NASA develops system to recycle space station waste into radiation-protecting tiles

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This prototype shows what the tiles made from space waste will look like. The real thing will actually be square. (Photo courtesy of NASA.)

Hauling trash off the International Space Station can be an expensive proposition, especially without NASA's Space Shuttle fleet. So NASA has come up with a system to recycle the waste astronauts develop into radiation-protecting tiles for the space station.

Astronauts working in orbit around the Earth generate waste and they have little room to store it.

Shipping it back to earth is costly, too, so NASA is working on a space station recycling program.

The NASA waste handling system crushes waste to a fraction of its original size, and if that brings to mind the trash compactor scene from Star Wars, John Fisher, a scientist with the Bioengineering Branch at NASA, says astronauts have nothing to worry about. The NASA trash compactor is much too small for a person.

Fisher says its designed to take many other things though, like food packaging, food scraps, tape, cans, paper, plastic bags and even what's known as the astronaut diaper. All that waste is collected from around the spacecraft, then placed inside the heat melt compactor an 8-to-10 inch cube-shaped device.

Once it's filled, the device is run to crush the various items and heat them to remove any residual moisture the trash may contain.

"We continue heating and continue compacting it until you compact from maybe something about 10 inches deep to about one-tenth or slightly less than that of its volume," Fisher said. "The temperature eventually goes up to something over 300, 400 Fahrenheit and the plastic that's in there melts and encapsulates the waste. And then we cool it down and we bring it out and what you have is kind of a hard plastic tile with most of the other waste materials embedded inside of it."

But NASA doesn't make them so dense just to take up less space so they can be shipped back to Earth. The space agency is planning to use them as radiation shields inside the space station, Fisher said.

"Radiation protection works best when the substance you're using contains a lot of hydrogen, and plastic contains a lot of hydrogen as well as carbon, which is still a relatively good material for radiation protection," he added.

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NASA develops system to recycle space station waste into radiation-protecting tiles

NASA JPL – Asteroid 2012 DA14 — Earth Flyby Reality Check – Video

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NASA JPL - Asteroid 2012 DA14 -- Earth Flyby Reality Check
Small near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass very close to Earth on February 15, so close that it will pass inside the ring of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites. NASA #39;s Near-Earth Object Program Office can accurately predict the asteroid #39;s path with the observations obtained, and it is therefore known that there is no chance that the asteroid might be on a collision course with Earth. Nevertheless, the flyby will provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study a near-Earth object up close. Here are the facts about the safe flyby of Earth of asteroid 2012 DA14 -- a record close approach for a known object of this size. Credit: NASA JPL

By: Camilla Corona SDO

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NASA JPL - Asteroid 2012 DA14 -- Earth Flyby Reality Check - Video

Asteroid 2012 DA14 : NASA says not to fear Asteroid heading toward Earth (Feb 04, 2013) – Video

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Asteroid 2012 DA14 : NASA says not to fear Asteroid heading toward Earth (Feb 04, 2013)
SOURCE: http://www.cnn.com News Articles: Asteroid 2012 DA14 Flyby: How to Watch the Closest Near-Earth Encounter on February 15 au.ibtimes.com Earth safe from asteroid flyby next week http://www.cbsnews.com An asteroid is coming, and scientists are excited. Fear not, Earth is safe http://www.cnn.com Earth safe from asteroid #39;s close flyby next week http://www.nbcnews.com FAIR USE NOTICE: This video may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes only. This constitutes a #39;fair use #39; of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 USC section 106A-117 of the US Copyright Law.

By: SignsofThyComing

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Asteroid 2012 DA14 : NASA says not to fear Asteroid heading toward Earth (Feb 04, 2013) - Video

NASA Science Balloon Breaks Longest Flight Record

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The Super-TIGER getting ready to be launched from a balloon site near McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Pic: NASAWASHINGTON: After more than 55 days flying over Antarctica, NASA's huge Super-TIGER scientific balloon has broken the record for the longest flight of its kind, bringing back a wealth of data, the US space agency said Monday.

The Super-TIGER balloon spent 55 days, one hour and 34 minutes aloft at an altitude of 127,000 feet (38,710 metres), beating the old record set in 2009 by just over a day.

It was gathering data on the high energy cosmic rays that hit the Earth from elsewhere in the galaxy. That process included the use of a new tool to measure rare elements heavier than iron among the influx of rays.

Scientists are looking to better understand where these high energy atoms come from and how they get so super-charged.

"This has been a very successful flight because of the long duration, which allowed us to detect large numbers of cosmic rays," said principal investigator Bob Binns.

NASA said the data will take up to two years to fully analyse.

The balloon's long flight was aided by the South Pole's wind patterns, which circulate counter-clockwise, from east to west, in the stratosphere thousands of feet above the Earth's surface.

That -- plus the sparse population in the southernmost, frigid continent -- make these long-duration, high-altitude flights possible, NASA said.

"Scientific balloons give scientists the ability to gather critical science data for a long duration at a very low relative cost," said Vernon Jones, NASA's Balloon Programme Scientist.

-AFP

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NASA Science Balloon Breaks Longest Flight Record

NASA: An asteroid is coming, and it will be fun

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(CNN) -

Look out for Asteroid 2012 DA14.

It is heading toward Earth at 17,450 miles per hour, according to NASA, and the tug of our planet's gravitational field will cause it to accelerate when it gets here.

But it's not going to strike us, when it passes by on Feb. 15. NASA is adamant about this.

"It's orbit is very well-known," said Dr. Don Yeomans, NASA specialist for near-Earth objects. "We know exactly where it's going to go, and it cannot hit the Earth."

But it will give the Blue Planet the closest shave by any object it's size in known history, Yeomans said. Gravity will cause it to fly a curved path, tugging it closer to Earth's surface than most GPS or television satellites.

While the asteroid is moving at a good clip, space rockets have to accelerate to an even higher speed to escape Earth's gravity and make it into space. Though 2012 DA14 will be flying more slowly, its trajectory will keep it from falling to Earth.

Getting a look at 2012 DA14

Star gazers in Eastern Europe, Asia or Australia might be able to see it with binoculars or consumer telescopes. It will not be visible to the naked eye, because it's small, "about half the size of a football field," Yeomans said.

There are millions of asteroids in our solar system, and they come in all dimensions -- from the size of a beach ball to a large mountain, NASA said.

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NASA's Super-TIGER balloon breaks records while collecting cosmic ray data

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Feb. 4, 2013 A large NASA science balloon has broken two flight duration records while flying over Antarctica carrying an instrument that detected 50 million cosmic rays.

The Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (Super-TIGER) balloon launched at 3:45 p.m. EST, Dec. 8 from the Long Duration Balloon site near McMurdo Station. It spent 55 days, 1 hour, and 34 minutes aloft at 127,000 feet, more than four times the altitude of most commercial airliners, and was brought down to end the mission on Friday. Washington University of St. Louis managed the mission.

On Jan. 24, the Super-TIGER team broke the record for longest flight by a balloon of its size, flying for 46 days. The team broke another record Friday after landing by becoming the longest flight of any heavy-lift scientific balloon, including NASA's Long Duration Balloons. The previous record was set in 2009 by NASA's Super Pressure Balloon test flight at 54 days, 1 hour, and 29 minutes.

"Scientific balloons give scientists the ability to gather critical science data for a long duration at a very low relative cost," said Vernon Jones, NASA's Balloon Program Scientist.

Super-TIGER flew a new instrument for measuring rare elements heavier than iron among the flux of high-energy cosmic rays bombarding Earth from elsewhere in our Milky Way galaxy. The information retrieved from this mission will be used to understand where these energetic atomic nuclei are produced and how they achieve their very high energies.

The balloon gathered so much data it will take scientists about two years to analyze it fully.

"This has been a very successful flight because of the long duration, which allowed us to detect large numbers of cosmic rays," said Dr. Bob Binns, principal investigator of the Super-TIGER mission. "The instrument functioned very well."

The balloon was able to stay aloft as long as it did because of prevailing wind patterns at the South Pole. The launch site takes advantage of anticyclonic, or counter-clockwise, winds circulating from east to west in the stratosphere there. This circulation and the sparse population work together to enable long-duration balloon flights at altitudes above 100,000 feet.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs manages the U.S. Antarctic Program and provides logistic support for all U.S. scientific operations in Antarctica. NSF's Antarctic support contractor supports the launch and recovery operations for NASA's Balloon Program in Antarctica. Mission data were downloaded using NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.

For more information about NASA's Balloon Program, visit: http://www.wff.nasa.gov/balloons

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NASA's Super-TIGER balloon breaks records while collecting cosmic ray data

NASA Advisory Council Aeronautics Committee Unmanned Aircraft Systems Subcommittee Meeting 26 Fen 2013

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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 23 (Monday, February 4, 2013)] [Notices] [Page 7816] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2013-02331]

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice: (13-008)]

NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics Committee; Unmanned Aircraft Systems Subcommittee Meeting

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Subcommittee of the Aeronautics Committee of the NASA Advisory Council. The meeting will be held for the purpose of soliciting, from the aeronautics community and other persons, research and technical information relevant to program planning.

DATES: Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Local Time.

ADDRESSES: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters, Room 6E40B, 300 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20546.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Brenda L. Mulac, Executive Secretary for the UAS Subcommittee of the Aeronautics Committee, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, (202) 358-1578, or brenda.l.mulac@nasa.gov.

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NASA Advisory Council Aeronautics Committee Unmanned Aircraft Systems Subcommittee Meeting 26 Fen 2013

NASA Finds 4-Toed Footprint

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A chunk of stone bearing dinosaur footprints has been carefully lifted from the grounds of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., scientists report.

The dino tracks, thought to have been left by three separate beasts more than 100 million years ago, were discovered by amateur paleontologist Ray Stanford in August 2012.

The feature that first caught Stanford's eye was a dinner-plate-sized footprint of a nodosaur, a tanklike dinosaur studded with bony protuberances that roamed the area about 110 million years ago during the Cretaceous period (the period from 145 million to 65 million years ago that was the end of the Mesozoic Era). This particular lumbering leaf-eater must have been moving quickly across the prehistoric mud, as its heel did not sink deeply into the ground.

- Jim Garvin, Goddard's chief scientist

A closer look at the site revealed two more prints. Stephen Godfrey, a paleontology curator at the Calvert Marine Museum, who was contracted to preserve the find, said he suspects one was left by an ornithopod, possibly from the iguanodontid family, which were large vegetarian dinosaurs with birdlike, three-toed feet that walked on its hind legs. Another smaller footprint found superimposed over the nodosaur track is thought to be from a baby nodosaur, perhaps trying to catch up to its parent, according to a statement from NASA. [See Photos of the Dinosaur Footprints at Goddard]

The stretch of ground containing the prints measured about 7 feet long and 3 feet across at its widest point. After making a silicon-rubber cast of the dino tracks, the team covered the find in plaster-soaked burlap, much like an orthopedic cast, to reinforce the slab and protect it from damage during the big move. Altogether, the stone slab, the protective jacket and surrounding soil weighed about 3,000 pounds, and it was successfully pulled out of the ground last month.

For now, the prints are being stored at Goddard until further scientific study is possible. The wonder of the discovery has not been lost on space scientists at Goddard, who often find themselves studying starlight as old as the dinosaurs.

"One of the amazing aspects of this find is that some of the starlight now seen in the night sky by astronomers was created in far-distant galaxies when these dinosaurs were walking on mud flats in Cretaceous Maryland where Goddard is now located," Jim Garvin, Goddard's chief scientist, said in a statement. "That starlight (from within the Virgo Supercluster) is only now reaching Earth after having traveled through deep space for 100 million years."

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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NASA Finds 4-Toed Footprint

NASA's Curiosity Rover Hammers Into 1st Mars Rock

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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has pounded into a Red Planet rock with its drill for the first time, bringing the 1-ton robot a big step closer to initiating its first full-bore drilling operations.

The Curiosity roverhammered the rock using the arm-mounted drill's percussive action over the weekend, completing another test along the path toward spinning the bit and biting into rock for the first time.

"We tapped this rock on Mars with our drill. Keep it classy everyone," Curiosity flight director Bobak Ferdowsi who gained fame as "Mohawk Guy" during the rover's nail-biting landing on the night of Aug. 5, 2012 wrote in a Twitter post Sunday (Feb. 3), sharing a photo of the pounded rock.

Curiosity's drill can bore 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) into Martian rock, deeper than any rover has been able to go before. Using the drill and its associated systems is a complex operation, so the mission team has been building up slowly to the first drilling activity on the Red Planet.

Last week, Curiosity performed some "pre-load" tests, pressing down on a rock with its drill in several different places to see if the amount of force applied matches predictions.

The six-wheeled robot has also been carefully evaluating its target rock, which is part of an outcrop the mission team has named "John Klein," after a former Curiosity deputy project manager who died in 2011.

Curiosity's main goal is to determine if its Gale Crater landing sitecould ever have supported microbial life. Along with the rover's 10 science instruments and 17 cameras, the drill is viewed as key in this quest, as it allows Curiosity to dig deep into Martian rocks for potential signs of past habitability.

The mission team wants to test the drill out on a target with scientific value, and John Klein seems to qualify. The outcrop shows many signs of past exposure to liquid water, including light-colored mineral veins that were apparently deposited by flowing water long ago.

Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwallor SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on FacebookandGoogle+.

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NASA's Curiosity Rover Hammers Into 1st Mars Rock

NASA's Curiosity rover hammers first Mars rock

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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has pounded into a Red Planet rock with its drill for the first time, bringing the 1-ton robot a big step closer to initiating its first full-bore drilling operations.

The Curiosity rover hammered the rock using the arm-mounted drill's percussive action over the weekend, completing another test along the path toward spinning the bit and biting into rock for the first time.

Space news from NBCNews.com

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's creative side seems to be firing up the warp drive thanks in part to Twitter, William Shatner and Barenaked Ladies.

"We tapped this rock on Mars with our drill. Keep it classy everyone," Curiosity flight director Bobak Ferdowsi who gained fame as "Mohawk Guy" during the rover's nail-biting landing on the night of Aug. 5, 2012 wrote in a Twitter post Sunday, sharing a photo of the pounded rock.

Curiosity's drill can bore 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) into Martian rock, deeper than any rover has been able to go before. Using the drill and its associated systems is a complex operation, so the mission team has been building up slowly to the first drilling activity on the Red Planet.

Last week, Curiosity performed some "pre-load" tests, pressing down on a rock with its drill in several different places to see if the amount of force applied matches predictions.

The six-wheeled robot has also been carefully evaluating its target rock, which is part of an outcrop the mission team has named "John Klein," after a former Curiosity deputy project manager who died in 2011.

Curiosity's main goal is to determine if its Gale Crater landing site could ever have supported microbial life. Along with the rover's 10 science instruments and 17 cameras, the drill is viewed as key in this quest, as it allows Curiosity to dig deep into Martian rocks for potential signs of past habitability.

The mission team wants to test the drill out on a target with scientific value, and John Klein seems to qualify. The outcrop shows many signs of past exposure to liquid water, including light-colored mineral veins that were apparently deposited by flowing water long ago.

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NASA's Curiosity rover hammers first Mars rock

NASA's Curiosity ready to drill first Mars rock

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NASA's Curiosity, the SUV-sized robot exploring Mars, is getting ready to spin its drill bit for the first time. Curiosity can probe an inch deep into Martian rock, deeper than any previous rover or lander.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has pounded into a Red Planet rock with its drill for the first time, bringing the 1-ton robot a big step closer to initiating its first full-bore drilling operations.

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The Curiosity roverhammered the rock using the arm-mounted drill's percussive action over the weekend, completing another test along the path toward spinning the bit and biting into rock for the first time.

"We tapped this rock on Mars with our drill. Keep it classy everyone," Curiosity flight director Bobak Ferdowsi who gained fame as "Mohawk Guy" during the rover's nail-biting landing on the night of Aug. 5, 2012 wrote in a Twitter post Sunday (Feb. 3), sharing a photo of the pounded rock.

Curiosity's drill can bore 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) into Martian rock, deeper than any rover has been able to go before. Using the drill and its associated systems is a complex operation, so the mission team has been building up slowly to the first drilling activity on the Red Planet.

Last week, Curiosity performed some "pre-load" tests, pressing down on a rock with its drill in several different places to see if the amount of force applied matches predictions.

The six-wheeled robot has also been carefully evaluating its target rock, which is part of an outcrop the mission team has named "John Klein," after a former Curiosity deputy project manager who died in 2011.

Curiosity's main goal is to determine if its Gale Crater landing sitecould ever have supported microbial life. Along with the rover's 10 science instruments and 17 cameras, the drill is viewed as key in this quest, as it allows Curiosity to dig deep into Martian rocks for potential signs of past habitability.

Excerpt from:

NASA's Curiosity ready to drill first Mars rock

Scientists Offer Wary Support for NASA's New Mars Rover

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Scientists cheered NASA's decision to send a new rover to Mars in 2020, but stressed that the mission should pave the way to return Martian rocks to Earth a major goal of the planetary science community.

In a set of statements released Jan. 28 and Jan. 30, two large and well-respected groups of scientists the Planetary Society and the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS), respectively shared their views on the plan to send another robotic explorer to the Red Planet in seven years.

The new Mars rover missionwas announced Dec. 4 by John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science, at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. The new rover will share some design features with NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars in August to begin at least a two-year mission.

"We welcome the recent announcement that NASA will return to Mars in 2020 with a new rover derived from the MSL Curiosity design," the Planetary Society statement read. "Continued exploration of Mars is crucial to the scientific community and important for building upon our decades-long investment in engineering and technology development. However, we strongly believe that the mission should have the capability to collect and store Martian rock samples as recommended by theNational Research Council's Planetary ScienceDecadalSurvey." [Video: NASA to Launch Mars Rover in 2020]

The Decadal Survey is a report undertaken every 10 years by an independent group of scientists to determine the highest priorities for the field of planetary science (other fields, such as astronomy and astrophysics, have their own surveys). This report is generally well-respected and highly influential in allocating the limited funding within NASA's science budget.

"We strongly believe that the mission should carry a payload consistent with the recommendations given in the National Research Councils decadal survey for planetary science, Vision and Voyages," the DPS statement read. "It is of the utmost importance that NASA and Congress follow the recommendations laid forth in the Decadal Survey in order to maximize science return and support a balanced and affordable approach to exploration in our solar system."

NASA has released scant details on the new rover plan, and it's unclear yet whether the robot will be able to collect Martian rock samples intended to be brought back to Earth. Most plans for returning Mars samples are multi-phase, with an initial mission to collect, or cache, the rocks, and later missions to rendezvous with the collector and return the samples to Earth.

"The question of caching is going to be a trade-off case," Grunsfeld said when he announced the rover. "The science definition team is going to have to weigh, what science do we want to get done? How much mass and power do we have available? What can we get to the surface, and where do we want to go?"

Both statements also pushed against budget cuts to NASA's planetary sciencedivision suggested by the Obama administration's February 2012 budget proposal. If implemented, those cuts could force NASA to retire early some of its current solar system probes, such as the Cassini Saturn orbiter and the Messenger Mercury probe, and delay future missions.

"We find the shift in budgetary priority deeply troubling," the Planetary Society scientists wrote. "Namely, it represents a step backwards from our nation's long commitment to exploration and the pursuit of answers to the big questions of 'where do we come from?' and 'are we alone?'"

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Scientists Offer Wary Support for NASA's New Mars Rover

TVP 11: Nanotechnology – Video

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TVP 11: Nanotechnology
The Nanotechnology revolution is nigh! I talk about the possible benefits, and drawbacks, of nanotechnology. Are the tiny robots our friends or our enemies? Only time will tell... Facebook: http://www.facebook.com Twitter: twitter.com Google+: http://www.youtube.com Pinterest: pinterest.com Tumblr: http://www.tumblr.com "Sneaky Snitch" Title Music: mp3skull.com

By: Steve Voudrie

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IRAN-ranked-top-ten-in-the-world-in-nanotechnology.mp4 – Video

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IRAN-ranked-top-ten-in-the-world-in-nanotechnology.mp4
Published on 4 Feb 2013 Nanotechnology, science of the future. Professors, scientists, researchers and engineers of Iran #39;s Basij or (Volunteer Forces) who scpeicalize in the field of nanotechnology have held a conference at Amir Kabir Unviversity of Technology in Tehran. Nanotechnology is simply the manipulation of matter on an atomic and molecular scale, which may be able to create many new materials and devices applicable to the fields of medicine, electronics, biomaterials and energy production. Iran has advanced tremendously in the past years in nanotechnology Nanoctechnology can be broken down into nanocomposites which can also be used in agriculture, automotive industry and building materials. Iran has recently unveiled eight nano carbon products with carbon structure; grapheme, graphene oxide, single-walled and multi-walled nano tubes, carbon nano filters, carbon nano balls and porous nano graphenes. According to Iran #39;s Nanotechnology Initiative Council (INIC) over 3% of the world publications on nanotechnology belong to Iranian researchers and scientists. Iran also plans to export the new nano products to regional countries.

By: anon pusher

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IRAN-ranked-top-ten-in-the-world-in-nanotechnology.mp4 - Video

Clipboard: How is Steward Health Care shaping medicine in Massachusetts?

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By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Steward Health Care has proved a game changer for medicine in Massachusetts. The for-profit hospital system formed when private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management two years ago rescued a group of struggling Catholic hospitals, with St. Elizabeths and Carney Hospital at the helm. In Sundays Globe, reporter Robert Weisman took a long look at how Steward Health Care is reshaping medicine in Massachusetts.

Theres a bubbling caldron of change going on in Massachusetts health care, and Steward is the single biggest part of it right now, James Roosevelt Jr., chief executive of Tufts Health Plan, told Weisman.

A recent report from the attorney generals office found that the system has lost tens of millions of dollars. But thats not the whole story, Weisman writes:

Over the past two years, Steward has added to its portfolio by buying four more community hospitals, wooed large groups of doctors from Harvard-affiliated rivals Beth Israel Deaconess and Partners HealthCare, taken over post-acute care provider New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton, and struck eyebrow-raising pacts to send patients in need of more complex care from its community hospitals to Partners-owned Massachusetts General and Brigham and Womens hospitals in Boston.

But its too early to say whether Stewards model is more economical. The attorney generals report found that while its hospitals are the low-cost providers in some communities, their prices are higher than those of competitors in other locales.

Paul Levy, former chief executive at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, wondered aloud on his blog about how Steward doctors will fair in the long run, as the system signs contracts with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts that return to providers a portion of what they save compared to a baseline in medical spending:

One commenter on Weismans story raises an interesting point about whether Stewards model meshes with the new model of health care created under state and federal health laws. Accountable care organizations also are designed to push hospitals and doctors to be more cautious in spending health care dollars by giving them a stake in potential savings.

Reader amirtllr writes on BostonGlobe.com:

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Clipboard: How is Steward Health Care shaping medicine in Massachusetts?

Compugen to Present at the Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference 2013 in San Francisco

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TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Compugen Ltd. (CGEN) today announced that the Company was invited to present at the Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference 2013, at Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California.

Dr. John Hunter, Vice President, Antibody Research & Development at Compugen, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Compugen Ltd., will participate in a session entitled Cancer Biologics: Approaches Changing the Treatment of Cancer. Dr. Hunter's presentation entitled Predictive Drug Discovery for Novel Cancer Biologics will take place on Thursday, February 14 at 1:45 pm PST. In his talk, Dr. Hunter will demonstrate how Compugen has applied its predictive discovery platforms to identify novel immune checkpoints for targeted antibody immunotherapy in cancer. Validation data for representative targets will also be presented.

About Compugen

Compugen is a leading therapeutic product discovery company focused on therapeutic proteins and monoclonal antibodies to address important unmet needs in the fields of immunology and oncology. The Company utilizes a broad and continuously growing integrated infrastructure of proprietary scientific understandings and predictive platforms, algorithms, machine learning systems and other computational biology capabilities for thein silico(by computer) prediction and selection of product candidates, which are then advanced in its Pipeline Program. The Company's business model includes collaborations covering the further development and commercialization of selected product candidates from its Pipeline Program and various forms of research and discovery agreements, in both cases providing Compugen with potential milestone payments and royalties on product sales or other forms of revenue sharing. In 2012, Compugen established operations in California for the development of oncology and immunology monoclonal antibody therapeutic candidates against Compugen drug targets. For additional information, please visit Compugen's corporate website at http://www.cgen.com.

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Compugen to Present at the Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference 2013 in San Francisco

Flu season, cold medicine and confusing labels

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FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Choosing medicine for a cold, flu, and other aches and pains can be overwhelming.

Why is the drug aisle so confusing?

Dr. Marvin Lipman, Consumer Reports Medical Adviser said, "The problem is labels like extra strength, maximum strength, or ultra-strength really have no standard definition."

Take Ultra-Strength Tums. It has 100 percent more of its active ingredient than the regular version.

But Gas-X Ultra-Strength has 125 percent more of its active ingredient.

"The point is you really have to read the label in order to know how much you're taking," Lipman said.

Claims like "all day" and "long acting" are tricky, too. All-day Aleve lasts up to 12 hours. But this all-day medicine lasts 24 hours. With drugs that promise to relieve multiple symptoms, like a cold, flu, and sore throat, you could end up taking something you don't need.

"Drugs that treat multiple symptoms often have more than one ingredient, sometimes many," lipman said.

So if you take another medicine that contains one of those ingredients, you might wind up taking too much.

Consumer reports says best is choosing a single ingredient drug whenever you can, like ibuprofen for aches and pains or acetaminophen for a fever or headache.

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Flu season, cold medicine and confusing labels

Certara Establishes the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine as the Latest Phoenix Center of …

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ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Certara, a leading provider of software and scientific consulting services to improve productivity and decision-making from drug discovery through clinical development, announced that the Institute of Computational Comparative Medicine (ICCM) at Kansas State University has been named a PhoenixCenter of Excellence.

Certara has developed Phoenix, the leading PK/PD modeling and simulation platform, to support non-compartmental analysis, population PK/PD modeling and simulation, and IVIVC analysis. This partnership will focus on the application, validation and extension of the Phoenix platform to support studies in veterinary medicine, from toxicology to animal health. Dr. Jim Riviere recently formed the Institute of Computational Comparative Medicine (ICCM) to develop unique computational medicine capabilities that will apply to animal studies and to advance the general state of the field.

The work we are focused on could reduce the number of animal studies required for drug approval, said Dr. Jim Riviere, Director of the ICCM. It could improve the determination of withdrawal times of drugs in animals with diseases; it could support the modeling of chemical risk assessment. There are many opportunities to advance veterinary medicine by using modeling and simulation methods combined with experimental data to form a quantitative framework for decision making.

Certara currently has six Phoenix Centers of Excellence that are focused on leveraging Phoenix to support clinical pharmacology and to train the next generation of practitioners, said Dr. Daniel Weiner, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Certara. We are pleased to work with Kansas State University to begin advancing the use of Phoenix to support animal health studies, aimed at both improving animal medicine as well as the reduction of animals used in clinical trials.

About Certara Certara is dedicated to improving human health through a broad spectrum of software products and consulting services, from molecular discovery through clinical development, with special focus on supporting translational approaches to drug development. Certara was formed by uniting industry leaders Tripos, provider of innovative scientific software solutions and services enabling life science researchers to improve the efficiency of molecular discovery; Simcyp, a research-based company providing predictive pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics tools, workshops, and consultancy services; and Pharsight Corporation, provider of software and scientific consulting services to improve productivity and decision-making in preclinical and clinical drug development. Each Certara family brand has a primary focus on a key phase within the drug discovery and development process; combined, they offer a unique set of capabilities for modeling, analysis, and simulation with scientific informatics that can enable the cross-disciplinary approaches necessary for translational science initiatives. For more information, visit http://www.certara.com.

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Austin Sports Medicine: Post-Race Recovery Tips from Medicine in Motion

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The Austin sports medicine doctors at Medicine in Motion know firsthand what a marathon or long race can do to the body, so they've compiled a list of tips for post-race recovery.

Austin, Texas (PRWEB) February 05, 2013

1. Dont sit. Walk around for a few minutes to bring the heart rate down slowly and to avoid the risk of blood pooling in the legs.

2. Dry clothes. Once the body starts to slow down, those wet running clothes will start to feel uncomfortable and maybe give the chills. Change into something warm and soft. Also put on another pair of shoes that provide plenty of support.

3. Assess your pain levels. If in a lot of pain or just not feeling quite right, head to the medical tent immediately.

4. Drink. A combination of water and sports drinks will help replenish lost fluids, sodium and electrolytes.

5. Eat carbohydrates and proteins. Muscles need help repairing themselves after an intense run. A 3 to 1 ratio of carbs to protein can do the most good within 30 minutes after the event. The right balance of food can also help minimize sore muscles and stiffness.

6. Stretch. After a run, muscles are still warm and flexible theres no better time for a stretch just dont overdo it!

7. Avoid ibuprofen. Dont take anti-inflammatories immediately after the race if not well hydrated, they could damage the kidneys. Wait a few hours until the water has had a chance to rehydrate your system.

8. Ice packs/ice bath. An ice bath is an ideal way to reduce inflammation after a long run. If that doesnt sound appealing, opt for ice packs on the spots that are the sorest.

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Austin Sports Medicine: Post-Race Recovery Tips from Medicine in Motion