Substantial work ahead for water issues, say scientists at ACS' Final Report briefing

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WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2009 — Scientists and engineers will face a host of obstacles over the next decade in providing clean water to millions of people caught up in a water shortage crisis, a panel of scientists and engineers said today at a briefing at the Broadcast Center of the National Press Building on the Final Report on the American Chemical Society's Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions.

Big cats, wild pigs and short-eared dogs -- oh, my!

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NEW YORK (January 27, 2009) -- The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) released photos today from the first large-scale census of jaguars in the Amazon region of Ecuador—one of the most biologically rich regions on the planet.

Penn study identifies how ebola virus avoids the immune system

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PHILADELPHIA, PA - Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have likely found one reason why the Ebola virus is such a powerful, deadly, and effective virus. Using a cell culture model for Ebola virus infection, they have discovered that the virus disables a cellular protein called tetherin that normally can block the spread of virus from cell to cell.

Nuclear fusion-fission hybrid could contribute to carbon-free energy future

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AUSTIN, Texas--Physicists at The University of Texas at Austin have designed a new system that, when fully developed, would use fusion to eliminate most of the transuranic waste produced by nuclear power plants.

The invention could help combat global warming by making nuclear power cleaner and thus a more viable replacement of carbon-heavy energy sources, such as coal.

Adolescents with unpopular names more prone to committing crime

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Shippensburg, PA – January 28, 2009 – A new study in the journal Social Science Quarterly examined the relationship between first name popularity in adolescents and tendency to commit crime. Results show that, regardless of race, juveniles with unpopular names are more likely to engage in criminal activity.

David E. Kalist and Daniel Y. Lee of Shippensburg University analyzed state data by comparing the first names of male juvenile delinquents to the first names of male juveniles in the population.

Tracking poultry litter phosphorus: Threat of accumulation?

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MADISON, WI, JANUARY 26, 2009 – The Delmarva Peninsula, flanking the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay, is home to some 600 million chickens. The resulting poultry manure and some of the chicken house bedding material is usually composted and then spread onto croplands as a fertilizer.

Ancient wounds reveal Triceratops battles

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Claremont, CA – How did the dinosaur Triceratops use its three horns? A new study published in the open-access, peer reviewed journal PLoS ONE and led by Andrew Farke, curator at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, located on the campus of The Webb Schools, shows that the headgear was not just for looks. Battle scars on the skulls of Triceratops preserve rare evidence of Cretaceous-era combat.

Researchers find lack of trust in leaders, institutions is major factor in US economic crisis

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Ethical evaluations of nanotechnology

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Washington, DC – Recent action in Congress to reauthorize the U.S. federal nanotechnology research program offers the chance to address the social and ethical issues concerning the emerging scientific field, experts say.

New liquefaction hazard maps of Santa Clara Valley, Northern California

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New hazard maps for communities from San Jose to Palo Alto in Northern California delineate the probability of earthquake-induced liquefaction, based on three scenarios: a magnitude 7.8 on the San Andreas Fault comparable to the 1906 event, a magnitude 6.7 on the Hayward Fault comparable to the 1868 event, and a magnitude 6.9 on the Calavaras Calaveras Fault. The probability of liquefaction is highest at approximately 33 to 37 percent in some areas along major creeks for the San Andreas Fault scenario when the water table is relatively shallow,