Scientists have discovered that a protein inside certain immune system cells blocks the growth of "staph" bacteria by sopping up manganese and zinc. The findings support the notion that binding metals -- to starve bacteria -- is a viable therapeutic option for treating localized bacterial infections. New treatments are urgently needed to combat antibiotic-resistant forms of staph, such as MRSA.
Respiratory disease, particularly bronchitis, in early childhood boosts the risks of illness and premature death in adulthood, indicates new research. The researchers base their findings on around 10,000 male graduates who went to Glasgow University between 1948 and 1968 and agreed to be part of a long term study to track their health.
Contrary to stereotype, most Internet sex offenders are not adults who target young children by posing as another youth, luring children to meetings, and then abducting or forcibly raping them, according to researchers who have studied the nature of Internet-initiated sex crimes. Instead, Internet offenders target teens, not young children and rarely use force, abduction or deception.
Imagine a gigantic, inflatable, sausage-like bag capable of storing 160 million tons of carbon dioxide -- the equivalent of 2.2 days of current global emissions. Now try to picture that container, measuring up to 100 meters in radius and several kilometers long, resting benignly on the seabed more than 3 kilometers below the ocean's surface. This may offer a viable solution because vast flat plains cover huge areas of the deep oceans. These abyssal plains have little life.
Scientists working on the COUPP experiment at DOE's Fermilab have announced a new development in the quest to observe dark matter. The experiment tightened constraints on "spin-dependent" properties of WIMPS, particles that are candidates for dark matter. Their results, combined with the findings of other dark matter searches, contradict the claims for the observation of such particles by the DAMA experiment and further restrict the hunting ground for physicists to track their dark matter quarry.
A new technique that combines bone marrow removal and injection of a hormone helps promote rapid formation of new bone at targeted locations in the body in Tissue Engineering.
Biochemists in Japan are reporting development of a long-sought direct test for identifying the presence E. coli bacteria that get into water and food as a result of fecal contamination. That contamination causes millions of cases of food poisoning and other gastrointestinal illness around the world each year.
Humans are social animals; we spend much of our time with others in groups. We are also wise. It is not our size, speed, or strength that distinguishes us from other mammals, but our intelligence. How might these two features -- being social and being smart -- go together? Researchers found that people who engaged in social interaction displayed higher levels of cognitive performance than the control group.
Scientists have created a waterproof adhesive bandage inspired by gecko lizards that may soon join sutures and staples as a basic operating room tool for patching up surgical wounds or internal injuries. Drawing on some of the principles that make gecko paws unique, the surface of the bandage has the same kind of nanoscale hills and valleys that allow the lizards to cling to walls and ceilings. Layered over this landscape is a thin coating of glue that helps the bandage stick in wet environments, such as to heart, bladder or lung tissue. And because the bandage is biodegradable, it dissolves over time and does not have to be removed.
Almost all organisms share the same genetic code. Identification of the evolutionary differences between the system for the translation of the genetic code in humans and other organisms are useful for the design of new antibiotics. Researchers have now discovered that an essential molecular process differs in the bacteria Mycoplasma penetrans, a human pathogen that affects the respiratory tract.
Professor Ken Miller, a key proponent of evolution, speaks to James Randerson at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 19 Feb 2008 | 12:10 pm
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Scientists studying Antarctic waters have filmed and captured giant sea creatures, like sea spiders the size of dinner plates and jelly fish with six meter (18 feet) tentacles.
The numbers and distribution of Britain's last surviving native wildcat is to be assessed. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 19 Feb 2008 | 10:59 am
HANOI (Reuters) - Dead poultry have been found in rivers and streams in northern Vietnam, a sign of a possible new bird flu outbreak during a prolonged cold spell, officials said on Tuesday.
From Bach to Led Zeppelin, music has always had a powerful emotional pull for critic Nick Coleman. But since he lost hearing in one ear, listening is agony and his favourite artists no longer move him. Will the magic ever return? Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 19 Feb 2008 | 9:45 am
People with extra kidneys are often oblivious to their excess baggage, and only discover it after an ultrasound scan or surgery for a more urgent medical problem Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 19 Feb 2008 | 12:02 am
The Atlantis shuttle detaches from the International Space Station in preparation to return to Earth. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 18 Feb 2008 | 11:29 pm
Many efforts to curb climate change pay little attention to conservation or the world's poor, a think tank warns. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 18 Feb 2008 | 11:25 pm
A 70-million-year-old fossil of a giant frog has been unearthed in Madagascar by a team of UK and US scientists. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 18 Feb 2008 | 10:29 pm
The scalloped hammerhead shark is being pushed towards the brink of extinction, say experts. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 18 Feb 2008 | 10:20 pm
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists have long admired the gecko lizard for its gravity-defying feet. Now U.S. researchers have made a waterproof bandage inspired by the sticky surface of a gecko's paws.
The influential futurist and inventor Raymond Kurzweil explains to Science correspondent James Randerson why technology can overcome everything from climate change to poverty Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 18 Feb 2008 | 9:31 pm
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Space shuttle Atlantis departed on Monday from the newly expanded International Space Station and began its return trip to Earth ahead of a U.S. military plan to shoot down a dead spy satellite.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A cream designed to protect women from the AIDS virus did not prevent infection, but it was safe, raising hopes that it might be combined with drugs or other compounds to work better, researchers said on Monday.
BEIJING (Reuters) - A 22-year-old Chinese man from the central province of Hunan has died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the second death from the disease since late last year, the Health Ministry said on Monday.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union farm ministers fell short of a consensus agreement on Monday to allow imports of five genetically modified (GMO) products, paving the way for default approval by legal rubberstamp, EU officials said.
The obesity epidemic needs to be tackled in the same way as climate change, says a top nutritional scientist. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 18 Feb 2008 | 2:44 pm
Oceanographer Julie Baum speaks to the Guardian's Alok Jha at the American Association for the Advancement of Science about the sharks on the endangered species list Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 18 Feb 2008 | 12:45 pm
Larry Susskind, Professor of Urban Studies and Environmental Studies at MIT, speaks to James Randerson at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 18 Feb 2008 | 12:26 pm
John Holdren, Professor of Environmental Policy at the Kennedy School, Harvard, speaks to the Guardian's James Randerson Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 18 Feb 2008 | 11:55 am
Heavy mobile phone use may be linked to an increased risk of cancer of the salivary gland, a study suggests. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 18 Feb 2008 | 11:52 am
