Driver of bus that hit Mass. house was new to job

AUBURN, Mass. (AP) ? The man driving a regional transit bus that crashed into a house in central Massachusetts earlier this week was on his first day of service.

The Telegram & Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/1227YGh) that the driver of the bus was 27-year-old Francis Artey of Worcester (WUS'-tur).

Worcester Regional Transit Authority official John Carney says Artey went through a rigorous, eight-week training program before "driving in service" for the first time Monday. Carney says Artey was an experienced school bus driver with a stellar driving record.

Police say it appears the brakes weren't applied before the bus smashed into the house in Auburn. They say Artey may have had a medical problem, or there may have been a mechanical problem with the bus.

The crash remains under investigation. Artey was hospitalized with fractures and cuts. No other serious injuries were reported.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/driver-bus-hit-mass-house-job-111859560.html

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As the Pearl Turns

Microscopy reveals that a growing pearl's surface has a sawtooth pattern that can cause it to ratchet around as it grows, resulting in the familiar sphere. Sophie Bushwick reports

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Flawless pearls are among the most symmetrical spheres with biological origins. But how do they get so round? Turns out they turn.

Pearls form when mollusks such as oysters create so-called pearl sacs around intrusive pieces of grit. The sac coats the irritant with layers of smooth nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl. The growing pearl rotates itself, which allows the nacre to deposit evenly over its surface.

By examining pearls under a fluorescence and a scanning electron microscope, researchers discovered that the surface actually has a saw-tooth texture. As the mollusk moves, the pearl is jostled to the next tiny tooth. The work is published in the journal Langmuir. [Julyan H. E. Cartwright, Antonio G. Checa, and Marthe Rousseau, Pearls Are Self-Organized Natural Ratchets]

A pearl's motion influences its nacre coverage, and thus its final shape. Depending on its surface pattern, it might turn in a single direction to create a drop or ring, or rotate more freely to form a sphere. If a defect prevents this motion, the final product will be shapeless. The resulting asymmetrical pearl is doomed to be booed. Roundly.

?Sophie Bushwick

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]????
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Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=as-the-pearl-turns-13-06-27

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