The same chemicals that keep food from sticking to our frying pans and stains from setting in our carpets (PFCs) are damaging the livers and impairing the immune systems of loggerhead turtles -- an environmental health impact that also may signal a danger for humans.
A new gene therapy approach that attracts and "trains" immune system cells to destroy deadly brain cancer cells also provides long-term immunity, produces no significant adverse effects and -- in the process of destroying the tumor -- promotes the return of normal brain function and behavioral skills, according to a new study.
Exhale on a cold winter day and you will see the water vapor coming out of your mouth. Light up your breath with a Nobel-Prize-related tool, and you could potentially detect trace amounts of over 1,000 compounds, some of which provide early warning signs of disease. A new optical technique can simultaneously identify tiny amounts of a broad range of molecules in the breath, potentially enabling a fast, low-cost screening tool for disease.
First came direct marketing, then focus groups. Now, advertisers, with the help of neuroscientists, are closing in on the holy grail: mind reading. According to a new article, the findings suggest "that human emotions are multidimensional, and that self-report techniques ... correspond to a specific task but different functional regions of the brain."
New research has thrown into question the current method of treating Crohn's disease -- opening the door to a safer and more effective treatment option for sufferers of the chronic disease. The new approach, called "top-down" therapy, employs early use of immune-suppressing drugs combined with an antibody in order to address the disease from the start. Symptom-treating steroids may never even be needed.
A new type of scanning transmission electron microscope is enabling scientists for the first time to form images that uniquely identify individual atoms and see how those atoms bond to one another. And in living color.
Concerned that energy system transformations are proceeding too slowly to avoid risks from dangerous human-induced climate change, many scientists are wondering whether geoengineering (the deliberate change of the Earth's climate) may help counteract global warming. Sulfate aerosols, commonly released by volcanoes, serve to scatter incoming solar energy in the stratosphere, preventing it from reaching the surface. To investigate the feasibility of deliberately mimicking the effect of volcanic aerosols, researchers explore scenarios in which aerosol properties are varied to assess interactions with the climate system.
Astronomer have discovered the largest structures of dark matter ever seen. Measuring 270 million light-years across, these dark matter structures criss-cross the night sky, each spanning an area that is eight times larger than the full moon.
The LED lamp, named Gravia, has just won second place in the Greener Gadgets Design Competition in New York City. Concept illustrations of Gravia depict an acrylic column a little over four feet high. The entire column glows when activated. The electricity is generated by the slow fall of a mass that spins a rotor. The resulting energy powers 10 high-output LEDs that fire into the acrylic lens, creating a diffuse light. The operation is silent and the housing is elegant and cord free -- completely independent of electrical infrastructure. The light output will be 600-800 lumens -- roughly equal to a 40 watt incandescent bulb over a period of four hours.
Stroke patients who enter the hospital at night and on weekends are more likely to die in the hospital than those treated during regular business hours and on weekdays, according to two new studies. "The mortality rate was remarkably lower for weekday admissions than for weekend: 7.9 percent versus 10.1 percent," said the senior author of the study.
A computer does better than a doctor at diagnosing degenerative brain diseases, research has found. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 22 Feb 2008 | 11:02 am
Forensic scientists have developed the technique to pinpoint where soil found on a victim or a suspect came from Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 10:16 am
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is to test a manned submersible that can reach up to 7,000 meters (23,000 feet) below sea level, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday, citing the State Oceanic Administration.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Thursday it was very confident that a spectacular and unprecedented missile strike from a U.S. Navy warship had destroyed the toxic fuel tank of a defunct U.S. spy satellite.
Sophisticated new software is designed to help police identify partially decomposed or burned bodies Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 12:21 am
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A hormone is the secret behind the unusual ability of young swallowtail caterpillars to disguise themselves as bird droppings and then copies of the leaves they live on before becoming butterflies, Japanese researchers found.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People indigenous to Siberia have strong genetic links to native peoples in the Americas, according to a study further supporting the theory that humans first entered the Americas over a land bridge across the Bering Strait.
LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of hopeful astronomers around the world tried to catch a glimpse of the year's only total lunar eclipse -- but those watching from Britain saw little more than cloud.
Grey wolves in the north-eastern US are no longer endangered after being protected for 13 years. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 21 Feb 2008 | 6:20 pm
Transport secretary orders review of the environmental and economic damage caused by growing biofuels Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 21 Feb 2008 | 5:13 pm
Suppliers of illegally logged timber could be prosecuted in countries where it is sold, under new proposals. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 21 Feb 2008 | 4:52 pm
New technology developed off Pembrokeshire may change how scientists track animal behaviour. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 21 Feb 2008 | 3:02 pm
The shooting down of a disabled spy satellite probably destroyed its potentially toxic fuel tank, a US official says. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 21 Feb 2008 | 2:16 pm
BEIJING (Reuters) - Scientists have found the fossil of a new herbivorous dinosaur species that stood five meters (5.5 yards) high and lived 60 million years ago, the official Xinhua agency reported on Thursday.
In pictures: The latest stunning images from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 21 Feb 2008 | 1:21 pm
