Large amounts of ozone are being destroyed in the lower atmosphere over the tropical Atlantic Ocean. The significance is that ozone in the lower atmosphere acts as a greenhouse gas and its destruction also leads to the removal of the third most abundant greenhouse gas -- methane. It should lead to improved climate predictions. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
Oregano doesn't only give a pizza its typical taste. Researchers have discovered that this spice also contains a substance which, amongst other qualities, appears to help cure inflammations. The researchers administered its active ingredient -- known as beta-caryophyllin (E-BCP) - to mice with inflamed paws. In seven out of ten cases there was a subsequent improvement in the symptoms. E-BCP might possibly be of use against disorders such as osteoporosis and arteriosclerosis. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
Many people use "alternative" or complementary products because they see them as a more gentle form of medicine. Not all dietary supplements and 'alternative' products are harmless though; a new report urges consumers to be more critical of health claims. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
Scientists have come an important step closer to the quantum computer. "Our results give us, for the first time, the possibility to understand the interaction between just two electrons placed next to each other in a carbon nanotube. A groundbreaking discovery, which is fundamental for the creation of a quantum mechanical bit, a so-called quantum bit -- the cornerstone of a quantum computer," explains Henrik Jørgensen, who is one of the many researchers competing on an international level to be the first to make a quantum bit in a carbon nanotube. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
Mice immunized with an intestinal protein developed fewer lung and liver metastases following injection with colon cancer cells than unvaccinated animals, according to a study in the June 24 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
Scientists have genetically programmed embryonic stem cells to become nerve cells when transplanted into the brain, according to a new study. The research, an important step toward developing new treatments for stroke, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological conditions showed that mice afflicted by stroke showed therapeutic improvement following transplantation of these cells. None of the mice formed tumors, a major setback in prior attempts at stem cell transplantation. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
Mechanical engineers have developed a laser "microscalpel" that destroys a single cell while leaving nearby cells intact, which could improve the precision of surgeries for cancer, epilepsy and other diseases. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
Research conducted by food science faculty at the University of Idaho and Washington State University indicate that a commercially available fruit and vegetable wash, when used in a food-manufacturing setting, can dramatically decrease the number of disease-causing organisms in produce-processing washwater. That could reduce by manyfold the potential for cross-contamination within the water by such "gram-negative" bacteria as Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
Taking advantage of the fact that the intestines have a separate immune system from the rest of the body, scientists have found a way to immunize mice against the development of metastasis. They have shown that mice immunized with an intestinal protein developed fewer lung and liver metastases after injection with colon cancer cells than did controls. The work may portend the development of a different kind of cancer vaccine that may help prevent recurrence. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
Researchers have uncovered evidence of explosive volcanic eruptions deep beneath the ice-covered surface of the Arctic Ocean. Such violent eruptions of splintered, fragmented rock -- known as pyroclastic deposits -- were not thought possible at great ocean depths because of the intense weight and pressure of water and because of the composition of seafloor magma and rock. The evidence of violent eruptions on Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic defies assumptions about seafloor pressure and volcanism. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
AP - Severe thunderstorms rattled northern Missouri early Thursday, threatening to add even more rain to the swollen Mississippi River and complicate efforts to keep the river from engulfing this community.
AP - Environmental and animal rights groups are lining up to oppose a lawsuit that seeks to let American sport hunters again import hides of polar bears shot legally in Canada.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chocolate maker Mars Inc, computer giant IBM and the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday they would team up to map the DNA of the cocoa tree to try to sweeten the crop's $5 billion market.
Biologists estimate around 230,000 marine species are known to science, although there could be three times as many in the oceans which are as yet undiscovered Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 26 Jun 2008 | 11:33 am
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A giant crater made by an asteroid or comet explains why Mars is so lopsided, with a basin on one hemisphere and high terrain on the other, three separate teams of scientists said on Wednesday.
LiveScience.com - Pushing the boundaries of science, researchers injected dye and
latex into 14 cadavers to find the boundaries of four deeply seated
facial fat compartments. All in the interest of making you more
beautiful, of course. Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 11:25 am
Thousands of wind turbines could be built across the UK as part of a £100bn plan to boost renewable energy. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 26 Jun 2008 | 11:22 am
SPACE.com - The Senate
Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved a NASA authorization
bill this week that would forbid the U.S. space agency from retiring the space
shuttle before completing all remaining missions, including an additional
flight to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the International Space
Station. Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 11:15 am
A massive collision with an asteroid up to two thirds the size of the moon blasted the crust off half the Red Planet's surface Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 26 Jun 2008 | 10:47 am
AP - The Navy is challenging Hawaii's authority to protect whales by restricting the use of sonar during training exercises, environmentalists and military representatives say.
AP - The latest visitors to the New Jersey shore are doing what many tourists do: splashing around in the waves with the kids and feasting on seafood. Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 26 Jun 2008 | 10:15 am
Findings show that natural processes are destroying more pollutants, such as ozone and methane, than previously thought. But the tropical Atlantic cannot be taken for granted as a permanent sink for ozone, scientists warn Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 26 Jun 2008 | 9:37 am
AP - Reeling in a 45-pound grouper used to be just an average day on the water in the Florida Keys. The abundance of behemoth fish attracted anglers from around the world in the early 1900s, including adventurers such as Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey, who pulled in monsters from the clear, warm depths off Key West.
AP - Government scientists are launching a five-year project Thursday aimed at safeguarding the world's chocolate supply by dissecting the genome of the cocoa bean.
AP - Scientists unearthed a skull of the most primitive four-legged creature in Earth's history, which should help them better understand the evolution of fish to advanced animals that walk on land.
Sarah Boseley: A pill to shed pounds would be a miracle. Unfortunately, diet drugs have a chequered history Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 25 Jun 2008 | 11:02 pm
Intelligent armed vehicles that use GPS, laser and heat-recognition technology are close to being deployed in hotspots Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 25 Jun 2008 | 11:02 pm
The chocolate company Mars has announced that it is to decode the genetic structure of the cacao tree. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 25 Jun 2008 | 10:49 pm
Scientists unearthed a skull of the most primitive four-legged creature in Earth's history, which should help them better understand the evolution of fish to advanced animals that walk on land. Source: Livescience.com | 25 Jun 2008 | 9:11 pm
With gas prices skyrocketing, some government officials are crying out against the ban on drilling for oil in protected areas in Alaska and along US coasts. Here, the risks and rewards of lifting the ban are considered. Source: Livescience.com | 25 Jun 2008 | 8:46 pm
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's parliament voiced its support on Wednesday for the rights of great apes to life and freedom in what will apparently be the first time any national legislature has called for such rights for non-humans.
Scientists think a giant asteroid impact can explain why the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars look so different. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 25 Jun 2008 | 8:00 pm
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A novel experimental vaccine targeting key immune system cells prevents and reverses "new-onset" diabetes in a mouse model, researchers report.
AP - World energy demand will grow 50 percent over the next two decades, oil prices could rise to $186 a barrel and coal will remain the biggest source of electricity despite its effect on global warming, government experts predict. Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 25 Jun 2008 | 6:50 pm
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have identified a primitive area of the brain that makes us adventurous -- a finding which may help explain why people routinely fall for "new" products when shopping.
Scientists identify a 365-million-year-old fossil that helps explain the sequence of events that took early creatures onto land. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 25 Jun 2008 | 6:00 pm
Jacob Whitehill has built an innovative smile detector that can turn his face into a remote control device that can send simple commands to a computer. Source: Livescience.com | 25 Jun 2008 | 4:49 pm
Global warming is likely to increase illegal immigration, create humanitarian disasters and destabilize precarious governments and could add to terrorism, all of which could threaten U.S. national security. Source: Livescience.com | 25 Jun 2008 | 4:15 pm
Two teams of emergency telecoms workers leave cyclone-hit Burma after their efforts are blocked. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 25 Jun 2008 | 3:38 pm
OSLO (Reuters) - About a third of all types of fish and other marine life have been wrongly named by scientists, complicating efforts to conserve what could be a million marine species, experts said on Wednesday.
A World Register of Marine Species roots out the fish and other ocean organisms that have multiple scientific names. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 25 Jun 2008 | 2:50 pm
LONDON (Reuters) - Radio frequency identification chips (RFID) used to track and trace products could cause critical care medical devices such as pacemakers and ventilators to fail, Dutch researchers said on Tuesday.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Extreme floods and droughts brought on by climate change can turn normally harmless infections into significant threats, international researchers said on Tuesday.
AP - Severe thunderstorms rattled northern Missouri early Thursday, threatening to add even more rain to the swollen Mississippi River and complicate efforts to keep the river from engulfing this community.
AP - Environmental and animal rights groups are lining up to oppose a lawsuit that seeks to let American sport hunters again import hides of polar bears shot legally in Canada.
AP - The Navy is challenging Hawaii's authority to protect whales by restricting the use of sonar during training exercises, environmentalists and military representatives say.
AP - Reeling in a 45-pound grouper used to be just an average day on the water in the Florida Keys. The abundance of behemoth fish attracted anglers from around the world in the early 1900s, including adventurers such as Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey, who pulled in monsters from the clear, warm depths off Key West.
AP - Government scientists are launching a five-year project Thursday aimed at safeguarding the world's chocolate supply by dissecting the genome of the cocoa bean.
AP - Scientists unearthed a skull of the most primitive four-legged creature in Earth's history, which should help them better understand the evolution of fish to advanced animals that walk on land.