In searching for ways to counteract the greenhouse effect, some scientists have proposed capturing the culprit—carbon dioxide—as it is emitted from power plants, then liquefying the gas and injecting it into the ocean. But there are pitfalls in that plan.
The carbon dioxide can rise toward the surface, turn into gas bubbles and vent to the atmosphere, defeating the purpose of the whole grand scheme. Even worse, if the liquid-to-gas conversion happens suddenly, the gas can bubbl
Wildly varying figures pose problems for tracking endangered species
Washington, DC– The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is supposed to help governments conserve endangered species by regulating the international sale and transport of wildlife.
However, a new study by scientists from Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund shows that in some cases, the figures for trade recorded by CITES vary wildly from
A newly identified gene expression profile could help predict how patients with advanced ovarian cancer will respond to chemotherapy treatment. Described in a study in the November 1, 2005 issue of The Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), the new findings further establish an important role for microarray gene profiling as a predictor of clinical outcome in ovarian cancer, and could eventually provide clinicians with insights into the mechanisms of drug resistance.
“In many pati
A new study on HIV-positive patients eligible for liver transplants found that their survival while waiting for a transplant is significantly shorter than patients who are HIV-negative. Other than infection, which caused many of the deaths, there appear to be no other factors that predict a poor outcome for these patients.
The results of this study appear in the November 2005 issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver D
Samples collected by WCS in international collaboration effort in Mongolia to be used in development of human pandemic influenza vaccine
Avian influenza virus samples collected from wild birds in Mongolia by field veterinarians from the New York City-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have been selected by the World Health Organization to be part of a new human pandemic influenza vaccine currently in development. The samples, collected in the midst of an outbreak in Augu
Scientists at Oregon State University have successfully cultured in a laboratory a microorganism with a gene for an alternate form of photochemistry – an advance that may ultimately help shed light on the ecology of the world’s oceans.
The microorganism is SAR11, the smallest free living cell known and probably the most abundant organism in the seas. By being able for the first time to study the SAR11 “proteorhodopsin” gene in a laboratory, researchers will be able to better
A study published in the November 11 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry shows that resveratrol, a compound found in grapes and red wine, lowers the levels of the amyloid-beta peptides which cause the telltale senile plaques of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol occurring in abundance in several plants, including grapes, berries and peanuts,” explains study author Philippe Marambaud. “The polyphenol is found in high concentrations in red
Scientists recently discovered an anti-aging hormone called Klotho. Now, a new study shows that this protein acts by increasing the cell’s ability to detoxify harmful reactive oxygen species. The research appears as the “Paper of the Week” in the November 11 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, an American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology journal.
The klotho gene, named after the Greek goddess who spins life’s thread, is associated with preven
Robert’s Quartet [1] is a family of four very different galaxies, located at a distance of about 160 million light-years, close to the centre of the southern constellation of the Phoenix. Its members are NGC 87, NGC 88, NGC 89 and NGC 92, discovered by John Herschel in the 1830s. NGC 87 (upper right) is an irregular galaxy similar to the satellites of our Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds.
NGC 88 (centre) is a spiral galaxy with an external diffuse envelope, most probably composed
Scientists at the University of Bradford have discovered that the hormone oestrogen could be responsible for giving women the advantage when performing certain tasks such as driving.
In a test carried out on volunteers aged between 18 and 35, results showed that a woman’s attention span and her ability to learn rules are far higher than a man’s.
This might explain why girls find it easier than boys to concentrate at school, and why women are more careful drivers.
A team of researchers at Yale University is the first to devise a way to predict the microstructure of crystals as they form in materials, according to a report in the September issue of Applied Physics Letters.
Although there are theoretical models that predict grain size and ways to monitor the growth of individual crystals, this new method makes it possible to estimate grain size and therefore the properties of materials that are dependant on microstructure.
Researcher
Families living in the Nellies Cave Park area near Virginia Tech are helping researchers learn about healthy lifestyles and in return are getting information about their own health.
The project by nutrition researchers from Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is part of efforts to learn how a neighborhood influences physical activity and diet.
“We think that town planners, zoning administrators, parks and recreation planners and other communit
Membranes composed of manmade carbon nanotubes permit a fluid flow nearly 10,000 to 100,000 times faster than conventional fluid flow theory would predict because of the nanotubes’ nearly friction-free surface, researchers at the University of Kentucky report in the Nov. 3 issue of Nature.
In their study, Mainak Majumder, Nitin Chopra and Bruce J. Hinds of UK’s Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, and Rodney Andrews of UK’s Center for Applied Energy Res
A new technique for analyzing the network of genetic interactions promises to change how researchers study the dynamic biological landscape of the cell. The technology, which is called epistatic mini array profiles (E-MAP), has already been used to assign new functions to known genes, to uncover the roles of previously uncharacterized proteins, and to define how biochemical pathways and proteins interact with one another.
E-MAP will enable new understanding of how genes and prote
Tryptophan is the source of Thanksgiving legend and grist for a “Seinfeld” episode, but it’s not the chemical that you’d expect to find in Lawrence Steinman’s lab.
A professor of neurology and neurological sciences and chair of the immunology program, Steinman, MD, and his lab generally focus on high-tech genetic therapies for diseases of the brain and nervous system. But his latest paper, to be published in the Nov. 4 issue of Science, breaks new ground on the effec
New insights into vital genome regulation strategy provided
One of the body’s primary strategies for regulating its genome is a kind of targeted gene silencing orchestrated by small molecules called microRNAs, or miRNAs. First observed only a few years ago, these molecules appear to inactivate messenger RNA, itself responsible for translating genes into proteins. Scientists have been eager to know more about miRNAs, clearly important players on the genetic field despite h
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