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Health stories by experts more credible than blogs

Health information written by a doctor is rated as more credible when it appears on a Web site than in a blog or a homepage, according to a study of college students.

The findings highlight the relative importance of different online sources to people who seek health information on the Internet.

Early artificial pancreas trials show benefits for kids, teenagers with diabetes overnight

LONDON, Feb. 5, 2010 – In a landmark study in children and teenagers with type 1 diabetes, JDRF-funded researchers at the University of Cambridge showed that using a first-generation artificial pancreas system overnight can lower the risk of low blood sugar emergencies while sleeping, and at the same time improve diabetes control.

Results from the studies are published in the February 5, 2010 issue of The Lancet, available online at www.thelancet.com.

'Artificial pancreas' a step nearer for children with type 1 diabetes

Scientists in Cambridge have made a significant step towards developing a so-called "artificial pancreas" system for managing type 1 diabetes in children. The team has developed and successfully tested a new algorithm, providing a stepping stone to home testing for the artificial pancreas.

Cyclone Oli reaches category 4 strength on its way to open waters

Cyclone Oli reaches category 4 strength on its way to open waters

Oli has exploded in strength and as of February 4 it was a Category 4 cyclone with peak sustained winds of 132 mph (115 knots/213 km/hr). NASA's Aqua and TRMM satellites observed Oli's clouds grow colder and rainfall become heavier over the last day. Residents of French Polynesia should watch for local weather advisories.

Where did today's spiral galaxies come from?

Where did today's spiral galaxies come from?

Hubble shows that the beautiful spirals galaxies of the modern Universe were the ugly ducklings of six billion years ago.

If confirmed, the finding highlights the importance to many galaxies of collisions and mergers in the recent past. It also provides clues for the unique status of our own galaxy, the Milky Way.

$32 million CU-Boulder instrument package to study space weather set for NASA launch Feb. 9

A $32 million University of Colorado at Boulder instrument package set for launch Feb. 9 by NASA should help scientists better Contact: Tom Woods, 303-492-4224
understand the violent effects of the sun on near-Earth space weather that can affect satellites, power grids, ground communications systems and even astronauts and aircraft crews.

Forming the present-day spiral galaxies

Forming the present-day spiral galaxies

Galaxy morphology, or the study of the shapes and formation of galaxies, is a critical and much-debated topic in astronomy. An important tool for this is the Hubble sequence or Hubble tuning-fork diagram [1], a classification scheme invented in 1926 by the same Edwin Hubble in whose honour the space telescope is named.

Madly mapping the universe

Madly mapping the universe

To map our home planet, Google Earth depends mostly on satellite imagery for land surfaces and sonar imagery for the sea floor. Maps of the Universe likewise depend on different kinds of detectors for different kinds of features. Maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), for example, depend on measuring minute differences in the temperature of the sky.

Now a hurricane, Oli passing Bora Bora

Now a hurricane, Oli passing Bora Bora

Tropical cyclone Oli has attained hurricane strength today, February 3, with maximum sustained winds near 74 mph.

At 10 a.m. ET (1500 UTC), Oli was located approximately 200 nautical miles west-northwest of Bora Bora, near 15.9 South and 154.9 West. It was moving east at 14 mph (12 knots).

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captured infrared images of Oli as it passed by early this morning.

Merging galaxies create a binary quasar

Merging galaxies create a binary quasar

Most, if not all, large galaxies, such as our galaxy the Milky Way, host super-massive black holes at their centers. Because galaxies regularly interact and merge, astronomers have assumed that binary super-massive black holes have been common in the Universe, especially during its early history. Black holes can only be detected as quasars when they are actively accreting matter, a process that releases vast amounts of energy. A leading theory is that galaxy mergers trigger accretion, creating quasars in both galaxies.