Tags : education | research | science

EurekAlert! - Education
Sun Jan 24 11:35:55 EST 2010
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For most outfielders, luck has nothing to do with catching flies - (Brown University) New research from Brown University supports a long-standing theory about how outfielders catch fly balls. The eye continuously tracks the ball as its visual velocity increases or decreases, and the outfielder runs backward or forward to compensate. Details are online at the Journal of Vision.

A computer per student leads to higher performance than traditional classroom settings - (Boston College) Providing every student and teacher with a laptop computer can produce improved student performance in some subjects, when compared to traditional classroom settings, according to findings in a special edition of the Journal of Technology, Learning and Assessment.

Pitt research explores how categories and environment create satisfied and well-informed consumers - (University of Pittsburgh) Expert consumers like to be surprised by unusual product presentation, while novices crave familiarity, so claims a new Pitt/USC study titled "Smart Subcategories: How Assortment Formats Influence Consumer Learning and Satisfaction," to be published in the June issue of Journal of Consumer Research.

Insect wranglers invade the garden at Southwestern science EXPO - (Arizona State University) Raymond Mendez, the "original insect wrangler," headlines the Social Insect Science EXPO on Feb. 20 at the Desert Botanical Garden.

New research will examine link between childhood asthma, sleep and school performance - (Lifespan) Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and Hasbro Children's Hospital researchers have received more than $2.5 million in direct costs from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study the impact of asthma on the sleep quality and academic performance of young children.

Media registration now open for TCT 2010 - (Cardiovascular Research Foundation) Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics is the annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation. TCT gathers leading medical researchers and clinicians from around the world to present and discuss leading-edge developments in interventional cardiology. Now in its 22nd year, it is the world’s largest privately-run medical conference and attended by more than 10,000 participants each year. TCT 2010 will be held Sept. 21-25 in Washington, DC.

Teaching computer games - (Inderscience Publishers) Computer games have a broad appeal that transcends gender, culture, age and socioeconomic status. Now, computer scientists in the US think that creating computer games, rather than just playing them could boost students' critical and creative thinking skills as well as broaden their participation in computing. They discuss details in the current issue of the International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing.

Slime design mimics Tokyo's rail system - (American Association for the Advancement of Science) What could human engineers possibly learn from the lowly slime mold? Reliable, cost-efficient network construction, apparently: a recent experiment suggests that Physarum polycephalum, a gelatinous fungus-like mold, might actually lead the way to improved technological systems, such as more robust computer and mobile communication networks.

Useless online student quizzes - (Inderscience Publishers) Online quizzes are not helping students learn their subject, according to a study just published in the International Journal of Information and Operations Management Education.

Study: Companies better off hiring CEO from within in the long term - (Rice University) When a company wants to appoint a new CEO for strategic changes, they would be better off in the long term by promoting someone from inside the company rather than hiring someone from the outside, according to a new study from Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business.

Med students say conventional medicine would benefit by integrating alternative therapies - (University of California - Los Angeles) The largest national survey of its kind that measured medical students' attitudes and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine found that three-quarters of them felt conventional Western medicine would benefit by integrating more CAM therapies and ideas.

The Genetics Society of America announces DeLill Nasser Travel Award recipients - (Genetics Society of America) The Genetics Society of America is pleased to announce the six recipients of the 2010 DeLill Nasser Awards for Professional Development in Genetics. These travel grants are given to young geneticists to attend national and international meetings or enroll in laboratory courses.

ERC grants 1.9 million euro to visionary basic research in mathematics - (University of Gothenburg) The European Research Council has awarded Professor Thierry Coquand, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, with one of the most prestigious grants within the European Union. Thierry Coquand receives the ERC Advanced Grant of more than 20 million SEK (1.9 million euro) for his research in foundation of mathematics.

Call for AIDS denialists to be held accountable - (Springer) Despite irrefutable proof that HIV treatments have proven benefits, AIDS denialists continue to deny their value. In a paper just published online in Springer's journal AIDS and Behavior, Professor Myron Essex and Dr. Pride Chigwedere, from the Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative in the US, provide additional proof that withholding HIV treatments with proven benefits led to the death of 330,000 people in South Africa as the result of AIDS denialist policies.

Institute of Advanced Studies director named fellow of American Physical Society - (Nanyang Technological University) Professor (Adjunct) Phua Kok Khoo, director of Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Institute of Advanced Studies, has been named Fellow by the American Physical Society (APS). He joins an elite group of some 3,500 Fellows worldwide elected since 1995.He was cited for his "tireless efforts to strengthen scientific research throughout Asia and promote international physics education and scholarly exchanges, and for enriching science and education through the World Scientific Publishing Company he founded."

Biscayne 24-hour BioBlitz - (University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science) Join National Geographic and the National Park Service at the Biscayne BioBlitz, a two-day, round-the-clock event, April 30-May 1. Scientists, naturalists, community leaders, students and the public will join forces to inventory every living plant and creature in and out of the water at Biscayne National Park.

Obama bestows highest presidential honor on early career scientists and engineers - (National Science Foundation) At the White House yesterday, President Barack Obama bestowed on 100 men and women the United States government's highest honor for scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers -- the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

OU researchers organize unique sessions for the American Meteorological Society's Annual Meeting - (University of Oklahoma) Researchers, scientists and students from the University of Oklahoma will be principal presenters in more than 60 sessions at the 90th Annual American Meteorological Society annual meeting in Atlanta Jan. 17 to 21.

American Society for Microbiology announces plenary speakers for ASMCUE 2010 - (American Society for Microbiology) The 17th American Society for Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Educators (ASMCUE) will be held May 20-23, 2010, at the Town & Country Resort and Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. This interactive, four-day conference features outstanding plenary speakers and concurrent sessions where attendees learn and share the latest information in microbiology and biology education research.

Stevens earns publication spot in top-rated Journal of Advanced Materials - (Stevens Institute of Technology) A research paper that has potential implications for homeland defense, work place safety, and health care has been published in the Journal of Advanced Materials, and reported by materialsviews.com.

Siblings play formative, influential role as 'agents of socialization' - (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Laurie Kramer, a professor of applied family studies at the University of Illinois, says that what we learn from our siblings when we grow up has -- for better or for worse -- a considerable influence on our social and emotional development as adults.

LSU researchers receive $1.8 million to study Louisiana dialects - (Louisiana State University) Louisiana is a cultural melting pot. Because of the state's unique DNA -- a combination of the history, politics and geographical location -- everything about "The Boot" is a little bit different, right down to the way Louisiana natives speak. But current speech pathology tests don't take into account dialects of individual Louisiana parishes, and as a result, children with speech and language impairments might not be getting the help they need.

Oxford University Press launches new librarian newsletter - (Oxford University Press) Oxford University Press has launched Illuminea, a new quarterly newsletter for academic librarians and information professionals. This publication will keep readers up-to-date with the latest developments at OUP and across the publishing world.

Disadvantaged neighborhoods set children's reading skills on negative course: UBC study - (University of British Columbia) A landmark study from the University of British Columbia finds that the neighborhoods in which children reside at kindergarten predict their reading comprehension skills seven years later. The study, published this week in the journal Health & Place, finds children who live in neighborhoods with higher rates of poverty show reduced scores on standardized tests seven years later -- regardless of the child's place of residence in seventh grade.

Elsevier Foundation announces $600,000 in new grants - (Elsevier) The Elsevier Foundation has announced the 2009 grant recipients, committing a total of $600,000 to twelve institutions from around the world to support the work of libraries and scholars in science, technology and medicine. The grant recipients were selected from 250 applicants worldwide for their innovation and potential for impact in the developing world, academic workplace and nursing community.