A tiny fossil found more than 10 years ago in central Alberta has proved to be the key to answering a long unsolved evolutionary question, say researchers from the University of Alberta.
Back in 1991, Dr. Richard Fox and his research team found a 60 million year-old incomplete skull fossil that they now believe is the first evidence of an extinct mammal with a venom delivery apparatus. The research will be published June 23, 2005 in Nature.
“Our discovery shows that mam
New research suggests that the way baby girls develop in the womb may affect whether or not they develop polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)* as adults and the severity of the symptoms if they do.
This major population study examines maternal factors during pregnancy and their impact on the subsequent development of PCOS, and is the first to reconcile previous conflicting research on the developmental origins of the syndrome.
Dr Michael Davies, senior research fellow
By comparing 140 sequenced bacterial genomes, researchers have uncovered a system for regulating genes essential to bacterial replication – and they did it solely by computer keystrokes and mouse clicks.
Mikhail Gelfand, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute international research scholar at the Institute for Information Transmission Problems (IITP) in Moscow, and his postdoctoral fellow, Dmitry Rodionov, used comparative genomics to identify a new transcription factor system in
Researchers have discovered that a parasite carried by an invasive species of minnow is responsible for the dramatic declines and localized extinctions of a different minnow species in Europe during the past 40 years.
This parasite, which scientists have found can almost totally destroy the spawning success of the small sunbleak minnow, Leucaspius delineatus, may pose threats to the diversity and stability of freshwater ecosystems, and is genetically very similar to a parasite that c
Using color-changing plastic cylinders as a stand-in for a mass of granular material, Duke University physicists have created a computer-testable method to predict, particle-by-particle, how pushes, nudges and shoves at the edges transmit across large assemblages.
Masses of unpredictable granular particles — from the ice chunks that make up avalanche-prone snowfields to the coal in gigantic coal bins — can abruptly change behaviors with sometimes catastrophic results. Such sh
Project considered milestone for next generation of secure wireless networks
Sandia National Laboratories in cooperation with Time Domain Corporation and KoolSpan Inc. has developed a secure wireless Ultra Wideband (UWB) data communication network that can be used to help sensors monitor U.S. Air Force bases and DOE nuclear facilities and wirelessly control remotely operated weapon systems.
The new wireless technology also promises to be a gateway for a new generation of a
Dusty disk around Fomalhaut makes ideal laboratory for studying planet formation
Astronomers zooming in on a nearby star with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered unmistakable evidence of a planetary system: a perturbed dusty belt around the star that’s analogous to the vast Kuiper Belt of icy rocks encircling the sun.
While the discovery is expected to send astronomers scurrying to their telescopes to obtain direct images of a planet around the star, called F
A wide-ranging new international study across all disciplines has found that over 80 per cent of academic researchers the world over would willingly comply with a mandate to deposit copies of their articles in an institutional repository.
The findings of the study, carried out by Key Perspectives Ltd, for the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) in the UK, have been greeted by Southampton’s Professor Stevan Harnad as ‘a historic turning point in the worldwide research communi
It is difficult to imagine modern life without plastics. Look around you, they are everywhere: pens, PC’s, lenses, furniture, etc. They are cheap, long-lasting and light and, moreover, they have good mechanical, thermal and dielectric properties, to such an extent that they have replaced wood, metal or glass in many applications. The polysulphone, phenoxyl or polycarbonate thermoplastics studied in this thesis are highly resistant (the last one being used for car fenders), ductile and flexible.
Increasing social inequality in Britain is at the root of rising levels of anti-social behaviour, teenage pregnancy, violence and obesity, according to a University of Nottingham academic.
More than two decades of widening social and economic differences are leaving their mark on Britain, making it one of the most socially unequal of European countries.
A new book published this week by pioneering social epidemiologist, Professor Richard Wilkinson, examines the impact of
MARSIS, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding on board ESA’s Mars Express orbiter, is now fully deployed, has undergone its first check-out and is ready to start operations around the Red Planet.
With this radar, the Mars Express orbiter at last has its full complement of instruments available to probe the planet’s atmosphere, surface and subsurface structure.
MARSIS consists of three antennas: two ‘dipole’ booms 20 metres long, and one 7-metre ‘mo
Scientists will today explain to a meeting in London how their research has greatly improved our understanding of the flow of genetic material between organisms in the environment. Outcomes from the Gene Flow in Plants and Microorganisms Initiative, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), will be valuable in informing the future of both conventional and GM crops.
The outcomes of the initiativ
Rising concern over food quality is pushing the industry to create ever more advanced systems to ensure food safety. A smart packing crate that uses Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags for easy tracking and tracing of meat is a case in point.
The Info-box System (iBoS) uses a special packing crate, the info-box, produced by project partner Bekuplast GmbH. The iBoS team developed a transponder, or beacon, and state-of-the-art RFID tags that could be moulded into the box during its man
The Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), together with the University of Kuopio and the Helsinki School of Economics, has developed a prototype for a service that can help consumers in their food choices. Consumers will be able to read product-specific information directly from a package’s barcode using a camera phone, or by using the service at home via the Internet. The service shows the energy and nutrition information of food and also offers the possibility to use a food diary and an
A new deadly disease, carried by an invasive fish species, is threatening European fish diversity according to a paper published in the journal Nature on 23 June 2005.
Lead author Rodolphe Gozlan from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) said: “We have found a parasite that may pose a severe threat to some freshwater fish species in Europe. This discovery has major biological implications and may have economic implications.”
The scientists working for CEH and the Cent
Summertime arrives officially on June 21 in the northern hemisphere, and with it comes thunderstorms. As a result, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration named the week of June 19-25 National Lightning Safety Awareness Week.
NASA encourages summer swimmers, picnickers and others to keep an eye on the sky and stay safe during outdoor activities. NASA lightning expert Dr. Dennis Boccippio, of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Ala., warn
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