When the space shuttle Discovery launches July 1 it will carry the research of Miami University professor John Kiss to continue studying if we can grow food in microgravity. Kiss' experiment to study how plant roots respond to varying levels of both light and gravity, will be performed on the International Space Station.
A preemptive spark lasting for nanoseconds that helps find potentially dangerous intermittent electrical short circuits hidden in the miles of wiring behind the panels of aging commercial airliners has been patented by Sandia National Laboratories.
As part of a major international project to design more earthquake-resistant woodframe buildings, an engineer from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will be testing a damping system designed to act as a seismic shock absorber. The dampers, which have never been tested before in wood construction, will be installed inside the walls of a full-scale, 1,800-square-foot townhouse "” the world's largest wooden structure to undergo seismic testing on a shake table.
Though we think of them as solid and permanent, our bones are actually constantly being rebuilt throughout our lives. A team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science has now revealed how cells that work at remodeling the bones play a direct part in the ongoing renewal of another system "“ the blood.
Millions of diabetics face a lifetime of daily injections to replace the insulin their bodies fail to produce, as well as a host of risks that includes blindness, amputation, kidney failure, and heart disease. For many, particularly those afflicted with juvenile diabetes, transplants of the pancreatic tissue in which insulin is produced might alleviate these problems. Unfortunately, there are not nearly enough organ donors available for transplantation.
A technology first used during the Cold War to isolate ballistic missile silos from vibrations will undergo its first test in a full-scale, wood-frame townhouse at the University at Buffalo on July 6 to determine if it can help minimize quake damage to woodframe homes.
Researchers at Cornell University have developed a technique to get a closer-than-ever look at individual atoms within crystal molecules -- allowing them, for the first time, to see the physical alignment of those constituent atoms and to get a view of the smaller atoms.
Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that the cells of the developing nervous system of the mammalian embryo have an exquisite sense of timing when it comes to fixing broken chromosomes: the cells use one type of repair mechanism during the first half of development and another during the second half.
Changing a surface from sticky to slippery could now be as easy as flipping a molecular light switch. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created an "optically switchable" material that alters its surface characteristics when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. The new material could have a wide variety of applications, from a protein filter for biological mixtures to a tiny valve on a "lab-on-a-chip."
Researchers have discovered that a brain region previously known for its role in learning and memory also serves as the location of sleep regulation in fruit flies.
In two related studies, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have pinpointed defective genes in mice responsible for triggering the mysterious autoimmune disease lupus, which prompts the body's immune system to mistakenly attack healthy organs and tissues.
The U.S. report card on metals contamination in sediment is showing marked improvement. A new study has analysed the past three decades of environmental legislation and regulation, changing demographics and land-use practices on concentrations of metals, finding positive results.
Cold sores, caused by a herpes virus, come back again and again. Researchers found that a microRNA keeps the latent virus-infected cell alive, offering the first target for intervention in the latent infection.
Virginia Commonwealth University engineers and scientists have developed a new material that may one day help patients with damaged arteries regenerate new ones.
A University of Maryland team finds new evidence of protein folding rules that could change the way scientists look at proteins, the molecular nanomachines that perform most of the body's critical functions.
Ian Wilmut Marks the 10th Anniversary of Cloning at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' National Biotechnology Conference in Boston - Biogenerics Also Tops the Agenda of the June 18-21 Meeting.
Mention the word pollen to most people and it triggers thoughts of their battle against allergic reactions. However, a University of Alberta researcher has found an important spin-off for this fine yellow dust-like powder.
A new satellite gathering data from the Earth's atmosphere could be a key tool in unraveling just how much effect the reflectivity of clouds and tiny particles called aerosols are having on the changing climate.
Wings, spines, saber-like teeth---nature and the fossil record abound with examples of structures so useful they've evolved independently in a variety of animals. But scientists have debated whether examples of so-called adaptive, parallel evolution also can be found at the level of genes and proteins.
Argonne researchers have determined the structure of a key protein believed to play a role in a deadly infection that afflicts the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis. This finding, published in the June 9 issue of Science, may lead to a new drug to treat the bacterial infection.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, high school and college students, led by an HHMI professor and an HHMI investigator, have isolated and characterized 30 viruses that infect bacteria. As a result, they are co-authors on a paper in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Phage-hunting engagingly combines education and research.
Hampering the transport of proteins within cells may underlie several adult-onset neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington's, ALS and Kennedy disease. Understanding how this cell transport is blocked in these diseases may offer targets for future therapy.
Conservationists are calling for a ban on the sale of Caribbean elkhorn and staghorn corals, newly protected today under the Endangered Species Act, though still legally sold in shell shops and souvenir stores of South Florida.
A nanoparticle-based drug delivery concept in which an applied magnetic field directs the accumulation in tumor cells of custom-designed, drug-filled nanocarriers has been demonstrated by University at Buffalo researchers.
Syracuse University researchers Adam Bjork and Scott Pitnick have discovered a paradox within the foundations of sexual selection theory as it relates to the sperm and egg production of Drosophila (fruit flies).
The increase in coastal area population is directly correlated to an increase in contaminated waters and shellfish bed closings. Over 85 percent of all beach closures and advisories in 2004, over 19,950 days, were a result of excessive counts of bacteria in the beach waters.
A transcription factor called Elk-1 interacts with mitochondria, suggesting that this protein "“ typically active in the nucleus "“ could play a role in cell death, and mitochondria-related diseases such as neurodegeneration and schizophrenia.
Researchers have developed a new technique that could provide detailed information about the growth of nanometer-scale structures as they are being produced. The technique offers a way for researchers to map how changes in growth conditions affect fabrication of the structures.
New research shows organisms called eukaryotes, ancestors of the animal and plant species present today, existed 50 million to 100 million years before an ice age that created 'Snowball Earth' some 2.3 billion years ago.
World Ocean Day was established in 1992 at the United Nations Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, as a way for organizations and individuals from around the world to come together to celebrate our world ocean. Earthwatch observes World Ocean Day June 8th with commitment to sustainable oceans.
If Barbaro could talk, the doctors treating the racehorse's devastating injury would be better able to understand the stress he is undergoing as he recovers and relieve his pain. That's the idea behind the Equine Vocalization Project, an acoustical analysis of horse vocalizations designed to improve the lives of horses by interpreting how stress is communicated when they whinny.
A new study published in the Journal of Forestry finds that timber harvesters fail to properly maintain streamside areas on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. The results raise serious questions about the sustainable management of the Plateau's deciduous forests.
Men may have shorter life spans and higher mortality rates than women, but it's not because they age earlier, according to a recently published article by three Northern Michigan University biology professors. They say females exhibit signs of physiological decline earlier than males, and that--contrary to popular belief--mortality is not necessarily linked to the rate at which people age.
New Cornell research reveals that receptors assemble into a kind of cooperative lattice on a bacterium's surface to amplify infinitesimal changes in the environment and kick off processes that lead to specific responses within the cell.
Acid rain created by burning fossil fuels has altered soils and has caused fewer sugar maples to grow in the Northeast, according to a new study led by Cornell researchers.
A study demonstrating one of the first therapeutic applications to exploit microRNA, for the treatment of diseases such as hemophilia will be presented on Saturday, June 3 at the 9th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) in Baltimore.
Planetary scientists have found evidence of a meteor impact much larger and earlier than the one that killed the dinosaurs -- an impact that they believe caused the biggest mass extinction in Earth's history.
For the first time, scientists have defined the collective genome of the human gut, or colon. Up to 100 trillion microbes, representing more than 1,000 species, make up a motley "microbiome" that allows humans to digest much of what we eat, including some vitamins, sugars, and fiber.
New research shows that in the caterpillar of the tobacco hawkmoth, tissues called imaginal discs, which give rise to structures such as the legs and eyes, form and grow despite severe starvation unless a substance called juvenile hormone is present.
Just as humans undergo daily stress, so do our individual cells. The cellular variety, called oxidative stress, is caused by the build-up of free radicals, which over time inflict damage linked to aging and age related diseases such as Alzheimer's. Researchers have now defined a molecular signaling pathway by which oxidative stress triggers cell death.
The regulation of cell movements are essential for the proper development of embryos, and defects in the process can result in a variety of birth defects, including spina bifida and cleft palate, according to a report by researchers at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and three other collaborating institutions.
Ecosystems containing many different plant species are not only more productive, they are better able to withstand and recover from climate extremes, pests and disease over long periods, according to a new study. It is the first experiment to gather enough data--over a sufficient time and in a controlled environment--to confirm a 50-year scientific debate about whether biodiversity stabilizes ecosystems.
Arctic ice formed about 45 million years ago "“ roughly 14 million years ahead of previous pre-dictions "“ according to new research published in Nature. An international team of scientists, including Brown geologist Steven Clemens, say this startling evidence shows that glaciers formed in tandem at Earth's poles, providing important insights into global climate change.
Now is the time to address the devastating effects of increasing water scarcity and declining water quality around the world, according to a recently released white paper written jointly by Sandia National Laboratories and the Washington think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
A treasure trove of scientific data is revealing detailed information about conditions of subtropical warmth at the North Pole about 55 million years ago while also providing a window into the future, when greenhouse gases are expected to reach the same levels that caused Earth's ancient heat wave.
Over 400 meters of sediment core collected beneath the Arctic Ocean have revealed a 56-million-year record of climate changes that could help clarify present and future climate trends. The cores provide a surprising record of a climate transition from a warm "greenhouse" world to a colder "icehouse" world influenced by sea ice and icebergs.
Two wildly different pathogens "“ one that infects vegetables, the other infecting humans - essentially use the same protein code to get their disease-causing proteins into the cells of their respective hosts.
In a two-part series, Science News reports on news developments in lighting--not only ways to reduce its environmental and economic footprints, but also emerging data on biological roles that extend well beyond vision. For instance, depending on its hue, lighting can stimulate alertness, improve acuity, even treat insomnia and depression.
In a recent study, genetically modified cassava plants produced roots that were more than two-and-a-half times the size of normal cassava roots. The findings could help ease hunger in many countries where people rely heavily on the cassava plant (Manihot esculenta) as a primary food source.
The atmosphere is warming faster around 30 degrees north and south latitude than elsewhere, new research shows. But scientists examining more than 25 years of satellite data also found that each hemisphere's jet stream has moved toward the pole by about 1 degree of latitude, which could widen the tropics and expand some of the world's driest regions.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right