Posts

Omid Kokabee, a physicist convicted of espionage in Iran, has been granted freedom on parole, his lawyer announced on 29 August. It could be the end of a five-year-long struggle for the Iranian scientist, who has said all along that he was punished for refusing to help a covert nuclear-weapon programme. Kokabee, who is now 34 years old, was working on his PhD thesis in Spain and in the United States when was jailed in Tehran in early 2011 while attempting to fly back to the US after visiting his native country....

Yearly mammograms in middle-age women do not reduce breast cancer deaths — these tests are essentially as good as physical examination alone, according to a new 25-year study from Canada. The study, which included nearly 90,000 women ages 40 to 59, is the latest to question the value of routine mammography. The researchers found the same number of women died of breast cancer over 25 years, regardless of whether they underwent yearly mammograms or not....

Doctors now consider HIV infection to be a chronic disease rather than a death sentence because of the success of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), which stop the infection’s progression to AIDS. With that success in hand, the top priority is now prevention. The choices available to most of the world—abstinence, condoms and male circumcision—are not doing enough; more than 6,000 people contract HIV every day. And those methods are especially problematic for women, who, because of social and economic circumstances, often have less control over their options....

On the Other Hand Double-hand transplantations could switch the handedness of patients. Two men who lost both hands in work injuries received transplants after three to four years of waiting. Despite such a long time—the brain typically reassigns areas linked with control of the amputated limb to other muscles—researchers at the French Center for Cognitive Neuroscience in Lyon found the patients’ brain could connect to the new hands, which subsequently could perform complex tasks (in a demonstration, one patient repaired electrical wires)....

Plenty of us have known a dog on Prozac. We have also witnessed the eye rolls that come with the mention of canine psychiatry. Doting pet owners—myself included—ascribe all kinds of questionable psychological ills to our pawed companions. But in fact, the science suggests that numerous nonhuman species do suffer from psychiatric symptoms. Birds obsess; horses on occasion get pathologically compulsive; dolphins and whales, especially those in captivity, self-mutilate. And that thing when your dog woefully watches you pull out of the driveway from the window—that might be DSM-certified separation anxiety....

SAN FRANCISCO—As the science of climate change matures and the need to prepare for its consequences presses, scientists must change their focus to advise local and regional leaders on how best to adapt to a warmer future, senior climate researchers said Monday. “We need to change the way we do our climate science,” said Jonathan Overpeck, director of the Environmental Studies Laboratory at the University of Arizona in Tucson. “Rather than being curiosity driven, we need to be end-user driven....

Reprinted from Nature magazine As controversy rages around the scientists who created mutant strains of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, leading flu researchers have called for a 60-day voluntary pause on such work. The call comes in a statement jointly published today in Nature (R. A. M. Fouchier et al. Nature 481, 443; 2012) and Science. On 20 December, the United States government — acting on advice from the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) — asked both journals to publish only the main conclusions of two flu studies, but not to reveal details “that could enable replication of the experiments by those who would seek to do harm” (see ‘Call to censor flu studies draws fire’)....

Sea levels worldwide will rise higher than anticipated, thanks to a new once-stable region of Antarctica that is suddenly melting, and at a fast rate. Analysis of satellite data shows that although the massive ice sheet on the southern Antarctic Peninsula, made up of multiple glaciers, was rock solid from 2000 to 2009, since then it has begun to melt rapidly. The glaciers, stretching along 750 kilometers of coastline, are shedding 60 cubic kilometers of ice into the ocean each year—about 70,000 Empire State Buildings of ice annually....

The entire nation of Syria has gone offline. “Starting at 10:26 UTC [5:26 a.m. Eastern time], Syria’s international Internet connectivity shut down,” wrote Renesys researchers, who monitor the global health of the Internet, on the firm’s blog today (Nov. 29). “All 84 of Syria’s IP address blocks have become unreachable, effectively removing the country from the Internet.” That finding was later confirmed by Google and Akamai; it means that any incoming or outgoing Internet traffic in Syria is undeliverable....

In 1905 prosperity and progress boosted the mood in the U.S. and much of western Europe. The treaty concluding the war by the victorious Japanese against the hapless Russians led to this sentiment by the editors of Scientific American: “It is entirely possible that the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth marked the close of the last great war to be waged between civilized powers.” [December 16, 1905, p. 474] Something, obviously, went terribly wrong: Nine years later the disaster now called World War I broke out....

Last year Americans spent roughly $20 billion on ice cream. With the return of fair-weathered spring, grocery stores are once again stocking up on the popular, refreshing treat. Rather than heading to the grocery store, you can concoct super-creamy forms of this American favorite almost instantly at home, provided you have a key ingredient: liquid nitrogen. Yale University professor of mechanical engineering and materials science Ainissa Ramirez demonstrates how to make the treat—while conducting a mini science experiment—within minutes....

Vint Cerf, Google’s chief Internet evangelist. (Credit: Dan Farber) Google has a plan. Eventually it wants to get into your brain. “When you think about something and don’t really know much about it, you will automatically get information,” Google CEO Larry Page said in Steven Levy’s book, “In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes Our Lives.” “Eventually you’ll have an implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer....

Just add water. It works for instant coffee, tea and juice mix. Might it also work for your favorite cocktail? Powdered alcohol hasn’t gotten much of a foothold in the U.S. even though the idea has been around for decades. An Arizona company thinks that Americans are ready for the convenience of mojitos and margaritas that come from a small foil packet. The U.S. government thought so, too, at least for a couple of weeks earlier this month....

Most scholars agree that Isaac Newton, while formulating the laws of force and gravity and in­venting the calculus in the late 1600s, probably knew all the science there was to know at the time. In the ensuing 350 years an estimated 50 million research papers and innumerable books have been published in the natural sciences and mathematics. The modern high school student probably now possesses more scientific knowledge than Newton did, yet science to many people seems to be an impenetrable mountain of facts....

By Melissa GaskillFar from the tar-coated beaches and clean-up crews seen on nightly news programs, the Deepwater Horizon disaster is exacting an ongoing and largely unknown toll. In the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, floating oil slicks and subsurface plumes threaten a highly diverse ecosystem. According to a 2009 inventory by the Harte Research Institute (HRI) for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, the area around the ill-fated rig hosts 1,728 species, among them whale sharks, tarpon, tuna, sea turtles and sperm whales....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Battle of Marston Moor near York on 2 July 1644 was one of the most important engagements of the English Civil Wars (1642-1651). The Parliamentarians won the battle which, involving over 45,000 men, was the largest of the First English Civil War (1642-1646). Instrumental in the victory and making his first starring appearance in the pages of history was one particular ‘Roundhead’ cavalry commander: Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Ever since the 4th century BCE, the Gallic tribes of northern Italy clashed with the expanding Roman Republic. In 225 BCE, the Boii forged alliances with fellow Gallic tribes of northern Italy and with tribes from across the Alps. The pan-Gallic army struck for Rome, but they were intercepted by three mighty Roman armies....

Did you like this interview? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. In this interview, World History Encyclopedia is joined by American author Nancy Marie Brown, who is talking to us about her new book The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women. You can find the entire interview on our YouTube channel. The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior WomenNancy Marie Brown (Copyright)...

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. After Julius Caesar’s (100-44 BCE) conquest of Gaul, Roman legions pushed the borders of the Roman Empire’s frontier to the banks of the Rhine River. Augustus (r. 27 BCE - 14 CE) divided the newly acquired region into three provinces: Gallia Aquitania, Gallia Lugdunensis, and Gallica Belgica (the Rhine frontier)....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Squanto (l. c. 1585-1622 CE) is the best-known Native American of the pilgrim narrative, famous for helping the Plymouth Colony survive in 1621 CE. He makes up what scholar Charles C. Mann calls the “uneasy triumvirate” of Native Americans who first established a relationship with the English settlers, the other two being Samoset (l....