Dinosaurs - hard knocks.

A new study has suggested that humungous dinosaurs may have offset the consequences of being so large by quick healing of their bones.

The study used high-resolution computed tomography (CT) imaging to guide sampling of bone lesions in the vertebrae of a hadrosaur ("duck-billed") dinosaur for histological and isotopic analysis.

The detailed sampling made possible by CT imaging allowed scientists led by William Straight of Northern Virginia Community College to examine bone mineral deposited in the repair (the callus).

This callus preserves a temperature record of the healing process, a record that can be measured with stable isotopic techniques.

The results demonstrated that skeletal repair in at least some dinosaurs shows a combination of reptilian and non-reptilian characteristics.

Despite hadrosaurs not being among those dinosaurs most closely related to birds, "healing and remodeling rates in our dinosaur bones are similar to those seen in birds," said Straight.

Dinosaurs seem to be covered with these healed injuries, much more so than modern animals of nearly similar size.

According to Straight, "Quick healing may have offset the consequences of being so large, and being surrounded by other giant animals, in a Mesozoic school of hard knocks."

Now jus write in the sky to send your E-mail from your phone.

Duke University engineering students have come up with a cell phone application that can enable users to remember things just by writing short notes in the air with their handsets, which will be automatically sent to their e-mail address.

The researchers say their PhonePoint Pen application uses the built-in accelerometers in cell phones to recognize human writing.

Accelerometers are the devices in phones that not only keep track of the phone's movements, but make it possible for the display screens to rotate from landscape to portrait modes depending on how the phone is rotated.

These devices are always "on," so there is no additional burden on the phone to use this new application.

"We developed an application that uses the built-in accelerometers in cell phones to recognize human writing," said Sandip Agrawal, electrical and computer engineering senior at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, who with Duke graduate student Ionut Constandache developed the PhonePoint Pen.

"By holding the phone like a pen, you can write short messages or draw simple diagrams in the air.

Constandache said: "The accelerometer converts the gestures to images, which can be sent to any e-mail address for future reference."

"Also, say you're in a class and there is an interesting slide on the screen. We foresee being able to take a photo of the slide and write a quick note on it for future reference. The potential uses are practically limitless. That this prototype works validates the feasibility of such a pen," Constandache added.