University of Virginia Engineering School Associate Professor William F. Walker and Research Associate Francesco Viola have developed a new tool "” an advanced imaging algorithm "” that is, quite literally, transforming the way we see things.
On the eve of the 62nd anniversary of the world's first atomic explosion, the Trinity atomic bomb test, a CDC-led study team has reported new insights on the radiation released at the time of the test. Analyzing the doses that nearby residents received, the CDC team has made preliminary estimates of additional doses that the residents could have ingested in their bodies.
To stop the root-knot nematode from destroying soybean crops, plant breeders must move quickly. Scientists from the University of Georgia have discovered faster and less expensive way to screen resistant soybean crops.
The structure of a novel protein in the bacterium that is the most persistent pathogen in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients has been solved. The discovery unlocks key information that may help lead to the design of antibiotics that will help prevent infection in Cystic Fibrosis and Tuberculosis patients.
Scientists have only recently begun to speculate that what's referred to as "junk" DNA "“ the 96 percent of the human genome that doesn't encode for proteins and previously seemed to have no useful purpose "“ is present in the genome for an important reason. But it wasn't clear what the reason was. Now, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered one important function of so-called junk DNA.
South Asia's agricultural performance continues to be impressive, but evidence suggests that it's coming at a cost: their groundwater use for irrigation is becoming increasingly dangerous to the environment. Scientists found that plant growth is at risk of stunting due to poor water quality. Using a simulated crop, scientists determined how irrigation water pricing affects crop choices of Punjab farmers.
Contrary to textbook models, many genes that should be "off" in embryonic stem cells and specialized adult cells remain primed to produce master regulatory proteins, leaving those cells vulnerable to identity changes. The genes encoding the master regulators of cell fate begin making RNA templates for these proteins, though a control mechanism stops them from finishing the job.
Scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center report that genes play a large role in determining individual differences in sour taste perception. The findings may help researchers identify the still-elusive taste receptor that detects sourness in foods and beverages.
A Cornell University study of genome sequences in African-Americans, European-Americans and Chinese suggests that natural selection has caused as much as 10 percent of the human genome to change in some populations in the last 15,000 to 100,000 years, when people began migrating from Africa.
Neutrophils recognize and respond to a particular form of sugar contained on the surface of pathogenic fungi. The key sugar could be used to boost the immune system and fight microbial infections that are resistant to current treatments.
Organic farming can yield up to three times as much food as conventional farming on the same amount of land---according to new findings which refute the long-standing assumption that organic farming methods cannot produce enough food to feed the global population.
A team of chemists from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Japan's RIKEN institute have demonstrated the ability to remove an atom from a molecule, then replace that atom without disturbing neighboring chemical bonds on the molecule. The findings have implications for molecular electronics.
Johns Hopkins researchers have added to the growing mound of evidence that many of the genetic bits and pieces that drive evolutionary changes do not confer any advantages or disadvantages to humans or other animals.
A multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers is conducting the first search for life and hot springs on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean. Through the use of the World Wide Web and satellite communications, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and nine partner museums are bringing thousands of students and citizens along with them.
A team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has discovered why some mosquitoes are resistant to malaria, a finding that may one day help fight a disease that afflicts and kills millions of people.
The rogue proteins that cause chronic wasting disease (CWD) exhibit a dramatic increase in their infectious nature when bound to common soil particles, according to a new study.
Using baker's yeast and another fungus, a research team at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Bordeaux report the first successful propagation of a prion from one organism to another.
Cornell researchers have answered a fundamental question about how two strands of DNA separate to start a process called replication, in which genes copy themselves. The research examined the role of an enzyme called a helicase, which plays a major role in separating DNA strands.
University of Oregon biologists studying a common ocean-dwelling worm have uncovered potentially fundamental insights into the evolutionary origin of genetic mechanisms, which when compromised in humans play a role in many forms of cancer.
Researchers at the University of Utah and elsewhere have developed a new way to predict when vegetation dries to the point it is most vulnerable to large-scale fires in the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles. This year's forecast says the highest-risk fire period will begin July 13 "“ weeks earlier than usual.
In many neurological diseases, including MS, the protective myelin surrounding the nerves is damaged. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute have identified an important line of communication between nervous system cells that is crucial to developing myelinated nerves "“ a discovery that may help restore the normal function of affected nerve fibers.
A University of Utah study shows how various regions of North America are kept afloat by heat within Earth's rocky crust, and how much of the continent would sink beneath sea level if not for heat that makes rock buoyant. New York City would sit 1,427 feet underwater and Los Angeles would rest 3,756 feet beneath the Pacific.
Laboratory measurements of a high-pressure mineral believed to exist deep within the Earth show that the mineral may not have the right properties to explain a mysterious layer lying just above the planet's core. Scientists made the first laboratory study of the deformation properties of a high-pressure silicate mineral named post-perovskite.
Forests in the United States and other northern mid- and upper-latitude regions are playing a smaller role in offsetting global warming than previously thought, according to a study appearing in Science this week. The study sheds light on the so-called missing carbon sink.
Global climate change is causing Antarctic ice shelves to shrink and split apart, yielding thousands of free-drifting icebergs in the nearby Weddell Sea. According to a new study in this week's journal Science these floating islands of ice "“ some as large as a dozen miles across "“ are having a major impact on the ecology of the ocean around them, serving as "hotspots" for ocean life, with thriving communities of seabirds above and a web of phytoplankton, krill, and fish below.
Just as urban communities feature a mosaic of cultures, an analysis of Baltimore soil revealed a mosaic of soil conditions. Urban soil has been presumed to be highly disturbed, but this study showed that typical urban soil isn't so typical"”and isn't so disturbed"”after all.
Scientists at Yokohama National University in Japan have built a highly efficient room-temperature nanometer-scale laser that produces stable, continuous streams of near-infrared laser light. Using only a microwatt of power, this nanolaser design should be useful in future miniaturized circuits containing optical devices.
A research team has identified a new biological function for a soccer ball-shaped nanoparticle called a buckyball "“ the ability to block allergic response, setting the stage for the development of new therapies for allergy.
Materials that change temperature in magnetic fields could lead to new refrigeration technologies that reduce the use of greenhouse gases, thanks to new research at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and Ames National Laboratory.
Weizmann Institute scientists have developed a unique "switch" that can control the activity of any protein, raising it several-fold or stopping it almost completely. The method provides researchers with a simple and effective tool for exploring the function of unknown proteins.
A probe of the upper echelons of the human brain's chain-of-command has found strong evidence that there are not one but two complementary commanders in charge of the brain, according to neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Researchers at the University of Arkansas and University of Nevada-Las Vegas will study the genetics of fruit flies in desert habitats to determine how they developed the ability to survive under stressful conditions.
A long-term Georgia Institute of Technology study continues to validate the effectiveness of Georgia's vehicle emissions inspection program in 13 metro Atlanta counties that are part of a federal ozone level non-attainment area.
Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have discovered a novel nanomachining process that will help manufacturers produce superior nanoscale devices to perform important functions such as detecting DNA and precisely controlling drug release.
A tiny single-celled organism that plays a key role in the carbon cycle of cold-water oceans may be a lot smarter than scientists had suspected.
Gusting winds and the pulsating exhaust plumes from the Phoenix spacecraft's landing engines could complicate NASA's efforts to sample frozen soil from the surface of Mars, according to University of Michigan atmospheric scientist Nilton Renno.
Specialized pulsed lasers have been used to inject individual cells with a variety of materials, but little is known about how this type of injection might affect living cells. For the first time, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have analyzed this nanoscale injection process on living cells and discovered that minor changes in the intensity of the laser could mark the difference between a healthy cell and a dead one.
Want to light up the pleasure center in your brain? Just pay your taxes, and then give a little extra voluntarily to your local food bank. University of Oregon scientists have found that doing those deeds can give you the same sort of satisfaction you derive from feeding your own hunger pangs.
Scientists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have solved the genomic puzzle of an organism discovered in the oceans with potential for producing compounds showing promise in treating diseases such as cancer.
A team of researchers led by University of Virginia Health System geneticists has uncovered a major secret in the mystery of how the DNA helix replicates itself time after time. Where chromatin is packed more loosely in the chromosone, the genes are replicated earlier than other genes and are expressed at high levels. Where chromatin is dense, these genes are replicated later and are not expressed.
A team of University of Maryland scientists have made a discovery that will help better direct drug therapies to their molecular targets.
This is the first functional MRI study to determine how vocal sounds are represented within the brain of an awake zebra finch, a well-studied animal model of vocal learning. Because of many similarities between birdsong and human speech, this research could lead to a better understanding of the cause of stuttering and other speech problems.
A remarkable new long-necked, gliding reptile discovered in 220 million-year old sediments of eastern north America is reported by scientists. The Mecistotrachelos apeoros (meaning "soaring, long-necked") is based on two fossils excavated at the Solite Quarry that straddles the Virginia-North Carolina state line. It probably fed on insects, scuttling up tree trunks and foraging on the way, before gliding onto neighboring trees.
Arizona State University's BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science will host an international workshop to probe the innermost secrets of the atom. Quantum mechanics "plays with the commonsense notion of reality," says Paul Davies, an acclaimed theoretical physicist. "Now a whole new set of even more bizarre paradoxes have been uncovered."
Johns Hopkins researchers have found a way to directly observe cell migration -- in real time and in living tissue. In a report in the June 5 issue of Developmental Cell, the scientists say their advance could lead to strategies for controlling both normal growth and the spread of cancer, processes that depend on the programmed, organized movement of cells across space.
When signals in complex systems "” including hearts and brains "” go haywire, dangerous conditions, such as irregular heartbeats and epileptic seizures, can result. A team of researchers at the University of Virginia and Hokkaido University have recently found that the behavior of an entire system of dynamic components can be changed by using only mild signals. No such methodological approach existed previously.
A key hormone enables starving mice to alter their metabolism and "hibernate" to conserve energy, revealing a novel molecular target for drugs to treat human obesity and metabolic disorders, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.
BOSTON "“ Over the past several years, animal studies have shown that high-fat, low-carbohydrate "ketogenic" diets cause demonstrable changes in metabolism and subsequent weight loss. Now, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have identified a key mechanism behind this turn of events. Their findings demonstrate that a liver hormone known as FGF21 is required to oxidize fatty acids "“ and thereby burn calories.
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, uses a pre-existing transport system to leave one infected cell and infect new ones, Hopkins scientists have discovered. Their findings, published in the June issue of Plos Biology, counter the prevailing belief that HIV and other retroviruses can only leave and enter cells by virus-specific mechanisms.
It could be an artist's depiction of someone's stomach before and after a rather decadent meal. But it is a 3-D cryoelectron microscope reconstruction of the cross-section of a virus, before and after cramming itself full of its own DNA.
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