Technology News for April 1, 2008

Prey species may be a better indictor of ecosystems health
Prey species may be a better overall indictor of the ecosystems health, according to an analysis. ANI

Babies have an intuitive grasp of statistics
Babies possess an intuitive grasp of statistics which resembles that of a scientist, say researchers. ANI

Study sheds new light on menopause
Scientists at the Universities of Cambridge and Exeter have provided an insight into why females of some species undergo menopause while others do not, by finding that menopause is an adaptation to minimize reproductive competition between generations of females in the same family unit. ANI

Teen dinos violent head-butting battles revealed
Ongoing research into the head-butting behaviour of pachycephalosaurs-a group of relatively small dinosaurs that lived from about 80 million to 65 million years ago in Asia and North America-suggests that they the thick-headed reptiles might have passed through a combative teenage stage in which they butted heads in violent clashes. ANI

Diamonds can help improve a nuclear reactors ability to transfer heat
Scientists have determined that by adding diamond nanoparticles to the water of the secondary cooling system in a nuclear reactor, the systems ability to transfer heat can be dramatically improved. ANI

Hydrogen storage in nanoparticles would allow usage in mobile applications
A Dutch chemist has demonstrated that hydrogen can be efficiently stored in nanoparticles, which allows hydrogen storage to be more easily used in mobile applications. ANI

Flameless combustion could reduce polluting emissions
Researchers in the Middle East have determined that using flameless combustion to build industrial gas turbines for power generation, would produce almost no polluting emissions. ANI

Some biofuels might cause severe environmental impacts
A new study has determined that though biofuels are widely considered as a source of renewable energy, some of them might cause severe environmental impacts and reduce biodiversity unless principles and standards for production are developed and implemented. ANI

Researchers discover how plants counter attack pathogens
A new research has helped to discover how plants counter attack pathogens, which could potentially lead to crops with enhanced disease resistance. ANI

What may be needed to transform human arms into wings
A reconstructive surgeon at the University of Wisconsin in Madison has come up with an explanation as to what may be required to transform human arms into wings. ANI

War is bound to exact a heavy toll on civilian mental health
A new research has determined that the health effects of war are not limited to battlefield injuries, and are also bound to exact a heavy toll on civilian mental health. ANI

3,000-year-old ivory carving depicts whaling scene
Archaeologists working in the Russian Arctic have unearthed a remarkably detailed 3,000-year-old ivory carving that depicts groups of hunters engaged in whaling, which pushes back direct evidence for whaling by about 1,000 years. ANI

Chloroform sheds light on 150-year-old general anaesthesia puzzle
Chloroform, one of the earliest general anaesthetics to be used in medical science, has shed light on how these anaesthetics actually work - an enigma thats baffled doctors for over 150 years. ANI

Now, a Facebook tool to spy on your spouse via your mobile phone
The frantic Where r u? text message has been shown the door, thanks to this revolutionary Facebook tool that gives suspicious partners an electronic map showing the location of their spouse. ANI

Flexible colour monitors and heads-up displays in car windshields may soon be a reality
E-paper, flexible colour monitors, and heads-up displays in car windshields may soon be a reality, for engineers have already made the first active matrix display using a new class of transparent transistors and circuits. ANI

How lowly female honeybees can be reborn as pampered queens
The miserable and toiling life of the lowly female Cape honeybees can be reincarnated as royalty, at least thats what a new research suggests. ANI

Kids, not ghosts behind the poltergeist phenomena
The site of a vase flying off a shelf by itself and crashing 12 feet across the room can strike fear of ghost in anyones heart. But according to two physicists, such kind of an activity, called as poltergeist phenomena, may have nothing to offer in the way of ghost evidence. ANI

Climate change and human hunting caused woolly mammoth extinction
A new paper has used climate models and fossil distribution to establish that the woolly mammoth went extinct primarily because of loss of habitat due to changes in temperature, while human hunting acted as the final straw. ANI

Now, specially designed soils to fight global warming
A research team from Newcastle University in UK has aimed to design soils that can remove carbon from the atmosphere, permanently and cost-effectively. ANI

Astronomers discover two peanut-shaped star systems
Astronomers have spotted two new star systems, which are the first of its kind, sharing stellar material to form the shape of a peanut. ANI

Best sex lasts from three to 13 minutes
Great sex doesnt require long steamy nights of passion, for a new US survey has found that all you need for some good sex is three to 13 minutes. ANI

Astronomers discover two peanut-shaped star systems
Astronomers have spotted two new star systems, which are the first of its kind, sharing stellar material to form the shape of a peanut. ANI

Best sex lasts from three to 13 minutes
Great sex doesnt require long steamy nights of passion, for a new US survey has found that all you need for some good sex is three to 13 minutes. ANI