The world's only captive hairy-nosed otter is given a chance for survival in a new home. Thought to be extinct in the 1990s, the hairy-nosed otter is known to survive only in a few regions of Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Sumatra. Otters in Asia are increasingly threatened by the illegal international fur trade. They are also captured for pets or killed for use in traditional medicines. Another growing threat is loss of habitat, due in part to impacts from global climate change. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 23 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
Intimate examinations, performed by medical students on anesthetised patients, are often carried out without adequate consent from patients, but this violates their basic human rights and should not be allowed, claims an editorial. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 23 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
Even if you eat right and exercise regularly, chances are high that you'll still die of a heart attack or stroke. But thanks to new findings the odds may finally shift in your favor. Two unrelated studies on atherosclerosis that have the potential to save millions of lives. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 23 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
A tiny but powerful engine that propels the bacterium Bacillus subtilis through liquids is disengaged from the corkscrew-like flagellum by a protein clutch, scientists have learned. Scientists have long known what drives the flagellum to spin, but what causes the flagellum to stop spinning -- temporarily or permanently -- was unknown. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 23 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) genes produce proteins that are crucial in fighting pathogen assault. Researchers characterized genetic variation and detected more than one MHC class II locus in a tailed amphibian. Unlike mammals, not much has been known until now about the immune defense of amphibians. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 23 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
A Finnish study of identical twins has found that physical inactivity and acquired obesity can impair expression of the genes which help the cells produce energy. The findings suggest that lifestyle, more than heredity, contributes to insulin resistance in people who are obese. Insulin resistance increases the chance of developing diabetes and heart disease. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 23 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
New research reveals locations in a dog's DNA that contain genes that scientists believe contribute to differences in body and skull shape, weight, fur color and length -- and possibly even behavior, trainability and longevity. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 23 Jun 2008 | 12:00 pm
A novel twist of DNA may keep viral genes tightly wound within a capsule, waiting for ejection into a host, a high-resolution analysis of its structure has revealed. Using electron microscopy and three-dimensional computer reconstruction, biologists and chemists have produced the most detailed image yet of the protein envelope of an asymmetrical virus and the viral DNA packed within. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 23 Jun 2008 | 12:00 pm
Gene mutations that make cells cancerous can sometimes also make them more sensitive to chemotherapy. People with acute myeloid leukemia whose leukemic cells have mutations in the RAS gene are more likely to be cured when treated after remission with high doses of the drug cytarabine. It also suggests that testing for RAS mutations might help doctors identify which AML patients should receive high-dose cytarabine as their post-remission therapy. The findings could change how doctors manage these patients. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 23 Jun 2008 | 12:00 pm
A new UCLA study shows that the FDA-approved drug rapamycin reverses mental retardation in mice with a genetic disease called tuberous sclerosis complex. Because half of TSC patients also suffer from autism, the findings offer a possible mechanism for addressing learning disorders due to autism. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 23 Jun 2008 | 12:00 pm
AFP - China's famed giant pandas are being forced to diet after last month's earthquake devastated large swathes of bamboo forest in the nation's southwest, state media and officials said.
AFP - Oil prices rose towards 137 dollars on Monday after major energy producers ruled out further output despite consumers' fears that the world faces a tight supply situation.
The "Jules Verne" freighter lifts the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) by a record distance. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 23 Jun 2008 | 8:38 am
Reuters - Rescuers held little hope on
Monday of finding some 800 people missing from a capsized ferry
in the Philippines, as divers prepared to drill into the ship's
hull in the hope of finding survivors in air pockets.
Delegates pledge to look for common ground as the International Whaling Commission convenes in Chile. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 23 Jun 2008 | 4:47 am
Tools thought to have belonged to Neanderthals have been dug up at an archaeological site called Beedings in West Sussex. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 23 Jun 2008 | 2:30 am
Do people have no choice but to live in a land that regularly suffers fires, landslides and earthquakes? Source: LiveScience.com | 22 Jun 2008 | 7:22 pm
As salmonella wreaks havoc across the United States, one group of researchers have figured out some of the bacteria's tricks. Source: LiveScience.com | 22 Jun 2008 | 7:22 pm
AP - Bizarre microbes flourish in the most punishing environments on Earth from the bone-dry Atacama Desert in Chile to the boiling hot springs of Yellowstone National Park to the sunless sea bottom vents in the Pacific.
LiveScience.com - This month's flooding in the Midwest is reminiscent of the Great
Flood of 1993, weather officials now say. But while a repeat of 1993 can't be ruled out, they say, this year is unlikely to match
that colossal disaster. Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 22 Jun 2008 | 5:21 pm
Reuters - An Iranian newspaper has been banned
after carrying articles critical of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's economic policies, the state Press TV satellite
station said on its website.
AFP - China's famed giant pandas are being forced to diet after last month's earthquake devastated large swathes of bamboo forest in the nation's southwest, state media and officials said.
AFP - Oil prices rose towards 137 dollars on Monday after major energy producers ruled out further output despite consumers' fears that the world faces a tight supply situation.
Reuters - Rescuers held little hope on
Monday of finding some 800 people missing from a capsized ferry
in the Philippines, as divers prepared to drill into the ship's
hull in the hope of finding survivors in air pockets.
AP - Bizarre microbes flourish in the most punishing environments on Earth from the bone-dry Atacama Desert in Chile to the boiling hot springs of Yellowstone National Park to the sunless sea bottom vents in the Pacific.
Reuters - An Iranian newspaper has been banned
after carrying articles critical of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's economic policies, the state Press TV satellite
station said on its website.