Depressed people may have far fewer of the receptors for some of the brain's "feel good" stress-response chemicals than non-depressed people, new research shows. And even among depressed people, the numbers of these receptors can vary greatly -- and may be linked with the severity of their symptoms and response to treatment. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 May 2008 | 3:00 am
New scientific evidence suggests that deep inside the planet Mercury, iron "snow" forms and falls toward the center of the planet, much like snowflakes form in Earth's atmosphere and fall to the ground. The movement of this iron snow could be responsible for Mercury's mysterious magnetic field. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 May 2008 | 3:00 am
For patients with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease, treatment with activated vitamin D may reduce the risk of death by approximately one-fourth, suggests a new study. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 May 2008 | 3:00 am
A graduating senior has put his basic knowledge of sugars to exceptional use by creating a lab-on-a-chip device that builds complex, highly specialized sugar molecules, mimicking one of the most important cellular structures in the human body -- the Golgi Apparatus. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 May 2008 | 3:00 am
Genetic variation in the DNA of mitochondria -- the "power plants" of cells -- contributes to a person's risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, investigators report. The study is the first to examine the mitochondrial genome for changes associated with AMD, the leading cause of blindness in Caucasians over age 50. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 May 2008 | 3:00 am
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen and into the lab -- chemists can now use carbon nanotubes to judge the heat of chilli sauces. The technology might soon be available commercially as a cheap, disposable sensor for use in the food industry. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 May 2008 | 12:00 am
A new approach to estimating tumor growth has been developed based on breast screening results from almost 400,000 women. This new model can also estimate the proportion of breast cancers which are detected at screening (screen test sensitivity). It provides a new approach to simultaneously estimating the growth rate of breast cancer and the ability of mammography screening to detect tumors. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 May 2008 | 12:00 am
For the first time, researchers have identified genetic components of dendritic cells that are key to asthma and allergy-related immune response malfunction. Targeting these elements could result in more effective drugs to treat respiratory disorders. While dendritic cells are vital to immune response, the new study goes further to describe a pathway that allergens use to act directly on dendritic cells to initiate the allergic cascade. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 May 2008 | 12:00 am
Imagine yourself hip-to-hip, shoulder-to-shoulder, inside a room the size of a walk-in closet for eight hours with five people you just met. Does that make you sweat? Or maybe make your breathing a little more animated? For three weeks, 23 volunteers dedicated time to do just that -- sweat and breathe -- inside a test chamber so NASA scientists at Johnson Space Center in Houston could measure the amount of moisture and carbon dioxide absorbed by a new system being developed for future space vehicles. The system is designed to control carbon dioxide and humidity inside a crew capsule to make air breathable and living space more comfortable. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 May 2008 | 12:00 am
Children who speak a second or third language may have an unexpected advantage later in life, a new study has found. Knowing and speaking many languages may protect the brain against the effects of aging. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 May 2008 | 12:00 am
Nasa has unveiled a plan to boost its supercomputer power to help plan and model future missions. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 8 May 2008 | 1:19 pm
UK government opposition to human spaceflight will be no bar to its citizens becoming astronauts, Esa says. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 8 May 2008 | 12:51 pm
PUERTO MONTT, Chile (Reuters) - Chile evacuated the last of a small group of military personnel and civilians from the vicinity of an erupting volcano in its remote Patagonian south before dawn on Thursday, after it spat a surge of fiery material, officials said.
People are needlessly throwing away 3.6m tonnes of food each year in England and Wales, research suggests. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 8 May 2008 | 10:21 am
BEIJING (Reuters) - China reported two more deaths on Thursday from a severe strain of hand, foot and mouth disease, bringing its toll from the outbreak to 30, all of them young children, Xinhua news agency reported.
Flowers "wave" at passing insects to get their attention and increase chances of pollination, scientists find. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 8 May 2008 | 8:23 am
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's unique duck-billed platypus -- an egg-laying, furry animal with web feet that spends most of its time underwater -- is in fact part bird, part reptile and part mammal according to its gene map.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Orchids that mimic female wasps may not only waste the time of the male wasps they lure into spreading their pollen -- they also seduce them into wasting valuable sperm, Australian researchers reported on Wednesday.
BOSTON (Reuters) - An international team of researchers said they have pinpointed three variants of the genetic code that appear to set the stage for aggressive neuroblastoma, the deadliest solid tumor in early childhood.
The genetic blueprint of one of the world's strangest mammals - the duck-billed platypus - is deciphered. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 7 May 2008 | 5:06 pm
Cayman Island authorities investigate the killing of six critically endangered giant blue iguanas. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 7 May 2008 | 3:27 pm
A demonstrator satellite for the European Galileo system begins transmitting navigation signals back to Earth. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 7 May 2008 | 2:48 pm
David Batty explains the rise of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, the latest superbug threat to healthcare wards Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 7 May 2008 | 1:45 pm
