Some of the world's greatest academic minds have come together figure out how to reduce air traffic delays at our gridlocked airports. Researchers at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory have developed the Route Availability Planning Tool to untangle the delays that inevitably arise when planes encounter bad weather. RAPT compiles weather data from multiple sources, crunches it to predict which flight paths are most likely to clear as the storm passes and displays the information in an easy-to-read interface that allows air traffic controllers to make decisions quickly. It's light years ahead of the current system, which amounts to little more than air traffic controllers using their best guess and hoping it works out. Beta testing shows the system works, too -- it's already cut delays at New York airports by 2,300 hours. The RAPT display shows an airport with lines radiating outward to indicate departure routes. A grid below the map lists the different routes in rows, and uses the columns to chop each row into five-minute intervals. Each block color-coded according to the weather planes can expect to encounter on that path. If a controller sees that flight path one is green at 10:45 but then turns red at 10:50, he knows he has five minutes to get some planes into the air. RAPT is quite a departure (bad pun intended) from the current system, in which an air traffic controller must take weather information from multiple sources and create a mental picture to determine how it will impact different flight paths. If things are getting bad and there are several flights in the air and on the ground, the controller might become overwhelmed and simply hold all flights until the weather has improved. A handful of delayed flights might not sound like a big deal, but it can be. Studies by Lincoln Lab show getting just two or three more planes in the air during a storm at a crowded airport can keep a domino effect of delays from spreading throughout the nation. A RAPT prototype is being tested in New York, and Lincoln Lab says it's already proving itself. Delays in the New York City region have been cut by 2,300 hours, which equals $7.5 million in operational cost savings. MIT estimates that if the system is fully implemented in New York, it could save up to 8,800 hours per year, or $28 million. Multiply that by the 20 air traffic regions in the United States, and you're talking a lot of money saved. And hopefully, a lot fewer delays. Screenshot: MIT/Lincoln Laboratory

San Francisco artist Rab Terry's new series of Venetian plaster paintings is inspired both by the richness of nature and the minimalism of modern architecture. For this show, Terry challenged himself to come up with pieces that would work well in more spare, minimalist environments, where he envisions his pieces almost as "furniture or jewelry for the wall." Terry's latest pieces will be on display at STUDIO Gallery in San Francisco from September 17th - September 28th. (PRWeb Sep 6, 2008) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/09/prweb1290154.htm

Cognitive Powers, Inc. is releasing BBSportslines, a mobile application for blackberry devices to display sports lines. The application is being offered free of charge. There is also a mobile website for other mobile platforms. (PRWeb Sep 6, 2008) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/09/prweb1291224.htm

More than 1000 pieces of Royal Doulton, Lladro and Moorcroft Art Pottery will be on display at the Chicago Collectors Weekend hosted by Pascoe and Company in conjunction with the American Toby Jug Museum (PRWeb Sep 6, 2008) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/09/prweb1290654.htm

Seated beside a blue-jeans display at the Gap along North Michigan Avenue on Friday, Armando Torres filled in the last box of his application, then marched up three flights of stairs to join his fellow job seekers.