One scientist says 'Yes'.

Neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, an Oxford University neuroscientist, says that social networking websites are causing alarming changes in the brains of young users. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter are said to shorten attention spans, make young people more self-centered, and encourage instant gratification.

Facebook claims more than 150 million users, while Twitter has around 6 million. While these sites are considered extremely popular, as well as profitable, a number of psychologists and neuroscientists believe that they may be doing more harm than good.

Greenfield believes that repeated exposure could effectively "rewire" the brain. Other factors include computer games and fast-paced television shows.

"We know how small babies need constant reassurance that they exist. My fear is that these technologies are infantilising the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment," said Greenfield.

President Barack Obama is soon expected to issue an executive order that would lift an eight-year ban on embryonic stem-cell research that was enacted during the Bush administration.

Adviser David Axelrod said on Sunday, "We're going to be doing something on that soon . . . The president is considering that right now."

President George W. Bush limited federal funding for stem cell research in 2001 to only human embryonic stem cell lines that already existed. It was a nod to conservative Christian supporters that regard this kind of research as destroying human life. During his presidential campaign, Obama vowed to reverse Bush's ban.

Scientists, however, believe that embryonic stem cell research could eventually produce cures for such devastating diseases as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and even spinal cord injuries.

Last month the FDA cleared the way for the first trial to see if these stem cells could safely treat people. The trial will use stem cells from existing lines to regrow nerve tissue in patients with crushed spinal cords.

A study spanning sixty years has shown that overnight temperatures in Ohio have gradually risen, and experts are left wondering what it means. Ohio State University researcher Jeffrey Rogers is now looking into whether the warmer Ohio nights may be a sign of global warming.

Rogers figures indicate that the difference between average summer nighttime low and average nighttime high temperatures in Cleveland is 1.5 degrees. In Columbus the difference is much greater, with nighttime temperatures having increased by 3 degrees. Day time temperatures have remained largely constant.

What Rogers and his fellow researchers currently believe is that increasing clouds and humidity are making heat retention more likely, thus the higher nighttime temps. This theory falls in line with other global studies, says the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

NASA Glenn Research Center's Visitor Center will pay tribute to those who have lost their lives in the pursuit of space exploration on Thursday. Amongst those to be honored are the crews of Apollo, Challenger, and Columbia, as well as all other members of the NASA family that have died in the pursuit of knowledge.

A minute of silence of be observed at 12:59pm EST on Thursday January 29, 2009. Immediately following the moment of silence will be a presentation entitled "Space Heroes" given by Jeff Woytach of Glenn's Speakers Bureau. The presentation will be repeated again on Saturday, Feburary 7, 2009 at 1:30pm. There is also the astronaut memorial wall in the Visitor Center, which is available to view. Both presentations are free and open to the public.

The Visitor Center is open Monday-Friday 9am to 4pm, Saturday 10am to 3pm, and Sunday 1pm to 5pm, and is located at 21000 Brookpark Road. Adult visitors are required to present government issued photo ID. Access to the Visitor Center is limited to US citizens.

According to my car's temperature reading, it was as cold as -12°F this morning. Factoring in the 10 to 12mph winds we have blowing across Northeast Ohio this morning, and temperatures easily feel as if it's at least -25°F. In extreme cold such as this, it is important take take several precautions to protect not only yourself and your loved ones, but also your pets and home.

The number one tip for cold weather is to limit your outdoor activity, and cover any exposed skin when you do have to venture out in the cold. At the temperatures forecast, frostbite can occur in just a few minutes. Keep warm by dressing in layers and try to stay dry. Now is not a good time to go sledding, as tempting as the nicely packed snow may be. Avoid prolonged exposure to the cold, hypothermia can easily set in.

If you have pets, make sure they stay indoors. If they must be left outdoors, make sure they have shelter, extra food, and water. Pets burn more calories trying to stay warm, and dehydration can be a serious problem in the winter.

As much as it sounds like one, this is not a joke. The over-zealous animal lovers over at the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, better known as PETA, are now campaigning to get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to change the name of fish to "sea kittens".

PETA would like to change the name in order to improve the image of fish as a species.

On the PETA webpage entitled "Save the Sea Kittens!", PETA claims that "People don’t seem to like fish” and that “we’re going to start by retiring the old name for good.” They are urging their members to sign a petition that asks the US Fish and Wildlife Service to stop the "hunting of sea kittens (otherwise known as fishing)."

PETA makes the arguement that "Sea kittens are just as intelligent (not to mention adorable) as dogs and cats, and they feel pain just as all animals do."

Photo: The University College Hospital in London where the child was born.

The first known child to have been screened as an embryo for the BRCA-1 gene, the gene which often causes breast and ovarian cancer, was born this week in Great Britain. A spokesman for the University College London told media that the girl was screened through pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, a process that tests a group of embryos created through in vitro fertilization when each contains eight cells.

The cells are tested, and only those which are free of the BRCA-1 gene are returned to the mother's womb.

Around the world, doctors already test for genes causing an array of diseases including Huntington's Disease and Cystic Fibrosis, but this is the first time that a child has been known to have been tested for a gene that is only likely to cause disease.

Those with the BRCA-1 Gene have a 50 to 80 percent chance of developing breast or ovarian cancer in their lifetime. The UK media is calling the child the "cancer-free" girl, which is inaccurate. The girl could still develop a non-genetic form of either breast or ovarian cancer.

Discovery could help combat future pandemics.

What made the 1918 flu pandemic, also know as the "Spanish Flu", so deadly? Researchers may have finally answered that question, having found a group of three genes that let the virus invade the lungs and cause pneumonia.

Resarchers mixed samples of the 1918 strain of influenza with modern seasonal flu viruses to find the three genes, and published their results Tuesday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They said that their study may help in the development of new flu drugs, and could also point to mutations that might turn ordinary flu into a dangerous pandemic strain.

Flu typically causes upper respiratory infection that affects the nose and throat, and systemic illness which causes fever, muscle aches, and weakness. However some people become seriously ill and eventually develop pneumonia. Bacteria sometimes causes the pneumonia, while other times the flu causes it directly.

During pandemics, such as the 1918 one, a new and more dangerous flu strain emerges. The 1918 pandemic caused 50 million deaths worldwide, and is considered to be the most devasting outbreak of infectious disease in human history. Health officials in recent years have been warning us that we are due for another flu pandemic of similar proportions.

The 1918 flu killed 2.5 percent of victims, versus the 1 percent killed during most annual flu epidemics. Autopsies of the victims showed that many had died of severe pneumonia.

Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, along with colleagues at the Universities of Kobe and Tokyo in Japan wanted to know why the 1918 flu caused severe pneumonia. So they set out on the painstaking process of substituting single genes from the 1918 virus into modern flu viruses, and tested them out on ferrets, which develop the flu in much the same way as humans. One after another, they acted like the average flu, infecting just the upper respiratory tract. However, they found a complex of three genes helped make the virus live and reproduce deep in the lungs.

Non-native animals are destroying the habitat, and ravaging the continent's scarce water supply.

A study conducted by the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre in Australia's capital city of Canberra found that the country's one million feral camels are running wild in the desert, destroying precious water sources. Another study is recommending that livestock farmers switch from cows, sheep, and pigs to kangarooms because they expel less methane, a gas said to contribute to global warming.

In the report, Murray McGregor said, "Eat a camel today, I've done it. It's beautiful meat. It's a bit like beef. It's as lean as lean, it's an excellent health food."

Camels are not native to Australia, and were introduced to the continent as pack animals by European settlers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. However, as railways and roads spread across the continent, they were released into the wild. with no natural predators, these newcomes ate voraciously, destroying habitats and spreading disease.

Now, as water becomes even more scarce in Australia, they country is being forced to closely monitor their water supplies and look at any way to preserve even just a few extra drops of water.

While the fires continue to rage in Los Angeles and Montecito, San Diego got their own taste of Mother Nature's fury this morning in the form of a 4.1 magnitude earthquake that was felt over a wide area of San Diego County Monday morning.

The earthquake, which is classified by the US Geological Survey as a "light" earthquake, was felt at 4:35 AM. It was centered about ten miles north of the Palomar Observatory, and 20 miles east of Temecula. There have been reports of people feeling the quake from Twentynine Palms to downtown San Diego.

According to the USGS, a light 4.1 earthquake would not typically be expected to cause injury or damage.