"A new study suggests that your political attitudes are wired in from the beginning..."

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-politics19-2008sep19,0,514047.story

Check it out...

http://video.yahoo.com/network/100743807?v=3265004&l=100000248

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/biologists-on-t.html?npu=1&mbid=yhp

Mars lander finds bits of ice, scientists say...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-21-life-span-study_N.htm

Side Note:
Life-expectancy calculator:
http://www.fis.org/public/obiterdicta/lecalc.html

"British physicist Peter Higgs, who more than 40 years ago postulated the existence of the particle in the makeup of the atom, said is visit to a new accelerator in Geneva last weekend encouraged him that the Higgs boson will soon be seen."

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=4609570

Also, checkout from the National Geographic:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/03/god-particle/achenbach-text

Millions of toys recalled; contain 'date rape' drug

In 2007, Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) celebrates its 100th year of serving all scientists around the world.   For CAS History: Milestones, click on:

http://info.cas.org/aboutcas/cas100/annivhistory.html

FYI: "CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society, provides the world's largest and most current collection of chemical and related scientific information, including the most authoritative database of chemical substances, the CAS Registry^SM. CAS combines these databases with advanced search and analysis technologies to deliver the most complete, crosslinked, and effective digital information environment for scientific research and discovery, including such products as SciFinder^®, SciFinder Scholar^TM, STN^®, STN Express^®, and STN AnaVist^TM, among others."

For weather geeks (like me):

"Oct. 10, 2006 — Most of the country will see winter temperatures above normal though slightly cooler than last year's very warm winter, according to the winter weather outlook announced today by NOAA. According to scientists at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center, who produce the outlook, drought conditions also are expected to improve in most areas of the Southwest, while some drought conditions are anticipated in parts of the Pacific Northwest." See the NOAA News release for maps and more info.

Today is the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. If you are interested in learning more about the earthquake check out the resources below.

A Virtual Tour of the 1906 Earthquake in Google Earth
In addition to the interactive tour there are historical photographs, information on the San Andreas and other San Francisco Bay Area faults, and current Bay Area earthquake hazards. You will need to download Google Earth to see the tour. From the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS).

USGS 1906 Earthquake Resources
This site includes links to ground motion simulations, shake maps, aerial photographs, and more.

Scientific Overview of 1906 Earthquake
Another great site from USGS, this one has excellent historic photographs.

SFGate: The Great Quake 1906-2006
San Francisco Chronicle's coverage of the quake centennial. Includes photographs, media, diaries, and stories of the quake and the city of San Francisco's rebuilding and recovery.

Jack London and the Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906 - California Historical Society
Author Jack London took over 200 photographs of the 1906 quake, the California Historical Society has made these albums available online. The photographs show damage outside of San Francisco including Oakland, Fort Bragg, and Santa Rosa, California.

Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco - 1906 Earthquake
Online exhibit documenting the earthquake.

The 1906 Earthquake and Fire - The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Excellent online exhibit from the Bancroft Library. Includes interactive map, historic photographs, and more.

Books in the Georgia State University Library

• A crack in the edge of the world : America and the great California earthquake of 1906 / Simon Winchester.  F869.S357 W56 2005 Library North, 4th floor
  
  
•  The great earthquake and firestorms of 1906 : how San Francisco nearly destroyed itself / Philip L. Fradkin.  F869.S357 F735 2005 Library North, 4th floor
  
  
•  San Francisco is burning : the untold story of the 1906 earthquake and fires / Dennis Smith.  Smi Browsing Collection, Library North, 1st floor
  
  
•  Disaster! : the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 / Dan Kurzman.  F869.S357 K87 2001 Library North, 4th floor
  
  
•  The impact of the 1906 earthquake on San Francisco’s Chinatown / Erica Y.Z. Pan.  F869.S36 C4755 1995 Library North, 4th floor

NASA Post-Hurricane Katrina Images on Google Earth

From press release: "When Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005, it changed the look of some of the coastlines of three U.S. states. Now, using Google Earth’s software on the Internet, people can see the before and after affects, thanks to detailed images from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)."

To see NASA imagery on Google Earth, first download Google Earth to your computer from the Web: http://www.earth.google.com and then open the instructions (http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/141623main_load_in_an_eaarl_flight.pdf).

Emergency Response Imagery via NOAA

"NOAA today posted online more than 350 aerial images of the U.S. Gulf Coast areas that were decimated by Hurricane Katrina. NOAA will be flying more missions in the days ahead that will yield hundreds of additional aerial digital images." For more information see NOAA's story on the project.

General Hurricane Information & Predictions:

NOAA National Hurricane Center

Additional satellite images:
Satellite Imagery from DigitalGlobe - New Orleans & Biloxi August 31, 2005

USGS - U.S. Geological Survey
New Orleans - Before and After Hurricane Katrina

FEMA Photo Library
" FEMA has started to add images from their work in the Hurricane Katrina zone to their photo library. Direct links to download images are provided."

Satellite Images from NASA
Direct links to download are provided.

American Red Cross - Donations for Hurricane Victims

July 15, 2005 press release from Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics:

"A forest fire sparked by lightning more than a week ago currently is located less than a mile from the Smithsonian's Whipple Observatory. More than 20,000 acres have burned already, and firefighters predict that the fire may grow to 60,000 acres. Observatory personnel were evacuated on Tuesday, July 12.

More than 1000 firefighters are battling the blaze in an effort to protect the irreplaceable scientific resource represented by Whipple Observatory. Approximately $100 million dollars worth of facilities and equipment are located at the observatory. The MMT Observatory alone, the largest and most valuable telescope on the mountain, hosts hundreds of researchers every year. The MMT is the flagship instrument of the Smithsonian Observatory. It was recently upgraded with a new 6.5-meter mirror and a suite of powerful instruments, including the Megacam imager and Hectospec and Hectochelle spectrographs.

Despite the efforts of the firefighters, it now looks like this fire will sweep around the mountain by Saturday...." for more see press release.

"The American Chemical Society is calling on Congress to shut down the NIH's PubChem, a freely accessible database on small organic molecules. PubChem is an important component of NIH's Molecular Libraries Initiative, which is a key element of the NIH "road map" for medical research.... ACS claims that PubChem competes with Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) ....(from the ALA Washington Office Issues site)

For the American Library Association's perspective on this issue see their Washington Office Government Issues site.

For the American Chemical Society perspective see their statement (pdf).

From in-cites - an editorial component of ISI Essential Science Indicators from ISI.

• Science in France, 2000 - 2004
  
• Microbiology: High-Impact Universities, 1999 - 2003
  
• Top Ten Most Prolific Journals (All Fields), 1994 - 2004
  
• Science in Canada, 2000 - 2004
  
• Space Science Research: High-Impact Universities, 1999 - 2003
  
• Journals Ranked by Impact: Astronomy and Astrophysics
  
• Science in Israel, 1999 - 2003
  
• Neurology: Most Prolific Universitites, 1999 - 2003

It Orbits a Star, but Does it Qualify for Planethood?
Dennis Overbye
Astronomers have produced what they say could be the first direct image of a planet around another Sun-like star, but is the new object really a planet? (New York Times, free registration required)

Telescopes see 'distant planet'
A European team claims to have obtained the first direct image of a planet beyond our own Solar System. (BBC News)

European Southern Observatory
Data from the VLT (Very Large Telescope) at the European Southern Observatory was used to discover the object.