The earthÕs heat balance is dependent on the amount of heat that is stored in the inner core of the earth.

Swedish researchers have presented evidence to support their new theory about the structure of the earth’s core. The findings may be of significance for our understanding of the cooling down of the earth, and of the stability of the earth’s magnetic field.
It has long been known that the inner core of the earth, a sphere consisting of a solid mass with a radius of about 1,200 km, is mainly made up of iron, ScienceDaily wrote.
However, seismic observations have shown that elastic waves pass more rapidly through this core in directions that are parallel to the earth’s axis of rotation than in directions parallel to the equatorð-a phenomenon that has not been previously explained.
At the high temperatures that prevail in the core of the earth, these waves should pass at the same speed regardless of their direction.
In the present study, scientists from Uppsala University and KTH present an explanation for this puzzling characteristic. The new publication in Science is part of a series of articles published by the same research team in Nature and Science.
Initially, in 2003, they published strong theoretical proof that the earth’s core assumes the so-called body-centered cubic crystal structure at high temperaturesð-a structure that despite its high degree of symmetry evinces a surprisingly high level of elastic anisotropy, that is, its elastic properties are contingent on direction.
This theory about the crystal structure directly contradicted the then prevailing view, but since then the theory has found both experimental and theoretical support.
In this new study the researchers present simulations of how seismic waves are reproduced in iron under the conditions that prevail in the core of the earth, showing a difference of about 12 percent depending on their direction-ðwhich suffices as an explanation for the puzzling observations.
First the trajectories of movement were calculated for several million atoms in strong interaction with each other. On this basis, the scientists were then able to determine that the progress of the sound waves was actually accurately described in the computer-generated model for iron under the conditions prevailing in the core of the earth.
“We found that the body-centered cubic structure of iron is the only structure that could correspond to the experimental observations,“ says Borje Johansson, professor of condensed-matter theory at Uppsala University.
The earth’s heat balance, like its magnetic field, is dependent on the amount of heat that is stored in the inner core of the earth. These conditions, in turn, are dependent on the crystal structure of the iron in the inner core.

A test that could help detect the young people who are vulnerable to developing depression when they become adults could be available within a decade.
The possibility that doctors could do more to intervene to help those at risk arises from the discovery of ’resilient’ variants of a gene that may help prevent childhood abuse and stress from developing into adult depression, Telegraph.co.uk said.
Certain variations in a gene that helps regulate response to stress appear to show why some children are able to bounce back from trauma and abuse, while others suffer with depression and mental problems throughout their lives.
Adults who had been abused but didn’t have the shielding variations in the gene had twice the symptoms of moderate to severe depression, compared to those with the protective variants.
Overall, depression occurs in around one in 10 adults in Britain at any one time--up to five million people--and today’s study bolsters evidence that a combination of gene variations and life experiences promote the disorder or protect people from it. Two -thirds of people are thought to lack the protective genes, doubling their risk of depression if they suffer childhood stress.
Results of the study are published in the Archives of General Psychiatry by Dr Kerry Ressler of Emory University, Dr Rebekah Bradley, of the Atlanta VA Medical Centre and others. Dr Ressler says a test based on this understanding could appear “in the not-too-distant future...no sooner than a decade I would say conservatively.“
“The paper is exciting for psychiatry,“ comments Prof Terrie Moffitt of the Institute of Psychiatry, London, who did earlier work to show how genetics and environmental distress sometimes act together to produce mental illness, revealing people with a short version of a gene that relays the chemical messenger serotonin were more prone to depression after losing a job or a loved one.
“It has been known for years that maltreated children are likely to develop clinical depression 10-20 years later when they reach adulthood. However, scientists did not know what happened during those long years between childhood maltreatment and the later onset of adult depression. Those years of development were a black box.“
This American research team has discovered in a study of more than 600 people that a genetic variant in the body’s biological stress hormone system is involved.
This new gene discovery is exciting because it points toward new treatments that may eventually be able to prevent depression before it even begins.

The new generation three-wheeled ZAP Alias

This is the ZAP Alias; a high performance three-wheeled electric vehicle capable of carrying two people and reaching 156mph.
It’s being developed by the Joint Venture group--a company set up for the Alias project by American electric carmaker, ZAP, and China Youngman Automotive Group, Autocar.co.uk wrote.
The idea is to produce a vehicle powered entirely by electricity, which has a range of over 150 miles, can hit 60mph in 5.7sec and is a suitable everyday vehicle for motorway and town use.
Performance comes from two electric motors--one powering each front wheel--which produce a claimed overall output of 322bhp, and the handling comes courtesy of Lotus.
Zap has been developing electric cars with Lotus Engineering for a number of years, and the Alias will undoubtedly benefit from the expertise of Norfolk’s finest.
As if that weren’t challenging enough, the Alias is also intended for production as soon as 2009.
Chairman of the Joint Venture Group, Albert Lam, claims that the “performance goals are achievable because the pace of new technology is accelerating.“
Safety is aided by an integrated roll bar, and predicted prices are only $30,000 (£15,000). However, if you fancy an Alias, you’ll have to import it yourself--they won’t be coming to the UK.

The US Food and Drug Administration has notified the public that Botox and Botox Cosmetic (Botulinum toxin Type A) and Myobloc (Botulinum toxin Type B) have been linked in some cases to adverse reactions, including respiratory failure and death, following treatment of a variety of conditions using a wide range of doses.
In an early communication based on the FDA’s ongoing safety review, the agency said the reactions may be related to overdosing. There is no evidence that these reactions are related to any defect in the products, ScienceDaily reported.
The adverse effects were found in FDA-approved and nonapproved usages. The most severe adverse effects were found in children treated for spasticity in their limbs associated with cerebral palsy. Treatment of spasticity is not an FDA-approved use of botulism toxins in children or adults.
The adverse reactions appear to be related to the spread of the toxin to areas distant from the site of injection, and mimic symptoms of botulism, which may include difficulty swallowing, weakness and breathing problems.
The FDA is not advising health care professionals to discontinue prescribing these products.
The agency is currently reviewing safety data from clinical studies submitted by the drugs’ manufacturers, as well as post-marketing adverse event reports and medical literature.
After completing a review of the data, the FDA will communicate to the public its conclusions, resulting recommendations, and any regulatory actions.

A seagoing glider is seen on the ocean surface before it descends to begin a mission.

A seagoing glider that uses heat energy from the ocean to propel itself is the first ’green’ robot to explore the undersea environment, US researchers said.
They said the glider had crisscrossed the 13,000-feet-(4,000-meter-)deep Virgin Islands Basin between St. Thomas and St. Croix more than 20 times since it was launched in December, Reuters reported.
And it could keep going on its own for another six months, the team at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Webb Research Corporation in Falmouth, Massachusetts, predicted.
“Gliders can be put to work on tasks that humans wouldn’t want to do or cannot do because of time and cost concerns,“ Dave Fratantoni of Woods Hole said. “They can work around the clock in all weather conditions.“
Such robots can carry sensors to measure temperature, salinity and biological productivity.
They usually surface from time to time to fix their positions using the Global Positioning System and to communicate via Iridium satellite to a laboratory.
Most gliders rely on battery-powered motors and mechanical pumps, the researchers said. This one draws its energy from the differences in temperature between warm surface waters and the colder, deeper layers of the ocean.
“We are tapping a virtually unlimited energy source for propulsion,“ Fratantoni said.
He said data collected by the glider would help researchers understand how eddies in the region affect ocean circulation and move around the larvae of fish as well as pollutants.

Researchers in the United States unveiled next-generation 3-D technology that they said provided realistic, updatable holograms in nearly real time.
The innovation could one day lead to 3-D holographic movies, enabling cinemagoers to feel they are ’inside’ a movie yet not have to wear cumbersome, headache-inducing spectacles with polarizing or colored lenses, the inventors hope, according to AFP.
Other beneficiaries include military commanders, who could gain a three-dimensional picture of a battlefield, and surgeons performing complex micro-surgery inside a patient.
In a paper released by the British journal Nature, Nasser Peyghambarian of the University of Arizona and colleagues reported how they recorded, displayed and updated images on a palm-sized screen measuring just 10 centimeters by 10 centimeters (four inches by four inches).
Holograms are created by shining a laser on an object, whose image falls onto a photosensitive screen. At the same time, a second laser beam falls on the screen, creating an “interference pattern“--in essence, the condensed contours of the object, which are imbedded in the film.
It takes a third laser, called the reading beam, to be directed onto the screen for the interference pattern to be resurrected. To a person in front of the screen, this creates an image in three dimensions that appears in mid-air behind the screen.
These holograms are widely used in advertising, art and entertainment but the drawback is that their displays are static.
The new technology, though, can store the image, erase it and update it, say the inventors.
Although still at a prototype stage, it means that one day a 3-D motion picture is a clear possibility, they believe.
The secret lies in films called photorefractive polymers which contain molecules of dye that respond to light and rotate and line up in response to an applied electrical field.
On their small display, Peyghambarian’s team was able to update the image in about three minutes and hold it there for up to three hours.
Anyone hoping for a zappy “Star Wars“-style hologram that can be viewed from any point in the room would be disappointed, though.
The parallax, or 3D effect, still can only be seen within a given angle by a person in front of the screen. Move too far to the right or left or up or down, and the effect is lost.