March 1, 2007, 10:03 PM CT

Atomic Processes In Nanomaterials

Researchers from MIT, Georgia Institute of Technology and Ohio State University have developed a new computer modeling approach to study how materials behave under stress at the atomic level, offering insights that could help engineers design materials with an ideal balance between strength and resistance to failure.

When designing materials, there is often a tradeoff between strength and ductility (resistance to breaking)--properties that are critically important to the performance of materials.

Recent advances in nanotechnology have allowed researchers to manipulate a material's nanostructure to make it both strong and ductile. Now, the MIT-related team has figured out why some nano-designed metals behave with that desirable compromise between strength and ductility.

The team, led by Subra Suresh, the Ford Professor of Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, developed a simulation method derived from experimental data that allows them to visualize the deformation of materials on a timescale of minutes. Previous methods allowed for only a nanosecond-scale glimpse at the atomic-level processes.

"It's a method to look at mechanical properties at the atomic scale of real experiments without being bogged down by limitations of nanosecond timescales of the simulation methods such as molecular dynamics," said Suresh, the senior author of a paper on the work that appears as the cover story in the Feb. 27 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

March 1, 2007, 5:01 AM CT

Children with sleep disorders

Parents of children with sleep problems are more likely to have sleep-related problems themselves, including more daytime sleepiness, according to a new study by researchers at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and Brown Medical School.

"While most parents can testify that having a child with sleeping problems affects their own sleep, few scientific studies have looked at the relationship between children's and parents' sleep," says lead author Julie Boergers, PhD, with the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and Brown Medical School, and co-director of the Pediatric Sleep Disorders Clinic of Hasbro Children's Hospital.

The authors studied 107 families seeking treatment for their children aged 2 to 12 at a pediatric sleep disorders clinic, and found a link between children's and parents' sleep problems. For both parents, having a child with more than one sleep disorder was associated with greater parental daytime sleepiness. Children in the study had a broad range of sleep problems, including obstructive sleep apnea, sleep terrors, insomnia, and bedtime refusal.

The study appears in the March 2007 issue of the Journal of Family Psychology.

They also found that the link between parental and child sleep was particularly apparent for mothers. That is, within families, mothers of children with sleep disorders had significantly greater daytime sleepiness than fathers, even though they reported about the same number of hours of sleep per night......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

February 28, 2007, 9:32 PM CT

Color Red Shows Definite Impact On Achievement

The color red can affect how people function: Red means danger and commands us to stop in traffic. Scientists at the University of Rochester have now observed that red also can keep us from performing our best on tests.

If test takers are aware of even a hint of red, performance on a test will be affected to a significant degree, say scientists at Rochester and the University of Munich. The scientists article in the recent issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General on the effect of red on intellectual performance reveals that color associations are so strong and embedded so deeply that people are predisposed to certain reactions when they see red.

Andrew J. Elliot, lead author and professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, and his co-authors observed that when people see even a flash of red before being tested, they associate the color with mistakes and failures. In turn, they do poorly on the test. Red, of course, is traditionally linked to marking errors on school papers.

"Color clearly has aesthetic value, but it can also carry specific meaning and convey specific information," says Elliot. "Our study of avoidance motivation is part and parcel of that".

Four experiments demonstrated that the brief perception of red previous to an important testsuch as an IQ test or a major examactually impaired performance. Two further experiments also established the link between red and avoidance motivation when task choice and psychophysiological measures were applied......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 21:03:37 GMT

Battery Powered Tram SWIMO in the Works in Japan

Japanese are always ahead of others with their inimitable inventions. Now, Japanese vehicle maker Kawasaki is developing a tram (light rail vehicle) named SWIMO that would be power-driven by nickel-metal hydride batteries. The project has already made the tram to run for 10km on a single charge.

The most notable feature of this concept tram is that unlike the battery powered buses (if possible), it has the benefit of recharging itself while running. That means there wont be any stop at the pit.

Via: cocolica

Posted by: Jenni72      Read more     Source

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 13:22:20 GMT

Morphing Technology Promises Adroit Aircraft for All Missions

We might witness an aircraft in the near future that will do multi tasks and excel in all conditions, thanks to the morphing technology that guarantees the adroit aircraft that would be able to reshape itself in the air like the birds. A team of researchers funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and others are working on wings and helicopter rotors that crease, shrivel, extend, tilt, and twirl during flight.

Though morphing wings are from the time of Wright brothers but DARPA wants to take the concept to the new heights with a hope to modify wingspan and wing area by at least 50%. Rick Lind, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Florida says that Morphing lets one type of airplane do all types of missions. His tam has already created small remote aircrafts that have the ability to morph in a half-dozen diverse ways.

While Lockheed Martin make is with long wings with bounty of lift and maneuverability, its competitor NextGen Aeronautics has developed latticework wings with resilient skin that sweep back in a bat-like fashion. NextGen is currently working on an unmanned model that can morph in flight as well as alter shape to make jagged turns and sheer climbs.

Like a bid changes its course by changing its shape, new morphing technology do promises multi-tasking adroit aircrafts in the coming time.

Via: Airspacemag

Posted by: Brooke      Read more     Source

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 08:55:25 GMT

Gazillion Fetch a Bubble smells like chicken

I can personally attest to the Gazillion team's observation that dogs go "utterly bananas for bubbles." They really do. I remember sitting on my parents' porch when I was a kid--my fingers soapy from that too-short bubble wand--cracking up hysterically as our family dog, Miki, chased, snapped up, and essentially ate the stream of bubbles I blew near her. I knew (embarrassingly from experience) that the soap didn't taste good, but Miki didn't seem to mind.

That's why the Fetch a Bubble ($30) by Gazillion has me scratching my head a bit. I understand all the bubble wands, which rotate a full thirteen times per minute and supposedly produce thousands of bubbles. That part I get. What doesn't make sense to me is why the bubbles are chicken-scented. Yes, you read that right. Chicken-scented bubbles.

If it's already a proven fact that dogs go crazy over bubbles, what's the point of trying to entice them further? And not only that, but isn't it rather misleading for something to smell like chicken but taste like soap?

Via The Red Ferret Journal.

Posted by: Sarah      Read more     Source

February 26, 2007, 7:47 PM CT

Early Sex May Lead Teens To Delinquency

Teens who start having sex significantly earlier than their peers also show higher rates of delinquency in later years, new research shows.

A national study of more than 7,000 youth found that adolescents who had sex early showed a 20 percent increase in delinquent acts one year later compared to those whose first sexual experience occurred at the average age for their school.

In contrast, those teens who waited longer than average to have sex had delinquency rates 50 percent lower a year later compared to average teens. And those trends continued up to six years.

"We're not finding that sex itself leads to delinquency, but instead, that beginning sexual relationships long before your friends is cause for concern," said Stacy Armour, co-author of the study and a doctoral student in sociology at Ohio State University.

Armour conducted the study with Dana Haynie, associate professor of sociology at Ohio State. Their results appear in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

"The findings point out the importance of acting within normal bounds for your age group," Haynie said. "Those who start having sex too young may not be prepared to deal with the potential emotional, social and behavioral consequences of their actions"......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

February 21, 2007, 8:55 PM CT

Air Purifiers That Emit Ozone

ndoor air purifiers that produce even small quantities of ozone may actually make the air dirtier when used at the same time as household cleaning products, researchers at UC Irvine have discovered.

Ozone emitted by purifiers reacts in the air with unsaturated volatile organic compounds such as limonene - a chemical added to cleaning supplies that gives them a lemon fragrance - to create additional microscopic particles, researchers found. Certain ionic purifiers emit ozone as a byproduct of ionization used for charging airborne particles and electrostatically attracting them to metal electrodes. Ozonolysis purifiers emit ozone at higher levels on purpose with the ostensible goal of oxidizing volatile organic compounds in the air.

This research appeared online this morning in Environmental Science and Technology.

"The public needs to be aware that every air purification approach has its limitation, and ionization air purifiers are no exception," said Sergey Nizkorodov, assistant professor of chemistry at UCI and co-author of the study. "These air purifiers can not only elevate the level of ozone, a formidable air pollutant in itself, but also increase the amount of harmful particulate matter in indoor air".

High levels of airborne particles can aggravate asthma and cardiovascular problems, and have been associated with higher death and lung cancer rates. Excess ozone can damage the lungs, causing chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath and throat irritation......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

February 21, 2007, 8:53 PM CT

protein linked to elevated BMI

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered a variant of a common blood protein, apolipoprotein C1, in people of American Indian and Mexican ancestry that is linked to elevated body mass index (BMI), obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

The finding were published in the Feb. 20 online issue of the International Journal of Obesity.

Lead investigator Gary Nelsestuen, a professor in the College of Biological Sciences department of biochemistry, said the abnormal protein may promote metabolic efficiency and storage of body fat when food is abundant. This could have provided a survival advantage to American Indians in the past when food was scarce. The discovery can be used to identify those who are at risk for diabetes and to guide diet and lifestyle choices to prevent diabetes.

Apolipoprotein C1 is a component of high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL). HDL cholesterol is often referred to as good cholesterol, while LDL is called bad cholesterol. The common form of C1 tends to be found in the high-density protein complexes (HDL) that ferry cholesterol to storage depots in the body and are linked to lower cardiovascular disease risk. But the variant form of C1 tends to become part of low density protein complexes (LDL), which transport cholesterol to arterial walls and are associated with higher cardiovascular disease risk. Thus, having the variant could tip the balance of cholesterol carriers and lead toward depletion of HDL-also a risk factor for heart disease. The variant differs from the normal protein by a single change in one of its 57 amino acids......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

February 20, 2007, 8:05 PM CT

Tracking Personality Traits to Learn More About Alcoholism

A long-term research project at the University of Missouri-Columbia is producing valuable information about alcoholism and individuals who are affected by a family history of the disease. MU psychology researchers, now several years into a multi-year study, have discovered that individuals from alcoholic homes maintain personality traits that could eventually lead to alcohol dependency.

Kenneth J. Sher, professor of clinical psychology in the College of Arts and Science's Department of Psychological Sciences, and psychology graduate student Jenny Larkins, have compared personality differences of individuals from alcoholic homes to those from non-alcoholic environments. They are monitoring the neuroticism and psychoticism levels of individuals from both groups. The neuroticism scale measures characteristics such as anxiety, depression, guilt, shyness, moodiness and emotionality. The psychoticism scale measures traits related to aggression, egocentrism, impulsivity and anti-social behavior. When the study began in 1987, individuals with family histories of alcoholism scored higher than their counterparts.

Over time and as participants in both groups aged, the researchers found an overall decrease in neuroticism and psychoticism levels. However, Sher said those from alcoholic homes maintained relatively higher levels of deviant behavioral and emotional traits during adult maturation......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source