Similarities between half-billion-year-old and recent food webs point to deep principles underpinning the structure of ecological relationships, as shown by researchers from the Santa Fe Institute, Microsoft Research Cambridge and elsewhere. Analyses of food-web data suggest that most, but not all, aspects of the trophic structure of modern ecosystems were in place over a half-billion years ago. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
It was hard to understand how a graphene sheet -- a featureless, flat sheet of carbon atoms -- lying on an equally featureless iridium surface, somehow converted itself into a kind of muffin tin that formed "muffins" made from newly arrived iridium atoms. The muffins were equally spaced and of equal size. Graphene flakes are notoriously difficult to work with. Still, they are stronger than diamond, better heat-shedders and conductors than silicon, and thought to have great potential in the worlds of microelectronics and sensors. If only they could be tamed. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
An unusually high incidence of lung disease has been diagnosed in workers at popcorn factories. Researchers are focusing on diacetyl, the ingredient which is largely responsible for the odor and flavor of the butter in popcorn, according to a new article in Toxicologic Pathology. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
Nearly one in three children admitted to pediatric intensive care will experience delusions or hallucinations, which put them at higher risk for post-traumatic stress symptoms, according to a new study of children's experiences in a pediatric intensive care unit. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
Dentistry researchers have identified the slimy culprits killing the jawbones of some people taking drugs that treat osteoporosis. Microbial biofilms, a mix of bacteria and sticky extracellular material, are causing jaw tissue infections in patients taking bisphosphonate drugs, according to the lead researcher. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
A less traumatic way of delivering surfactant, a lung lubricant that premature babies need to help them breathe, could reduce the incidence of respiratory problems they'll have later, physicians say. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
Botulinum neurotoxin -- responsible for the deadly food poisoning disease botulism and for the beneficial effects of smoothing out facial wrinkles - can also be used as a dreaded biological weapon. When ingested or inhaled, less than a billionth of an ounce can cause muscle paralysis and eventual death. Although experimental vaccines administered prior to exposure can inhibit the destructive action of this neurotoxin - the most deadly protein known to humans -- no effective pharmacological treatment exists. Scientists have now taken the first step toward designing an effective antidote to the most potent form of botulinum neurotoxin. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 May 2008 | 3:00 pm
By monitoring gene activity levels and changes in chromatin -- the protein spools that the genes wrap around -- researchers were able to detect epigenetic factors that make fruit fly cells resistant to radiation. The discovery suggests that tumor cells may have similar protection from radiotherapy or chemotherapy, an insight that may lead to more effective cancer treatments. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 May 2008 | 3:00 pm
Cancer patients who have been successfully treated for their disease face the prospect of its return if stored ovarian (or testicular) tissue is transplanted back into their bodies without adequate checks, according to researchers at two university hospitals. And few fertility centers have skills and technology needed to check for residual cancer cells. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 May 2008 | 3:00 pm
Chemicals used to make nonstick cookware and stain-resistant fabrics are spreading around the world and turning up in surprising places, everywhere from wildlife and drinking water supplies to human blood. Now, a team of researchers has found these suspected carcinogens in samples of human milk from nursing mothers in Massachusetts. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 May 2008 | 3:00 pm
South Africa has lifted a moratorium on elephant culling to combat a surge in population numbers. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 1 May 2008 | 11:06 am
Details of a new kind of electronic device, which could make chips smaller, is outlined by scientists. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 1 May 2008 | 10:14 am
Former UN head Kofi Annan calls for a "green revolution" to solve the food crisis threatening Africa. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 1 May 2008 | 9:24 am
Global temperatures may not rise for 10 years as natural cooling masks greenhouse warming, research suggests. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 1 May 2008 | 3:11 am
Nine West African countries agree an $8bn, 20-year plan to save Africa's third-largest river, the Niger. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 1 May 2008 | 1:06 am
CHICAGO (Reuters) - It took about 40 years to find it, but scientists at Hewlett-Packard said on Wednesday they discovered a fourth basic type of electrical circuit that could lead to a computer you never have to boot up.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some dinosaur dung was snapped up at auction in New York even as a 4.5 billion year old meteorite which was supposed to top the sale went unsold.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A new process to extract and copy the essential elements of cells that make human antibodies has provided a shortcut to making targeted, infection-fighting proteins known as monoclonal antibodies, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new type of powerful stem cell made from ordinary skin cells has been coaxed into becoming three different types of heart and blood cells in mice, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Drinking alcohol dulls the brain's ability to detect threats, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday in a study that helps explain why people who are drunk cannot tell when the guy at the end of the bar is angling for a fight.
The case for nuclear power as an alternative, low carbon source of energy is challenged in a new report. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 30 Apr 2008 | 4:56 pm
A lethal intestinal virus which has already claimed 20 lives could cause more deaths in eastern China. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 30 Apr 2008 | 3:06 pm
The BBC hears that rising rates of child health issues in Afghanistan may be linked to depleted uranium weapons. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 30 Apr 2008 | 2:58 pm
