Researchers have discovered a gene mutation directly involved in the metabolism of the most common and perhaps most known medication used to treat ADHD, methylphenidate (MPH), or Ritalin. The discovery may open the door to pre-testing of patients for the appropriate ADHD medication, instead of having to undergo trial and error. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
Australia's links to South America have just gotten a bit closer, but not due to economic forces, rather fossil forces. Palaeontologists working in Australia identified a fossil that had previously only been found in South America. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
Acoustical analyses of people belting out "Jingle Bells," "Brother John" and a Polish birthday song, "Sto Lat" reveal that most people sing in tune and in time, even without musical training. Moreover, two distinct "phenotypes", or recognizable forms, of impaired singing exist that are linked to perceptual abilities. Researchers identified two phenotypes of impaired singing: off-pitch singers with perceptional deficits who don't know they're landing on the wrong notes, and poor-pitch singers who can tell they're off and sing anyway. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
Using the same concept behind commercial breath-freshening strips, a Temple University researcher has developed a new, easier method for clinical taste testing, created taste strips similar to breath-freshening strips, but these edible strips contain one of the five basic tastes that are detected by humans -- sweet, sour, salty, bitter and monosodium glutamate, which is also known as umami taste. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
Quantum computing has been hailed as the next leap forward for computers, promising to catapult memory capacity and processing speeds well beyond current limits. Several challenging problems need to be cracked, however, before the dream can be fully realized. Two researchers have proposed a solution to one of the most controversial of these conundrums and, in the process, may have taken a significant step toward realizing a quantum computing future. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
A detergent solution that treats donor nerve grafts to circumvent an immune rejection response has been used to create acellular nerve grafts now used successfully in hospitals around the country. Research also shows early promise of the detergent solution having possible applications in spinal cord repair. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
Less than a week after Los Alamos National Laboratory's Roadrunner supercomputer began operating at world-record petaflop-per-second data-processing speeds, Los Alamos researchers are already using the computer to mimic extremely complex neurological processes. The code run on the machine mimics brain mechanisms underlying human sight. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
Singapore scientists unveil an atlas showing the location of "genomic hotspots" of essential protein "switches" (transcription factors) that help maintain the embryonic stem cell state. Using advanced high throughput sequencing technology, the scientists discovered over 3,000 hotspots. These findings could improve understanding of the unique properties of stem cells that enable them to maintain their intriguing ability to grow and differentiate to virtually any cell type. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
A synthetic chemical based on a compound found in cocoa beans slowed growth and accelerated destruction of human tumors in laboratory studies, and should be tested further for cancer chemoprevention or even treatment, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
How will the only male rhea at the Smithsonian's National Zoo spend Father's Day? He will spend it much like he has spent the past eight weeks: as a proud papa nurturing and caring for his four chicks born April 20. This is the first time in some 30 years that rhea chicks have hatched at the Zoo. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
AFP - More rain was headed to flood ravaged Iowa Sunday where tens of thousands of residents had been forced to flee their homes and officials struggled to reinforce breached levies and stem the rushing waters.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle Discovery landed at its home port on Saturday, wrapping up a mission that gave Japan a permanent toehold in space and setting NASA up for its next flight -- a high-profile servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope.
AFP - Group of Eight finance chiefs sent a warning signal to oil speculators this weekend, highlighting the inflation threat to the global economy in an attempt to cool red-hot energy prices, analysts said.
AFP - The US shuttle Discovery touched down in Florida Saturday, capping a successful 14-day mission to deliver and open Japan's first space laboratory at the International Space Station.
A basking shark tracked with satellite tag found to travel farther and deeper than known before Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 14 Jun 2008 | 11:09 pm
It marks the first time scientists had clearly picked up a strong sonar signal for squid, which lack the bones and swim bladders that give away other marine creatures. Source: LiveScience.com | 14 Jun 2008 | 10:14 pm
While we wait for the potential McCain-Obama election scandals to unfold, test yourself on these historic election controversies. Source: LiveScience.com | 14 Jun 2008 | 10:14 pm
AP - Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Saturday and capped a successful expansion job at the international space station, more spacious and robust thanks to a new billion-dollar science lab.
Reuters - Political controversy may have
slowed the pace of stem cell science, but the field is still
promising enough to attract many talented researchers, stem
cell experts said on Saturday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Political controversy may have slowed the pace of stem cell science, but the field is still promising enough to attract many talented researchers, stem cell experts said on Saturday.
LiveScience.com - The idea of Father's Day was conceived by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash., while she listened to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm. Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Jun 2008 | 4:35 pm
AP - Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.
The US space shuttle Discovery successfully lands at Florida's Kennedy space centre despite the earlier loss of a rudder clip. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 14 Jun 2008 | 3:19 pm
AFP - More rain was headed to flood ravaged Iowa Sunday where tens of thousands of residents had been forced to flee their homes and officials struggled to reinforce breached levies and stem the rushing waters.
AFP - Group of Eight finance chiefs sent a warning signal to oil speculators this weekend, highlighting the inflation threat to the global economy in an attempt to cool red-hot energy prices, analysts said.
AFP - The US shuttle Discovery touched down in Florida Saturday, capping a successful 14-day mission to deliver and open Japan's first space laboratory at the International Space Station.
AP - Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Saturday and capped a successful expansion job at the international space station, more spacious and robust thanks to a new billion-dollar science lab.
Reuters - Political controversy may have
slowed the pace of stem cell science, but the field is still
promising enough to attract many talented researchers, stem
cell experts said on Saturday.
AP - Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.