NASA engineers Thursday successfully completed the first series of tests in the early development of the J-2X engine that will power the upper stages of the Ares I and Ares V rockets, key components of NASA's Constellation Program. Ares I will launch the Orion spacecraft that will take astronauts to the International Space Station and then to the moon by 2020. The Ares V will carry cargo and components into orbit for trips to the moon and later to Mars. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 May 2008 | 12:00 am
New research on cane toads in Northern Australia has discovered a way to control the cane toad invasion using parasites and toad communication signals. Biologists says that controlling toads has been difficult as things that kill them will often kill frogs. Professor Shine and his team studied cane toads in Queensland that lagged behind the invasion front and found they were infected with a lungworm parasite which slows down adults and, in laboratory tests, kills around 30% of baby toads. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 May 2008 | 12:00 am
A tiny modification called methylation on estrogen receptors prolongs the life of these growth-driving molecules in breast cancer cells. Most breast cancers contain estrogen receptors, which enable them to grow in the presence of the hormone estrogen. Their presence can determine whether tumors will respond to the estrogen-blocking drug tamoxifen. The finding will help researchers sort out how mutations change the estrogen receptor's function and allow some breast cancers to resist tamoxifen. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 May 2008 | 12:00 am
It has been widely assumed that, in single-celled organisms, each cell perceives its environment -- and responds to stress conditions -- individually. Likewise, it had been thought that cells in multicellular organisms respond the same way. But scientists have now discovered otherwise. In studies of the worm C. elegans, they found that authority is taken away from individual cells and given to two specialized neurons to sense temperature stress and organize an integrated molecular response for the entire organism. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 May 2008 | 12:00 am
Millions of American teens report experiencing weeks of hopelessness and loss of interest in normal daily activities and many of these depressed teens are using marijuana and other drugs, making their situation worse, according to a new White House report. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 May 2008 | 12:00 am
Men who consumed high saturated fat diets (HSF) were younger and had higher BMIs at diagnosis than men with who consumed low saturated fat diets (LSF). Saturated fats were most commonly consumed as beef steaks, cheese and cheese spreads, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, eggs, ice cream and salad dressings. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 May 2008 | 12:00 am
Young women would accept age-based screening for the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia, but would want this test to be offered to everyone, rather than to people "singled out" according to their sexual history. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
People with diagnosed diabetes are nearly twice as likely to have arthritis, and the inactivity caused by arthritis hinders the successful management of both diseases, according to a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report study. This is one of the first studies of its kind to look at the relationship between arthritis and diabetes and the outcomes associated with physical activity. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
Which is better, giving more food to a few hungry people or letting some food go to waste so that everyone gets a share? A new study finds that most people choose the latter, and that the brain responds in unique ways to inefficiency and inequity. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
Scientists working with diabetic mice have examined in unprecedented detail the immune cells long thought to be responsible for type 1 diabetes. They caught the immune cells, known as dendritic cells, "red-handed": they were carrying insulin and fragments of insulin-producing cells known as beta cells. This can be the first step in a misdirected immune system attack that destroys the beta cells, causing diabetes. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
The number of grants to people fitting green energy systems in their homes has halved, the BBC has learned. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 10 May 2008 | 1:29 pm
Margaret Drabble: Forty years ago legalised abortion was a triumph, but is it time to rethink the rights of the unborn? Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 9 May 2008 | 11:18 pm
Ben Goldacre: In the United States last week the papers went crazy: artificial blood products cause a 30% increase in deaths Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 9 May 2008 | 11:12 pm
PUERTO MONTT, Chile (Reuters) - A towering plume of ash from an erupting volcano in Chile's remote Patagonia could rain down on the surrounding area and cause devastating damage, a volcano expert warned on Friday.
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Researchers in Ivory Coast are asking $1 million for a three-headed hybrid coconut tree they believe could substantially boost the tropical nut's yield.
