Science Education & Policy

IRVINE, California, August 11 /PRNewswire/ -- - Awards recognizing innovation in video and entertainment convergence will be granted to the most compelling new products, applications, or services TelcoTV, the premier meeting place for the massive convergence of the entertainment and communications markets, today announces a new awards program for TelcoTV 2008. The TelcoTV Vision Awards will honor innovation in video and entertainment convergence. Awards will be granted to the most compelling new products, applications, or services in each of the seven designated categories: Broadband Access…

The Panda's Thumb (PT) has a short post giving a quote from Michael Medved, a new fellow at the Discovery Institute (DI) (which promotes intelligent design, or ID). In it, Medved notes that intelligent design is not a theory itself, but merely a challenge to evolution. We already knew that, of course, and other ID advocates have made similar statements before1. What interested me was my reaction to seeing the PT post. My first thought was, "Ok, but what's the context?". Not that I expected PT to be disengenuously quote-mining (this is, instead, a major creationist maneuver), but I wanted…

Sustainable development thinking got environmental issues onto the agenda but it may now be stopping us from taking serious action on climate change and other crucial planetary issues, argues John Foster, a freelance writer and teacher and honorary Research Fellow in Philosophy at Lancaster University, UK in his new book "The Sustainability Mirage: Illusion and Reality in the Coming War on Climate Change." Sustainable development's attempted deal between present and future will always collapse under the pressure of 'now' because the needs of the present always win out, he says. Inevitably…

People like ideological commitment more than moderation and 'across the aisle' thinking in times of uncertainty, says University of Southern California economist Juan Carrillo, so extreme positions build trust among an electorate during rough periods. In defiance of oddsmakers, he seems to think this is an advantage for Republicans, who have been predicting a 1964-era loss for John McCain. "The current political advantage of the Republican Party stems from the ability of its candidates to develop 'signature ideas.' This strategy is rewarded even when the electorate has ideological…

SAN MATEO, California, August 7 /PRNewswire/ -- - Explosive Growth in Reseller, Distributor and Technology Partner Commitments Underpins Avistar's Turnaround Success and Product Expansion Avistar's C3 solution is projected to be on more than 100,000 desktops in the next couple of years, as a direct result of Avistar's aggressive partnership strategy and commitments from leading industry distributors, resellers and technology partners in the U.S. and Europe, Avistar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: AVSR) announced today. In the past few months alone, more than 15 direct channel and…

LONDON, August 7 /PRNewswire/ -- - The Hottest New Designers of 2008 - 4 September - 2 November 2008 - Awards Private View 28 October 2008 September sees HEARD launch an 8 week showcase competition for young design graduates. The competition provides a great opportunity for new graduates to show the skills they have developed during their degree and for HEARD to champion their work in a commercial environment. Six graduates will be selected every week to organise their own five-day showcase at Heard Gallery, London. A finalist will be chosen from each showcase and the winner will be…

MUMBAI, India, August 7 /PRNewswire/ -- - Global e-learning Provider, Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) Wins an APEX Award for its Web-based Training Program on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The RFID on the Web(TM) program developed by Tata Interactive Systems (http://www.tatainteractive.com) for OTA Training (http://www.otatraining.com ), the global leader in hands-on, vendor-neutral RFID training, has won the 20th Annual APEX Award in the category "Campaigns, Programs & Plans - Education & Training Campaigns & Programs". RFID on the Web(TM) (http://www.otatraining.com/…

Researchers have long sought a factor that can trigger the brain's ability to learn – and perhaps recapture the "sponge-like" quality of childhood. In the August 8 issue of the journal Cell, neuroscientists at Children's Hospital Boston report that they've identified such a factor, a protein called Otx 2. Otx2 helps a key type of cell in the cortex to mature, initiating a critical period -- a window of heightened brain plasticity, when the brain can readily make new connections. The work was done in a mouse model of the visual system, a classic model for understanding how the brain sets up…

For years, doctors like Arnold Relman and Marcia Angell, both former editors of the New England Journal of Medicine, have been advocating drastic changes to the way the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) deals with pharmaceutical industry funding. The ACCME is the body responsible for accrediting the institutions and organizations that deliver continuing medical education (CME) to doctors after they have finished medical school and residency programs, but there are many doctors who view this continuing education as a “quasi-academic activity.” Mixed in…

VANCOUVER, August 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Oremex Resources Inc. (TSX-V: ORM) (the Company) today provided a progress update for the Tejamen Silver Property (Tejamen). The Company has generated significant support for development of Tejamen from State, regional and local officials as well as the commercial, health, educational and regional sectors and the general populace of Tejamen and Nuevo Ideal. In addition, the Federal Minister of Mines has dedicated staff to assist with finalization of an agreement. Discussions with representatives of the Ejido (local village and surrounding lands) continue…