After an interval of six weeks 60 scientists from ten countries returned to the parched heart of Spain to complete testing a new type of sensor intended to yield new insights into global vegetation growth, as well as gather data for the design of a next-generation ESA Earth Observation mission and support efforts to use satellite data for irrigation management.
In Cervantes’ comic tale the central Spanish region of La Mancha was where Don Quixote undertook a series of knightly
Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) are an unusual sighting in most parts of the World, but are seen regularly in the Bay of Biscay. On a recent crossing of the Bay, a pod of 8 Cuvier’s beaked whales were observed to be displaying very unusual behaviour.
Cuvier’s beaked whales are amongst the more unusual and rare cetacean sightings globally. Like many species of beaked whale, they are known to inhabit deep-water canyons and slope waters, which tend to be found far from
The environmental impact of what we buy and use is increasingly drawing the attention of business, governments, and consumers. The connection between consumption and environmental impact is analyzed in new and important ways in a special issue of Yale’s Journal of Industrial Ecology.
Articles in the special issue analyze the environmental impact of consumption and U.S. house size, diet change, work time reduction, time use, product life spans and the quality of life. Articl
Sandia National Laboratories has completed a two-year study of the potential health effects associated with accidental exposure to depleted uranium (DU) during the 1991 Gulf War.
The study, “An Analysis of Uranium Dispersal and Health Effects Using a Gulf War Case Study,” performed by Sandia scientist Al Marshall, employs analytical capabilities used by Sandia’s National Security Studies Department and examines health risks associated with uranium handling.
U.S.
Researchers Track Underwater Noise Generated by December 26 Earthquake
When the sea floor off the coast of Sumatra split on the morning of December 26, 2004, it took days to measure the full extent of the rupture. Recently, researchers at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory analyzed recordings of the underwater sound produced by the magnitude 9.3 earthquake. Their unique approach enabled them to track the rupture as it moved along the Sumatra-Andaman Fault,
Although metal detectors help commercial food processors keep metal fragments from ending up in finished products, these detectors can’t identify plastic and other foreign objects.
And as plastic becomes more widespread, used in everything from conveyor belts to latex gloves, plastic contamination is a growing concern for many food processing operations.
For the past year, John Stewart, a research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, has been leading a
Two laws recently passed by Congress with strong industry backing have had a chilling effect on government efforts to protect public health, according to a UCSF study.
The laws make all raw data produced by federally funded research available for public review, and require that any data disseminated by the government adhere to definitions of quality set by the law – definitions that industry interests helped develop. The new laws allow industry advocates to more easily challen
Core-needle biopsy guided by CT scans or ultrasound appears to be an effective way to obtain tumor samples diagnosis of pediatric solid tumors, say St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital researchers
Inserting biopsy needles through the skin appears to be a safe and reliable alternative to surgery for obtaining diagnostic samples of a suspected solid tumor in children, according to results of a study by investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The technique, ca
Postmenopausal women may significantly reduce tooth loss by controlling their periodontal disease, according to a study in the Journal of Periodontology.
Researchers from the University at Buffalo, School of Dental Medicine did a follow-up evaluation on 106 postmenopausal women and found that during an average of 11.7 years follow-up, 57.5 percent of the participants lost at least one tooth.
“We found that alveolar bone loss (the bone that holds the tooth in the mou
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have begun a year long study that aims to shed light on the best ways of helping elderly people to maintain their physical independence and recover after operations. The study will draw in volunteers from central and south Edinburgh, who will attend training sessions at the Royal Infirmary.
The group of 40 volunteers will help the team from the University’s Geriatric Medicine section by learning simple pushing movements designed to t
New knowledge can improve current therapies and shape new ones Researchers have determined how metabolic pathways differ between healthy and failing hearts. Normally, a heart derives its energy from a balance of fatty acids and carbohydrates, specifically glucose.
But Dr. Gary Lopaschuk, a pharmacologist and professor in the University of Alberta Department of Pediatrics, and his colleagues in the U.S. and Italy have found that during the early stages of heart failure, the heart use
Letter: Nuclear weapons are another post-communist health hazard BMJ Volume 331, p 237
Nuclear weapons in various European countries, particularly Russia, pose a serious threat to health, argues a letter in this week’s BMJ.
Recent estimates are that Russia alone has 7,800 operational nuclear warheads – some of which are on high alert status says Nick Wilson, a public health lecturer and member of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Their cont
NHGRI researchers contribute dog data to groundbreaking study
An international team that includes researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has discovered that mammalian chromosomes have evolved by breaking at specific sites rather than randomly as long thought – and that many of the breakage hotspots are also involved in human cancer.
In a study published in the July 22 issue of the journal Scien
Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have uncovered a crucial molecular link between a viral infection and development of a common and fatal form of liver cancer. In the process, they have identified a possible way to treat this disease as well as a number of other cancers.
In findings reported in the journal Molecular Cell, the researchers traced the pathway by which the hepatitis B virus (HBV) leads to development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
Breakages in chromosomes in mammalian evolution have occurred at preferred rather than random sites as long thought, and many of the sites are involved in human cancers, an international team of 25 scientists has discovered.
The researchers, reporting in the July 22 issue of the journal Science, also found that chromosomal evolution has accelerated, based on the rate of breakages and reorganization, since the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
In a study l
Clues looking into the root causes of alcoholism are emerging from new findings that center on the genetic patterns of young drinkers, with particular focus on why adolescents are more likely to drink large quantities of alcohol even if they need more alcohol to get the effects they desire.
“The study offers a unique perspective on the beginnings of the alcohol experience and usage patterns of 12-year-olds,” explained principal investigator Marc Schuckit, M.D., professor of psych
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