A protein located in the cytoplasm between a mammalian cell membrane and nucleus is more important than previously believed. It shuttles in and out of the nucleus as part of a "nuclear experience" that helps regulate cell growth and division, University of Illinois scientists say. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 12-00)
The blowup of CaliforniaÃs electricity system demonstrates how soaring demand combined with artificially low prices can disrupt a commodity that everyone relies on ñ and takes for granted.
Flee, freeze or fight. A response to a threat is based on experience and memory. Now scientists have discovered that an area of the brain, the amygdala, which was thought to store painful and emotion-related memories, also initiates memory storage in other brain regions. (Journal of Neuroscience, 1-01)
Cornell University astronomers hope that surface details as small as a hand-size rock will be captured by the camera in NASA's NEAR Shoemaker in the final few minutes before it bumps down on the boulder-strewn surface of Eros Feb. 12. Helping to answer questions about the geology of the 22-mile-long asteroid.
For the past year, the imaging team at Cornell University has been figuring out how to slew the NEAR spacecraft and aim its camera for the mission's final act: alighting on an asteroid.
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered how to genetically convert leaves into petals, an achievement that may be the botanical equivalent of the medieval alchemistsà dream of transmuting iron into gold. (Current Biology, 2-01)
With about $2.9 billion in sales, the "green industry" in Illinois has blossomed, surprisingly outdoing traditional agricultural front-runners corn and soybeans and even the combined production of beef and pork, University of Illinois researchers say.
Some scientists are trying to find ways to restore tropical forests that have been cleared and abandoned. So far, however, they are finding that they have much yet to learn. (Restoration Ecology, 12-00)
Researchers and engineers from New York to California are forming a collaborative network via the Internet to speed the design of structures that minimize earthquake damage and loss of life. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced 11 awards totaling $45 million.
Hot gas from a shocked stellar wind is responsible for the complex shape of a planetary nebula known as the CatÃs Eye, say astronomers using NASAÃs Chandra X-ray Observatory. In addition to identifying the hot gas by its telltale X-rays, the scientists also found a surprising X-ray source at the central star in the planetary nebula.
Legumes, University of Illinois researchers report, contain substantially higher percentages of resistant starch than do cereal grains, flours and grain-based food products. (Journal of Nutrition, 2-01)
A species of clam living in Mexico's Colorado River Delta is being driven to extinction, because humans use so much river water only a trickle now reaches the sea.
The National Academy of Engineering and Ohio University awarded a $500,000 prize to two individuals who invented the first human heart pacemaker. Earl Bakken and Wilson Greatbatch are the first recipients of the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize, one of the top two engineering prizes in the world.
A florid fungus can be a dangerous beauty, able to coat medical implants with thin films causing complications and even death in patients with medical implants. Researchers have found a gene that allows fungi to stick to plastic surfaces and form thin coatings called biofilms. (Science, 2-2-01)
Scientists think Mars once had a thicker atmosphere than it does today, perhaps even comparable to Earth's.
What may be the world's smallest robot -- it "turns on a dime and parks on a nickel" -- is being developed by researchers at the Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories.
New research concludes that ferns and horsetails are not -- as currently believed -- lower, transitional evolutionary grades between mosses and flowering plants. In fact, ferns and horsetails, together, are the closest living relatives to seed plants. (Nature, 2-1-01)
NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission, the first to orbit an asteroid, has met all of its scientific goals in its year of orbiting asteroid Eros, and will now attempt another first: a controlled descent to the surface of the asteroid on Feb. 12.
Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have identified a new gene, SPAN-X, that could eventually lead to better diagnosis and treatment for certain cancers. (Biology of Reproduction, 02-01)
The people who come to eat in Jean-Francois Meullenet's laboratory participate in some unusual mealtime rituals. They sit on chairs in partitioned booths that sport computers and receive their food through a small hole in the wall.
An international team of astronomers has precisely measured the oscillations of a sun-like star. The measurements provide clues to the star's internal structure that will help scientists test models and theories of stellar evolution.
According to a nationwide poll conducted for Sky & Telescope magazine, most Americans think NASA should send spacecraft to Europa and Pluto. Moreover, they feel the space agency is doing a much better job than it was just one year ago.
The National Science Board has selected author Dava Sobel to receive its 2001 individual Public Service Award. The NSB honored Sobel for fostering awareness of science and technology among broad segments of the general public.
Last month a group of Chicago students used ham radio gear to talk to astronauts on the International Space Station. Their long-distance chat was the first of its kind between students and the ISS.
With the use of a new sensing device, energy intensive industries should find that they can become less dependent on energy needs. The use of these sensors should also reduce the emissions of pollutants.
ASME International (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers), in cooperation with leading U.S. universities, now offers online gradutate-level courses for engineers and technical professionals.
Common vetch is a useful crop feed for some animals but toxic to others, and can cause health problems for humans. A team of Adelaide University scientists has successfully developed a new strain of low-toxicity vetch which may seed a new industry worth millions of dollars.
The new Terascale Computing System (TCS) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) has begun operation well ahead of schedule and is exceeding performance expectations.
The distinctive hoot of the trumpeter swan is more likely to be performed on Michigan's wetlands, according to the most recent census that points to successful restoration efforts.
Keying off new observations, astronomers are turning to an old idea of what puts the brakes on young, rapidly rotating stars, some of which spin so fast that astronomers are amazed they simply don't fly apart. (Astronomical Journal, 2-01)
Editors, news directors: Reporters and photographers are invited to attend the announcement of the first winner/s of a half-million-dollar international award that will recognize achievements in engineering.
Aging wires buried deep within an aircraft pose a hidden--and possibly deadly--hazard, as recent airline tragedies attest.
Computer programs written "in-house" are more efficient than standard commercial programs for analyzing complex electronic packages, according to University of Arkansas researchers. (International Journal of Microcircuits and Electronic Packaging)
Researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine have identified a gene in mice that causes an autoimmune disease remarkably similiar to human systemic lupus erythematous, an incurable and potentially fatal multi-organ disease that turns victim's immune systems against them.
A pair of marine biologists at NC State University is exploring the spawning migrations of the blue crab, one of the most economically and ecologically important fishery species in the Chesapeake Bay and in the coastal waters of North Carolina.
The first global views of our planet's magnetosphere, captured by NASA's IMAGE spacecraft, reveal a curious plasma tail that stretches toward the Sun.
A hardy microbe from Earth might one day transform the barren ground of Mars into arable soil. Scientists discussed the possibility at a recent NASA-sponsored conference.
Researchers from MIT, University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of South Florida have found evidence of water in rocks found from meteorites from Mars and that significant amounts of water may still exist in the Martian interior. (Nature, 1-25-01)
The spin of an atom has become the basis for quantum computers that can factor large numbers into prime numbers quickly; the implications for encryption are alarming.
The recent national election created qualms about voting systems, but Internet voting may not be any better.
California's electricity crisis--rolling blackouts, soaring prices, utilities at the brink of bankrupty, charges of profiteering--is being watched with mounting alarm in the other states that are reorganizing and deregulating their electric power systems.
The University of Minnesota will host a national conference to debate policies concerning genetically modified organisms.
Purdue University researchers have developed a method to quickly sort and isolate chemical compounds, to identify the most biologically active compounds among millions of drug candidates. The new method is four to 12 times faster than current methods and promises to simplify and speed the drug discovery process. (Angewandte Chemie, 12-15-00)
Purdue engineers are the first to figure out the mathematics behind a problem plaguing machines that emit drops of liquid from a nozzle, findings that have potentially broad applications, from improved inkjet printers to more precise pharmaceutical research. A research paper appeared in Physical Review Letters.
Research currently underway at the University of Arkansas may have a billion-dollar impact on the semiconductor industry. Scott Mason, has received a grant from Semiconductor Research Corporation for work that may revolutionize the fabrication of semiconductor wafers.
Archaea, one of three separate domains of life on our planet, were undiscovered until 1970. Since then, they had been found mostly in extreme environments such as high-temperature volcanic vents on the ocean floor, continental hot springs and fumeroles, and highly salty or acidic waters.
Major construction projects to improve the electrical generating capacity and communications links at the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station were completed this month, despite extreme weather conditions in Antarctica that have hampered cargo flights.
1)Better CPR a heartbeat away? 2)Safer skies; 3) Ocean's biology under spotlight; 4)Driving dangerously.
Who wrote the Jon-Benet Ramsey ransom note? A computer program developed at the University at Buffalo that is 98 percent effective in determining authorship of handwritten documents soon may be able to assist in answering such questions.
Scheduled this year for Feb. 16-19, 2001, the 4th annual Great Backyard Bird Count asks computer users to log on and tell scientists where the birds are.
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