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| Cluster Satellites Listen To The Sounds Of Earth Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 PM CDT The first thing an alien race is likely to hear from Earth is chirps and whistles, a bit like R2-D2, the robot from Star Wars. In reality, they are the sounds that accompany the aurora. Now ESA's Cluster mission is showing scientists how to understand this emission and, in the future, search for alien worlds by listening for their sounds. |
| First Patients Implanted In Study Evaluating Deep Brain Stimulation For Depression Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 PM CDT St. Jude Medical, Inc. has announced the first patient implants in a clinical study that is investigating whether deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy will help people who suffer from major depressive disorder, a severe form of depression. The patients, a 59-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man, were implanted with the St. Jude Medical Libra® Deep Brain Stimulation System, an investigational device. |
| Cassini To Earth: 'Mission Accomplished, But New Questions Await!' Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 PM CDT NASA's Cassini mission is closing one chapter of its journey at Saturn and embarking on a new one with a two-year mission that will address new questions and bring it closer to two of its most intriguing targets -- Titan and Enceladus. |
| Discovery Of Lyme Disease Bug Clone May Explain Disease Spread Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 PM CDT Scientists have discovered that a certain clone of Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete that causes Lyme disease, appears to be the most common strain causing Lyme disease in North America and Europe, and may account for the increase in cases for the past 20 years. |
| Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 PM CDT The revolution in genomics, with a wealth of data emerging from sequencing and simultaneous expression analysis of thousands of genes, has made it possible to study the numerous pathways and regulatory networks -- systems -- that operate to produce a desirable fruit. |
| Mechanism And Function Of Humor Identified By New Evolutionary Theory Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 PM CDT The pattern recognition theory of humor is an evolutionary and cognitive explanation of how and why any individual finds anything funny. Effectively it explains that humor occurs when the brain recognizes a pattern that surprises it. It also identifies implications of pattern recognition in childhood cognitive development, other species and artificial intelligence, and posits humor as a major driving force in the evolution of humankind's unique perceptual and intellectual abilities. |
| In 'Novel Playground,' Metals Self-assemble Into Porous Nanostructures Posted: 29 Jun 2008 01:00 PM CDT Researchers have developed a method to self-assemble metals into complex nanostructures. Applications include making more efficient and cheaper catalysts for fuel cells and industrial processes and creating microstructured surfaces to make new types of conductors that would carry more information across microchips than conventional wires do. |
| Customized 'Wimpy' Polioviruses Designed: A New Path To Vaccines? Posted: 29 Jun 2008 01:00 PM CDT A team of molecular biologists and computer scientists at Stony Brook University has designed and synthesized a new class of weakened polioviruses. They used their synthesizing method with computer software to systematically re-code the poliovirus genome. In doing so, the team is the first to demonstrate that a synthetic weakened virus can immunize an animal. These results show promise in the creation of new attenuated ('live virus') anti-viral vaccines and are reported in the journal Science. |
| Phoenix Scrapes To Icy Soil In Wonderland Posted: 29 Jun 2008 01:00 PM CDT NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander scraped to icy soil in the "Wonderland" area on Thursday, June 26, confirming that surface soil, subsurface soil and icy soil can be sampled at a single trench. |
| The Good And The Bad Of A Potential Alzheimer's Target Posted: 29 Jun 2008 01:00 PM CDT Research in fruit flies has shown that enhancing the production of a protein called neprilysin can reduce the formation of plaques and neuron death associated with Alzheimer's, at the expense of reducing the flies' lifespan. |
| 'Electron Trapping' May Impact Future Microelectronics Measurements Posted: 29 Jun 2008 01:00 PM CDT Using an ultra-fast method of measuring how a transistor switches from the "off" to the "on" state, researchers recently reported that they have uncovered an unusual phenomenon that may impact how manufacturers estimate the lifetime of future nanoscale electronics. |
| Facebook Concepts Indicate Brains Of Alzheimer's Patients Aren't As Networked, Stanford Study Shows Posted: 29 Jun 2008 01:00 PM CDT Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine used concepts borrowed from the popular social networking site to analyze the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. They found that patients' brains were less well-connected than the brains of people without the disorder. |
| A Quark Star? Super-luminous Stellar Explosion Observed Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 AM CDT Astronomers recently announced that they have found a novel explanation for a rare type of super-luminous stellar explosion that may have produced a new type of object known as a quark star. |
| Marijuana May Be Effective For Neuropathic Pain Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 AM CDT The growing body of evidence that marijuana (cannabis) may be effective as a pain reliever has been expanded with publication of a new study in The Journal of Pain reporting that patients with nerve pain showed reduced pain intensity from smoking marijuana. Researchers examined whether marijuana produces analgesia for patients with neuropathic pain. Thirty-eight patients were examined. They were given either high-dose (7%), low-dose (3.5%) or placebo cannabis. |
| Migrating Songbirds Learn Survival Tips On The Fly Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 AM CDT Migrating songbirds take their survival cues from local winged residents when flying through unfamiliar territory. Observing local birds' 'mob' behavior helps migrants avoid predators, according to biologists. |
| 10 Percent Of Healthy People In Study Had Injury From 'Silent Strokes' Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 AM CDT MRIs on healthy Framingham offspring found that about 10 percent had experienced a silent stroke. Silent stroke -- silent cerebral infarction -- is a risk factor for stroke and dementia. |
| Genome Communication: Alleles Of Homologous Genes Can Silence One Another Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 AM CDT The exact mechanisms of how genes talk to other genes and change their behavior are being investigated, and recent results suggest that these processes could be important in engineering plants responsive to a variety of environmental conditions. Scientists have studied paramutations in maize and other plants and have identified some of the genes and mechanisms that operate in this epigenetic process. |
| Should Doctors Be Increasing Their Carbon Footprint By Flying To Medical Conferences? Posted: 29 Jun 2008 07:00 AM CDT Every year thousands of doctors and scientists fly to meetings all over the world, but with climate change accelerating, can this type of travel be justified, two doctors debate the issue in the British Medical Journal. |
| Homosexual Behavior Largely Shaped By Genetics And Random Environmental Factors Posted: 27 Jun 2008 11:00 PM CDT Homosexual behavior is largely shaped by genetics and random environmental factors, according to findings from the world's largest study of twins. |
| Food Inspection Technology Could Kill Waiter Jokes Posted: 27 Jun 2008 11:00 PM CDT New inspection X-ray technology developed by European researchers is helping to ensure that the only thing in people's dinners is the food itself. Finding a snail in a salad, a fish bone in a supposedly boneless fillet or opening a soup packet to reveal moldy contents is an unpleasant -- and potentially unsafe -- experience. |
| Ancient Olympics: ‘Like Vince Lombardi On The PGA Circuit’ Posted: 27 Jun 2008 11:00 PM CDT The modern Olympic ideals differ dramatically from the way the games were actually played in ancient Greece, says a classicist who has heavily researched the Olympic past. The ancient games featured professionals with a "winning is everything" philosophy. |
| Cancer 'Cure' In Mice To Be Tested In Humans Posted: 27 Jun 2008 11:00 PM CDT Scientists are about to embark on a human trial to test whether a new cancer treatment will be as effective at eradicating cancer in humans as it has proven to be in mice. |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2008 11:00 PM CDT Groundbreaking technology that will enable biologists to identify and monitor large numbers of endangered animals, from butterflies to whales, without being captured, is now available. |
| Evolution Of Fruit Size In Tomato Posted: 27 Jun 2008 11:00 PM CDT In general, domesticated food plants have larger fruits, heads of grain, tubers, etc, because this is one of the characteristics that early hunter-gatherers chose when foraging for food. In addition to size, tomatoes have been bred for shape, texture, flavor, shelf-life, and nutrient composition, but it has been difficult to study these traits in tomatoes, because many of them are the result of many genes acting together. |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2008 11:00 PM CDT Understanding the molecular mechanisms of pollen recognition is important for designing novel plant breeding systems as well as ensuring safeguards against unwanted pollination by genetically modified crops. |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2008 11:00 PM CDT Scientists are studying these varieties to identify the genes and molecular mechanisms of drought tolerance in order to engineer new drought-resistant crops of potato, as well as other Solanaceous vegetables. |
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