Biggest breach of Earth's solar storm shield discovered

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GREENBELT, Md. -- Earth's magnetic field, which shields our planet from particles streaming outward from the Sun, often develops two holes that allow the largest leaks, according to researchers sponsored by NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Brown economists: Ancestral history explains roots of income inequality

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Two Brown University economists have created a new data set explaining differences in the world's current per capita gross domestic products (GDPs). In a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, Louis Putterman and David N. Weil introduce a "World Migration Matrix" showing that inequality among countries can be largely explained by where the ancestors of each country's people lived some 500 years ago. "What matters is the history of the people who live in a country today, more than the history of the country itself," they say.

Moving in for the winter toxic brown recluse spiders pose danger

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – As the cold weather creeps in, so do brown recluse spiders. True to their name, the brown recluse is a shy, reclusive spider looking for a warm home. Drawn to clutter, closets and complex storage environments, the spiders actually want to stay away from humans. But, if care is not taken, people could find themselves sharing their home with one of 'the big three,' according to a University of Missouri entomologist. The brown recluse is one of three spiders in the United States considered venomous – the other two are the black widow and the hobo spider.

Female genital tissue not foolproof barrier to HIV sexual transmission

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Contrary to a widely-held assumption about heterosexual transmission of HIV, the normal mucosal lining of the female genital tract is not a foolproof barrier to viral penetration, scientists at the Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago report at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco.

"This is an unexpected and important result," says Thomas Hope of Northwestern, "because it is generally believed that the squamous epithelium of the female genital tract is an efficient barrier to viral penetration."

A catalyst for families: Experts comment on importance of Christmas dinner

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The menu might be different and families might be smaller, but Christmas remains among the most important holidays. "It is sacred," says Université de Montréal Psychologist Luc Brunet. "It's part of our culture to come together to laugh and eat in a festive setting."

Is holiday giving an obligation?

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Why do we suddenly become generous during the holidays? Why do gifts often bear greater symbolic than economic value? Why do we anonymously give to strangers?

"Because giving back is a societal norm," says Marcel Fournier, a sociology professor at the Université de Montréal. "Human beings are social beings and no society can survive without mechanisms of solidarity and reciprocity. Giving becomes an obligation."

U of T scientists solve mystery of Giant's Causeway with kitchen materials

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TORONTO, ON – Physicists at the University of Toronto have cracked the mystery behind the strange and uncannily well-ordered hexagonal columns found at such popular tourist sites as Northern Ireland's Giant's Causeway and California's Devil's Postpile, using water, corn starch, and a heat lamp.

Breathing cycles in Earth's upper atmosphere tied to solar wind disturbances

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A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the periodic "breathing" of Earth's upper atmosphere that has long puzzled scientists is due in part to cyclic solar wind disturbances, a finding that should help engineers track satellites more accurately and improve forecasts for electronic communication disruptions.

Hopkins-led team solves failed vaccine mystery

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NASA instruments document contraction of the boundary between the Earth's ionosphere, space

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GREENBELT, Md. - Observations made by NASA instruments onboard an Air Force satellite have shown that the boundary between the Earth's upper atmosphere and space has moved to extraordinarily low altitudes. These observations were made by the Coupled Ion Neutral Dynamics Investigation (CINDI) instrument suite, which was launched aboard the U.S. Air Force's Communication/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) satellite on April 16, 2008.