Cornell researchers are studying bacterium big enough to see -- the Shaquille O'Neal of bacteria. The secret to an unusual bacterium's massive size -- it's the size of a grain of salt, or a million times bigger than E. coli bacteria, and big enough to see with the naked eye -- may be found in its ability to copy its genome tens of thousands of times. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 May 2008 | 9:00 pm
An international study of animal behavior has important implications for human decision-making. For animals that live in social groups, and that includes humans, blindly following a leader could place them in danger. To avoid this, animals have developed simple but effective behavior to follow where at least a few of them dare to tread -- rather than follow a single group member. This pattern of behavior reduces the risk of imitating maverick behavior of an individual as the group recognize that consensus is better than following someone that goes it alone. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 May 2008 | 9:00 pm
Blackberries, blueberries, oranges and grapes --- chemistry students are loading up on their fruits these days, but it has nothing to do with the food pyramid. The students are using the fruit to produce solar energy. Actually, they are using the dye from the fruit in a process to create solar cells. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 May 2008 | 9:00 pm
Intravenous administration of isotonic fluids is the standard emergency treatment in the U.S. for patients with severe blood loss, but now bioengineering researchers have reported improved resuscitation with a radically different approach. Building on earlier studies in humans that have shown benefits of intravenous fluids that are eight times saltier than normal saline, the researchers combined hypertonic saline with viscosity enhancers that thicken blood. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 May 2008 | 9:00 pm
Women who breast feed for longer have a smaller chance of getting rheumatoid arthritis, suggests a new study. The study also found that taking oral contraceptives, which are suspected to protect against the disease because they contain hormones that are raised in pregnancy, did not have the same effect. Also, simply having children and not breast feeding also did not seem to be protective. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 May 2008 | 9:00 pm
Physically active women are 25 percent less likely to get breast cancer, but certain groups are more likely to see these benefits than others, finds a review in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The type of activity undertaken, at what time in life and the woman's body mass index (BMI) will determine how protective the activity is against the disease. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 May 2008 | 9:00 pm
A new study of possible links between climate and geophysics finds that a much hotter climate could shut down the Earth's plate tectonics. While human-induced climate change couldn't generate the needed heat, volcanic activity or changes in the sun's luminosity could. The research, in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, may help explain why Venus swelters beneath a thick blanket of heat-trapping carbon dioxide. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
People diet to look more attractive. Fish diet to avoid being beaten up, thrown out of their social group and getting eaten as a result. Researchers have discovered that subordinate gobis deliberately diet to avoid posing a challenge to their larger rivals by consistently remaining 5-10% smaller. Once a subordinate fish grows to within 5-10% of its larger rival, it provokes a fight which usually ends in the smaller goby being expelled from the group. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
New research is changing the way cleft palate surgeries are performed throughout North America and around the world. Surgical timing has been a controversial topic with various cleft centers around the world opting for early closure at about 3-6 months of age. However, research complied over the past 20 years has shown that the best time to close the cleft at the alveolus (gum) in patients with either one or two sided clefts is at eight or nine years of age prior to canine tooth eruption. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
A study of seven patients with Parkinson's disease suggests that those who have poor results following implantation of electrodes to stimulate the brain may benefit from additional surgery to correct the electrode placement, according to a new report. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 May 2008 | 6:00 pm
Developing nations will pay a disproportionately high share of the cost for damage to Earth's environment. Source: LiveScience.com | 13 May 2008 | 2:13 pm
GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly will donate $1 million to train doctors treating tuberculosis (TB), a disease that infects 9 million people every year and kills nearly 2 million.
Microsoft launches a free tool that allows amateur star-gazers to explore the universe from their computers. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 13 May 2008 | 10:12 am
The anti-impotence drug Viagra may potentially aid muscular dystrophy patients, research suggests. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 13 May 2008 | 7:35 am
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Any Star Trek fan knows that space travel is not always easy, but Microsoft Corp wants to make traveling the "final frontier" as simple as turning on your computer.
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Volcanic activity at New Zealand's Mount Ruapehu is increasing and an eruption could occur at any time, scientists warned on Tuesday. The volcano in central North Island, famed as a location in the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy, last erupted on September 25 2007, spitting 2 meter (6 feet) boulders distances of up to 2 km (1.5 miles).
Breathing in air pollution from traffic fumes can raise the risk of potentially deadly blood clots, a US study says. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 12 May 2008 | 11:02 pm
UK politicians allow plans to update embryology laws to continue through Parliament, despite deep divisions. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 12 May 2008 | 9:33 pm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence analysts are examining spy satellite images of China's Sichuan province, where a powerful earthquake is believed to have killed 3,000 to 5,000 people, a defense official said on Monday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The parents of two 10-year-old boys who believe vaccines caused their sons to develop autism brought their case to U.S. federal court on Monday, arguing a mercury preservative in the shots caused a rare reaction.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adults with higher levels of hostility are more likely to be lighter at birth and throughout childhood than less hostile people according to a study published in journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adult women who were breast-fed as infants may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer than those who were not breast-fed, unless they were first-born, study findings suggest.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The secret behind growing large tomatoes lies not in the fertilizer or the perfect soil conditions, but in just a few genetic changes that over time have resulted in tomatoes 1,000 times bigger than their wild ancestors, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian swimmer survived a great white shark attack by poking the creature in the eyes as it dragged him through the water after badly savaging his left leg.
A robot which cares for millions of frozen biological samples is among four finalists for a top engineering award. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 12 May 2008 | 3:32 pm
We take a tour through the human head, run through the latest twists in the debate over abortion time limits and consider the genetics of the strangest mammal on Earth Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 12 May 2008 | 3:13 pm
Alok Jha and James Randerson discuss the human head with scientist, philosopher and poet, Raymond Tallis Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 12 May 2008 | 3:06 pm
LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - Iconic singer and songwriter Neil Young has had an honor bestowed upon him that is not received by many musicians -- his own spider.
