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EU Sets Out to Save the iPod Generation's Hearing September 28, 2009 
The European Union has updated volume standards for portable devices that play music, such as MP3 players and mobile phones. Going forward, new products will be required to maintain their default setting at 80 decibels. The new rules upgrade EU directives requiring that warnings about the dangers of listening to music at high volumes be included in device instruction manuals.
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Groundbreaking Alzheimer's Gene Therapy Trial Moves Ahead September 25, 2009 
Tests of a promising new gene therapy to treat Alzheimer's disease are moving to the phase II level, bringing the reversal of dementia damage one step closer to becoming a real medical possibility. Developed by scientists in The Memory Disorders Program at Georgetown University, CERE-110 is a virus engineered with the gene encoding nerve growth factor.
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Highest-Mortality Groups Last in Line for H1N1 Vaccine September 17, 2009 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined who will get the vaccine for the H1N1 flu virus -- aka "swine flu" -- in the event of a shortage, but the priority groups don't line up well with the groups most likely to die from the disease. The reasons reflect a complex calculus of ethics that might be changing.
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Rocky Extrasolar Planet Too Close to Its Sun for Comfort September 17, 2009 
Astronomers have finally found a place outside our solar system where there's a firm place to stand -- if only it weren't so broiling hot. Scientists have already found more than 300 planets outside our solar system. However, all are of them are gas balls or can't be proven to be solid. Now, a team of European astronomers has confirmed the first discovery of a rocky extrasolar planet.
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Do You Know How Much Radiation Your Cellphone Emits? September 14, 2009 
The focus of a U.S. Senate hearing Monday afternoon is the potential danger of cellphone use -- specifically, the risk of brain cancer. That link was suggested as long ago as last decade, when cellphones were slightly smaller than a shoebox and just beginning to become part of the everyday landscape.
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Old Almanacs Flourish in a Web-Connected World September 13, 2009 
Doris Smith Mills often comes across past editions of the "Old Farmer's Almanac" lying around her family's 110-year-old Westport, Mass., farm. She believes previous Smiths read it for entertainment and its yearly weather predictions to ready for New England's fickle climate changes. Today, the 78-year-old has the 24-hour Weather Channel and various weather Web sites at her fingertips.
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Different Brain Chemistry Mix Could Explain ADHD September 10, 2009 
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, stems from a biological problem with the brain's chemistry that controls feelings of reward and motivation, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers used positron-emission tomography, or PET scans, to examine how dopamine works in the brains of adults diagnosed with ADHD.
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New Dell Product Spurs Electronic Medical Records Adoption September 10, 2009 
Dell is expanding its electronic medical records offerings with a new hardware, software and service bundle designed to help hospitals ease the transition from paper to digital records. The service is an end-to-end solution that touches upon all aspects of this process in the hospital setting.
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Minor Glitches All in a Day's Work for Spacewalkers September 02, 2009 
A pair of spacewalkers successfully tackled a hefty tank removal job at the international space station Tuesday as their crewmates unloaded comedian Stephen Colbert's namesake treadmill for all "those famously fat astronauts." The only concern Nicole Stott and Danny Olivas had about mass -- everything is weightless up there, after all -- involved the huge ammonia tank they needed to disconnect.
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The Roadblocks to Making Prosthetic Miracles Happen Every Day August 31, 2009 
As the DARPA approaches its self-imposed deadline to make high-tech prosthetics that begin to approach the abilities of natural limbs by 2009, the research communities that have made it happen are beginning to ask, "Can we create companies that can turn a mind-blowing prototype or demo into real products?" Veterans, amputees and other people living without limbs ask, "Can you help me soon?"
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Anti-Obesity 'Wonder Drug' May Harm Liver August 27, 2009 
The Food and Drug Administration is looking into reports that orlistat, a drug used to control obesity, might have played a role in 32 cases of liver injury that occurred between 1998 and 2008. The FDA is also investigating an undisclosed number of other cases of liver damage that might be related to the drug.
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Heavy Multitaskers Aren't Good At It August 26, 2009 
The people who multitask the most are the ones who are worst at it. That's the surprising conclusion of researchers at Stanford University, who found multitaskers are more easily distracted and less able to ignore irrelevant information than people who do less multitasking.
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Movable Prosthetics: The Biomechanical Interface August 24, 2009 
Thanks to research that will culminate this year in a major set of new designs, procedures and prototypes for artificial limbs, highly advanced prosthetics might eventually become commonplace, perhaps in another generation. However, much more research must be done in the ways human tissue interacts with mechanical parts.
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Social Academics: Building a Forum for Online Learning August 20, 2009 
Mention social networks to most Web users, and they'll likely tell you about general-interest gathering places like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. However, other social networks -- some large, some small -- exist to provide users with a way to communicate about slightly more specific topics. LinkedIn, for one, emphasizes professional and career networking.
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DNA-Like Design Could Lead to Smaller, Faster Microchips August 17, 2009 
DNA may contain the building blocks of life, but IBM believes it can also provide the foundation for cheaper construction of the next generation of superfast, energy-efficient microprocessors. Scientists at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif., have announced they have developed a way to use synthetic DNA as a "skeleton" for the creation of microscopic circuits.
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Green Glow Illuminates Possible Alzheimer's Breakthrough August 06, 2009 
Researchers at two Southern California schools may have achieved a breakthrough in the search for chemicals that can slow -- or even reverse -- the progression of
Alzheimer's disease and possibly even diabetes. Surprisingly, the breakthrough didn't come from doctoral programs at UCLA or USC. It came from undergraduate departments at Loyola Marymount University and Mount St. Mary's College.
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