Layers of plastic, much thinner than a strand of hair—this type of ultrathin polymer film is of great interest to scientists and engineers. A new method to produce wafer-thin layers of polymer materials, which may be used as protective coatings, has been developed. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
Research suggests the average supermarket shopper will pay a premium price for locally produced foods, providing some farmers an attractive option to enter a niche market that could boost their revenues. The study showed that shoppers at farm markets would pay almost twice as much extra as retail grocery shoppers for the same locally produced foods. Both kinds of shoppers also will pay more for guaranteed fresh produce and tend to favor buying food produced by small farms over what they perceive as corporate operations. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
How, scientists wonder, do the French get away with a clean bill of heart health despite a diet loaded with saturated fats? The answer to the so-called "French paradox" may be found in red wine. More specifically, it may reside in small doses of resveratrol, a natural constituent of grapes, pomegranates, red wine and other foods, according to a new study by an international team of researchers. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
Scientists find evidence of tetrapods living in Antarctica during the early Triassic epoch, about 245 million years ago. The fossils were created when fine sand from an overflowing river poured into the animals' burrows and hardened into casts of the open spaces. The largest preserved piece is about 14 inches long, 6 inches wide and 3 inches deep. The burrows' relatively small size prompted scientists to speculate that their owners might have been small lizardlike reptiles called Procolophonids or an early mammal relative called Thrinaxodon. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
Researchers have now shown that rats transplanted with cells isolated from human nasal polyps have improved brain function following a stroke compared with rats not transplanted with these cells. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
Aging leads to large changes in gene activity in the ovaries of mice, but only limited changes in testes, according to new research. A lifespan-extending calorie-restricted diet reversed some of the aging effects -- but, unlike the widespread changes observed in somatic organs, it had an impact only in a small number of gonad-specific genes. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
AP - Scuba divers swept away in strong currents survived 12 hours in shark-infested waters before scrambling onto a remote Indonesian island where they faced yet another threat: a Komodo dragon.
The humble earthworm provides a new sensitive and detailed picture of what is going on in our contaminated soil ecosystems. New research shows that copper contamination has a detrimental effect by interfering with the energy metabolism of the exposed invertebrates and that different pollutants have unique molecular effects, with implications for both monitoring and remediation of toxins. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
Astronomers have used ultrasharp images obtained with the Keck Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope to determine for the first time the masses of the coldest class of "failed stars," a.k.a. brown dwarfs. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
Researchers have identified a novel factor that promotes the development of antibiotic resistance in a bacterial pathogen. The study explains that Mfd, a protein involved in DNA transcription and repair, plays an important role in the development of fluoroquinolone resistance in Campylobacter, a bacterial pathogen commonly associated with food poisoning in humans. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
Researchers have found an alternative method for obstetric care that leads not only to healthier newborns, but better outcomes for moms as well. The method maximizes the chance for vaginal delivery, as opposed to C-sections, which are potentially harmful and increasing in trend. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
AFP - As world oil prices skyrocket, thousands of households in energy-poor Japan are taking part in an ambitious experiment to use fuel cells to light and heat their homes.
Natural CO2 vents on the sea floor show scientists how life will be affected as carbon emissions acidify the oceans. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 8 Jun 2008 | 5:08 pm
AP - Two astronauts floated outside the international space station Sunday and finished two of the maintenance tasks on their work list during the final spacewalk of the space shuttle Discovery's visit to the orbiting outpost.
Reuters - Spacewalking astronauts slipped outside
the International Space Station on Sunday to work on the
outpost's cooling system and finish outfitting Japan's newly
arrived Kibo research laboratory.
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Spacewalking astronauts slipped outside the International Space Station on Sunday to work on the outpost's cooling system and finish outfitting Japan's newly arrived Kibo research laboratory.
AP - A long way from Iraq and the war debate in Washington, Herman Moore sat outside a tent in a downtown New Orleans homeless camp, trying to make sense of a proposal that helps Iraqi war refugees but will likely exclude Hurricane Katrina victims.
AP - Abdellilah Meddich's childhood memories of the famous palm grove of Marrakech are of a "magical" place, a lush desert oasis of flowers, animals and farmers who tended tree-shaded plots.
LiveScience.com - Cat-sized reptiles once roamed what is now the icebox of Antarctica, snuggling up in burrows and peeping above ground to snag plant roots and insects. Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Jun 2008 | 2:20 am
The Mars lander delivers a soil sample to an onboard oven, but the material is not registered by the instrument. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 7 Jun 2008 | 11:25 pm
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dirt that the Phoenix Mars Lander scooped recently from the planet's surface may be too clumpy to be analyzed by the machine's onboard system, NASA reported on Saturday.
A BBC film crew captures the giant panda's full courtship and mating - from boisterous beginning to noisy ending. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 7 Jun 2008 | 10:04 pm
AP - The first sample of Martian dirt dumped onto the opening of the Phoenix lander's tiny testing oven failed to reach the instrument and scientists said Saturday they will devote a few days to trying to determine the cause.
AP - Scuba divers swept away in strong currents survived 12 hours in shark-infested waters before scrambling onto a remote Indonesian island where they faced yet another threat: a Komodo dragon.
AFP - As world oil prices skyrocket, thousands of households in energy-poor Japan are taking part in an ambitious experiment to use fuel cells to light and heat their homes.
AP - Two astronauts floated outside the international space station Sunday and finished two of the maintenance tasks on their work list during the final spacewalk of the space shuttle Discovery's visit to the orbiting outpost.
Reuters - Spacewalking astronauts slipped outside
the International Space Station on Sunday to work on the
outpost's cooling system and finish outfitting Japan's newly
arrived Kibo research laboratory.
AP - A long way from Iraq and the war debate in Washington, Herman Moore sat outside a tent in a downtown New Orleans homeless camp, trying to make sense of a proposal that helps Iraqi war refugees but will likely exclude Hurricane Katrina victims.
AP - Abdellilah Meddich's childhood memories of the famous palm grove of Marrakech are of a "magical" place, a lush desert oasis of flowers, animals and farmers who tended tree-shaded plots.
AP - The first sample of Martian dirt dumped onto the opening of the Phoenix lander's tiny testing oven failed to reach the instrument and scientists said Saturday they will devote a few days to trying to determine the cause.