Arizona State University geochemist Lynda Williams and her colleagues have discovered that certain clay minerals under conditions at the bottom of the ocean may have acted as incubators for the first organic molecules on Earth.
Williams’ research suggests how some of the fundamental materials necessary for life might have come into existence deep in the sea. The results of Williams’ experiments were published in the article, “Organic Molecules Formed in a Primordial
Controlled study should reassure patients
The use of a cardiopulmonary heart pump during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery does not significantly damage such high-level mental tasks as thinking, reasoning and remembering, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers recently published in Neurology.
CABG surgery is effective for the relief of angina and reducing the risk of a heart attack but has been widely feared to cause “pump-related” damage to the cer
Torture impacts mental health of Tibetan refugees
The incidence of mental illness and torture amongst Tibetan refugees is much higher than previously expected, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC International Health and Human Rights. Researchers say that NGOs and foreign governments should be aware that the human rights abuses levied on this vulnerable population may have lasting health effects and are unacceptable under international law.
Ma
Students at The University of Nottingham will be able to stargaze at distant galaxies to learn more about the origins of life, thanks to a giant, state-of-the-art telescope being unveiled more than 6,000 miles away.
The Nottingham chemistry and physics students will be able to use the internet to access images captured by the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) — dubbed Africa’s Giant Eye — without having to visit its site at Sutherland, 400 km north of Cape Town, in South
A diagnostic approach will allow to quickly and precisely identify the enemy – tuberculosis culture pathogene, the approach being based on the so-called subtraction hybridization. How it can help to identify ‘personality’ of a dangerous bacterium was discussed by researchers from Moscow with their colleagues at the II International Conference “Molecular Medicine and Biosafety” in late October this year.
For smatterers the notion of tuberculosis – is necessary and sufficient for d
Scientists from Wageningen University in the Netherlands have discovered that a factor released from body fat, which they call Fasting-Induced Adipose Factor or FIAF, has a major impact on blood levels of HDL and triglycerides in mice. The factor might be a promising drug candidate, team leader dr. Sander Kersten says. “Our study demonstrates that small changes in the production of FIAF in mice elevate blood HDL and triglycerides.”
Obesity is known to negatively influence the leve
A unique observatory in a remote location in Argentina is starting to unravel the mysteries of High Energy Cosmic Rays. There is no scientific consensus on the source of these particles which the shower the Earth at energies 10 million times higher than can be produced in particle accelerators! But the Pierre Auger Observatory is shedding new light on these energetic particles from space and using them as messengers to tell us more about the wider Universe.
Scientists of the
At the Institut Curie, two CNRS teams have just reported crucial information on the orientation of cells as they divide. The cell division axis determines not only the position of the daughter cells but also their contents and hence their fate. The researchers have shown that the orientation of division depends on focal adhesions of the cell with its surroundings. They have also identified a new molecule that controls the localization of cellular determinants of so-called asymmetric cell div
Highlight during SC|05 in Seattle: Fraunhofer Visualization Software on an IBM Cell Cluster Prototyp.
One highlight of the International Conference on High Performance Computing SC|05 in Seattle will be the visualization software PV-4D of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM. The software has been installed on a prototype of an IBM cell blade cluster and will be presented to a large public for the first time. A successful test run was performed during the Frau
One of the world’s largest optical telescopes, the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), in which the Armagh Observatory has a share, was officially unveiled today by the South African President Thabo Mbeki in Sutherland, a small town in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Also known as Africa’s Giant Eye, SALT (www.salt.ac.za) is a new ground-breaking project which will enable astronomers from six countries, including the UK, to study more closely the lives of stars and the origins of
Astronomers from British and German universities have made a new discovery which could provide evidence for a previously unknown supermassive black hole millions of times heavier than the sun.
The team from the Centre for Astrophysics Research at the University of Hertfordshire and at the Dr Remeis-Sternwarte at the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg/D have discovered a short-lived massive star, named HE 0437-5439, that is moving at a very high speed through the outer halo of t
When someone in our social group makes friends with someone from another background, the chances are that our own prejudices will break down, according to new ESRC-funded research.
A study led by Dr. Adam Rutland, of the University of Kent, backs claims that the more we learn about others, the better we are likely to get on with them.
It found that what is termed the ‘extended contact’ approach, could effectively change children’s attitudes and intended behaviour towards r
The biologist Alejandro Toledo Arana has identified two new genes that operate as regulators in the formation process of the biofilm of Staphylococcus aureus, one of the bacteria most frequently involved in infections following medical implants, and has explained the functioning of a structural protein involved in this process. His research was the subject of a PhD thesis recently defended at the Institute of Agribiotechnology, a joint CSIC and Public University of Navarra centre, and is an a
We are close to the point where new types of automated routines and software applications could operate independently of direct human control to carry out prescribed tasks. Helping us arrive, researchers have designed a model that supports the development of applications constructed from mobile sentient objects.
Firstly though, developers need to overcome the shortcomings of current architectures and middleware, which are still largely based on sequential programming models. T
Abalone divers, who typically despise the California sea otter because of its voracious appetite for the largest and tastiest of the shellfish, may actually have otters to thank for the dinner-plate size of the prized delicacy.
Worldwide, abalones tend to be small, in the range of 2 to 4 inches across, according to evolutionary biologist David Lindberg, professor and chair of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former abalone diver himself. Along
Professors publish case study of successful nutritional treatment for cancer
Ron Pardini is not a medical doctor. Yet he is seen as a hero by his cancer-stricken neighbor, “D.H.” Pardini helped the 78-year-old after D.H. was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
“In 2000 he was told by his doctor he had only a few months to live,” said Pardini, a professor of biochemistry and associate director of the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Nevad
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