Children with mothers who have allergies or asthma have an increased risk of wheezing in the chest if they take part in baby swimming before 6 months of age.
A new study reports that inner-city children with asthma may be particularly vulnerable to air pollution at levels below current air quality standards. The study analyzes the short-term effects of outdoor pollution levels on asthma symptoms and lung function in children.
Women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer frequently report problems with memory and concentration, but two new studies suggest that chemotherapy is not the cause of these problems, and the stress of the diagnosis may be.
Scientists have created the first comprehensive monoclonal antibody libraries against avian influenza using samples from survivors of the 2005/2006 "bird flu" outbreak in Turkey. These antibody libraries hold the promise for developing a therapy that could stop a pandemic in its tracks and provide treatment to those infected, as well as potentially pointing the way towards the development of a universal flu vaccine.
The top twenty carbon dioxide-emitting counties in the United States have now been identified. The top three counties include the cities of Houston, Los Angeles and Chicago. Fittingly the county of Carbon, Pennsylvania is on the list.
Researchers have for the first time used drug-treated blood stem cells to repair heart damage in an animal model, results that might point to methods for healing injuries from heart attacks or disease.
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Borneo's mysterious pygmy elephants may be the descendants of Javan elephants accidentally saved from extinction by a local sultan several centuries ago, the conservation group WWF said on Thursday.
LONDON (Reuters) - Tiny magnets have been used to deliver anti-cancer gene therapy in mice in a development that could make the treatment much more effective, scientists said on Thursday.
Damian Wroclavsky is a senior correspondent with the Spanish-language service in Buenos Aires. In seven years with Reuters he has covered presidential summits, political crisis and human rights from Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia and Cuba. In the following story, he recounts how he watched killer whales hunt sea lion pups at risk of beaching themselves.
A British-built engine powered by ions makes its first space trip this summer on Europe's gravity explorer probe. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 17 Apr 2008 | 12:09 pm
From autopsies, researchers have long known that some people die with sharp minds and perfect memories, but their brains riddled with the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer's disease. New research shows that those people have a larger part of the brain called the hippocampus.
A large, randomized drug trial has shown for the first time that statin drugs result in a modest, but significant, reduction in blood pressure. These effects may contribute to the reduced risk of stroke and cardiovascular events reported for patients on statins, according to scientists.
Sleeping sickness creates a metabolic 'fingerprint' in the blood and urine, which could enable a new test to be developed to diagnose the disease, according to new research. Sleeping sickness is usually fatal if it is not diagnosed and treated in time.
NASA is extending the international Cassini-Huygens mission by two years. The historic spacecraft's stunning discoveries and images have revolutionized our knowledge of Saturn and its moons. Cassini's mission originally had been scheduled to end in July 2008. The newly-announced two-year extension will include 60 additional orbits of Saturn and more flybys of its exotic moons. These will include 26 flybys of Titan, seven of Enceladus, and one each of Dione, Rhea and Helene. The extension also includes studies of Saturn's rings, its complex magnetosphere, and the planet itself.
The first draft of Charles Darwin's highly influential book on evolution is made available online for the first time. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 17 Apr 2008 | 8:32 am
LONDON (Reuters) - The first draft of Charles Darwin's "On The Origin Of Species" is among a wealth of papers belonging to the intensely private man who changed science being published on the Internet on Thursday for the first time.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Edward Lorenz, the father of chaos theory, who showed how small actions could lead to major changes in what became known as the "butterfly effect," died of cancer on Wednesday at the age of 90, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rejects allegations that biofuels are responsible for rises in global food prices. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 17 Apr 2008 | 2:46 am
European Space Agency scientists believe they are nearer to finding a way to grow plants on the Moon. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 17 Apr 2008 | 2:24 am
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Exposure to the widely used chemical formaldehyde may raise one's risk of getting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Flu viruses evolve freshly somewhere in east or southeast Asia every year, spreading around the world over the next nine months before dying out, researchers reported on Wednesday.
US President George W Bush sets new greenhouse gas targets but is quickly criticised by environmentalists. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Apr 2008 | 8:11 pm
VIENNA (Reuters) - Scientists are developing a tsunami warning system for the Mediterranean region which they said on Wednesday should be ready in 2011 and could save thousands of lives.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Commercial and sport fishing destabilizes fish populations by targeting the biggest, oldest fish and leaving younger fish to proliferate too wildly, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
Improvements are approved for the two US installations leading the international quest to detect gravitational waves. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Apr 2008 | 6:16 pm
The US space agency (Nasa) has extended the international Cassini-Huygens mission by two years. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Apr 2008 | 3:41 pm
