Feature Channels: Story Ideas: Science

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Released: 8-Mar-2011 4:20 PM EST
The Science Behind the Cape
American Physiological Society (APS)

What do you have when you line up a martial artist, acrobatic gymnast, police officer, firefighter, NASCAR driver, and NFL running back? “Watson,” the IBM super-computer on Jeopardy might have guessed the answer was “the Village People,” to which host Alex Trebek could have replied, “Sorry. The answer we were looking for is “Batman.”

14-Feb-2011 1:35 PM EST
Scientists Probe the Role of Motor Protein in Hearing Loss
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

From grinding heavy metal to soothing ocean waves, the sounds we hear are all perceptible thanks to the vibrations felt by tiny molecular motors in the hair cells of the inner ear. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have now identified the mechanism by which a single amino acid change can disrupt the normal functioning of one of the critical components of that physiology -- a molecular motor protein called myo1c, which resides in the cochlea of the inner ear.

Released: 1-Mar-2011 1:00 AM EST
New 'Thermometer' Helps Scientists Accurately Measure Rock Formation
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

A University of Arkansas researcher and his colleagues have used magnesium isotopes to determine the temperature at which rocks form, which will allow scientists to better study the formation of the earth’s crust and mantle as well as the formation of meteorites.

Released: 23-Feb-2011 4:30 PM EST
‘Social Vaccine’ Protects Women’s Interest in Science
University of Massachusetts Amherst

New social psychology studies suggest that academic contact with women who have succeeded in science, math and engineering can enhance positive attitudes and boost self-confidence among girls and young women who, in other situations, feel less confident and interested in science majors or careers.

   
Released: 10-Feb-2011 3:15 PM EST
New Ways to Mine Research May Lead to Scientific Breakthroughs
University of Chicago

The Internet has become not only a tool for disseminating knowledge through scientific publications, but it also has the potential to shape scientific research through expanding the field of metaknowledge—the study of knowledge itself.

Released: 10-Feb-2011 2:00 PM EST
Sandia Security Experts Help Kazakhstan Safely Transport, Store Soviet-Era Bomb Materials
Sandia National Laboratories

A Sandia National Laboratories team helped reach a major milestone in the nation’s nuclear nonproliferation efforts by working with the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan to move nuclear materials — enough to build an estimated 775 nuclear weapons — to safety.

Released: 1-Feb-2011 6:00 AM EST
Closing the Gender Gap in Scientific Publishing: Study Finds Technology Helps Female Researchers Boost Publishing More than Males
University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business

Access to information technology benefits female research scientists more than their male counterparts, increasing research productivity and collaboration, according to a new study co-authored by Assistant Professor Waverly Ding of the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. The study concludes that IT is an “equalizing force” for researchers and suggests innovations in IT may contribute to scientific productivity.

Released: 28-Jan-2011 6:00 AM EST
Alabama Researchers Get Close View of Winter Storm
University of Alabama Huntsville

Who would have guessed that the perfect place to gather detailed scientific data from a powerful snowstorm would be in Alabama? That turned out to be the case during a snowstorm earlier this month for scientists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

Released: 20-Jan-2011 11:50 AM EST
Layer by Layer, Safety Features Paramount at K-State's Biosecurity Research Institute
Kansas State University

Kansas State University's Biosecurity Research Institute has layers of precautions that keep the facility safe and secure. From lab construction and staff training to safety procedures, these layers of security exist to protect staff, the public and the environment.

Released: 22-Dec-2010 3:45 PM EST
Ever-Sharp Urchin Teeth May Yield Tools That Never Need Honing
University of Wisconsin–Madison

To survive in a tumultuous environment, sea urchins literally eat through stone, using their teeth to carve out nooks where the spiny creatures hide from predators and protect themselves from the crashing surf on the rocky shores and tide pools where they live.

Released: 15-Dec-2010 3:30 PM EST
Satellites Give an Eagle Eye on Thunderstorms
University of Wisconsin–Madison

It’s one of the more frustrating parts of summer. You check the weather forecast, see nothing dramatic, and go hiking or biking. Then, four hours later, a thunderstorm appears out of nowhere and ruins your afternoon.

Released: 7-Dec-2010 5:00 PM EST
Nova Southeastern University Announces The Qualitative Report’s 2nd Annual Conference
Nova Southeastern University

Nova Southeastern University (NSU) will host The Qualitative Report’s 2nd Annual Conference, on Jan. 7 and 8, 2011 on the university’s main campus in Davie, FL.

Released: 7-Dec-2010 12:00 PM EST
RTI International Launches New Spectral Database for Forensic Laboratory, Research, Law Enforcement
RTI International

As part of an effort to strengthen the scientific basis for forensic toxicology and drug testing, RTI International has created 'Forensic DB' (www.forensicdb.org), a web-based cheminformatic database for the retention, review and ongoing collection of spectral data pertaining to toxins, drugs and other compounds of interest to the forensic community.

Released: 6-Dec-2010 2:40 PM EST
Learning the Language of Bacteria
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Bacteria are among the simplest organisms in nature, but many of them can still talk to each other, using a chemical “language” that is critical to the process of infection. Sending and receiving chemical signals allows bacteria to mind their own business when they are scarce and vulnerable, and then mount an attack after they become numerous enough to overwhelm the host’s immune system.

Released: 6-Dec-2010 9:00 AM EST
What's the Matter? That's What U.Va. Physicists Are Seeking to Detect
University of Virginia

One of the great and fundamental questions in physics is: Why is there matter? Physicists theorize that in the instant after the Big Bang created the makings of the universe, there were nearly equal amounts of matter and anti-matter, protons and anti-protons, neutrons and anti-neutrons. They should have annihilated each other, resulting in … nothing.

Released: 15-Nov-2010 4:55 PM EST
Chemistry Researchers Create New Tool to Visualize Bloodstains
University of South Carolina

Chemists at the University of South Carolina have developed a camera with the ability to see the invisible and more.

Released: 2-Nov-2010 8:00 AM EDT
UV Light Doubles Vacuum's Effectiveness in Reducing Carpet Microbes
Ohio State University

New research suggests that the addition of ultraviolet light to the brushing and suction of a vacuum cleaner can almost double the removal of potentially infectious microorganisms from a carpet’s surface when compared to vacuuming alone.

27-Oct-2010 8:00 AM EDT
Researchers Engineer Miniature Human Livers in the Lab
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Researchers at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have reached an early, but important, milestone in the quest to grow replacement livers in the lab. They are the first to use human liver cells to successfully engineer miniature livers that function – at least in a laboratory setting – like human livers. The next step is to see if the livers will continue to function after transplantation in an animal model.

Released: 11-Oct-2010 4:15 PM EDT
Scientist Develops New, Innovative Methods for Characterizing Proteins
Florida State University

Using a combination of high-powered computers and advanced experimental magnetic resonance data, a Florida State University biophysical chemist has developed techniques that improve the way scientists can study and predict the structure and dynamics of proteins found in the human body. His innovations could ultimately shorten the time it takes researchers to develop new, more effective drugs and better understand biomedical processes that underlie a variety of health conditions.

Released: 29-Sep-2010 10:50 AM EDT
Purifying Proteins: Researchers Use NMR To Improve Drug Development
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

The purification of drug components is a large hurdle facing modern drug development. This is particularly true of drugs that utilize proteins, which are notoriously difficult to separate from other potentially deadly impurities. Scientists within the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to understand and improve an important protein purification process.

22-Sep-2010 10:00 PM EDT
Quantum Data Converted to Telecom Wavelengths
Georgia Institute of Technology, Research Communications

Using optically dense, ultra-cold clouds of rubidium atoms, researchers have made advances in three key elements needed for quantum information systems – including a technique for converting photons carrying quantum data to wavelengths that can be transmitted long distances on optical fiber telecom networks.

Released: 23-Sep-2010 1:55 PM EDT
Researchers Provide Insight Into the Impacts of Too Much Communication
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

Individuals within a networked system coordinate their activities by communicating to each other information such as their position, speed, or intention. At first glance, it seems that more of this communication will increase the harmony and efficiency of the network. However, scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that this is only true if the communication and its subsequent action are immediate.

13-Sep-2010 5:00 PM EDT
Improving Crisis Prediction, Disaster Control and Damage Reduction
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Earthquakes, homicide surges, magnetic storms, and the U.S. economic recession are all kindred of a sort, according to a theoretical framework presented in the journal CHAOS. Researchers in the United States and Russia contend that these four types of events share a precursory development pattern that can be detected and tracked, possibly improving crisis prediction.

9-Sep-2010 3:25 PM EDT
The Harvard Fatigue Laboratory Brought Aid and Comfort to America’s WWII GIs
American Physiological Society (APS)

Historians refer to World War II (WWII) as “The Big One.” And with good reason: more than 100 million people worldwide fought on behalf of their respective countries, as the major powers dedicated their economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities to the war. In the U.S., researchers at the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory tested materials, food, and clothing that were ultimately used in preserving the lives and limbs of the nation’s 16 million soldiers, also known as GIs.

Released: 2-Sep-2010 9:35 AM EDT
Listening to Ancient Colours
McGill University

A team of McGill chemists have discovered that a technique known as photoacoustic infrared spectroscopy could be used to identify the composition of pigments used in art work that is decades or even centuries old. Pigments give artist’s materials colour, and they emit sounds when light is shone on them.

Released: 27-Aug-2010 5:00 PM EDT
Chemists develop new "light switch" chloride binder
Indiana University

Chemists at Indiana University Bloomington have designed a molecule that binds chloride ions -- but can be conveniently compelled to release the ions in the presence of ultraviolet light. Reporting in the Journal of the American Chemical Society today (online), IU Bloomington chemist Amar Flood and Ph.D. student Yuran Hua explain how they designed the molecule, how it works and, just as importantly, how they know it works.

Released: 5-Aug-2010 11:00 AM EDT
Davisite and Grossmanite: Born with the Solar System
University of Chicago

Davisite and grossmanite were two of the first solids to form when an interstellar gas cloud collapsed to form the sun. Found in the Allende meteorite, they now carry the names of Andrew Davis and Lawrence Grossman, professors in geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago.

Released: 4-Aug-2010 3:00 PM EDT
Analyzing Ink Spots
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

A document, even one created by persons determined to remain unknown, can reveal more than its authors intended.

Released: 3-Aug-2010 11:30 AM EDT
Grad Student Hears Calling to Share Science with Youths
University of Chicago

As an elementary school student, Nicole Tuttle thought science was all about answering multiple-choice questions from a textbook, not working with the yeast colonies, RNA molecules and X-ray films of her daily routine. A middle-school chemistry class changed all that.

30-Jul-2010 9:40 AM EDT
Purple Light Means Go, Ultraviolet Light Means Stop
University of Rochester

A new membrane developed at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics blocks gas from flowing through it when one color of light is shined on its surface, and permits gas to flow through when another color of light is used. It is the first time that scientists have developed a membrane that can be controlled in this way by light.

Released: 30-Jul-2010 5:00 PM EDT
Body of Evidence: New Fast, Reliable Method to Detect Gravesoil
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Finding bodies buried by someone who wanted them to stay undiscovered can be difficult. However a new technique developed by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, can reliably detect biochemical changes in a decomposing cadaver.

Released: 29-Jul-2010 9:45 AM EDT
Engineering for Development in the Third World Needs a Makeover, Finds Professor
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

In the developing world, philanthropic engineers offer rescue by wizardry, their bag of marvels filled with technical tricks like off-the-grid electricity fueled by scrub brush and washing machines powered by bicycles. Technological quick-fixes are a powerful lure, but the results will not meet the promise until technology bows to the larger context, according to a recent study co-authored by Rensselaer professor Dean Nieusma.

19-Jul-2010 2:35 PM EDT
'Science' Article Has Implications for All Rapidly Developing Fields
Washington University in St. Louis

A comprehensive study by an intellectual property law expert published in the journal 'Science' may guide global climate change and other scientific policy-makers in developing rules for research data release.

20-Jul-2010 9:35 AM EDT
Gut Movements in Caterpillars Have Impact on Robotic Design
Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech engineers and Tufts biologists have discovered internal soft-tissue movements of freely crawling caterpillars are massively out of sync with the external body movements.

Released: 21-Jul-2010 4:10 PM EDT
An Invisibility Cloak Made of Glass
Michigan Technological University

From Star Trek's Romulans, who could cloak their warships, to Harry Potter's magical garment, the power to make someone or something invisible has intrigued mankind. Now a Michigan Technological University scientist is doing it for real, building a working invisibility cloak.

Released: 20-Jul-2010 4:00 PM EDT
Ancient Food Ingredients: What’s Old is New
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)

As consumers overseas embrace foods and beverages made with ingredients long known to have health and wellness benefits, American manufacturers can take a cue from their success and add such medicinal ingredients to their foods and beverages, according to a scientific discussion at the 2010 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting and Food Expo®.

14-Jul-2010 5:00 PM EDT
Faster Tracking of Lung Tumors May Help Treatment
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Today, at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) in Philadelphia, a group of researchers from Stanford University will describe the latest developments toward their goal of integrating two existing medical devices.

Released: 20-Jul-2010 11:00 AM EDT
Fluorescent Dye Hydrogen Swap Improves Detection, Shelf Life
Georgia Institute of Technology, Research Communications

By swapping out a hydrogen atom for an isotope twice as heavy, researchers have increased the shelf life and detection ability of fluorescent probes that are essential to studying a variety of inflammatory diseases, including cancer and atherosclerosis.

Released: 14-Jul-2010 12:45 PM EDT
Opening the Gate to the Cell's Recycling Center
University of Michigan

In cells, as in cities, disposing of garbage and recycling anything that can be reused is an essential service. In both city and cell, health problems can arise when the process breaks down.

Released: 14-Jul-2010 11:50 AM EDT
New Role for the JNK Protein
Sanford Burnham Prebys

New findings show that JNK, a protein already well known for other duties, also regulates the cell cycle.

   
Released: 13-Jul-2010 5:00 PM EDT
Noninvasive Probing of Geological Core Samples
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

ols to measure a core sample's electrical anisotropy have been sadly lacking, says John Kickhofel. To solve this problem, he and colleagues at Schlumberger found inspiration in a type of logging technology currently used by the modern oil industry. They created a device capable of noninvasively measuring electrical conductivity.

6-Jul-2010 1:35 PM EDT
Origins of Multicellularity: All in the Family
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

One of the most pivotal steps in evolution-the transition from unicellular to multicellular organisms-may not have required as much retooling as commonly believed, found a globe-spanning collaboration of scientists led by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the US Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute.

Released: 8-Jul-2010 2:00 PM EDT
National Inquirers: Sociologists Study America’s Protagonists of the Paranormal
Baylor University

Two Baylor University professors who go on Bigfoot hunts and visit psychic fairs are not in search of the paranormal, but rather in quest of people who believe in the paranormal — and that makes for some abnormal research.

Released: 8-Jul-2010 10:25 AM EDT
A New Spin on Gene Delivery
Virginia Tech

Chang Lu and his chemical engineering research group at Virginia Tech have discovered how to “greatly enhance” the delivery of DNA payloads into cells. The description of their work will be featured on the cover of Lab on a Chip (issue 16), the premier journal for researchers in microfluidics. The work also appears in the July 8 issue of Nature magazine ((Vol. 466, p. 163)

   
Released: 6-Jul-2010 5:00 PM EDT
Eye Movements and Sight Distance Reveal How Drivers Negotiate Winding Roads: New Study May Lead to In-Car Warning System
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)

New research finds that the further drivers can look ahead, generally in left-hand curves, wide curves and when leaving a curve, the less they have to look at the tangent point. Research team reports ultimate goal of the findings is to build a device into cars that warns drivers if they is in danger of unintentionally departing from the lane.

Released: 29-Jun-2010 3:35 PM EDT
Deaths in the Family Cause Bacteria to Flee
Indiana University

The deaths of nearby relatives has a curious effect on the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus -- surviving cells lose their stickiness. Indiana University Bloomington biologists report in an upcoming issue of Molecular Microbiology that exposure to the extracellular DNA (eDNA) released by dying neighbors stops the sticky holdfasts of living Caulobacter from adhering to surfaces, preventing cells from joining bacterial biofilms. Less sticky cells are more likely to escape established colonies, out to where conditions may be better.

Released: 29-Jun-2010 3:00 PM EDT
Researchers Collaborate on Nature-Inspired Engineering Research
Northeastern University

Inspired by the ease with which gecko lizards can move on almost any surface, researchers at Northeastern University, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and Seoul National University hope to reproduce properties found in the gecko’s footpad for applications ranging from adhesives to robotic movement and navigation.

Released: 24-Jun-2010 4:00 PM EDT
Prof Helps Discover New Chemical Method Important to Drug Design, Agrichemicals
University of Delaware

University of Delaware scientist Donald Watson is part of a research team that has discovered an easier method for incorporating fluorine into organic molecules, giving chemists an important new tool in developing materials ranging from new medicines to agricultural chemicals.

Released: 17-Jun-2010 5:00 PM EDT
Fly Cells Flock Together, Follow the Light
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Scientists at Johns Hopkins report using a laser beam to activate a protein that makes a cluster of fruit fly cells act like a school of fish turning in social unison, following the lead of the one stimulated with light.

Released: 16-Jun-2010 4:40 PM EDT
Researchers Predict Human Visual Attention Using Computer Intelligence for the First Time
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)

Scientists have just come several steps closer to understanding change blindness — the well studied failure of humans to detect seemingly obvious changes to scenes around them — with new research that used a computer-based model to predict what types of changes people are more likely to notice.



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