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According to Andrew Revkin writing in the New York Times, “The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.” Having reviewed a number of books on the subject, I know Dr. James Hansen by reputation and consider this one of the most egregious attacks in the Bush administration’s ongoing war on science.

Over the holidays, high-school sophomore Katie Nance painted her room a cool shade of blue. But she and her schoolmates chose something much bolder for the ocean buoy they recently constructed for an international oceanography program. Their bright red buoy is being launched off the coast of Antarctica this month. If all goes well, the buoy will phone home, thanks to a satellite connection, sending back data on ocean temperatures that will be available to scientists and students around the world.

Putting ethanol instead of gasoline in your tank saves oil and is probably no worse for the environment than burning gasoline, according to a new analysis by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. The researchers note, however, that new technologies now in development promise to make ethanol a truly “green” fuel with significantly less environmental impact than gasoline.

Working with an international team of scientists, a Florida State University physics professor has taken part in an experiment that resulted in the creation of a silver atom with exotic properties never before observed. In the experiment, a cigar-shaped atom was created using a particle collider. To the scientists’ surprise, this atom demonstrated a novel kind of radioactive decay by spitting out two free protons at the same time.

A team of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University, and the Russian Academy of Sciences has used sound waves to induce nuclear fusion without the need for an external neutron source, according to a paper in the Jan. 27 issue of Physical Review Letters. The results address one of the most prominent questions raised after publication of the team’s earlier results in 2004, suggesting that “sonofusion” may be a viable approach to producing neutrons for a variety of applications.

I just joined. I must say that this might be a lot more rewarding to me than to my readers. And that says a lot about my brain and behaviour. A big HELLO to all of you. Hope to interact with all of yo

Offering free HIV tests instead of charging a small fee is more cost-effective at preventing HIV infections and draws in three times as many people for testing, according to a Duke University Medical Center study conducted in Tanzania.

Researchers supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health, report they have harnessed the unique physics of sea water as it freezes to guide the production of what could be a new generation of more biocompatible materials for artificial bone.

Attention Party Animals! If you want to have fun this Super Bowl without feeling guilty about all the super-snacking, use smaller serving bowls. We use the size of the bowls on a table as a rule-of-thumb as to how much we should take.

Researchers say that scientists might soon have evidence for extra dimensions and other exotic predictions of string theory. Early results from a neutrino detector at the South Pole, called AMANDA, show that ghostlike particles from space could serve as probes to a world beyond our familiar three dimensions.

Scientists have found a universal rule that regulates the metabolism of plants of all kinds and sizes, and that may also offer a key to calculating their carbon dioxide emissions. That number must be known precisely to construct valid models of global carbon dioxide cycling.

Researchers say they have discovered what might be the “Achilles’ heel” of a dangerous organism that lives in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients–a fatal flaw that leaves the organism vulnerable to destruction by a common food preservative.

Properly designed “rain gardens” can effectively trap and retain up to 99 percent of common pollutants in urban storm runoff, potentially improving water quality and promoting the conversion of some pollutants into less harmful compounds, according to new research scheduled for publication in the Feb. 15 issue of the American Chemical Society journal, Environmental Science and Technology.

Two new studies by a University of Rochester researcher show that mountain ranges rise to their height in as little as two million years–several times faster than geologists have always thought. Each of the findings came from two pioneering methods of measuring ancient mountain elevations, and the results are in tight agreement.

University of Pittsburgh researchers announced they have genetically engineered an avian flu vaccine from the critical components of the deadly H5N1 virus that completely protected mice and chickens from infection. Avian flu has devastated bird populations in Southeast Asia and Europe and so far has killed more than 80 people.

One of the strangest satellites in the history of the space age is about to go into orbit. Launch date: Feb. 3rd. That’s when astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) will hurl an empty spacesuit overboard. The spacesuit is the satellite — “SuitSat” for short.

Children who experience a rewarding friendship before the birth of a sibling are likely to have a better relationship with that brother or sister that endures throughout their childhood, said Laurie Kramer in a University of Illinois study published in December’s Journal of Family Psychology.

Nutra Pharma Incorporates Designer Diagnostics, Inc. — a New Subsidiary to Market Medical Test Kits