Sedentary, overweight or obese women can improve their quality of life by exercising as little as 10 to 30 minutes a day, researchers have reported. The women who exercised more also improved in physical functioning, role limitations in work or other activities due to physical problems and role limitations due to emotional problems, the researchers said. None of the women reported a statistically significant improvement in pain.
Far from being a model of social cooperation, the ant world is riddled with cheating and corruption -- and it goes all the way to the top. Ants have always been thought to work together for the benefit of the colony rather than for individual gain. But new research has shattered this illusion.
Biotechnology discoveries -- like the method for creating synthetic life forms -- are at risk of being unduly hindered or taken hostage by private corporations unless patent systems are brought into the 21st century, an expert argues.
A new and virulent wheat fungus, previously found in East Africa and Yemen, has moved to major wheat growing areas in Iran, reports the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization. The fungus is capable of wreaking havoc to wheat production by destroying entire fields. It is estimated that as much as 80 percent of all wheat varieties planted in Asia and Africa are susceptible to the wheat stem rust (Puccinia graminis). The spores of wheat rust are mostly carried by wind over long distances and across continents.
Physicists report a series of experiments in Science that mark an important step toward understanding a longstanding fundamental physics problem of quantum mechanics. The problem the physicists addressed is how a fundamental particle in matter loses track of its quantum mechanical properties through interactions with its environment.
A medical team has established, for the first time, a predictor for pregnant women who may have miscarriages and those who won't. The researchers measured the levels of a naturally occurring 'cannabis' (an endocannabinoid) known as anandamide in women who presented with a threatened miscarriage (bleeding in early pregnancy with a viable baby) and found that those who at the time of the test had significantly higher levels of anandamide subsequently miscarried.
The US legal system has long assumed that all testimony is not equally credible, that some witnesses are more reliable than others. In tough cases with child witnesses, it assumes adult witnesses to be more reliable. But what if the legal system had it wrong?
Crop scientists have cloned a gene that controls the shape of tomatoes, a discovery that could help unravel the mystery behind the huge morphological differences among edible fruits and vegetables, as well as provide new insight into mechanisms of plant development. The gene, dubbed SUN, is only the second ever found to play a significant role in the elongated shape of various tomato varieties.
A compound found in soybeans almost completely prevented the spread of human prostate cancer in mice, according to a new study in Cancer Research. Researchers say that the amount of the chemical, an antioxidant known as genistein, used in the experiments was no higher than what a human would eat in a soybean-rich diet.
Scientists have made another major breakthrough -- the second in the past year -- in understanding a rare immune disorder called Job's syndrome. Job's syndrome is characterized by recurrent and often severe bacterial and fungal infections leading to outbreaks of abscesses and boils. Now, scientists have shown that Job's sufferers lack a specific type of infection-fighting white blood cell called Th17 cell, making them vulnerable to attacks by bacteria and fungi.
Major firms should be asked to sign up to voluntary "responsibility deals" to cut waste, the Tories say. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 17 Mar 2008 | 2:03 pm
We discuss science, fiction, and 'lablit' with biologist and science writer Dr. Jennifer Rohn. Plus, Robin Ince on the merits of science versus the arts. And, behind the scenes at the IgNobel awards tour Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 17 Mar 2008 | 2:03 pm
Rocket planes for space tourism will one day be turned out much like airliners are today, says EADS Astrium. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 17 Mar 2008 | 1:38 pm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Overeating disrupts entire networks of genes in the body, causing not only obesity, but diabetes and heart disease, in ways that may be possible to predict, researchers reported on Sunday.
A planetarium incorporating some of the world's most advanced digital projection technology is due to open in the south of England next month. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 17 Mar 2008 | 9:44 am
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. researchers have discovered a promising new drug for schistosomiasis -- a parasitic worm disease that affects more than 200 million people in 70 countries.
HOUSTON (Reuters) - NASA astronauts prepared for a spacewalk on Monday to outfit the International Space Station's new robotic handyman after tests showed it to be in good working order.
Male fertility problems are determined in the womb, research from the University of Edinburgh suggests. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 17 Mar 2008 | 12:37 am
Obituary Entomologist and world authority on the dragonfly, conducted life-saving research into mosquitos Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 17 Mar 2008 | 12:02 am
The rate at which some of the world's glaciers are melting has more than doubled, new data says. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Mar 2008 | 7:51 pm
