but it really does a number on the precious platinum that drives reactions in automotive fuel cells. Before large fleets of fuel-cell-powered vehicles can hit the road, scientists will have to find a way to protect the platinum, the most expensive component of fuel-cell technology, and to reduce the amount needed to make catalytically active electrodes.

Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new electrocatalyst that uses a single layer of platinum and minimizes its wear and tear while maintaining high levels of reactivity during tests that mimic stop-and-go driving. The research -- described online in Angewandte Chemie, International Edition -- may greatly enhance the practicality of fuel-cell vehicles and may also be applicable for improving the performance of other metallic catalysts.

Yoga's Ability to Improve Mood and Lessen Anxiety Is Linked to Increased Levels of a Critical Brain Chemical, Research Finds

Yoga's Ability to Improve Mood and Lessen Anxiety Is Linked to Increased Levels of a Critical Brain Chemical, Research Finds: Yoga has a greater positive effect on a person's mood and anxiety level than walking and other forms of exercise, which may be due to higher levels of the brain chemical GABA according to an article in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online.

Yoga has been shown to increase the level of gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, a chemical in the brain that helps to regulate nerve activity. GABA activity is reduced in people with mood and anxiety disorders, and drugs that increase GABA activity are commonly prescribed to improve mood and decrease anxiety.

Qualcomm Pushes Augmented Reality for Android Games

Qualcomm has put out a beta version of its Augmented Reality (AR) Extension for Unity Technologies' game development tool, which will allow developers to combine computer-generated content and the real world in games for Android-based products, the company said on Wednesday.

The AR Extension for Unity is part of Qualcomm's augmented reality platform, which was first announced in June and is based on technology Qualcomm acquired from Austrian company Imagination Computer Services. The platform also includes the previously released AR SDK (Software Development Kit) for Android, which is available for Linux, Mac and Windows.

Both the extension and the development kit are still in the beta phase, and are available for download from Qualcomm's developer portal.

By integrating with an existing development tool, Qualcomm hopes to accelerate developer adoption. The Unity game development tool and the necessary Android add-on can be purchased from the company's website for a total cost of US$3,000. It can be used to develop games for the web, iPhone, iPad, PC, Mac, Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as well as Android.

Like many others, Qualcomm is organizing a contest to attract developer interest. The contest will award the winner US$125,000. On Nov. 15, Qualcomm plans to open a site for submission of contest entries. The winners will be announced in February next year.

Micron hopes diversification short-circuits losses

Chipmaker Micron Technology Inc. has been trying to remake itself for years, to free itself from dependence on commodity computer chips and diversify its products.

It just reported its first annual profit in four years. But its shares are still way down for the year.

That's a sign that Chief Operating Officer Mark Durcan still has a ways to go before he convinces investors that Micron is a new company -- not the same one that posted stomach-churning profit-to-loss swings over the last decade.

Micron, based in Boise, makes memory devices for cell phones, cars, security systems and iPads.

It's even getting into solar energy.

Durcan is optimistic, saying he feels pretty good about having survived the recession as the only remaining U.S. or European memory maker -- with $3 billion in cash, to boot.

Computer Hardware Lower - DELL, NTAP, STX, AAPL

Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), the 3rd largest personal computer maker in the world traded at 13.93, which represents -3.86% versus its previous trading session close,added downward pressure to technology shares, with the Technology Select Sector Spider (NYSE:XLK) trading -0.52% from its previous trading session close.

Among the computer hardware makers, Dell was the worst performer in the Computer Hardware Index (NYSE:^HWI), which traded lower by 1.66%. The index is tumbled with only 2 components trading higher.

How young folks learn their own ways of tackling math situations

A new study has revealed that children with learning problems can benefit from being encouraged to find their own way to solve arithmetic problems.

Dr Lio Moscardini at Strathclyde's Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, found that children deal better with arithmetical problems if they can use their own intuitive strategies such as using number blocks, drawings or breaking an equation up into smaller, simpler parts- rather than being instructed in arithmetical facts and procedures.

Nearly all teachers taking part in the study, who underwent professional development in children’s mathematical thinking before introducing these ideas into their classrooms, felt that their pupils had benefited from learning in this way- and several said they had previously underestimated the children's ability and potential.

Glenmark finishes phase III trial for Crofelemer

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said on Monday it has completed phase-III trials for its Crofelemer drug, sending its shares up more than 4% in early trades.

The drug, used in the treatment of HIV-associated diarrhoea, would be launched in 140 countries, it said in a statement.

Glenmark has developed Crofelemer with its partners Napo Pharmaceuticals and Salix Pharmaceuticals, it said.

The Mumbai-based drugmaker has exclusive marketing and distribution rights to this compound across 140 countries and is also the sole global supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients except in China, it added.

Glenmark would invest significant resources to fast-track its development plan to ensure early regulatory approvals for Crofelemer and launch it in most of the markets, Glenn Saldanha, chief executive and managing director, Glenmark, said in a statement.

Protein study sheds light on insulin answer and tumor unit development

The United States and Japanese researchers have identified a key step in metabolic pathways linked to diabetes and cancer.

TORC 2 activates a protein called Akt, which plays a crucial role in how cells respond to insulin, said Kazuo Shiozaki, of the University of California.

Normally, insulin triggers fat and muscle cells to take up sugar from the blood. Patients with type II diabetes make plenty of insulin, but their cells do not respond to it properly.

Akt plays a role in the series of steps between insulin exposure and sugar uptake; specifically, it causes proteins that take sugar from the blood to move to the cell surface.

Genes figure a lot something greater than simply our looks

A study has suggested that the two sets of chromosomes we humans inherit from our parents do not only determine our physical traits but also how we develop.

Dr Christopher Gregg, a Human Frontiers Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, studied the roles of so-called "imprinted genes" in brain development, brain function and animal behaviour, ABC News reported.

Human beings inherit 23 chromosomes from each parent, and they pair up and combine to form the thousands of genes that control every aspect of our biological development - from height to hair colour.

But for reasons unknown, in some genes the DNA from one parent suppresses the DNA from the other parent, selectively controlling the expression of that gene.

Extended span space flight 'is disagreeable for the bones'

A study has found that long-duration space flight might have a long-term negative impact on bone health.

The research presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta also said exposure to microgravity (also known as weightlessness) during space flight results in rapid bone loss.

Researchers recently set out to determine the impact of long-duration space missions on long-term bone health by assessing bone mineral density, which is a measurement of mineral bone content and an indirect estimator of bone strength.

The researchers studied 28 US crewmembers (24 men and four women with a pre-flight age range of 36 to 53 years) whose missions in space ranged from 95 to 215 days.