| September 30, 2004 |
| Out
of Africa: Scientists find earliest evidence yet of human presence in Northeast
Asia: Early humans lived in northern China about 1.66 million
years ago, according to research reported in the journal Nature this week.
The finding suggests humans--characterized by their making and use of stone
tools--inhabited upper Asia almost 340,000 years before previous estimates
placed them there, surviving in a pretty hostile environment. |
| 'Dead
zone' area shrinking, Texas A&M prof says: A team of Texas
A&M University and Louisiana State University scientists conducted a
research cruise in late August to the 'dead zone' - a region in the northern
Gulf of Mexico that suffers from low oxygen and results in huge marine losses
- and much to their surprise, the 'dead zone' area had either moved or had
disappeared completely. |
| Genetic
mutations linked to the practice of burning coal in homes in China:
According to a study directed by a University of Pittsburgh researcher,
individuals in Xuan Wei County, China who are exposed to smoky coal emissions
from cooking and heating their homes may carry genetic mutations that greatly
increase their risk of developing lung cancer. |
| Chemical
derived from vitamin-E shows early promise as cancer drug:
By studying cancer in mice, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin
have gained preliminary evidence that a novel compound that resembles vitamin
E halves the size of tumors and the ability of cancer to spread to other
body sites. |
| Alzheimer's
disease is not accelerated aging: Certain brain changes that
are common in normal aging are not the beginnings of Alzheimer's disease.
Recent research by cognitive aging experts suggests that changes related
to Alzheimer's disease appear in distinct regions of the brain and reflect
unique pathology compared with changes that occur in older adults without
dementia. |
| Scientists
to prototype cyberinfrastructure for research and education access to ocean
observatories: Oceanographers and computer scientists will
design cyberinfrastructure to link research institutions on land with several
existing or planned ocean observatories off the west coasts of the United
States, Canada and Mexico. |
September 28, 2004 |
| Midwest
thunderstorm study points toward better forecasts: A set of
newly documented small-scale circulations embedded in thunderstorm squall
lines not only spew destructive straight-line winds, but may spawn up to
20% of all U.S. tornadoes. |
| Good
vibrations in the nanoworld: Accessing vibrational modes of
molecular chains at the site of a specific atom in molecules is no longer
a dream. Using a scanning tunneling microscopy technique, the vibrational
modes of carbon nanotubes have been mapped with sub-nanometer spatial resolution. |
| MR
imaging during brain surgery improves tumor removal: A specially
adapted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner can help physicians remove
brain tumors and all of the residual cancer during one surgical procedure,
according to a study published in the October issue of the journal Radiology.
Using intraoperative MR-guidance, surgical strategy was changed in one out
of four cases. |
| An
important step toward molecular electronics: Silicon microelectronics
has undergone relentless miniaturization during the past 30 years, leading
to dramatic improvements in computational capacity and speed. |
| Atacama
rover helps NASA learn to search for life on Mars: A dedicated
team of scientists is spending the next four weeks in northern Chile's Atacama
Desert. They are studying the scarce life that exists there and, in the
process, helping NASA learn more about how primitive life forms could exist
on Mars. |
| DNA
barcode finds four new bird species: The task of identifying
Earth's estimated 10 million species has daunted biologists for centuries
- fewer than two million have been named. Using a technique called DNA barcoding,
researchers at Rockefeller University and two Canadian institutions have
uncovered four new species of North American birds. |
September 27, 2004 |
| Researchers
create nanotubes that change colors, form 'nanocarpet' and kill bacteria:
University of Pittsburgh researchers have synthesized a simple molecule
that not only produces perfectly uniform, self-assembled nanotubes but creates
what they report as the first 'nanocarpet,' whereby these nanotubes organize
themselves into an expanse of upright clusters that when magnified a million
times resemble the fibers of a shag rug. |
| Alaska
scientists find Arctic tundra yields surprising carbon loss:
Institute of Arctic Biology (IAB) ecologists Donie Bret-Harte and Terry
Chapin and colleagues working in northern Alaska discovered that tundra
plants and soils respond in surprisingly opposite ways to conditions that
simulate long-term climate warming. |
| New
sequence involved in DNA replication timing may aid in cancer detection:
Scientists have discovered a DNA sequence that is involved in controlling
the timing of DNA replication. Because alterations in DNA replication timing
are associated with cancer, this discovery may lead to improved methods
for cancer detection. |
| Strong
quake could trigger a tsunami in Southern California: With
a strong enough jolt — a 7.6 -magnitude earthquake — the seafloor
under Catalina Island could be violently thrust upward, causing a tsunami
along the Southern California coast, according to researchers at the University
of Southern California. |
| Rice
finds 'on-off switch' for buckyball toxicity: Researchers at
Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology
(CBEN) have demonstrated a simple way to reduce the toxicity of water-soluble
buckyballs by a factor of more than ten million. |
| Fortifying
food with folic acid benefits babies: Adding folic acid to
food can dramatically reduce the incidence of spina bifida and other birth
defects. |
September 22, 2004 |
| UAF
scientists discover new marine habitat in Alaska: While researchers
in Alaska this summer used high-tech submersibles and huge ships to plumb
the deep-ocean depths in search of new species, a team of scuba diving scientists
working from an Alaska fishing boat has discovered an entirely new marine
habitat just a stone's throw from shore. |
| Scientists
decipher genetic code of biothreat pathogen: More than 2,400
years after Hippocrates first described the symptoms of glanders, scientists
have deciphered the genetic code of the ancient pathogen that causes the
horse disease: Burkholderia mallei. |
| Glaciers
surge when ice shelf breaks up: Since 2002, when the Larsen
B ice shelf broke away from the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, scientists
have witnessed profound increases in the flow of nearby glaciers into the
Weddell Sea. These observations were made possible through NASA, Canadian
and European satellite data. |
| Green,
leafy spinach may soon power more than PopeyeÍs biceps: For
the first time, MIT researchers have incorporated a plant's ability to convert
sunlight to energy into a solid-state electronic 'spinach sandwich' device
that may one day power laptops and cell phones. |
| Study
endorses wood as 'green' building material: A new report concludes
that wood is one of the most environmentally-sensitive building materials
for home construction - it uses less overall energy than other products,
causes fewer air and water impacts and does a better job of the carbon 'sequestration'
that can help address global warming. |
| Certain
genes boost fish oils' protection against breast cancer: Researchers
who found that fish oils appear to reduce breast cancer risk have now discovered
that the oils may especially benefit women with particular genetic makeups. |
September 20, 2004 |
| Therapy
for Alzheimer's in sight?: Immunoglobulins which are already
being used to treat multiple sclerosis may also be able to help patients
with Alzheimer's. This, at least, is the finding of a pilot study on five
patients at the University of Bonn. |
| Columbia
research shows central corneal thickness significantly impacts glaucoma
treatment: In a new study, researchers at Columbia University
Medical Center demonstrated the significance of central corneal thickness
(CCT) on the clinical management of patients with glaucoma and those suspected
to have glaucoma. |
| Large
binocular telescope to be dedicated in October 2004: The $120
million LBT is located on Mount Graham near Safford, Ariz. When fully operational
in 2005, it will be the most technologically advanced ground-based telescope
in the world. |
| 22nd
amino acid synthesized and added to genetic code of e. coli bacteria:
Two years ago, Ohio State University researchers surprised the scientific
community by announcing their discovery of a 22nd genetically encoded amino
acid. Now they have capped that discovery with news that they have successfully
synthesized the amino acid itself - L-pyrrolysine - and shown that bacteria
can incorporate it into new proteins - the biological components which do
most of the work in cells. |
| New
technique for thyroid cancer therapy eliminates many side effects:
Differentiated thyroid cancer, the most common form of thyroid cancer, is
one of the success stories in the war on cancer. |
| ORNL
microscope pushes back barrier of 'how small': Oak Ridge National
Laboratory researchers, using a state-of-the-art microscope and new computerized
imaging technology, have pushed back the barrier of how small we can see--to
a record, atom-scale 0.6 angstrom. ORNL, a Department of Energy national
laboratory, also held the previous record, at 0.7 angstrom. |
September 15, 2004 |
| Scientists
at UCSB make important discovery that increases understanding of multiple
sclerosis: Scientists at the University of California, Santa
Barbara have made an important discovery that will increase the understanding
of multiple sclerosis, a debilitating disease of the central nervous system
in which the myelin sheath, an insulating membrane surrounding the nerve
cells in the brain and spinal cord, start to unravel for reasons as yet
unknown. |
| Laboratory
grows world record length carbon nanotube: University of California
scientists working at Los Alamos National Laboratory in collaboration with
chemists from Duke University have recently grown a world record-length
four-centimeter-long, single-wall carbon nanotube. |
| Methane
in deep earth: A possible new source of energy: Untapped reserves
of methane, the main component in natural gas, may be found deep in Earth's
crust, according to a recently released report* in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). |
| Byproduct
of water-disinfection process found to be highly toxic: A recently
discovered disinfection byproduct (DBP) found in U.S. drinking water treated
with chloramines is the most toxic ever found, says a scientist at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who tested samples on mammalian cells. |
| A
simpler design for x-ray detectors: A simplified design for
ultra-sensitive X-ray detectors offering more precise materials analysis
has been demonstrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST). |
| Decoupling
the control of brain cancer cells to find better treatments:
When he's not in the operating room performing surgery, Donald M. O'Rourke,
M.D., Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania
School of Medicine is fighting brain tumors from the research laboratory
bench. |
September 14, 2004 |
| Carnegie
Mellon engineering researchers to create speech recognition in silicon:
Carnegie Mellon University's Rob A. Rutenbar is leading a national research
team to develop a new, efficient silicon chip that may revolutionize the
way humans communicate and have a significant impact on America's homeland
security. |
| USGS
studies Hurricane IvanÍs potential impacts to FloridaÍs west coast islands:
Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey are closely watching the long,
thin barrier islands that comprise the Gulf of Mexico coast of west Florida
as Hurricane Ivan approaches. |
| Research
uncovers added value of streamside forests: A team of researchers
led by scientists from the Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, Pa.,
has discovered that streamside (or riparian) forests play a critical - and
previously unacknowledged - role in protecting the world's fresh water. |
| Molecule
awakens and maintains neural connections: Researchers have
discovered a critical protein that regulates the growth and activation of
neural connections in the brain. The protein functions in the developing
brain, where it controls the sprouting of new connections and stimulates
otherwise silent connections among immature neurons, and potentially in
the mature brain as well, where it may play a role in memory formation. |
| Lewis
and Clark slip through climatic window to the West: They hadn't
planned it, but Meriwether Lewis and William Clark picked a fine time for
a road trip when they set out to find a water route across the American
Northwest two centuries ago. |
| First
glimpse of DNA binding to viral enzyme: Scientists at the U.S.
Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine have produced the first molecular-scale images of DNA
binding to an adenovirus enzyme - a step they believe is essential for the
virus to cause infection. |
September 13, 2004 |
| A
new tribe?: A new tribe is emerging from Mexico's scorched
earth. A team of geoarchaeologists working on a programme investigating
human evolution have found skeletal remains in the desert of the Baja California
Peninsula that give rise to new theories on the colonisation of the Americas. |
| Proteins
show promise for mosquito control: Mosquito abatement usually
means one thing: blasting the pesky critters with pesticides. Those pesticides,
although highly effective, can impair other organisms in the environment. |
| UBC
discovery is gateway to new stroke treatments: There may be
new treatments for stroke, migraine, Alzheimer's and other brain disorders,
thanks to the discovery of a mechanism for regulating brain blood flow made
by researchers at the University of British Columbia. |
| Blue
marlin in gulf have high mercury levels, A&M study shows: As
sport fishes go, the blue marlin is a king of sorts - highly prized for
its beautiful shape and its ferocious fighting ability when hooked. |
| Sugar-coated
sea urchin eggs could have sweet implications for human fertility:
For many years scientists have believed they understood how closely related
species that occupy the same regions of the ocean were kept from interbreeding.
It turns out they were only seeing part of the picture. |
| Researchers
report new gene test for isolated cleft lip and palate: Researchers
have developed a new genetic test that can help predict whether parents
who have one child with the 'isolated' form of cleft lip or palate are likely
to have a second child with the same birth defect. Isolated clefts account
for 70 percent of all cleft lip and palate cases. |
September 9, 2004 |
| Wrapping
a memory with an experience, capacity for recollection detected in non-human
species: For millennia, the process of memory and remembering
has intrigued scholars and scientists. In 350 B.C., Aristotle, in his seminal
treatise on the subject, described it as having two forms: familiarity and
recollection. Of these, he considered recollection to be a purely human
condition. |
| North
Greenland reveals gradual, abrupt climate swings: A new, undisturbed
Greenland ice deep-core record going back 123,000 years shows the Eemian
period prior to the last glacial period was slightly warmer than the present
day before it gradually cooled and sent Earth into an extended deep freeze. |
| A
new protein is discovered to play a key role in cancer progression:
Many cancers, including colon, prostate, and leukemia, continue to grow
unchecked because they do not respond to a signal to die and stop proliferating
from Transforming Growth Factor-beta (TGF-b). |
| Sandia
experiments may reduce possibility of future water wars: A
method that uses roughly only one-hundredth the fresh water customarily
needed to grow forage for livestock may leave much more water available
for human consumption, as well as for residential and industrial uses. As
a byproduct, it also may add formerly untapped solar energy to the electrical
grid. |
| Yale
scientists bring quantum optics to a microchip: A report in
the journal Nature describes the first experiment in which a single photon
is coherently coupled to a single superconducting qubit (quantum bit or
'artificial atom') |
| Laboratory
advances the art and science of aerogels: University of California
scientists working at Los Alamos National Laboratory have recently demonstrated
a novel method for chemically modifying and enhancing silica-based aerogels
without sacrificing the aerogels unique properties. |
September 8, 2004 |
| NASA
a 'go' for midair capture of samples from the Sun: Genesis,
bringing back samples of the solar wind, is NASA's first sample return mission
since Apollo 17 returned the last of America's lunar samples to Earth in
December 1972. |
| First-of-its-kind
experiment on San Andreas: Using classified technology developed
by the military during the Cold War, a team of geoscientists led by Rice
University's Manik Talwani is conducting a first-of-its-kind experiment
on California's famed San Andreas fault this week. |
| Maine-based
biophysics institute gets funding for first US-based 4Pi nanoscale microscope:
The 4Pi Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope is the world's most advanced
optical microscope--capable of revealing the nanostructure of genetic material
within a cell in three dimensions. |
| New
genetic hypothesis for the cause of autism: Researchers have
proposed a new hypothesis on the cause of autism, suggesting a mixed epigenetic
and genetic and mixed de novo and inherited (MEGDI) model. |
| Extreme
stretch-growth of axons: Sometimes it is the extremes that
point the way forward. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine have induced nerve fibers - or axons - to grow at rates and
lengths far exceeding what has been previously observed. |
| Fossils
reveal direct link between global warming and genetic diversity in wildlife:
For the first time, scientists have found a direct relationship between
global warming and the evolution of contemporary wildlife. |
September 7, 2004 |
| Long-term
effects of carbon monoxide poisoning are an autoimmune reaction:
Later this fall, emergency-medicine physicians enter into what they call
the 'CO season' - a time when faulty furnaces and other mechanical mishaps
lead to a spike in cases of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. |
| Pediatricians
treating more children with behavioral health disorders, study shows:
Pediatricians are diagnosing and treating a growing number of children with
behavioral health problems. |
| Recent
evolution at a single gene may have brought down heart disease risk in some
human groups: Heart disease is Europe's leading cause of death,
but new research shows that the disease's toll would be much greater had
natural selection not shifted the frequency of susceptibility genes over
the past few tens of thousands of years. |
| Subtropical
Arctic: The North Pole, synonymous with all things very cold,
once had a subtropical climate according to scientists now returning from
the Arctic. |
| Genetic
map of important tree genes outlined: Researchers in Sweden
and the United States have publicly released a new database of many of the
most important genes in a tree genome. |
| Common
cold virus can cause Polio in mice when injected into muscles:
Virologists at Duke University Medical Center have discovered that, under
the right conditions, a common cold virus closely related to poliovirus
can cause polio in mice. |
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