| April 26-30, 2004 |
| Arctic
ozone loss more sensitive to climate change than thought: A
cooperative study involving NASA scientists quantifies, for the first time,
the relationship between Arctic ozone loss and changes in the temperature
of Earth's stratosphere. |
| Scientists
post a lower speed limit for magnetic switching: The speed
of magnetic recording - a crucial factor in a computer's power and multimedia
capabilities - depends on how fast one can switch a magnet's poles. |
| Multinational
team of scientists finds early life in volcanic lava: Scientists
from the United States, Norway, Canada, and South Africa have identified
what is believed to be evidence of one of Earth's earliest forms of life,
a finding that could factor heavily into discussions of the origins of life. |
| Seabed
secrets in English clay: Fossilized organic molecules of green
sulfur bacteria are helping to unlock secrets of what may have been a period
of helter-skelter climate change and mass kills of sea life during the Jurassic
Period some 150-160 million years ago. |
| Gravity
Probe B Status Report: At 9:57:24 am Pacific Daylight Time
on Tuesday, April 20, 2004, the Gravity Probe B spacecraft had a picture-perfect
launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in South-central California. |
| Cellular
problems found behind complex obesity syndrome: Bardet-Biedl
syndrome (BBS), characterized by obesity, learning disabilities and eye
and kidney problems, is caused by genetic mutations in the BBS family of
genes. |
April 19-25, 2004 |
| Satellites
record weakening North Atlantic current: A North Atlantic Ocean
circulation system weakened considerably in the late 1990s, compared to
the 1970s and 1980s, according to a NASA study. |
| Green
and black tea polyphenols consumption results in slower prostate cancer
cell growth: In the first known study of the absorption and
anti-tumor effects of green and black tea polyphenols in human tissue, researchers
at the University of California at Los Angeles were able to detect tea polyphenols
in prostate tissue after a very limited consumption of tea. |
| Rare
chinese mushroom derivative can improve capacity, endurance, in sedentary
elderly: More than 1,500 years ago, cattle and sheep grazing
in the Himalayan meadows were drawn to an unusual mushroom-like grass. Soon,
herdsman saw a significant increase in strength and agility of their herds. |
| Effects
of ocean fertilization with iron to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
reported: Dumping iron in the ocean is known to spur the growth
of plankton that remove carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere,
but a new study indicates iron fertilization may not be the quick fix to
climate problems that some had hoped. |
| Chromosome
'caps' predict bone marrow disease: For the first time, Imperial
College London researchers at the Hammersmith Hospital studying a rare bone
marrow disease have found an association between 'telomere shortening' -
changes in the lengths of DNA repeats at the end of chromosomes - and the
time of development and severity of disease symptoms in patients. |
| Cosmic
magnifying glass: Like Sherlock Holmes holding a magnifying
glass to unveil hidden clues, modern day astronomers used cosmic magnifying
effects to reveal a planet orbiting a distant star. |
April 7-18, 2004 |
| Researchers
probe link between nanotechnology and health: Nanotechnology,
a science devoted to engineering things that are unimaginably small, may
pose a health hazard and should be investigated further, warns a University
of Rochester scientist and worldwide expert in the field, who received a
$5.5 million grant to conduct such research. |
| 'Crystal
engineering' helps scientists solve 3-D protein structures:
A new technique for engineering protein crystals is helping scientists figure
out the three-dimensional structures of some important biological molecules,
including a key plague protein whose structure has eluded researchers until
now. |
| Paleontologists
use computer to 'morph' deformed fossils back to their original shapes:
It's bad enough that fossils, buried deep in layers of rock for thousands
or millions of years, may be damaged or missing pieces, but what really
challenges paleontologists, according to University at Buffalo researchers,
is the amount of deformation that most fossils exhibit. |
| Titan
casts revealing shadow: A rare celestial event was captured
by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory as Titan - Saturn's largest moon and
the only moon in the Solar System with a thick atmosphere - crossed in front
of the X-ray bright Crab Nebula. |
| SOHO
sees its 750th comet: On 22 March 2004, the ESA/NASA SOHO solar
observatory spacecraft discovered its 750th comet since its launch in December
1995. |
| Three
new South American fish identified: It all started with an
aquarium his father bought for the family home in Venezuela. The fish swam
and ate and created an environment that captivated the watchful eye of then-10-year-old
Hernan Lopez-Fernandez. |
April 5, 2004 |
| Cornell
researchers move beyond 'nano' to 'atto' to build a scale sensitive enough
to weigh a virus: Cornell University researchers already have
been able to detect the mass of a single cell using submicroscopic devices.
Now they're zeroing in on viruses. |
| Novel
MRI technique provides clear images of blood flow: Duke University
Medical Center researchers have created for the first time moving images
of blood traveling through vessels, non-invasively and without the use of
contrast agents or radiation. |
| Rich,
vibrant community of rural Maya described by Boston University archaeologist:
Two thousand years ago, a trek through present-day Central America would
have rewarded the traveler with a look at the Maya civilization in full
flower - from the bustle of activity and architectural wonders of urban
centers to the quieter pace and more utilitarian structures of rural communities. |
| New
software developed at Rensselaer predicts promising ingredients for new
drugs: Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute today
announced the release of a software program capable of quickly identifying
molecules that show promise for future medicines. |
| Low
vitamin B12 is associated with poorer memory in older people with high risk
for Alzheimer's: Among healthy people over the age of 75 who
have the genotype associated with higher risk for Alzheimer's, low levels
of vitamin B12 are associated with significantly worse performance on memory
tests. |
| International
Space Station Status Report: Plans for the next crew rotation
on the International Space Station are on schedule this week, as the Expedition
8 crew members moved into their final month on orbit and their successors
to within weeks of their scheduled launch. |
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