science / Top Stories
The Science of Spending Stimulus Money WiselyThe federal stimulus included $18 billion for scientific research, but experts disagree on whether this is compatible with the intent of Congress to create jobs quickly.
New York Times Sunday, October 18, 2009Performance reviews are raising council standards, say researchersPerformance assessment schemes aimed at making local authorities into more effective organisations are having the desired effect, according to new research released by the Economic and Social Research Council. The project "Leadership
change and public services: Reinvigorating Performance or Reinforcing Decline?" found that poor performance was likely both to be punished by voters at local elections and to lead to change among the senior management of authorities.
Eurekalert.org Sunday, October 18, 2009Nurse Is Accused of Using Internet to Encourage SuicidesInvestigators said the nurse feigned compassion for those he met in online chat rooms, while offering step-by-step instructions on how to take their lives.
International Herald Tribune Sunday, October 18, 2009NASA photos show moon strike created plumeLOS ANGELES -- NASA's much-hyped mission to hurl a spacecraft into the moon turned out some worthwhile data after all,
scientists said.
Seattle Post Intelligencer Sunday, October 18, 2009Cargo craft docks with space stationMOSCOW -- A cargo ship has delivered food, fuel, oxygen and other supplies to the International
space station.
Seattle Post Intelligencer Sunday, October 18, 2009Without Pigs, Cairo Looks For Solar Garbage FixEarly this summer, amid fears of the spread of swine flu, the Egyptian government ordered the slaughter of some 250,000 pigs in Cairo. The pigs used to eat much of the city's garbage. Now a non-profit organization called Solar Cities is looking to put all that extra organic waste to use—-by turning it into natural gas.
NPR Sunday, October 18, 2009Sating the Ravenous Brain: Researchers Quell Hunger Neurons in Fruit FliesTwo decades ago, the discovery of neuropeptide Y ( NPY ), a peptide in the mammalian brain involved in food-seeking behavior, sparked a search for a weight-loss remedy that could interfere with its activity. Eventually the promise of other drug targets, along with the possible side effects of targeting NPY, put a damper on the effort--until now. New findings about the action of this appetite-promoting peptide could bring NPY back to the front burner. [More]
Scientific American Sunday, October 18, 2009Exercise can aid recovery after brain radiationExercise is a key factor in improving both memory and mood after whole-brain radiation treatments in rodents, according to data presented by Duke
university scientists at the Society for Neuroscience meeting on Oct. 18.
Eurekalert.org Sunday, October 18, 2009Evolution details revealed through 21-year E. coli experimentIn 1988, an associate professor started growing cultures of Escherichia coli . Twenty-one years and 40,000 generations of bacteria later, Richard Lenski , who is now a professor of microbial ecology at Michigan State
university, reveals new details about the differences between adaptive and random genetic changes during evolution. [More]
Scientific American Sunday, October 18, 2009In search of that word on the tip of your tongueOn the tip of your tongue, that word you can't dig out. Why not? The tip of your tongue may be the wrong place to look, psychologists suggest. They find that deaf, sign-language speakers may hold the keys to finding where those words are hiding.
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