Power Up! Checking the Grid

RALEIGH, N.C (Ivanhoe Newswire) --Here’s something to think about the next time you crank the air conditioning: eight years ago North America suffered the biggest blackout in U.S history. The widespread outages reached southeastern Canada and extended through the northeastern U.S. The cost? Six billion dollars. Now, scientists are finding ways to see potential problems in the U.S power grid before they happen.

Predicting A Snow Storm

SALT LAKE CITY (Ivanhoe Newswire) --The words "snow storm" struck fear into the hearts of folks all over the U.S this winter. How much is coming? How heavy will it be? Will I be able to get out of my driveway? Now, scientists in Utah have come up with a formula to answer those questions, more accurately than ever.

Building A Better Flu Vaccine

HOUSTON (Ivanhoe Newswire) --Every flu season is different, but one thing is certain, thousands of Americans will die each year from the flu. From 1976 to 2007, flu deaths ranged from a low of 3,000 to a high of 49,000 in a given season. Can we protect ourselves better from this all too common virus? We could start by building better vaccines.

Warning! You're Having A Heart Attack!

MESA, AZ (Ivanhoe Newswire) --It’s a leading killer of men and women in the United States-- this year, more than one million Americans will suffer a heart attack. Vital blood flow to one section of the heart gets cut off, and quick intervention can make a lifesaving difference. Once you’ve had one heart attack, you’re at an increased risk that it will happen again. But symptoms can be misleading. How do you know if it’s ‘the big one’ or just heartburn? Researchers have developed a new early warning system that could make a lifesaving difference. Here are the details.

Crocheting a Coral Reef

WASHIGTON, DC (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Our planet's coral reefs are endangered. It's estimated that pollution, global warming, and overfishing have damaged 25 percent of coral reefs beyond recovery. Now, a unique project is helping bring awareness to delicate coral reefs one ball of yarn at a time.

Uncovering Treasures of the Past

MENLO PARK, CA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Theories from great minds, discoveries from 150 million years ago, and paintings from artists we see in the best museums in the world. All of these may be going under the microscope. Scientists are using powerful X-rays to read beneath the ink on parchment paper, the paint on canvas and the remains of fossils. What they’re finding is changing what we thought we knew about the past.

Secrets of Snowflakes

MADISON, WI (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A blanket of snow this winter can turn your neighborhood into a winter wonderland overnight. We know freezing temperatures help create the snow, but how a snowflake gets it shape has puzzled scientists for years.

Odds of winning

ATLANTA, GA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Slot machines and poker tables are a 90 billion dollar a year business in the United States. Gamblers hit the craps tables and roll the dice hoping to win big money, but some college students could tell those gamers their odds of winning may not be as good as they think.

Time Change: Setting Your Internal Clock

MICHIGAN, MI (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It’s time to hit the snooze button, curl up and sleep an extra hour. On Sunday, November 7th at 2 am daylight saving time ends. Yes it’s an inconvenience…most clocks are off an hour for at least a week…but what does changing the time have to do with changing your internal clock?

Saving Time & Tax Payers Money & Teacher's Jobs

SLIPPERY ROCK, PA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- With the school year now in full swing, how would you feel about a shorter ride for your child? How about more money in your Childs school for books, programs, or personnel?

Saving Lives: Building a Better Face Mask

PITTSBURG, PA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- They’re first ones on the scene and the first ones exposed to dangerous conditions, but when it comes to protecting those who protect us, the first line of defense is a device to cover the mouth and nose. Now, Scientists and engineers are finding ways to build better protection for the people who risk their lives for us.

Forecasting Floods In 3D

SEATTLE, WA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Recent flooding in Pakistan has decimated homes and taken lives. In fact, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stats show flooding is the third deadliest weather hazard behind hurricanes and heat. Now, a team of scientists can tell you about flood days before it hits.

Mathemagic!

ATLANTA, GA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- What do you think of when you think of mathematics? Numbers? Equations? How about magic? It turns out that the basic principals of mathematics can make for some pretty impressive card tricks, where the hand and the math is quicker than the eye.

Phantom Traffic Jams

BOSTON, Mass. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Accidents and weather conditions are often to blame for heavy traffic, but many times there is no apparent reason for the delays. Small disturbances like hitting the brakes too hard or tailgating can lead to phantom traffic jams, but now mathematicians are using their skills to try to understand and solve the problem.

Taking Math To The Streets

Hours spent in school or doing homework with word problems, algebra and geometry can create a math phobia for many students, who end up frightened by math as adults. But looking at mathematics in a different way can help people learn to love it.

Basketball: Bias Refs?

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- With March Madness underway, as you watch the games, you know refs on the basketball court can take a lot of heat from fans, coaches and players, for what may seem like unfair calls. Referees aim to be neutral, but are they?

Can You Hear Me Now?

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Hang up the phone and listen up! Cell phone usage in the U.S. has increased from 34 million to 203 million in the last decade, but it's a love-hate relationship. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) survey ranked cell phones as the one invention people hate the most, but can't live without. It even beat out the alarm clock and TV. One of the biggest complaints: dropped calls. Now, a new super chip may help keep you connected.

'Smart' Alarm Clock Helps You Sleep

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Not getting enough sleep at night can sap most of your energy during the day. About 60 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders, causing a lot of sleepless nights, but your cell phone may be able to help you sleep better.

Testing Chili Peppers

WACO, Texas (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- you can find them in Mexican and Asian cuisine, hot sauce, medicines, even tear gas … Chile peppers put the heat in all kinds of products these days. Measured on a standard called the Scoville heat scale, they range from zero for a mild bell pepper to a scorching 100,000 for a habanera.

Science of Shopping

New York (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- This holiday season, stores are doing everything to lure you in. Sometimes there's more than meets the eye behind those beautifully shelved items. There's a science behind shopping, and it's all about the "how" of the sell.

Science of Speed

TROY, N.Y. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- In world-class athletic competitions, it used to be that events were won by the person with the most athletic ability, but these days, talent alone may not be enough to win the gold. When every hundredth of a second counts, science and technology can help even the strongest athletes take their performance to the next level.

Got (Video) Game?

ATLANTA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Do you got game? Two out of three people have picked up a controller in the past six months. In fact, more people are gaming than going to the movies. But games could turn your hobby into a moneymaker.

Smart Girls: Breaking Down Barriers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Girls like reading and writing. Boys like math and science. It's a stereotype that's persisted for generations, but times are changing.

Diet Buster: Watch What You Drink

BALTIMORE (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Anyone trying to diet has access to weight loss tools, from pills to shakes to quick fix exercise routines.

Improve Your Golf Game

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Your odds of hitting a hole-in-one is 5,000 to one. A good player and the perfect club are a must, but now the ball is coming into play. The United States Golf Association (USGA) regulates the design of golf balls, but not a ball's dimple patterns. Researchers have found changing a ball's dimples might improve a golfer's game.

Finding Lost Hikers

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Each year over 2,000 people get lost on hikes in the wilderness. It's critical to survival for search and rescue teams to find hikers within a few hours.

Avoiding Turbulence

ATHENS, Ga. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Commercial airplanes run into severe turbulence 5,000 times a year. Most of it happens above 10,000 feet, and the injury claims alone track into the tens of millions of dollars. To help solve the problem, scientists have developed a new way to predict air turbulence and help pilots avoid it.

Hi-Tech Cycling

PAYSON, Utah (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Almost every kid has at one time or another asked for one for Christmas. Now, engineers have developed what may be the most technologically advanced bike to hit the road yet. It took ten years to develop a new incredibly light and strong model that will take cyclists into the future.

Measuring Lightning

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Florida is the lightning capital of the U.S., followed by Texas, North Carolina, Ohio and New York. More people die from lightning than tornadoes and hurricanes, and most people don’t realize they can be struck by lightning even when the center of a thunderstorm is more than 10 miles away. Now, engineers are using a new, improved way to keep you safer when a storm strikes.

Science of Origami

SAN FRANCISCO (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Can a piece of paper save your life? You probably don't know one modern invention was derived from the science of origami, the ancient art of paper folding.

Predicting A Pandemic

ATLANTA, Ga. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- In 1918 and 1919, more than a half-a-million Americans died in a huge flu pandemic. We’ve had other flu outbreaks since, and now, illnesses like bird flu and SARs have raised concerns that another pandemic may be coming. Though we can’t know for sure when it will hit, or how severe it will be, a new kind of planning tool may help us prepare for the worst.

Keeping Vaccinations On Track

ATLANTA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- New numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate more than a quarter of all toddlers in the United States may be under-vaccinated, which can leave them unprotected against diseases like measles, mumps and even polio. Now, researchers have teamed up with the CDC to help keep kids' vaccinations on track.

Do the Math Dance

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The terms, symbols and patterns of mathematics are often confusing, but two choreographers have calculated a way to put the rhythm in problem-solving.

Planes, Trains and ant Hills

DALLAS, Texas (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Are you a worker, a drone, or a queen bee? Businesses are using models based on insect behavior to increase human production and work faster. And it's already started at the airport.

Detecting Turbulence

BOULDER, Colo. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Airline passengers may soon have smoother flights and fewer delays! Pilots are testing a new turbulence detection system that may really pay off for both the airlines and its passengers.

Beer Bubbles

NEW YORK, N.Y. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- We often take for granted many of the scientific wonders that exist in our world. But did you ever think there was something amazing going on in your beer. Well maybe if you’ve had too many. But really, there is a lot brewing in that brew.

Paired Kidney Exchange

Pittsburgh, Penn. -- More than 70,000 Americans need a kidney transplant. Four-thousand will die this year waiting for a suitable organ to become available. But a revolutionary computer software program is matching live donors with those in need.

Kids Creating Computer Games

Pittsburgh, Penn. -- Computers used to keep businesses on track, assist doctors with complicated surgeries and even develop life-saving combinations of drugs. The demand for computer programmers has never been greater, yet there has been a 50-percent drop in the number of computer science majors over the past seven years -- especially among women. A new program uses the lure of animated movies to entice young students.

Traffic Accident Hotspots

43,000 people are killed each year in the U.S. in traffic accidents. Now scientists are trying to figure out how to stop the accident from happening.

Become A Smarter Shopper

Learn how to spot sneaky sales tricks and save money on everything you buy.

Math in the Movies

RICHMOND, Calif., (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Most students in high school dread their math classes and wonder when they will ever use the information in "real life." Now, with so much work being done on computers, the algebra and trigonometry learned in high school is actually being put to good use.

Let Them Halve Cake

NEW YORK (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- How do you divide a piece of birthday cake so both kids are happy with what they get? Wise men and women have been trying to answer that question since the time of King Solomon, and it's a problem every parent is familiar with.

Home Runs & Hole-in-One

DENVER (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Although baseball season is over, and players are taking a break from training, statisticians are in high gear, calculating who had the league's best batting statistics. Researchers at University of Northern Colorado now know for certain just where balls fly farther.

Football Frenzy: Picking the Perfect Play

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Every pass, punt, block, hit, run -- every play can make or break a team's season. A win -- or loss -- often boils down to some tough calls. They're paid big bucks, but do you always agree with the coaches' call? Now, a computer software program can tell in a matter of seconds which play will give football teams the best chance of winning.

The Secret to Juggling

SAN DIEGO (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- If you've ever been to a circus, you've no doubt witnessed a juggling show. It takes skill, concentration, and even a little courage! But do you have what it takes to juggle? It looks hard, but now computer science makes learning new tricks easier for both beginners and pros.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- The NCAA tournament is the most coveted title in college basketball. For the fans, however, the office pool is a sport of its own. But can math help you improve your picks?

WEST POINT, N.Y. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Baseball fans know a no-hitter is a rare event. But now mathematicians are stepping up to the plate, using their students' interest in baseball to teach them about probability with a new prediction for this year's no-hitters.