Heavy women gain too much weight during pregnancy, says an obstetrician and obesity expert. Recommendations which are followed worldwide by obstetricians, encourage obese women to gain at least 15 pounds during pregnancy and specify no upper limit for weight gain. Overweight or obese women don't need to gain that much weight and should exercise and watch their calorie consumption during pregnancy, according to a new editorial.
Rather than improving motorist safety, red-light cameras significantly increase crashes and are a ticket to higher auto insurance premiums, researchers conclude. Researchers analyzed several comprehensive studies of the effectiveness of red-light cameras nationwide to provide insight to Florida communities debating the cameras' merits. They recommend engineering solutions to improve intersection safety, particularly to accommodate elderly drivers.
By using computer simulations and modeling, researchers have determined how a pandemic influenza outbreak might travel through a city similar in size to Chicago, Ill. This information helped them to determine the preferred intervention strategy to contain a potential flu pandemic, including what people should do to decrease the likelihood of disease transmission. An outbreak in the US could be mitigated with prompt implementation of social-distancing measures combined with antiviral treatment and prophylaxis until a vaccine is available, the study suggests.
Radio waves accelerate electrons within Jupiter's magnetic field in the same way as they do on Earth, according to new research. The discovery overturns a theory that has held sway for more than a generation and has important implications for protecting Earth-orbiting satellites.
Despite 25 years of research, development of an "electronic nose" even approaching the capabilities of the human sniffer remains a dream, chemists in Germany conclude in an overview on the topic. Electronic noses do excel, however, at picking up so-called "non-odorant volatiles"-- chemicals that mammalian noses cannot pick up like carbon monoxide.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health are wagging a finger at currently held notions about the way digits are formed. Studying the embryonic chick foot, the developmental biologists have come up with a model that explains how digits grow and why each digit is different from the others. The scientists found that the development and fate of each digit depends on a surprisingly dynamic process in unanticipated locations and involving unexpected players.
There's new evidence supporting the idea that bigger brains are better. A study of a tropical wasp suggests that the brainpower required to be dominant drives brain capacity. Researchers have found that key processing regions in the brains of both males and females of one wasp species not only increased in size with age but were also associated with being dominant.
A test that profiles molecular biomarkers in blood could become the first accurate diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease, new research shows. The screen relies on changes in dozens of small molecules in serum. These "metabolomic" alterations form a unique pattern in people with Parkinson's disease.
Scientists have developed a method for studying complicated cell processes, such as the secretion of insulin in the pancreas, of living animals -- something that has not been possible to this date. The new method, which involves the transplantation of a tiny part of the pancreas onto the iris of mice, paves the way for radical approaches to diabetes research, which has previously been conducted on single cells in artificial laboratory environments.
A group of researchers has developed a novel way to view the world through the eyes of a common fly and partially decode the insect's reactions to changes in the world around it. The research fundamentally alters earlier beliefs about how neural networks function and could provide the basis for intelligent computers that mimic biological processes.
DIAVIK MINE, Northwest Territories (Reuters) - Once a hotbed of gold mining, Canada's far north is now unearthing riches from a different precious commodity: diamonds.
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Clarissa Poon was one of an estimated 50 million people who contracted mosquito-borne dengue fever last year. She spent an agonizing week on a drip in a Bangkok hospital as she battled the potentially deadly disease.
Remains of tiny ancient humans found on a Pacific island raise new issues over the Indonesian "Hobbits". Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 12 Mar 2008 | 10:45 am
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A freshly inspected space shuttle Endeavour looked to be in good shape on Wednesday as it headed toward a rendezvous with the International Space Station to deliver a Japanese laboratory.
PYAW GAN, Myanmar (Reuters) - They may look leafless and lifeless, but Kyaw Sinnt is certain his nut-trees are the key to Myanmar's chronic energy shortage.
Europe's space freighter, the ATV, has its propulsion system fully restored after a glitch closed down a quarter of its thrusters. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 12 Mar 2008 | 6:31 am
The world's tiger population may have halved in the past quarter of a century, conservationists warn. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 12 Mar 2008 | 2:44 am
Scientists have discovered how a bacterium which causes pneumonia has become resistant to penicillin. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 12 Mar 2008 | 12:51 am
Scientific institute should be set up to tackle threat from exotic animal diseases, review suggests Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 12 Mar 2008 | 12:05 am
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A meteorite that struck Peru in September, digging out a deep hole and startling nearby residents, traveled faster and hit harder than would have been expected, researchers reported on Tuesday.
Showing the long-term cost of a car would encourage buyers towards "green" models, a UK government adviser says. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 11 Mar 2008 | 8:31 pm
A review of last year's foot-and-mouth outbreak has criticised the laboratory at the source of the disease. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 11 Mar 2008 | 6:18 pm
Nasa directs its Cassini spacecraft to make an ultra-close pass of the Saturnian moon Enceladus. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 11 Mar 2008 | 4:34 pm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group working to develop a gel or cream women could use to protect themselves against the AIDS virus said on Tuesday they have permission to use an experimental drug from Merck and Co.
An independent inquiry into last summer's foot and mouth outbreak today condemned conditions at the animal health laboratory at Pirbright, Surrey Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 11 Mar 2008 | 3:42 pm
Cosmic neutrino particles made up 10% of all matter shortly after the Big Bang, a new study finds. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 11 Mar 2008 | 1:46 pm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - British researchers who tried to show why overweight mothers tend to have overweight children said on Monday they had filled in one small piece of the puzzle.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Authorities in India's east battling to contain a fresh outbreak of bird flu said they were raiding farms at night to catch chickens and ducks and counter unwilling villagers who have refused to hand over poultry.
Scientists at Durham University say sports teams wearing red are more likely to come out on top. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 11 Mar 2008 | 11:54 am
The US space shuttle Endeavour launches from Cape Canaveral in Florida to eventually dock with the International Space Station Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 11 Mar 2008 | 11:03 am
