Lab to develop more economical and reliable space travel
Images of deep space exploration in old sci-fi movies will take one giant leap toward reality as Battelle scientists manipulate microtechnology to produce rocket propellant in space and breathing oxygen for interplanetary travel, thanks to new funding from NASA.
Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., which is operated by Battelle for the Department of Energy, will launch the devel
Women often cite cost as one reason they don’t get regular mammography check-ups, but a new study finds they often misunderstand or simply aren’t aware of benefits in their insurance plans that might help offset any financial burden.
The study authors concluded that mammography screening campaigns may want to include information about insurance and health plan benefits to help reduce what appears to be a major barrier to the exams for some women. The findings appear onli
A brain scan study suggests that a suspect gene may increase susceptibility to anxiety and depression* by weakening a circuit for processing negative emotion. People with the depression-linked gene variant showed less gray matter and weaker connections in the mood-regulating circuit. How well the circuit was connected accounted for nearly 30 percent of their anxious temperament, researchers at the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found. Dr. Danie
It is well established that small class size in the early elementary grades boosts student achievement in those grades and allows students to be more engaged in learning than they are in larger classes. But there has been little research on the long-term effects of small class size. A new study involving a large sample of students followed for 13 years shows that four or more years in small classes in elementary school significantly increases the likelihood of graduating from high school, espec
Compared with a long-used linear model, a correlation-based statistical method is a more reliable way to map complex gene interactions and pinpoint genes that may be potential cancer treatment targets, according to new Brown University research.
The research is important because it describes a promising new tool for tracing human gene connections, a task critical for understanding and treating cancer and other diseases. Results appeared this week in the online edition of the P
By designing a molecular bridge, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have forged a successful pathway through a complex ocean of barriers: They’ve changed the function of a protein using a co-evolution approach.
In a study to be published in the Journal of Molecular Biology, doctoral student Zhilei Chen and Huimin Zhao, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, describe what they call a “simple and efficient method for creation of novel
A study of the USDA’s corn and soybean production forecasts over a 34-year period concludes that such projections “perform reasonably well in generating crop production forecast for corn and soybeans.” Still, the study, done at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, finds room for improvement.
“In particular, the USDA may want to consider expanding the scope of the subjective yield surveys to incorporate a wider range of market and industry participants,” said Dar
A University of Illinois agricultural economist who played a role in shaping a recent assessment of the world’s ecosystem and its future believes the study indicates “our children are at risk.”
“Those of us who are adults will see some of the effects of current stresses on our ecosystems but it is our children who will pay the price of our drawing down of our natural capital, unless we can find ways to make it sustainable,” said Gerald Nelson, a professor in the department of a
In an experiment originally planned for the International Space Station, physicists at Duke University have devised a controlled, measurable method to make a container of granules — in this case plastic beads — “freeze” into the equivalent of a solid-state crystal, or “melt” into the equivalent of a fluid, by alternating the rates that the beads are stirred or shaken.
Results from these experiments also apply to other types of “granular materials,” a term scientists use to des
Sports announcers already know it, and now Elan Fuld has proven it: clutch hitters really do exist.
The 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania junior studied the phenomenon of clutch hitting in baseball, and his calculations provided statistical evidence that players such as Eddie Murray, Frank Duffy and Luis Gomez were clutch hitters.
A surprising finding in the study was that Bill Buckner, who has gone down in history as one of the game’s worst “choke artists”
A new study suggests that, after surgery, all colon tumors should be tested to learn if the patient may have an inherited syndrome that carries an extremely high risk of cancer. It also suggests that this prescreening can be done using a relatively inexpensive microscopy test already used in hospital pathology laboratories.
The study showed that two to three percent(at least one in 45) of people with colon cancer probably have mutations for the inherited syndrome, known as
A powerful laboratory technique used by fruit fly geneticists for more than a decade is now available to scientists studying genes and diseases in mice.
Writing in the May 6 edition of the journal Cell, researchers from Stanford University describe a streamlined method for creating a “genetic mosaic mouse”–a rodent whose body is genetically engineered to produce small clusters of cells with mutated genes.
The new technique, called Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers (M
Clearstream’s core business areas experienced further growth during April 2005 with the value of assets held in custody on behalf of customers rising to EUR 7.9 trillion, a rise of 2.6 percent from the end of the same month last year (April 2004 EUR 7.7 trillion). The number of international transactions processed by Clearstream also rose to 1.60 million for the month representing a rise of 10.3 percent compared with the same month last year (April 2004: 1.45 million). Of these transactions, 15 per
Compounds that occur naturally in cranberries may be good for the heart, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found.
Early results from studies indicate that feeding cranberry juice powder seems to relax and open blood vessels in pigs that are genetically susceptible to developing atherosclerosis, or clogged arteries. Kris Kruse-Elliott, a veterinary anesthesiologist at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, presented her results at the American Physiolog
According to a systematic review of existing studies, to appear in the May 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the surgical procedure known as an episiotomy, performed in up to 35 percent of U.S. vaginal births, usually provides no benefits.
Moreover, the researchers found that, in some cases, routine use of episiotomy causes more harm to mothers than avoiding its use. An episiotomy is an incision made at the vaginal opening during a birth. The intent, i
While glaciers around the world are shrinking and disappearing, presumably due to global warming, two small glaciers in the Trinity Alps of Northern California are holding their own.
Richard Heermance, a doctoral student in geological sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, presented findings of his research on the glaciers at the western meeting of the Geological Society of America in San Jose last weekend.
Heermance first became familiar with the Trinity
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