Advances in disease surveillance: Putting the "public" into public health

MIAMI--Before a government reports a disease outbreak, cases must usually be counted, verified and assessed--a process that can take days, weeks or months. [More]

Software behaving badly: Machine learning could resolve issues raised by multi-core processors

What computers have gained in speed with the introduction of multicore processors that split up workloads they may be losing in reliability. This is because software applications are written to execute different actions in a specific order. When different pieces of code are processed out of order (thanks to multi-processors' division of labor), it may cause computers to crash, leaving office workers, researchers, students, gamers and other users staring at a frozen screen. [More]

6 Fun Facts about the James Webb Space Telescope [Slide Show]

The Hubble Space Telescope is an iconic observatory, a triumph of space science that may be the most famous unmanned spacecraft since Sputnik. Hubble's renown is certainly well-deserved, but the spacecraft is aging--it will mark its 20th anniversary of reaching orbit in April. Hubble's services are still in tremendous demand, because it operates above the bulk of Earth's obfuscating atmosphere and so offers astronomers their clearest view of the distant universe. In 2014, when another large, space-borne observatory is set to be launched, the overworked Hubble should finally have some company. [More]

Habitats: Part Library, Part Salon, Part Cast Party

Why James Sikes Is a Hybrid Hero

Step aside Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio. James Sikes might just become the hybrid movement’s most recognized celebrity.

For the past several weeks, media and government officials have stirred widespread public concern about the safety of the Toyota Prius—publishing first and investigating later (if at all). But the truthfulness of the most publicized incident so far—what might be described as cross between the Balloon Boy Hoax and the OJ Simpson Highway Chase—is coming under increasing scrutiny.

According to Fox News, USA Today, and other sources, Sikes’s background is checkered with problems: a police record for grand theft, a filing for bankruptcy, and ownership of a swingers website where users can post erotic photos.

Of course, Sikes’s questionable background doesn’t prove that the Prius and other Toyota vehicles are free of technical safety issues—any more than a series of reported problems is proof positive of major safety glitches. In fact, investigators may never come to a definitive conclusion about reported Prius acceleration cases.

Nonetheless, revelations that the Sikes incident might have been hoax could slow down media and government from knee-jerk reactions. In that sense, Sikes could be credited as the man who convinced...

Mine Injuries Rise Right after Daylight Saving Time

Don’t forget to move your clocks forward this weekend. And then don’t forget to be more careful in the days after you adjust your clocks. Because a recent study found that the hour of lost sleep was related to increased job-related injuries. Probably because sleepy workers were less alert. The work appeared last September in the Journal of Applied Psychology . [ see http://bit.ly/coie2b ] [More]

Consciousness-Raising: Kick-Starting the Brain's Dopamine System May Revive Some Vegetative Patients

A drug targeting dopamine receptors might be able to "kick-start" an injured brain, enabling certain kinds of vegetative and minimally conscious patients to recover faster. [More]

Bluefin fishing ban to be proposed