Nature nurtures creativity after four days of hiking

Nature nurtures creativity after four days of hiking: Backpackers scored 50 percent better on a creativity test after spending four days in nature disconnected from electronic devices, according to a new study by psychologists.

New factor that could limit life of hybrid and electric car batteries revealed

New factor that could limit life of hybrid and electric car batteries revealed: A new study of the batteries commonly used in hybrid and electric-only cars has revealed an unexpected factor that could limit the performance of batteries currently on the road.

Dead guts spill history of extinct microbes: Fecal samples from archeological sites reveal evolution of human gut microbes

Dead guts spill history of extinct microbes: Fecal samples from archeological sites reveal evolution of human gut microbes: Extinct microbes in fecal samples from archaeological sites across the world resemble those found in present-day rural African communities more than they resemble the microbes found in the gut of cosmopolitan US adults, according to new research.

Ability to sit and rise from the floor is closely correlated with all-cause mortality risk

Ability to sit and rise from the floor is closely correlated with all-cause mortality risk: A simple screening test of musculo-skeletal fitness has proved remarkably predictive of all-cause mortality in a study of more than 2000 middle-aged and older men and women.

Earth Avoids Collisions With Pair of Asteroids

Earth Avoids Collisions With Pair of Asteroids: Hugh Pickens writes writes "Science Recorder reports that according to NASA a pair of asteroids — one just over three mile wide — passed Earth Tuesday and early Wednesday avoiding a potentially cataclysmic impact with our home planet. 2012 XE5, estimated at between 50-165 feet across, was discovered just days earlier, missing our planet by only 139,500 miles or slightly more than half the distance to the moon. 4179 Toutatis, just over three miles wide, put on an amazing show for astronomers early Wednesday missing Earth by 18 lunar lengths, while allowing scientists to observe the massive asteroid in detail. Asteroid Toutatis is well known to astronomers. It passes by Earth's orbit every four years and astronomers say its unique orbit means it is unlikely to impact Earth for at least 600 years. It is one of the largest known potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), and its orbit is inclined less than half-a-degree from Earth's. 'We already know that Toutatis will not hit Earth for hundreds of years,' says Lance Benner of NASA's Near Earth Object Program. 'These new observations will allow us to predict the asteroid's trajectory even farther into the future.' Toutatis would inflict devastating damage if it slammed into Earth, perhaps extinguishing human civilization. The asteroid thought to have killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was about 6 miles wide, researchers say.The fact that 2012 XE5 was discovered only a few days before the encounter prompted Minnesota Public Radio to poll its listeners with the following question: If an asteroid were to strike Earth within an hour, would you want to know?"

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Dual-Layer Motorcycle Helmet Is the Next Great Brain Bucket

Dual-Layer Motorcycle Helmet Is the Next Great Brain Bucket: After decades of the same foam-and-plastic construction, California's 6D Helmets has made a dual-layer brain bucket that prevents concussions from low-speed impacts.

Want your baby to learn? Research shows sitting up helps

Want your baby to learn? Research shows sitting up helps: New research shows that something as simple as the body position of babies while they learn plays a critical role in their cognitive development.

Netflix Ranks ISP Speeds

Netflix Ranks ISP Speeds: Carnth writes "Netflix will start releasing monthly ISP speed reports for the U.S. Google Fiber ranks at the top. They say, 'Broadly, cable shows better than DSL. AT&T U-verse, which is a hybrid fiber-DSL service, shows quite poorly compared to Verizon Fios, which is pure fiber. Charter moved down two positions since October. Verizon mobile has 40% higher performance than AT&T mobile.' Hopefully this will give consumers a better overall picture on how their ISP performs compared to others."

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Brain Cells Made From Urine

Brain Cells Made From Urine: Press2ToContinue writes "Scientists have found a relatively straightforward way to persuade the cells discarded in human urine to turn into valuable neurons. The technique, described online in a study in Nature Methods this week (abstract), does not involve embryonic stem cells. These come with serious drawbacks when transplanted, such as the risk of developing tumors. Instead, the method uses ordinary cells present in urine, and transforms them into neural progenitor cells — the precursors of brain cells. Researchers routinely reprogram cultured skin and blood cells into induced pluripotent stem cells, which can go on to form any cell in the body. But urine is a much more accessible source."

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Warm sea water is melting Antarctic glaciers

Warm sea water is melting Antarctic glaciers: The ice sheet in West Antarctica is melting faster than expected. New observations may improve our ability to predict future changes in ice sheet mass.

Arctic continues to break records in 2012: Becoming warmer, greener region with record losses of summer sea ice and late spring snow

Arctic continues to break records in 2012: Becoming warmer, greener region with record losses of summer sea ice and late spring snow: The Arctic region continued to break records in 2012 -- among them the loss of summer sea ice, spring snow cover, and melting of the Greenland ice sheet. This was true even though air temperatures in the Arctic were unremarkable relative to the last decade, according to a new report.

As Fish Stocks Collapse, Overpopulated Lobsters Resort to Cannibalism

As Fish Stocks Collapse, Overpopulated Lobsters Resort to Cannibalism: The Maine lobster population is booming, but it turns out that's bad news if you're a little lobster: "'We've got the lobsters feeding back on themselves just because they're so abundant,' said Richard Wahle, a marine sciences professor at the University of Maine, who is supervising the research. 'It's never been observed just out in the open like this,' he said." Abundance caused by populations of their predators collapsing.

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Obesity reversed in mice by manipulating production of an enzyme

Obesity reversed in mice by manipulating production of an enzyme: Approximately 68 percent of US adults are overweight or obese, according to the National Cancer Institute, which puts them at greater risk for developing cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and a host of other chronic illnesses. Scientists have now successfully reversed obesity in mice by manipulating the production of an enzyme.

National disagreement over NASA's goals and objectives detrimental to agency planning

National disagreement over NASA's goals and objectives detrimental to agency planning: Without a national consensus on strategic goals and objectives for NASA, the agency cannot be expected to establish or work toward achieving long-term priorities, says a new report.

Speeding up electronics to light frequencies

Speeding up electronics to light frequencies: New results on the interaction of femto- and attosecond light pulses with a solid insulator hold promise for reaching electronic switching rates up to the petahertz domain.

Fastest light-driven process ever

Fastest light-driven process ever: A discovery that promises transistors -- the fundamental part of all modern electronics -- controlled by laser pulses that will be 10,000 faster than today's fastest transistors has now been made.

Mitigating our carbon footprint

Mitigating our carbon footprint: Scientists keep producing increasingly complex modelling tools to evaluate urgently needed mitigating strategies of our carbon footprint. However, it is policy makers who have to decide on measures to curb our CO2 emissions. Therefore the science of carbon emissions needs to be translated into useful information to serve their needs.

If Tech Is So Important, Why Are IT Wages Flat?

If Tech Is So Important, Why Are IT Wages Flat?: dcblogs writes "Despite the fact that technology plays an increasingly important role in the economy, IT wages remain persistently flat. This may be tech's inconvenient truth. In 2000, the average hourly wage was $37.27 in computer and math occupations for workers with at least a bachelor's degree. In 2011, it was $39.24, adjusted for inflation, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute. That translates to an average wage increase of less than a half percent a year. In real terms, IT wages overall have gone up by $1.97 an hour in just over 10 years, according to the EPI. Data from professional staffing firm Yoh shows wages in decline. In its latest measure for week 12 of 2012, the hourly wages were $31.45 and in 2010, for the same week, at $31.78. The worker who earned $31.78 in 2010 would need to make $33.71 today to stay even with inflation. Wages vary by skill and this data is broad. The unemployment rate for tech has been in the 3-4% range, but EPI says full employment has been historically around 2%."

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Swimming Robot Reaches Australia After Record-Breaking Trip

Swimming Robot Reaches Australia After Record-Breaking Trip: SternisheFan writes "A self-controlled swimming robot has completed a journey from San Francisco to Australia. The record-breaking 9,000 nautical mile (16,668km) trip took the PacX Wave Glider just over a year to achieve. Liquid Robotics, the US company behind the project, collected data about the Pacific Ocean's temperature, salinity and ecosystem from the drone. The company said its success demonstrated that such technology could 'survive the high seas.' The robot is called Papa Mau in honor of the late Micronesian navigator Pius 'Mau' Piailug, who had a reputation for finding ways to navigate the seas without using traditional equipment. 'During Papa Mau's journey, [it] weathered gale-force storms, fended off sharks, spent more than 365 days at sea, skirted around the Great Barrier Reef, and finally battled and surfed the east Australian current to reach his final destination in Hervey Bay, near Bundaberg, Queensland,' the company said in a statement. Some of the data it gathered about the abundance of phytoplankton -plant-like organisms that convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and provide food for other sea life -could already be monitored by satellite. However, the company suggested that its equipment offered more detail, providing a useful tool for climate model scientists."

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