Tech

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite captured a clear picture of what's happening within Tropical Storm Edzani, including where the rainfall is happening and where the center of the storm has been breached. Edzani is fading and will continue to fade over the next couple of days.

Also known as TRMM, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite is managed by NASA and the Japanese Space Agency, JAXA and the satellite acts like a rain gauge in space by measuring rainfall of storms on Earth from its orbit.

PHILADELPHIA, January 12, 2010 -- The American College of Physicians (ACP) has issued a position paper to guide ethical relationships among patients, physicians, and caregivers.

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (January 12, 2010) More than a third of National Football League (NFL) players who sustained an Achilles tendon injury were never able to return to professional play according to research in the current issue of Foot & Ankle Specialist (published by SAGE). The injured players who did return to active play averaged a 50% reduction in their power ratings.

A new predictor of cornea transplant success has been identified by the Cornea Donor Study (CDS) Investigator Group. New analysis of data from the 2008 Specular Microscopy Ancillary Study (SMAS), a subset of the CDS, found that the preoperative donor cell count of endothelial cells, previously considered to be an important predictor of a successful transplant, did not correlate with graft success. Instead the study found that a patient's endothelial cell count six months post-cornea transplant is a better indicator of subsequent failure of the graft rather than the donor's cell count.

Northwestern University researchers have developed compact, mid-infrared laser diodes that generate more light than heat – a breakthroughs in quantum cascade laser efficiency.

The results are an important step toward use of quantum cascade lasers in a variety of applications, including remote sensing of hazardous chemicals.

The research, led by Manijeh Razeghi, the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, was published online in the journal Nature Photonics on Jan. 10.

DURHAM, N.C. – Obese white men who have both diabetes and prostate cancer have significantly worse outcomes following radical prostatectomy than do men without diabetes who undergo the same procedure, according to research from Duke University Medical Center appearing in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Many studies have shown that diabetes is associated with a lower risk of developing prostate cancer -- at least in white men -- but the effect of diabetes on outcomes after prostate cancer surgery has not been as clear.

BOULDER--In a vivid example of how a small geographic feature can have far-reaching impacts on climate, new research shows that water levels in the Bering Strait helped drive global climate patterns during ice age episodes dating back more than 100,000 years.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In an important first for a promising new technology, scientists have used a quantum computer to calculate the precise energy of molecular hydrogen. This groundbreaking approach to molecular simulations could have profound implications not just for quantum chemistry, but also for a range of fields from cryptography to materials science.

It's a good thing that Cyclone Edzani is far away from land and will stay that way this weekend, because it's a powerful cyclone. In fact it's a Category 4 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson scale generating waves almost as tall as a three-story building!

On January 8 at 10 a.m. ET (1500 UTC), Cyclone Edzani had maximum sustained winds near 155 mph! That's 135 knots or 250 kilometers per hour, and it has higher gusts. Edzani's powerful hurricane-force winds extend out 40 miles from its center, while tropical storm-force winds extend up to 130 miles from the center.

Washington, January 7, 2010 – The American College of Physicians (ACP) today sent a letter to key legislators urging them to ensure that the final health care reform bill includes provisions to support the primary care workforce.

"Recent studies show that the U.S. faces a shortage of more than 40,000 primary care physicians, even before taking into account increased demand for primary care associated with increased coverage," said ACP President Joseph W. Stubbs, MD, FACP in the letter.

RICHLAND, Wash. – A new acoustic telemetry system tracks the migration of juvenile salmon using one-tenth as many fish as comparable methods, suggests a paper published in the January edition of the American Fisheries Society journal Fisheries. The paper also explains how the system is best suited for deep, fast-moving rivers and can detect fish movement in more places than other tracking methods.

The inviting expanse of shimmering snow contrasts with the benign blue sky above. The ski instructor briefly goes over the planned run, his first charge glides off into the distance … and sets off a slab avalanche. The group all look on helplessly as their friend is buried under a wall of snow. Bernhard Budaker of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA knows this kind of scenario is all too common.

The impact on levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere by the decaying remains of a group of marine creatures that includes starfish and sea urchin has been significantly underestimated.

"Climate models must take this carbon sink into account," says Mario Lebrato, lead author of the study. The work was done when he was at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) and affiliated with the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES); he is now at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Science in Germany.

Frailty is a geriatric condition marked by weight loss, low energy and strength, and low physical activity. UCLA researchers followed 1,072 healthy adults aged 70 to 79 between 1988 and 1991 to determine if productive activities — specifically volunteering, paid work and child care — prevent the onset of frailty.