Are there times when it is better to simply give up? It would seem that persistence would be tonic over the long haul; hanging tough should increase the odds that you’ll succeed, and personal success is closely linked to well-being. But what if the goal is extremely unlikely? When does an admirable trait like perseverance start to look more like beating your head against the wall? Psychologists studied two personality types to see how healthy and well adjusted they are. It turns out that those who persisted in the face of a great challenge were at higher risk for inflammation, which has been linked to diabetes and heart disease.

Hallmarks of autism are characteristic behaviors -- repetitive motions, problems interacting with others, impaired communication abilities -- that occur in widely different combinations and degrees of severity among those who have the condition. A new study shows that symptoms can improve with age.

Engineers have found a way to turn discarded chicken eggshells into an alternative energy resource. The patented process uses eggshells to soak up carbon dioxide from a reaction that produces hydrogen fuel. It also includes a unique method for peeling the collagen-containing membrane from the inside of the shells, so that the collagen can be used commercially.

No chlorine to purify Iraqi water

A senior Iraqi government official has said that water treatment plants are critically short of chlorine gas which they need to purify public water supplies. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that supplies of the gas are being held up due to fears it might be used as a chemical weapon, and adds that chlorine is vitally necessary to control an ongoing cholera outbreak in Iraq.

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With Microsoft having injected itself into almost all aspects of our daily lives -- from work to play to communication -- it only makes sense that the software giant would try to own those rare stretches of time when we're not using a Windows product or playing on our Xbox. The most obvious contender for the firm's next conquest are those automobiles we tend to spend so much time in, and so Microsoft decided to team up with Ford last year to develop a standardized in-car infotainment platform called Sync. As with most of the company's products, there's not a ton of innovation here -- except for maybe the Zune compatibility -- but what it will probably succeed in doing is bringing higher-end features like navigation and Bluetooth calling to a more mainstream audience. We got to spend a little time with a (non-moving) Sync-equipped Ford Edge at last night's DigitalLife kick-off event, and what surprised us most was not the functionality, but rather the complete lack of Microsoft-branding on any of the screens. No Start menu, no Windows logo, no Clippy -- no nothing. Not that we're complaining: we just would have liked to be at that meeting where Detroit reminded Redmond whose name was on the vehicle. Check out the gallery below for some more Sync action....

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