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How Asbestos Fibers Trigger Cancer In Human CellsScientists are now studying the molecular underpinnings of cancer by probing individual bonds between an asbestos fiber and human cells. Though any clinical application is years away, the researchers hope their findings could aid in drug development efforts targeting illnesses caused by excessive exposure to asbestos, including the deadly cancer called mesothelioma.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Watching Water From Space Could Aid Disease Prevention In ChinaScientists are looking to outer space for help in their attempt to prevent new outbreaks of the tropical disease schistosomiasis in southern China. Once the Three Gorges Dam is fully operational, researchers plan to use satellite data from space to determine whether changing water conditions in Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, create favorable conditions for the snails associated with the chronic disease that can damage internal organs and impair growth and cognitive development in children.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Snails And Humans Use Same Genes To Tell Right From LeftThe genes that in vertebrates establish the right and left sides of the body were thought to be of fairly recent origin, since fruit flies and nematodes don't have them. A new study shows that snails do use the same genes as vertebrates, suggesting that these genes arose more than 500 million years ago in the first bilaterally symmetric organisms.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Medication For Depression Can Also Fight Cancer Drug ResistanceProzac is regularly prescribed to ease the emotional pain of patients who are being treated for cancer. But can this common anti-depressant help to fight cancer itself?Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Shame On Us: Shaming Some Kids Makes Them More AggressiveAren't you ashamed of yourself? All these years, you've been trying to build up your child's self-esteem, and now a growing body of research suggests you may be making a big mistake. A study published in Child Development finds that early adolescents with high self-esteem are more likely to react aggressively when they feel ashamed than their peers with lower levels of self-esteem.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Remarkably Bright White Light Given Off When Diaper Rash Cream Concoction Is Heated To High TemperatureScientists have found that a cheap and nontoxic sunburn and diaper rash preventative can be made to produce brilliant light best suited to the human eye. Physicists have discovered that adding sulfur to ultra-fine powders of commonplace zinc oxide at about 1,000 degrees centigrade allows the preparation to convert invisible ultraviolet light into a remarkably bright and natural form of white light.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm New Tooth Cavity Protection: Nanoparticles Make Surface Too Slippery For Bacteria To AdhereScientists have discovered a new method of protecting teeth from cavities by ultrafine polishing with silica nanoparticles.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Protein Levels Indicate Risk Of Death In Some Colorectal Cancer PatientsA pair of proteins may help explain why people with surgically removed colorectal cancer and who are overweight, physically inactive and follow a Western-pattern diet may have an increased risk of dying of the disease or other causes, scientists report.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Drama In The Heart Of The Tarantula NebulaA new Chandra X-ray Observatory image of the Tarantula Nebula gives scientists a close-up view of the drama of star formation and evolution. The Tarantula, also known as 30 Doradus, is in one of the most active star-forming regions in a galaxy close to the Milky Way. Massive stars in 30 Doradus are producing intense radiation and searing winds of multimillion-degree gas that carve out gigantic super-bubbles in the surrounding gas.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm New Insights Into Autism, Obsessive Behavior: Decreased Levels Of Binding Gene Affect Memory And BehaviorReducing the activity of a gene called FKBP12 in the brains of mice affected neuron-to-neuron communication (synapse) and increased both fearful memory and obsessive behavior, indicating the gene could provide a target for drugs to treat diseases such as autism spectrum disorder, obsessive-compulsive disease and others, according to an article in the journal Neuron.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Saturn's Moon Plays Peekabo With Hubble
The Hubble Space Telescope recently caught this shot of Jupiter's moon Ganymede just before it ducked behind the giant planet. The largest moon in our solar system, Ganymede is an icy rock even bigger than Mercury. Besides being a gorgeous shot, the image reveals important information about Jupiter's atmosphere. As Ganymede passes behind the gas giant, light from the planet bounces off the moon, carrying with it clues about the chemicals that make up the haze above the Jovian clouds. Also visible in the image is the Arizona-sized impact crater Tros on the moon's surface, with bright streaks of material blasted around it. Scientists think a saltwater ocean lies nearly 125 miles deep into the moon, sandwiched between layers of ice. Even farther down, a liquid iron core is thought to exist, powering the only magnetic field around a moon in the solar system. Ganymede circles around Jupiter approximately every seven days in an orbit tilted nearly head-on to Earth.
Image: NASA/ESA/Karkoschka (University of Arizona) Source: Wired: Wired Science | 22 Dec 2008 | 3:56 pm Earth WatchReasons for caution over Obama's 'green dream'Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 22 Dec 2008 | 3:50 pm Malaysia 'to double tiger stock'Malaysia launches a plan to double the country's wild tiger population from 500 to 1,000 by 2020, activists say.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 22 Dec 2008 | 3:46 pm Ancient Rock Piles Reveal Early American CuisineFire-cracked rocks found today were once key to the Native American way of life.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Dec 2008 | 3:40 pm The Top 5 History-Makers of 2008 (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - When history books and TV documentaries distill 2008 to its bare bones - down to the handful of people who dominated the mediasphere 24/7 - who will we remember? There was certainly plenty to talk about this year, from the Summer Olympics in Beijing to the global economic turmoil to the historic U.S. presidential election, and a colorful cast of characters that went along for the ride. While memory of most of the year's newsworthy individuals is destined to fade away with the turn of the calendar, we bet these five will stick around to populate future roundups of 2008: 5. T. ...Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 3:27 pm Very Strange: The Spider Sex ChroniclesSpiders display bizarre behaviors when they’re having sex.Source: Livescience.com | 22 Dec 2008 | 3:22 pm Two Chinese giant pandas head for Taiwan (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 3:21 pm Mosquito blood 'identifies thief'Police in Finland use human blood from a mosquito caught inside a stolen car to identify a suspect in the theft.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 22 Dec 2008 | 3:19 pm The Top 5 History Makers of 2008While memory of most of the year’s newsworthy individuals will fade, we bet these five will stick.Source: Livescience.com | 22 Dec 2008 | 3:15 pm Saudi to slash 2009 spending as budget deficit forecast (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 3:13 pm Ancient 'Treasure' Found in Farmer's BookshelfItalian police find 2,600-year-old offering jars in the most unexpected of places.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Dec 2008 | 3:05 pm Experts identify gene variants linked to lung cancerHONG KONG (Reuters) - Researchers in China and the United States have identified mutations of two genes which appear to make ethnic Chinese more susceptible to lung cancer, they wrote in the journal Cancer.Source: Reuters: Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 2:59 pm Performance Enhancement Common in SportsStimulants? Steroids? Scandal? No, just surgery and a little caffeine.Source: Livescience.com | 22 Dec 2008 | 2:26 pm Fall of Empires Hastened 'Little Ice Age'The demise of the Incas and Aztecs may have sparked global climate change.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Dec 2008 | 2:05 pm 'Illegal threat' to hen harriersHen harriers are nearing extinction in England owing to continued illegal persecution, the government's conservation body warns.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 22 Dec 2008 | 1:19 pm Snow, rain and ice blankets much of US (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 12:28 pm Tiny clues to collision in spaceUniversity researchers find evidence of a massive meteorite shower in the far north of Scotland.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 22 Dec 2008 | 12:15 pm Amazon allyReflections on the legacy of Chico MendesSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 22 Dec 2008 | 11:39 am Plea for help spotting bat killerBat groups across the country are being asked to be vigilant against the spread of white nose syndrome.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 22 Dec 2008 | 10:57 am Brazil remembers slain activistPresident Lula of Brazil is to lead tributes to Chico Mendes, an Amazon environmentalist killed 20 years ago.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 22 Dec 2008 | 10:23 am Seawater science can help climate change forecastsSINGAPORE (Reuters) - A team of scientists has come up with a new definition of seawater which is set to boost the accuracy of projections for oceans and climate.Source: Reuters: Science News | 22 Dec 2008 | 2:50 am Stitch-up to save puffin chicksPeople with a talent for sewing are asked to make bags to help lost puffin chicks on a remote Scottish island.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 22 Dec 2008 | 1:09 am Science Weekly podcast: Chris Bishop discusses the quest for the ultimate computerFor our end of term science trip, we take the podcast on the road to London's Royal Institution. In the Faraday lecture theatre, we speak to Chris Bishop who is giving this year's Christmas lectures. The theme this year is making the ultimate computer. James Randerson is the Guardian's only science correspondent who remembered to bring his permission slip allowing him to be unchained from his desk. We also visit the Science Museum's new exhibition on GM technology - Future Foods. Tim Lang, professor of food technology at London's City University, tells us why the GM industry in the US is at risk. Hear more on the exhibition in our Science Weekly Extra podcast. Feel free to post your comments about this programme on the blog below. You can also join our Facebook group, where you can scrawl your thoughts on our wall. Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 22 Dec 2008 | 12:36 am Scientists sniff out prion secretThe brain protein whose defects have a role in the lethal disease CJD may also be involved in aiding our sense of smell.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 22 Dec 2008 | 12:24 am Science Weekly Extra podcast: A visit to London's Science Museum's GM exhibitionWe visit the Science Museum's new exhibition on GM technology - Future Foods. Director of the Science Museum, Chris Rapley, explains why the debate is so important. Tim Lang, Professor of food technology at London's City University, tells us why the GM industry in the US is at risk. Director general of Bioversity International, Dr Emile Frison, discusses the company's current research. The Science Museum's Dana Centre is holding a debate on the issue on the 22nd January 2009. Feel free to post your comments about the programme on the blog below. You can also join our Facebook group, where you can scrawl your thoughts on our wall. Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 22 Dec 2008 | 12:06 am Bull breeder looks to cloning to preserve champion cash cowThe steam rising from the flanks of the 450-kilo bull known as Alcalde is a sign that one of bullfighting's best-known studs is still healthy, despite his advanced age. At 16 years old, however, the sire of some of the most famous fighting bulls of recent times may be living through his last winter, leaving his owner, Victoriano del Río, facing up to the loss of his most valuable stud animal. But Del Río has come up with a simple solution for continuing the long-running success of Alcalde's sons, many of whom have died in the bullfighting rings of Spain over the past decade: he will clone him. The cells needed have already been harvested and are being kept at 170 degrees below zero at a laboratory in the United States. When the European Union gives permission for them to shipped from Texas to Spain, Alcalde will become the first fighting bull stud to have a clone. Del Río hopes the new animal will be born by the end of next year. The clone will, like the original Alcalde, start being used as a stud when he reaches the age of two. His sons should start entering Spain's bullfighting arenas in 2016. "No animal is exactly the same as another, but the specialists tell me that the basic physical phenotype of a fine, well-built, long-necked bull can be guaranteed," Del Río told Spain's ABC newspaper yesterday. The breeder hopes that will be enough for him to earn a handsome return on the roughly €30,000 (£28,000) that the cloning of Alcalde will cost him. A stud bull can father some 40 fighting bulls every year. A good bull is as essential to a good fight as a talented torero. On at least 20 occasions the matadors who killed Alcalde's offspring have been awarded the ultimate accolade of being carried out of a bull-ring's main door on the shoulders of fans. That is the sort of success Del Río hopes for from the offspring of Alcalde's clone. Not all is genetics, however, in the world of bullfighting. Nurture helps define a bull's character as much as nature, so Del Río says cloning will never achieve a production line of identical bulls for matadors to fight and kill. "The genetic information is the same, but the degree of bravura - of courage - varies," he said. "Let no one think that, with this clone, the torero can know exactly what awaits him." Del Río has likened his prize bull to a work of art, saying Alcalde is bullfighting's equivalent of a painting by Rubens or Velázquez. The job of cloning Alcalde has been given to the Texas-based ViaGen company. The firm has several years' experience creating clones of champion horses. Clones of other animals have been shown to have few problems producing healthy offspring. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 22 Dec 2008 | 12:04 am Inventor's 2020 vision: to help 1bn of the world's poorest see betterIt was a chance conversation on March 23 1985 ("in the afternoon, as I recall") that first started Josh Silver on his quest to make the world's poor see. A professor of physics at Oxford University, Silver was idly discussing optical lenses with a colleague, wondering whether they might be adjusted without the need for expensive specialist equipment, when the lightbulb of inspiration first flickered above his head. What if it were possible, he thought, to make a pair of glasses which, instead of requiring an optician, could be "tuned" by the wearer to correct his or her own vision? Might it be possible to bring affordable spectacles to millions who would never otherwise have them? More than two decades after posing that question, Silver now feels he has the answer. The British inventor has embarked on a quest that is breathtakingly ambitious, but which he insists is achievable - to offer glasses to a billion of the world's poorest people by 2020. Some 30,000 pairs of his spectacles have already been distributed in 15 countries, but to Silver that is very small beer. Within the next year the now-retired professor and his team plan to launch a trial in India which will, they hope, distribute 1 million pairs of glasses. The target, within a few years, is 100 million pairs annually. With the global need for basic sight-correction, by his own detailed research, estimated at more than half the world's population, Silver sees no reason to stop at a billion. If the scale of his ambition is dazzling, at the heart of his plan is an invention which is engagingly simple. Silver has devised a pair of glasses which rely on the principle that the fatter a lens the more powerful it becomes. Inside the device's tough plastic lenses are two clear circular sacs filled with fluid, each of which is connected to a small syringe attached to either arm of the spectacles. The wearer adjusts a dial on the syringe to add or reduce amount of fluid in the membrane, thus changing the power of the lens. When the wearer is happy with the strength of each lens the membrane is sealed by twisting a small screw, and the syringes removed. The principle is so simple, the team has discovered, that with very little guidance people are perfectly capable of creating glasses to their own prescription. Silver calls his flash of insight a "tremendous glimpse of the obvious" - namely that opticians weren't necessary to provide glasses. This is a crucial factor in the developing world where trained specialists are desperately in demand: in Britain there is one optometrist for every 4,500 people, in sub-Saharan Africa the ratio is 1:1,000,000. The implications of bringing glasses within the reach of poor communities are enormous, says the scientist. Literacy rates improve hugely, fishermen are able to mend their nets, women to weave clothing. During an early field trial, funded by the British government, in Ghana, Silver met a man called Henry Adjei-Mensah, whose sight had deteriorated with age, as all human sight does, and who had been forced to retire as a tailor because he could no longer see to thread the needle of his sewing machine. "So he retires. He was about 35. He could have worked for at least another 20 years. We put these specs on him, and he smiled, and threaded his needle, and sped up with this sewing machine. He can work now. He can see." "The reaction is universal," says Major Kevin White, formerly of the US military's humanitarian programme, who organised the distribution of thousands of pairs around the world after discovering Silver's glasses on Google. "People put them on, and smile. They all say, 'Look, I can read those tiny little letters.'" Making and distributing a billion pairs of spectacles is no small task, of course - even at a dollar each (the target cost), and without Silver taking any profit, the cost is eye-watering. This is what Silver calls "the challenge of scaling up". For the Indian project he has joined forces with Mehmood Khan, a businessman whose family trust runs a humanitarian programme based in 500 villages in the northern state of Haryana, from where he originates. There will be no shortage of takers in the region, Khan says. "One million in one year is straightaway peanuts for me. In the districts where we are working, one district alone will have half a million people [who need the technology]." Khan's day job is as Global Leader of Innovation for Unilever, and though his employer will have no direct connection with the scheme, having contact with 150m consumers a day, as he points out, means he is used to dealing with large numbers. But surely finding funding on this scale will be impossible? "I share a vision with Josh," says Khan. "A thing like this, once it works, you create awareness, you enrol governments and the UN, and the model becomes scaleable. People begin to believe." And from a business point of view, he notes wryly, when poor people become more economically developed they also become potential customers. In addition to the enormous manufacturing and distribution challenges, Silver has one other pressing problem, namely addressing the sole complaint about the glasses - their rather clunky size and design. "Work is going on on several new designs, and further work will be required to get the costs down. The truth is that there is, at the moment, no device that can be made for a dollar in volumes of 100 million. "But I am entirely confident that we can do that." Such is his determination, you wouldn't bet against it. Oxford University, at his instigation, has agreed to host a Centre for Vision in the Developing World, which is about to begin working on a World Bank-funded project with scientists from the US, China, Hong Kong and South Africa. "Things are never simple. But I will solve this problem if I can. And I won't really let people stand in my way." Big ideasLife-changing inventions Wind-up radio Invented by Trevor Baylis, the crank-powered device brought radio to remote villages and was inspired by the need to disseminate information about Aids. Solar cooker Uses sunlight instead of solid fuel. Used in refugee camps in Darfur and while Gaza was under siege. Improvised solar cookers replaced regular ones as gas supplies diminished. LifeStraw portable water filter Half of the world's poor suffer from waterborne diseases and this tool contains a halogen-based resin which is claimed to kill 99.9999% of bacteria and 98.7% of viruses that can cause deadly diseases. The XO laptop A textbook-sized computer with built-in wireless and a screen that is readable under direct sunlight. It was designed with extreme environmental conditions such as high heat and humidity in mind. It is an educational tool created expressly for children in developing countries. For each laptop bought at around $400 (£267), one is given to a child in a developing country. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 22 Dec 2008 | 12:04 am New archaeologists excavate sites of protest to chronicle modern timesThe streets of south London and a famous corner of Berkshire may hold little interest for treasure-hunters of the fedora-wearing, whip-cracking school, but they are starting to attract a new breed of archaeologists who enjoy plunging their trowels into the very recent past. Homegrown excavators have started to chronicle modern protest structures while they are still warm, from eco-warriors' treehouses to crisp packets buried at the Greenham Common peace camp. "The actions and lives of people today are the archaeology of tomorrow," says Anna Badcock, one of the advocates of the movement known as contemporary archaeology. "Their landscapes and habitations are perhaps no less important than what was there before." Trained on projects such as Bristol University's celebrated excavation of their department's 15-year-old Transit van - which yielded three lost pencils and confetti from a faculty party - teams are "digging" at former parts of the Maze prison in Northern Ireland and the site of the 1981 Brixton riots. Others have travelled to Malta to record links between Valetta's former red light district and British servicemen, while the 1984-5 miners' strike is being checked out by "battlefield archaeologists". According to John Schofield, an English Heritage archaeologist who "rediscovered" Emerald Camp at Greenham Common, the movement draws its inspiration from work done on military sites such as first world war trenches. "They laid the trail for what has emerged in the last 10 years," he said. "Throughout the 20th century we ... seem to have been catching up on ourselves. The end of the cold war and the closure of coalmines under the Thatcher government forced our hand a bit." Badcock's main project is a survey of treehouses and aerial walkways built by protesters in a successful struggle to protect the Nine Ladies Bronze Age stone circle from quarrying. Similar work may be started shortly at Thornborough Henges in North Yorkshire, where protests are still under way against gravel extraction. At the Maze, Laura McAtackney of Oxford University found tiny 'comms', or paper messages, at former inmates' homes. But some of the H-blocks' most famous relics have remained off limits. Escape tunnels dug by Republican prisoners have been concreted over. But Government archaeologists are thought to have explored them; so their work could in time be the subject of a dig. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 22 Dec 2008 | 12:04 am Letter: Hot-housing hatsLetter: Wear your bobble hat to keep your brain warm, not to prevent your body getting coldSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 22 Dec 2008 | 12:04 am Nasa hunts for rubber ducks used to track melting of Arctic icecapSailors, fishermen and cruise passengers should be on the alert. If anybody spots a yellow rubber duck bobbing on the ocean waves, Nasa would like to know. The US space agency has yet to find any trace of 90 bathtub toys that were dropped through holes in Greenland's ice three months ago in an effort to track the way the Arctic icecap is melting. Scientists threw the ducks into tubular holes known as "moulins" in the Jakobshavn glacier on Greenland's west coast, hoping they would find their way into channels beneath the hard-packed surface, to track the flow of melt water into the ocean. "We haven't heard anything from them yet," Nasa robotics expert Alberto Behar told the BBC. Also missing is a football-sized floating robotic probe equipped with a GPS positioning transmitter and powered by hi-tech batteries. It has failed to communicate its position. "We did not hear a signal back, so it probably got stuck under the ice somewhere," said Behar. The experiment was intended to examine the movement of glaciers, which has speeded up in recent years. Scientists believe that melting water lubricates the bases of glaciers. Although low-tech, the $2 ducks were chosen for their buoyancy and for their ability to withstand low temperatures. Nasa is offering a modest prize of $100 to the first person who finds a duck. The ducks have an email address stamped on them, together with the word "reward" in three languages, including Inuit. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 22 Dec 2008 | 12:03 am Ariane rocket launches satellites for EutelsatKOUROU, French Guiana (Reuters) - A European Ariane-5 rocket blasted off from French Guiana on Saturday putting into orbit two satellites for Europe's telecoms operator Eutelsat, officials said.Source: Reuters: Science News | 21 Dec 2008 | 10:48 pm Scientists recreate nerve disease to study itCHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. scientists have created the first human model for studying a devastating nerve disease, which allows them to watch how the disease develops and could help researchers find a way to treat it.Source: Reuters: Science News | 21 Dec 2008 | 10:44 pm Science Returns to the White HouseBarack Obama set lofty goals for an open and honest scientific process and dialogue.Source: Livescience.com | 21 Dec 2008 | 5:35 pm Pope marks Galileo anniversary, praises astronomy (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 21 Dec 2008 | 3:18 pm
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