Stormers show title credentials

April 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

South Africa’s Stormers have stamped their title credentials on the Super 14 by destroying the Waikato Chiefs 49-15 in Hamilton on Friday evening.

The Stormers, led by Springboks flanker Schalk Burger, ruthlessly dismantled the Chiefs with a simple and perfectly executed game plan that produced six tries, all of which were the result of superb interplay between backs and forwards.

The victory moved the Stormers to the top of the table with 33 points. Fellow South African side the Bulls also have 33 points and play the Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Saturday.

“We lost to the Force (two weeks ago) and we have really concentrated on our accuracy and structure and we have really pitched up,” Burger said in a televised interview.

The Stormers raced to a 20-3 lead courtesy of two Peter Grant penalties and converted tries to Bryan Habana, who finished off a sweeping move from deep inside his own half, and Duane Vermuelen, who crossed after full-back Gio Aplon’s 40-metre burst.

The Chiefs managed to fight back in the final 10 minutes of the first half and were rewarded when number eight Sione Lauaki burst away from a backpedalling scrum and fed openside flanker Tanerau Latimer, who scored under the posts.

Stephen Donald converted Latimer’s try to add to his earlier penalty and reduced the deficit to 20-10 at the break.

However, the Stormers did not let the Chiefs build more momentum and hooker Tiaan Liebenberg crossed three minutes after the break following superb rampaging bursts by lock Andries Bekker and Burger.

Winger Sireli Naqelevuki secured the bonus point with the team’s fourth try, while Bekker scored the fifth to put the game beyond any doubt after a superb rolling maul.

Waikato full-back Tim Nanai-Williams scored a well-deserved individual consolation try before replacement hooker Deon Fourie rubbed salt into the Chiefs’ wounds when he pounced on a dropped ball to score virtually unopposed.

“It was a tough night. The Stormers were on fire and we had no answer,” Chiefs captain Liam Messam said.

“The Stormers just kept coming at us and … they’re a very good side.”

Stormers: 49 (B Habana, D Vermeulen, T Liebenberg, S Naqelevuki, A Bekker, D Fourie tries; P Grant 4 conversions, 3 penalties; W de Waal conversion)

Chiefs: 15 (T Latimer, T Nanai-Williams tries; S Donald penalty, conversion)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lithium One Update on Sal de Vida Brine Project: NI 43-101 Technical Report, Ongoing Drilling and High Lithium and

April 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Apr 14 (MARKET WIRE) —
Lithium One Inc. (the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE: LI), is pleased to provide
an update on the Company’s activities on the Sal de Vida Lithium Brine
Project at Salar del Hombre Muerto, Argentina. The Company has received
its first NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Sal de Vida Project. Well
drilling and systematic surface sampling programs are ongoing; the fourth
well on the project is currently underway and 80 samples of near surface
brine have been analyzed. To date surface sampling has been completed
over approximately one third of the Company’s land holdings. Analytical
results bring the cumulative average values over more than 120 km2 of
near-surface brine to 760 mg/L (644 ppm) lithium, 8,559 mg/L (0.725 %)
potassium, and a magnesium to lithium ratio of 1.65.

Lithium One President and CEO Patrick Highsmith commented, “The latest
results from Sal de Vida continue to impress us with the scale and
consistency of the lithium and potassium enriched brines. We have now
outlined more than 120 km2 of high lithium and potassium with low
magnesium content. As appropriate permits are obtained, we will extend
the sample grid onto the newly acquired lands. The first drill holes have
encountered brine in sand and salt aquifers. We look forward to
analytical results from the drilling in the coming weeks.”

NI 43-101 Technical Report

The report was prepared in accordance with the guidelines of National
Instrument 43-101 by independent consultants and qualified persons, John
Houston and Jeff Jaacks. In addition to the property ownership, land
ownership, physiography, and regional geology, the report reviews the
technical aspects and potential of the project. There is a detailed
discussion of the chemistry and evolution of the brine along with maps
and diagrams explaining the interplay of the chemical and physical
variables that define the lithium and potassium rich brines of the Sal de
Vida Project. The report concludes that the Sal de Vida brines “appear to
have many of the important characteristics of a potentially economic
brine for lithium and potash production”. The authors make a number of
recommendations for future work, including well drilling, core drilling
and pump tests – all of which are planned for the remainder of 2010. The
Technical Report will be filed on SEDAR in the very near future.

Surface Brine Sampling

The table below summarizes the cumulative results to date from
approximately 80 near-surface brine samples covering more than 120 km2 of
Salar del Hombre Muerto. These results include brines collected from
systematic trench sampling on 1.5 to 4 km sample spacing as well as due
diligence auger drill samples on nominal 1 km spacing. The results
continue to closely resemble the brine chemistry reported by FMC
Corporation at the neighbouring Fenix Lithium Brine operation on Salar
del Hombre Muerto(1).

Table 1. Brine assay results for samples from depths of 2 – 5 metres.
Number of samples equals 80

Lithium (mg/L) Potassium (mg/L) Magnesium (mg/L) Mg:Li

Mean Value 760 (644 ppm) 8,559 (0.725 %) 1,209 1.65
Max Value 1,253 14,670 2,193
Min Value 375 2,963 403

Please refer to the Lithium One website (www.lithium1.com) where
additional discussion of these results, plan maps of the data and photos
from the field will shortly be posted.

Well Drilling Program

One rotary drill rig continues to advance the drill program. Three holes
have been drilled to date, and the fourth is currently at 60 metres
depth. All of the holes have penetrated near-surface, saturated, sandy
aquifers; and holes one and four encountered halite (table salt) from
approximately 35 metres depth. These are the first known drill intercepts
of halite on the eastern side of Hombre Muerto; the neighbouring Fenix
mine produces much of its lithium brine from thick deposits of halite.

Field testing of the samples from drilling so far has confirmed brines
with densities at or above 1.15 gms/cm3. All samples are being sent to
Alex Stewart Assayers in Mendoza. Lithium One continues to employ a
rigorous protocol for sample collection and quality control as designed
by the Company’s qualified persons. See Company news release dated 14
January, 2010 for a complete discussion of quality control procedures and
reporting units.

The objective of the drill program is to provide information about the
reservoir characteristics and brine chemistry at depth on the east side
of Salar del Hombre Muerto. In addition to brine and cuttings sampling,
the Company will also conduct down-hole logging, including natural gamma,
neutron, density, and sonic methods. The drilling, sampling, geological
logging, and down-hole testing will conform with procedures developed by
the Company’s hydrogeological consultants.

The initial drill program at Sal de Vida will consist of at least 6
rotary drill holes targeting depths between 50 and 200 metres, sited
using the results of the pit sampling program and the gravity survey.

Review by Qualified Person

The contents of this press release have been reviewed and approved by Mr.
John Houston. Mr. Houston is a Chartered Geologist as conferred by the
Geological Society of London and a qualified person as defined by
National Instrument 43-101. He is an independent consultant to the
Company, holding no shares or options.

About Lithium One:

Lithium One Inc. is an explorer and developer of mineral properties with
a specific focus on lithium. The Company has two major lithium projects:
the brownfields Sal de Vida lithium brine project in Argentina and the
James Bay bulk tonnage spodumene project in Quebec. The Company continues
to advance both projects toward resource definition, expecting NI 43-101
compliant resource estimates by the 2nd quarter of 2010. Lithium One
believes that lithium demand will grow as its value as a preferred
battery material is fully realized. The Company’s strategy is to draw
upon its quality team and employ best-practice to develop its portfolio
of top-tier lithium assets.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,

Patrick Highsmith, M.Sc., President and Chief Executive Officer

Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain “forward-looking information” within the
meaning of Canadian securities legislation (hereinafter referred to as
“forward-looking statements”). These forward-looking statements are made
as of the date of this document and the Company does not intend, and does
not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance
and reflect management’s expectations or beliefs regarding future events.
By their very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed
or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking
statements include unsuccessful exploration results, changes in metals
prices, changes in the availability of funding for mineral exploration,
unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic
conditions, title disputes as well as those factors detailed from time to
time in the Company’s interim and annual financial statements and
management’s discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which
are filed and available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. In certain
cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words
such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”,
“scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does
not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases
or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”,
“would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved” or the
negative of these terms or comparable terminology. Although the Company
has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual
actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in
forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause
actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or
intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will
prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly,
readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements.

(1) Economics of Lithium 11th Edition, Roskill Information Services (2009)

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:
Lithium One Inc.
Robert Orr
604-697-6259
604-408-4799 (FAX)
ro@lithium1.com or info@lithium1.com
www.lithium1.com

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lithium One Update on Sal de Vida Brine Project: NI 43-101 Technical Report, Ongoing Drilling and High Lithium and

April 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Apr 14 (MARKET WIRE) —
Lithium One Inc. (the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE: LI), is pleased to provide
an update on the Company’s activities on the Sal de Vida Lithium Brine
Project at Salar del Hombre Muerto, Argentina. The Company has received
its first NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Sal de Vida Project. Well
drilling and systematic surface sampling programs are ongoing; the fourth
well on the project is currently underway and 80 samples of near surface
brine have been analyzed. To date surface sampling has been completed
over approximately one third of the Company’s land holdings. Analytical
results bring the cumulative average values over more than 120 km2 of
near-surface brine to 760 mg/L (644 ppm) lithium, 8,559 mg/L (0.725 %)
potassium, and a magnesium to lithium ratio of 1.65.

Lithium One President and CEO Patrick Highsmith commented, “The latest
results from Sal de Vida continue to impress us with the scale and
consistency of the lithium and potassium enriched brines. We have now
outlined more than 120 km2 of high lithium and potassium with low
magnesium content. As appropriate permits are obtained, we will extend
the sample grid onto the newly acquired lands. The first drill holes have
encountered brine in sand and salt aquifers. We look forward to
analytical results from the drilling in the coming weeks.”

NI 43-101 Technical Report

The report was prepared in accordance with the guidelines of National
Instrument 43-101 by independent consultants and qualified persons, John
Houston and Jeff Jaacks. In addition to the property ownership, land
ownership, physiography, and regional geology, the report reviews the
technical aspects and potential of the project. There is a detailed
discussion of the chemistry and evolution of the brine along with maps
and diagrams explaining the interplay of the chemical and physical
variables that define the lithium and potassium rich brines of the Sal de
Vida Project. The report concludes that the Sal de Vida brines “appear to
have many of the important characteristics of a potentially economic
brine for lithium and potash production”. The authors make a number of
recommendations for future work, including well drilling, core drilling
and pump tests – all of which are planned for the remainder of 2010. The
Technical Report will be filed on SEDAR in the very near future.

Surface Brine Sampling

The table below summarizes the cumulative results to date from
approximately 80 near-surface brine samples covering more than 120 km2 of
Salar del Hombre Muerto. These results include brines collected from
systematic trench sampling on 1.5 to 4 km sample spacing as well as due
diligence auger drill samples on nominal 1 km spacing. The results
continue to closely resemble the brine chemistry reported by FMC
Corporation at the neighbouring Fenix Lithium Brine operation on Salar
del Hombre Muerto(1).

Table 1. Brine assay results for samples from depths of 2 – 5 metres.
Number of samples equals 80

Lithium (mg/L) Potassium (mg/L) Magnesium (mg/L) Mg:Li

Mean Value 760 (644 ppm) 8,559 (0.725 %) 1,209 1.65
Max Value 1,253 14,670 2,193
Min Value 375 2,963 403

Please refer to the Lithium One website (www.lithium1.com) where
additional discussion of these results, plan maps of the data and photos
from the field will shortly be posted.

Well Drilling Program

One rotary drill rig continues to advance the drill program. Three holes
have been drilled to date, and the fourth is currently at 60 metres
depth. All of the holes have penetrated near-surface, saturated, sandy
aquifers; and holes one and four encountered halite (table salt) from
approximately 35 metres depth. These are the first known drill intercepts
of halite on the eastern side of Hombre Muerto; the neighbouring Fenix
mine produces much of its lithium brine from thick deposits of halite.

Field testing of the samples from drilling so far has confirmed brines
with densities at or above 1.15 gms/cm3. All samples are being sent to
Alex Stewart Assayers in Mendoza. Lithium One continues to employ a
rigorous protocol for sample collection and quality control as designed
by the Company’s qualified persons. See Company news release dated 14
January, 2010 for a complete discussion of quality control procedures and
reporting units.

The objective of the drill program is to provide information about the
reservoir characteristics and brine chemistry at depth on the east side
of Salar del Hombre Muerto. In addition to brine and cuttings sampling,
the Company will also conduct down-hole logging, including natural gamma,
neutron, density, and sonic methods. The drilling, sampling, geological
logging, and down-hole testing will conform with procedures developed by
the Company’s hydrogeological consultants.

The initial drill program at Sal de Vida will consist of at least 6
rotary drill holes targeting depths between 50 and 200 metres, sited
using the results of the pit sampling program and the gravity survey.

Review by Qualified Person

The contents of this press release have been reviewed and approved by Mr.
John Houston. Mr. Houston is a Chartered Geologist as conferred by the
Geological Society of London and a qualified person as defined by
National Instrument 43-101. He is an independent consultant to the
Company, holding no shares or options.

About Lithium One:

Lithium One Inc. is an explorer and developer of mineral properties with
a specific focus on lithium. The Company has two major lithium projects:
the brownfields Sal de Vida lithium brine project in Argentina and the
James Bay bulk tonnage spodumene project in Quebec. The Company continues
to advance both projects toward resource definition, expecting NI 43-101
compliant resource estimates by the 2nd quarter of 2010. Lithium One
believes that lithium demand will grow as its value as a preferred
battery material is fully realized. The Company’s strategy is to draw
upon its quality team and employ best-practice to develop its portfolio
of top-tier lithium assets.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,

Patrick Highsmith, M.Sc., President and Chief Executive Officer

Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain “forward-looking information” within the
meaning of Canadian securities legislation (hereinafter referred to as
“forward-looking statements”). These forward-looking statements are made
as of the date of this document and the Company does not intend, and does
not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance
and reflect management’s expectations or beliefs regarding future events.
By their very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed
or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking
statements include unsuccessful exploration results, changes in metals
prices, changes in the availability of funding for mineral exploration,
unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic
conditions, title disputes as well as those factors detailed from time to
time in the Company’s interim and annual financial statements and
management’s discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which
are filed and available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. In certain
cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words
such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”,
“scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does
not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases
or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”,
“would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved” or the
negative of these terms or comparable terminology. Although the Company
has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual
actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in
forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause
actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or
intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will
prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly,
readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements.

(1) Economics of Lithium 11th Edition, Roskill Information Services (2009)

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:
Lithium One Inc.
Robert Orr
604-697-6259
604-408-4799 (FAX)
ro@lithium1.com or info@lithium1.com
www.lithium1.com

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Stormers beat Cheetahs in bruising battle

March 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Western Stormers maintained their challenge in the Super 14 southern hemisphere championship with a bruising 21-8 win over the Central Cheetahs at Newlands overnight.

The win kept the Stormers in second place in the table, one point behind the Northern Bulls, ahead of a bye next weekend which will be followed by a four-match Australasian tour.

Both teams were disrupted by injuries in a fast-paced, physical encounter marked by crunching collisions.

The Stormers were hit shortly before the kick-off when in-form fly half Peter Grant injured a thigh muscle during the warm-up and had to be replaced by veteran Willem de Waal.

The home side suffered another blow when full-back Joe Pietersen could not come out for the second half because of a muscle strain.

Pietersen scored all his team’s points in the first half with two penalty goals, a try and a conversion, as the Stormers built a 13-5 lead at the break.

The Cheetahs lost two loose forwards, with Frans Viljoen suffering a suspected fractured cheekbone in the first half and flanker Hendro Scholtz going off with an ankle injury midway through the second half.

With Springbok flanker Heinrich Brussow sidelined by a long term injury, Cheetahs captain Juan Smith said he was concerned about the team’s loose forward resources.

But he said the Cheetahs’ defensive structure had worked well.

“We didn’t use our chances,” he said.

“But they (Stormers) are an awesome team. I think they’ll go a long way this season.”

Stormers captain Schalk Burger said it was a typical physical battle between two South African teams.

“The break couldn’t come at a better time for us,” he said about his team’s injuries.

“Hopefully we can nurse them and take them with us on tour.”

After two early penalties by Pietersen, the Stormers mounted several waves of attacks through multiple phases before an overlap was created for the full-back to score the opening try.

The Cheetahs hit back with some superb interplay between centres Meyer Bosman and Robert Ebersohn, with Ebersohn collecting a chip ahead by Bosman and off-loading skillfully for his centre partner to score.

A dropped goal by Naas Olivier brought the Cheetahs to within three points but the visitors could not control the kick-off after their score and the Stormers worked the ball to the right for Jacque Fourie to go over near the corner.

- AFP

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Crusaders cruise with second-half burst

March 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Crusaders winger Sean Maitland scored two tries and fly half Colin Slade added 21 points with the boot to help their side to a 46-19 victory over the Lions in their Super 14 match in Christchurch.

The Crusaders moved to second on the table with the bonus-point victory, while the South African side recorded their sixth successive loss in this season’s competition

“I guess we have to be happy with that but it was a bit disappointing because we wanted to be a bit more clinical than that,” Crusaders captain Richie McCaw said.

“But we stuck at it and I guess five points we’re happy with.”

Slade slotted four penalties in a frantic first half, while Maitland and openside flanker Jonathan Poff scored tries after superb interplay between the Crusaders’ backs and forwards.

Lions hooker Hannes Franklin rumbled over immediately after a restart from a Crusaders successful penalty, while fly half Burton Francis converted the try and added three penalties to keep the Lions within sight with the score 22-16 at half-time.

Neither side was able to settle in the first 10 minutes of the second half, with Colin Slade slotting a long-range penalty before centre Adam Whitelock capitalised on a Lions turnover inside their own 22-area to score the Crusaders’ third try.

Lions full-back Earl Rose slotted a penalty before Maitland scored his second try of the match, which Slade converted, in the 75th minute to stretch the lead to 20 points before Willie Heinz crossed after the hooter had sounded and Slade converted.

“We wanted to play a bit better but we made a lot of unforced errors in that second half,” Lions captain Cobus Grobbelaar said.

“We spilled the ball and the Crusaders are very good on the counter attack and they punished us.”

Crusaders: 46 (S Maitland 2, J Poff, A Whitelock, W Heinz tries; C Slade 3 conversions, 5 penalties)

Lions: 19 (H Franklin try; B Francis conversion, 3 penalties, E Rose penalty)

-Reuters

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Emotional, psychological maturity not linked to spiritual development

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, March 16 (ANI): A new study claims that a person can reach a high level of spiritual development without being emotionally and psychologically mature.

Prof. Mayseless, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa and conference co-organizer, explains psychological maturity is defined as the capacity to control impulses and acceptance of responsibility for the consequences of one”s action.

This study, a first in its field, examined the interplay between the two developmental domains. It addressed a central conceptual question: If these developmental domains are related, how do they converge and mutually interact? For example, is a certain level of emotional maturity required before an individual develops to be highly spiritual? What might be the ramifications of having transcendental experiences when an individual is not emotionally mature?

A sample group of 215 college students aged 19-30 revealed that the two developmental domains (psychological maturity and spiritual development) were moderately correlated, yet that each seemed to have different antecedents (e.g., social support and having firm ethnic identity was especially significant for achieving spiritual development).

Mayseless added that the findings also confirmed a link between psychological and spiritual maturity and an individual”s set of values. This raised the question of whether both developmental domains contribute to the development of a particular attribute or whether only one domain alone contributes to that attribute.

Mayseless added: “For example, psychological maturity can contribute to a person”s level of generosity, while spiritual development may not add unique contribution after taking into account the person”s psychological maturity. However, this was not the case.

This study has shown that both psychological maturity and being spiritually developed each contributes to an individual”s generosity and pro-social actions, independently.

“The truth is, that I wanted to find that an individual reaching both types of maturity has an added value; that someone who is both psychologically and spiritually developed would demonstrate a higher set of values, such as generosity, endurance, pluralism. But this was not what we found,”

He concluded: While this study has shown that each developmental domain contributes independently of the other, the contribution that each makes to a particular attribute are similar. There is probably some connection between them, but this might only be identified by a longitudinal study where we would follow individuals for some time to learn about changes in each domain”

The study was presented at the 2nd Conference on the Study of Contemporary Spirituality that was held at the University of Haifa. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Prevailing wisdom ‘scientists are press shy’ debunked

September 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): It is often said that scientists are press shy, and those who aren’t, are mavericks. Now, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have debunked the theory.

A survey of 1,200 researchers in the areas of epidemiology and stem cell research has revealed that the interplay between scientists and journalists has been remarkably stable since the 1980s.

“By and large, scientists speak to journalists, they know it is important and they’re willing to do it again,” said principle investigator and journalism professor Sharon Dunwoody.

“The frequency with which scientists and journalists interact has been pretty stable over time,” Dunwoody added.

The findings contradict the widespread view in science that scientists are out of touch.

“We found relatively frequent interactions,” said life sciences communication professor Dominique Brossard and co-researcher on the study.

The study showed that about one-third of the respondents claimed to have had up to five contacts with journalists during a three-year period, while another third of the sample said they experienced more than six contacts with reporters over three years.

Only one-third of respondents reported having no contacts with journalists.

“The frequencies are definitely encouraging,” added Brossard.

The proportion of scientists in the sample who interact with journalists is intriguingly similar to studies from the 1980s, as well as patterns identified in the 1990s.

The new data imply that journalistic engagement of scientists over time is greater and more stable than “persistent, anecdotal cautionary tales would suggest,” said the researchers.

“We don’t know if the interactions are, in fact, better,” said Dunwoody.

“But scientists are eager participants. It reflects a more active role by one of the major players in the process,” the expert added.

The study appears in current issue of Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Mars spectacular” event on August 27 a hoax, say astronomers

August 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, August 27 (ANI): Astronomers have confirmed that an email promising a “Mars spectacular” event on August 27, when the Red Planet will look as large as the full moon, is nothing but a hoax.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the anonymous message from an unknown part of the globe says that the red planet “will look as large as the full moon” in the night sky, and that “no one alive today will ever see this again.”

The claim has been bombarding people’s inboxes worldwide every summer for five years.

Today, the Mars hoax has grown into a kind of cyber legend-one that astronomers are still struggling to debunk.

“The possibility of seeing Mars as large as the moon strikes the imagination,” said Marc Jobin, staff astronomer at the Montreal Planetarium in Quebec.

“The sad reality is that a lot of people have little comprehension of astronomy and are unable to call the hoax,” he added.

But, there is a thread of truth that inspired the prank several years ago.

Planets are not on perfectly circular orbits, and during their elliptical paths around the sun, planets can vary in their exact distances to each other over time.

On August 27, 2003, Mars made a historically tight approach to Earth, coming about 56 million kilometers away.

Such a near pass hadn’t happened in nearly 60,000 years, and it won’t happen again until August 28, 2287.

In 2003, planetariums had sent out notices alerting stargazers of the real astronomical event.

“At the time, through the telescope, Mars looked as large as the full moon would with the naked eye,” explained Geza Gyuk, astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois.

Through a backyard telescope with a high-power eyepiece, viewers could even make out many surface features on Mars’s disk.

With the naked eye, Mars still appeared as nothing more than a brilliant orange-colored star in the sky.

Still, an email hoax was born.

If the red planet actually did appear as huge as purported in the Mars hoax email, the planet would be just 750,000 kilometers from Earth, or about twice as far away as the moon.

According to Jobin, at that distance, life on Earth would likely be doomed.

Given the interplay of gravity between the planets and the sun, a much closer Mars “would have extreme consequences on the shape of the Earth’s orbit, with our planet swinging much closer and much farther away from the sun,” he said. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Some raindrops travel faster than previously believed

May 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, May 17 (ANI): Meteorologists may be miscalculating how much it rains, for a new study has found that many raindrops travel at “super-terminal” velocities, faster than was thought possible.

Scientists previously thought that all raindrops fall at terminal velocity, a constant maximum speed that is determined by the interplay of gravity and drag.

The velocity for individual drops is considered to be largely controlled by their size: larger drops fall faster than smaller drops, due to their greater mass.

In the new study, Fernando Garcma-Garcma of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and colleagues measured the shadows of natural raindrops passing through a ray of infrared light.

They found that up to half exceed their terminal velocity. Some travel as much as 10 times faster, for their size.

“Others had detected this before, but everybody disregarded it, blaming it on an error,” New Scientist quoted Garcia-Garcia as saying.

The researchers believe that the super-terminal drops may be fragments of larger drops broken apart as they fall.

“If a large drop breaks into several fragments, each drop will have the speed of the large drop, at least temporarily, until the smaller drops slow to their new terminal velocity,” Garcma-Garcma said.

Researchers say that because of this, meteorologists may be overestimating total rainfall by up to 20 per cent.

The study is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Key proteins linked to ovulation identified

May 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 15 (ANI): Researchers from the National Institutes of Health have identified two proteins that play a vital role in ovulation process.

The discovery, researchers hope, would help in treating infertility resulting from a failure of ovulation. It will also aid in developing new means to prevent pregnancy by preventing the release of the egg.

The proteins, called ERK1 and ERK2, appear to bring about the maturation and release of the egg.

“Ovulation results from a complex interplay of chemical sequences,” said Dr Duane Alexander, director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

“The researchers have identified a crucial biochemical intermediary controlling the release of the egg.

“The finding advances our understanding and may one day contribute to new treatments for infertility as well as new ways to prevent pregnancy from occurring,” Alexander added.

ERK1 and ERK2 are a critical nexus between the surge in luteinizing hormone and ovulation, said Dr Louis V. De Paolo chief of the NICHD Reproductive Sciences Branch.

“This is a key chemical pathway that affects not only ovulation, but egg cell maturation and granulosa cell differentiation into luteal cells,” Dr. De Paolo added.

Luteinizing hormone is a hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland.

Previously, researchers did not know how luteinizing hormone triggered the ovary’s release of the egg and the production of progesterone by the granulosa cells.

In the current study, the researchers discerned that luteinizing hormone appears to signal the release of the ERK 1 and ERK 2 proteins.

“We’re still at the tip of the iceberg. We need to understand it all,” said De Paolo said. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fathers increase supervision in response to teens’ risky sexual behaviour

May 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 15 (ANI): A study conducted in the U.S. has revealed that fathers generally respond by increasing their efforts to supervise and monitor their teen children when they engage in risky sexual activity.

Conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard University, the study followed more than 3,200 teenagers ages 13 to 18 over a period of four years.

The researchers revealed that the teens involved in the study were a subset of participants in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a representative sample of American adolescents.

They said that the subjects reported on their parents’ knowledge of their activities, friends, and so forth every year.

The subjects also told the researchers about their engagements in risky sexual activities-such as frequency of intercourse, number of partners, and incidences of unprotected intercourse.

The research team observed that the responses of fathers to their children’s sexual behaviour tended to be different from those of mothers.

They say that their findings contrast previous findings that parents often become less involved when teens engage in risky sexual behaviour.

Referring to their findings, the researchers said that fathers instead boosted their involvement-learning more about their children’s friends and activities-when their teenaged children engaged in risky sexual activity.

The researchers also found that involvement in family activities acts as a protective force. They observed that teens who took part in routine family activities-like eating meals together or joining in fun projects-were less likely to engage in risky sexual activity, and teens who didn’t engage in risky sexual behaviour were more likely to participate in family activities.

“This research highlights the complex interplay of relationships between parents and their adolescent children,” said Rebekah Levine Coley, associate professor of applied developmental and educational psychology at Boston College and the study’s lead author.

“Given the notably negative potential repercussions of risky sexual activity during adolescence, this study can inform efforts to increase parents’ oversight of and active engagement with their teenage children,” Coley added.

The study has been reported in the journal Child Development. (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cosmos served hot in a coffee cup!

April 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, April 15 (ANI): A Duke University professor and his graduate student have discovered a universal principle that unites the curious interplay of light and shadow on the surface of your morning coffee with the way gravity magnifies and distorts light from distant galaxies.

According to the researchers, scientists will be able to use violations of this principle to map unseen clumps of dark matter in the universe.

Light rays naturally reflect off a curve like the inside surface of a coffee cup in a curving, ivy leaf pattern that comes to a point in the center and is brightest along its edge.

Mathematicians and physicists call that shape a “cusp curve,” and they call the bright edge a “caustic,” based on an alternative dictionary definition meaning “burning bright,” explained Arlie Petters, a Duke professor of mathematics, physics and business administration.

“It happens because a lot of light rays can pile up along curves,” he added.

Caustics show up in gravitational lensing, a phenomenon caused by galaxies so massive that their gravity bends and distorts light from more distant galaxies.

“It turns out that their gravity is so powerful that some light rays are also going to pile up along curves,” said Petters, a gravitational lensing expert.

“Mother Nature has to be creating these things. It’s amazing how what we can see in a coffee cup extends into a mathematical theorem with effects in the cosmos,” he added.

From the vantage point of Earth, the entire cosmos looks like a vast interplay of gravity and light that can extend far back into spacetime.

“As with any illumination pattern, some areas will be brighter than others. And the brightest parts will be along these caustic curves,” Petters said.

Petters and graduate student Amir Aazami extended the mathematics of relatively simple examples to include what Petters called “higher order caustics.”

In such situations, the interplay of light and gravity may extend further into spacetime and undergo various forms of “caustic metamorphosis” in the process.

Aazami was informally testing out a special case of their evolving caustics theorem called an “ellyptic umbilic” by using a technical computing software program when he noticed a pattern.

Petters realized Aazami had found a universal mathematical principle so pervasive that it can impose balance on the most complicated gravitational lensing illusions.

For one of the higher order caustics, if there are two pairs of lensed images that are close to each other but not equally bright, then the theorem is violated.

“The reason would be some substructure in the galaxy,” Petters said, likely dark matter near one of the images that causes it to be demagnified. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Secrets of unconditional love unraveled

April 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 12 (ANI): The reason why you immeasurably care for a person without any thought of reward is one of science’s biggest mystery. Now, researchers at Montreal University claim that they have unravelled the secret behind unconditional love.

The research team, led by Professor Mario Beauregard, of Montreal University’s centre for research into neurophysiology and cognition, found that the emotion emerges from a complex interplay between seven separate areas of the brain.

Such brain activity has only limited overlap with the cerebral impulses seen in romantic or sexual love, suggesting it should be seen as an entirely separate emotion.

“Unconditional love, extended to others without exception, is considered to be one of the highest expressions of spirituality. However, nothing has been known regarding its neural underpinnings until now,” The Times quoted Mario, as saying.
To reach the conclusion, the volunteers were recruited on the basis that they had a proven ability to feel strong unconditional love: low-paid assistants looking after people with learning difficulties.

In the study, Mario asked them to evoke feelings of unconditional love and hold them in their minds while they had a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.

Of the seven brain areas that became active, three were similar to those of romantic love. The others were different, suggesting a separate kind of love.

The findings showed that some of the areas activated when experiencing unconditional love were also involved in releasing dopamine – a chemical deeply involved in sensing pleasure, with rising levels strongly linked to feelings of reward and even euphoria.

In a research paper in an academic journal, Mario said: “The rewarding nature of unconditional love facilitates the creation of strong emotional links. Such robust bonds may critically contribute to the survival of the human species.” (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Parental depression affects children adversely

March 7, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 7 (ANI): A new study from University of Gothenburg, Sweden has found that parental depression has an adverse impact on children.

Lead researcher Britt Hedman Ahlstrom has revealed that children take on an enormous amount of responsibility for the ill parent and for other family members.

Depression changes the relationship between a parent and his/her children, since they no longer communicate with each other as they used to.

Moreover, family interplay and reciprocity also decrease. As the depressed parent withdraws from the family, children feel they have been left to themselves.

They take responsibility for both the depressed parent, siblings and themselves, when they notice that the parent cannot cope.

“The toughest burden of responsibility that children take on is ensuring that the depressed parent doesn’t commit suicide,” said Hedman Ahlstrom, a registered nurse at University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

“So children take on an extremely heavy responsibility by monitoring and keeping an eye on the depressed parent,” she added.

For children, the parent’s depression means both a sense of responsibility and a feeling of loneliness. The feelings of responsibility and loneliness include a striving and yearning for reciprocity with the parent, and for things to return to a state of normality.

“Even if the depression goes away for a time, the family is never entirely free from anxiety over it coming back. This means that there is a prolonged period of suffering associated with depression,” Hedman Ahlstrom said.

Hedman Ahlstrom suggested that health services must help the whole family

Involving the entire family when a parent becomes ill is important, both for the children and the parents. It is essential to have a well-defined level of guaranteed care on how, when and from whom the families will get support.

Psychiatric healthcare personnel meet people suffering from depression at an early stage, and therefore have the opportunity to focus the care on the family, in order to together identify ways of helping the family get through the depression.

“We need a new approach within the health services, in which the focus is on the family’s own perspective when a parent is suffering from depression,” said Hedman Ahlstrom.

“It’s vital to be aware of the whole family’s needs in terms of help and support, and not just those of the person who is ill.

“It’s particularly important to be aware of the children’s situation,” she added. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Galactic ‘tug of war’ may create giant ‘island universe’ in deep space

March 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Berlin, March 4 (ANI): A new Hubble image shows three galaxies locked in a gravitational tug- of-war that may result in the eventual demise of one of them, and merger into a giant ‘island universe’.

About 100 million light-years away, in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus (the Southern Fish), three galaxies are playing a game of gravitational give-and-take that might ultimately lead to their merger into one enormous entity.

A new image from the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope allows astronomers to view the movement of gases from galaxy to galaxy, revealing the intricate interplay among them.

The three pictured galaxies – NGC 7173, NCG 7174 and NGC 7176 – are part of the Hickson Compact Group 90, named after astronomer Paul Hickson, who first catalogued these small clusters of galaxies in the 1980s.

NGC 7173 and NGC 7176 appear to be smooth, normal elliptical galaxies without much gas and dust.

In stark contrast, NGC 7174 is a mangled spiral galaxy, barely clinging to independent existence as it is ripped apart by its close neighbors.

The strong tidal interaction surging through the galaxies has dragged a significant number of stars away from their home galaxies.

These stars are now spread out, forming a tenuous luminous component in the galaxy group.

Ultimately, astronomers believe that the stars in NGC 7174 will be redistributed into a giant ‘island universe’, tens to hundreds of times as massive as our own Milky Way. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why some drinkers, smokers die young and others don’t

January 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Jan 19 (ANI): Two newly identified genes hold the key to why some people who indulge in smoking and boozing die young, while others continue into old age.

While smoking and drinking have been linked to many types of cancer, still some people appear to be more prone to their effects than others, and scientists have attributed this tendency to genetics.

Scientists found that the genes if present in a human being, put their carriers at an increased risk of developing five different types of cancer- skin, lung, bladder, prostate and cervical cancer.
The researchers can use the findings to identify people who are at highest risk of suffering from the potentially deadly conditions because of a combination of genetics and their unhealthy lifestyle.

According to researchers almost 25 percent around of the population have the highest risk that their unhealthy lifestyle would give them cancer.

The researchers also estimated that another quarter of the population have the lowest risk, because they do not carry these genes, reports The Telegraph.

And these people could be the ones who remain hale and hearty into old age despite smoking, drinking, using sunbeds of having a poor diet.

But, till date scientists did not know by how much these two genes could increase the overall lifetime chance of developing a form of the disease.

Tim Bishop, professor of genetic epidemiology at the University of Leeds, and one of the co-authors of the paper, said that cancer was often caused by a “complex” interplay between genetic and environmental factors.

He also said that the newly identified genes might explain their relationship.

In the study, the researchers managed to isolate the genes by looking at the genetic make up of more than 33,000 cancer survivors and another 45,000 people who had never suffered from the disease.

Later, they compared the genes against their carrier’s lifestyle and history of the disease.

While the genes were found to increase the chance of suffering from five types of cancer, they were not linked to an increased risk of another nine cancers for which the researchers could test, including breast cancer.

The study was published in the journal Nature Genetics. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Abnormal genes in DNA repair may help predict pancreatic cancer risk

January 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Jan 15 (ANI): Scientists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found that abnormal genes that repair mistakes in DNA replication may act as an indicator of the risk of pancreatic cancer.

The researchers said that the defects in these critical DNA repair genes might act alone or in combination with traditional risk factors known to increase an individual’s chance of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

“We consider DNA repair to be the guardian of the genome. If something is wrong with the guard, the genes are more readily attacked by tobacco carcinogens and other damaging agents,” said lead author Donghui Li, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at M. D. Anderson.

Thus, the scientists wanted to identify DNA repair genes that could act as susceptibility markers to predict pancreatic cancer risk.

In a case-control study of 734 patients with pancreatic cancer and 780 healthy individuals, they examined nine variants of seven DNA repair genes, which were: LIG3, LIG4, OGG1, ATM, POLB, RAD54L and RECQL.

They searched for direct effects of the gene variants, also called single nucleotide polymorphisms, on pancreatic cancer risk.

Also, the researchers looked for potential interactions between the gene variants and known risk factors for the disease, including family history of cancer, diabetes, heavy smoking, heavy alcohol consumption and being overweight.

It was found that the risk of developing pancreatic cancer was 77 percent lower among people with the variant form of the LIG3 gene (LIG3 G-39A AA).

One the other hand, those with the variant form of the ATM gene (ATM D1853N AA) were more than twice as likely to develop the disease as those without the genetic variation.

After examining possible interactions between gene variants and known risk factors, no significant interplay was found between the abnormal DNA repair genes and smoking, heavy alcohol consumption or excess body weight.

However, two of the gene variants (ATM D1853N and LIG4 C54T) did interact with diabetes to affect pancreatic cancer risk.

The researchers pointed out that the ultimate goal of their research was to identify high-risk individuals for closer scrutiny and follow up.

“We know that people with diabetes have a higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer, but we don’t know who will actually develop the disease and who will not. The same is true for smokers. But we can’t do CT scans on every diabetic or every smoker,” said Li.

He added: “We need to develop biomarkers that will enable us to do a quick genetic test on a diabetic patient, heavy smoker or someone with a family history of pancreatic cancer,” she continued. “We could then do a screening test, identify those with the highest risk, and monitor them more closely.”

The knowledge of the role of variant DNA repair genes in the development and prognosis of pancreatic cancer would provide the researchers with more insight into their functional significance.

The findings, published in the latest issue of Clinical Cancer Research, may help promote the development of new therapeutic strategies to target these abnormal genes. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Computer model to make ‘safer salamis with longer shelf lives’

January 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, January 12 (ANI): You may soon get to gorge upon salamis that are safer to eat, and have longer shelf lives, thanks to a novel computer model that can help tackle the growth of dangerous bacteria in food.

Alessandro Giuffrida, a food safety specialist at the University of Messina in Italy, has revealed that he and his colleagues have developed a model for bacterial growth that includes both competition and environmental influences.

He revealed that his team focused on the way bacteria grows in traditional Sicilian salami during the fermentation stage of its preparation, a period of curing in which the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes competes with a population of harmless lactic acid bacteria.

The researcher said that his model could simulate that competition for resources as well as the effects of fluctuations in environmental factors like temperature, and accurately reproduce experimental data on the growth of L. monocytogenes.

He insisted that the model could be useful for devising ways to control the bacterial growth during the fermentation process.

According to the new model, fluctuations of temperature, pH or humidity could be used to limit bacterial growth.

Giuffrida said that greater fluctuations in such conditions led to slower growth of L. monocytogenes in the fermentation stage, though his team have yet to work out why.

Based on his team’s observations, he came to the conclusion that controlling such bacterial battles could produce food with a longer shelf life.

Software is on the market for predicting the shelf life of various foods based on the growth rates of single species of bacteria, but the ability to model two species is a step towards better prediction.

“This is the first detailed look at the interplay of environmental noise and interactions between bacterial species. It’s an important advance in predictive microbiology,” New Scientist magazine quoted Fabio Marchesoni at the University of Perugia, as saying.

A research article describing this work will be published in the journal European Food Research and Technology. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,