Fractional derivatives have physical reality

Proof has finally been achieved for Boltzmann's 140-year-old gas equation which predicts the motion of gas molecules. Robert Strain and Philip Gressman at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that Boltzmann's equation will always produce the right answer for gases that are close to equilibrium, such as the air in a building close to room temperature. However, they still can't say whether the equation holds in more complex situations, such as a storm.
www.newscientist.com/article/dn18931-proof-at-last-for-boltzmanns-140yearold-gas-equation.html

Once bittern, twice shy?

The main news here in the UK today is clearly the national parliamentary election and the expected result remains a complete unknown following a lively 4 weeks of the campaign. With the prospect of no party winning an outright majority, some political mating is anticipated in the following days and weeks. Another rare and unique mating ritual has finally been caught on camera.  A BBC natural history film crew has captured what experts believe is the first footage of a male bittern "booming" in daylight in the UK. news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8663000/8663139.stm

Etch every mountain?

IBM scientists are undoubtedly clearly clever chaps but do they have a bit too much time on their hands? Last month they reported on a novel nano-milling technique based on STM/AFM technology to create patterns and structures on the nanometre scale. To demonstrate the technique's capability did they produce a low critical dimension, high speed CMOS based IC? No. They did, however, produce:

A 25-nanometre high 3D replica of the Matterhorn Alpine mountain that soars 4,478 m, created in molecular glass on a scale of 1:5 billion.
A complete 3D map of the world measuring  22 by 11 micrometres created on a polymer in only 2 minutes and 23 seconds.

Full details, including a video clip are available via: www.zurich.ibm.com/news/10/nanopatterning.html and www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/29983.wss

Streetcar was desired

On April 21, US car club Zipcar announced a purchase of its London based rival operation Streetcar. The acquisition leads Zipcar's aspiration to become the major European player in the car club market. Streetcar had built up to more than 1,100 locations across eight cities, including London, Brighton, Cambridge, Southampton, Guildford, Maidstone, Oxford and, most recently, Bristol.
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/76d83788-4d40-11df-baf3-00144feab49a.html

Thought for the month

"Our elections are free, it's in the results where eventually we pay".  Bill Stern, US Actor (1907 - 71)