As the deadline for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act draws closer, the commuter and passenger trains used in large swaths of the United States remain inaccessible to passengers in wheelchairs. Meanwhile, the elevated platforms many regional rail systems have erected to address this problem have created another, forcing bulky freight shipments off the rails and onto some of the busiest roadways in the nation.

Enter an engineering professor from the University of Pennsylvani

The same in-road detectors that control traffic lights and monitor traffic could soon respond quicker to traffic jams, thanks to software developed by an Ohio State University engineer.

In tests, the software helped California road crews discover traffic jams three times faster than before, allowing them to clear accidents and restore traffic flow before many other drivers would be delayed.

This technology could also provide drivers with the information they need to plan efficient

An Ohio State University engineer and his colleagues have discovered something new about a 50-year-old type of fiberglass: it may be more than one and a half times stronger than previously thought.

That conclusion, and the techniques engineers used to reach it, could help expand applications for glass fibers.

Though the glass fiber industry is currently suffering the same economic woes as many other businesses, the time is right to lay the groundwork for future applications, said P

DM2 more common than previously thought

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Muscular Dystrophy Center have developed the first reliable diagnostic test for myotonic muscular dystrophy type 2 (DM2), leading to the accurate determination of the disease’s clinical and molecular features. Initial results indicate that DM2 is much more common than previously thought, and may be one of the more common forms of muscular dystrophy. The findings will be reported in the

Ever wonder where your favourite ESA Earth observation satellites are, right now?

Now that curiosity can be satisfied from your PC, thanks to ESA’s Satellites in Orbits website and the new addition of its Earth observation missions. The Earth Observation Orbits site displays real-time information and animations about the orbital tracks and current locations of ESA’s four Earth imaging satellites that were launched to help us better understand our own planet.

The interactive

Parents concerned about use of oral steroids to treat their asthmatic children will be reassured by a new study conducted by a team of clinicians at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and the Shriners Hospital (Montreal). This study, the first to evaluate the effects of short courses of oral steroids on bone density and hormone function, was published in the February issue of the international journal Pediatrics.

“Often parents will be hesitant to administer