Neutrinos released in Switzerland are due to be caught in Italy under the international project OPERA. The system of detectors for identifying these mysterious particles is developed by a joint effort of Russian and Ukrainian scientists.
Specialists from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (Dubna, Russia) and Institute of Scintillator Materials NASU (Kharkov, Ukraine) have joined the Project OPERA that is a biggest and most expensive international experiment in the field
International experts gather in UCD this week (14-16 March 2005)* to discuss medical research into neurodegenerative diseases including the eighth most common cause of death in the developed world ¡V Alzheimer¡¦s Disease.
Alzheimer¡¦s Disease is a degenerative brain disorder that primarily affects older people. It may begin with simple forgetfulness but more advanced symptoms include confusion, language disturbances, personality and behaviour changes and impaired judgment. The d
World’s Largest Interferometer with Moving Optical Telescopes on Track
The Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at Paranal Observatory has just seen another extension of its already impressive capabilities by combining interferometrically the light from two relocatable 1.8-m Auxiliary Telescopes.
Following the installation of the first Auxiliary Telescope (AT) in January 2004 (see ESO PR 01/04), the second AT arrived at the VLT platform by the end of 2004.
Replacing lead-based solder
Electrically conductive adhesive (ECA) materials offer the electronics industry an alternative to the tin-lead solder now used for connecting display driver chips, memory chips and other devices to circuit boards. But before these materials find broad application in high-end electronic equipment, researchers will have to overcome technical challenges that include low current density.
Using self-assembled monolayers – essentially molecular
Scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have used RNA interference in transgenic mice to silence a mutated gene that causes inherited cases of amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), substantially delaying both the onset and the progression rate of the fatal motor neuron disease. Their results will be published in the April issue of Nature Medicine, and in the journal’s advanced online publication March 13.
In addition to silencing the
Dusting for fingerprints can sometimes alter the prints, erasing valuable forensic clues. Now, chemists say they have developed a new fingerprint visualization technique using X-rays that leaves prints intact and, in addition, reveals chemical markers that could give investigators new clues for tracking criminals and missing persons. Their technique was described today at the 229th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.
The
As tattoos have grown in popularity, so have complaints of adverse side effects associated with both their application and removal. A new study, done by chemistry students at Northern Arizona University, looked at the chemical composition of a variety of tattoo inks to better understand their potential health risks.
The findings, presented today at the 229th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, suggest that closer regulat
If you have ever covered a flashlight with your hand and seen the red light that still comes through, then you have seen light in the therapeutic window – that magic wavelength that is not absorbed or reflected away by tissue. Scientists believe that they can use light at that wavelength to signal manmade molecules to release drugs at disease sites in the body.
Such possibilities will be discussed in a poster and a talk by Virginia Tech researchers presenting at the 229th Americ
Ask Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Camilla Kao to describe a bacterium, and she’ll compare it to a factory capable of producing antibiotics, immunosuppressants and anti-cancer drugs that no chemist can synthesize. Bacteria normally produce antibiotics to inhibit other bacterial strains competing for resources. Pharmaceutical companies exploit this property to manufacture drugs, but the process of cultivating bacteria is slow and costly. By hijacking molecular synthesis with the
A recent international scientific study on Russian soils raises concerns that acid rain may have serious implications for forest growth in the U.S., particularly in eastern areas such as the Adirondack and Catskill regions of New York according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“We’ve known that acid rain acidifies surface waters, but this is the first time we’ve been able to compare and track tree growth in forests that include soil changes due to acid rain,” said USGS s
Data may help develop strategies for mining natural gas locked up in seafloor sediments
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have recreated the high-pressure, low-temperature conditions of the seafloor in a tabletop apparatus for the study of methane-hydrates, an abundant but currently out-of-reach source of natural gas trapped within sediments below the ocean floor. Michael Eaton, a Stony Brook University graduate student working for Brook
A task-related spasmodic contraction of the muscles of the mouth and jaw, causing involuntary movements of the mouth and lips (oromandibular dystonia), manifesting only during speech as grimacing and sound distortion, has been diagnosed by a research team in Copenhagen, Denmark, and termed “Speaker’s Cramp”.
Symptoms were reduced when the affected muscles were treated with Botox® injections.
Patients rated their speech difficulties on visual analogue scales, and video
Researchers in Sweden have discovered that growth hormone (GH) treatment may result in the reduction of multiple metabolic disorders associated with abdominal obesity in postmenopausal women. Published in today in the March issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, these findings demonstrate the important role growth hormone treatment may play in reducing serious metabolic conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.
Typically, GH is known for its importa
If farmers talk big about 2004 crops as they get ready to head out into the fields this spring, let them talk. Believe them. Last year’s crop season saw record yields in every major crop amid the closest-to-perfect weather conditions of the last century, scientists say.
“Never before have corn, soybeans, sorghum, and alfalfa hay all achieved record yields in the same year,” said Stanley A. Changnon, chief emeritus of the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) and an adjunct prof
A group of plants that uses metal to defend against infection may do so because the normal defense mechanism used by most other plants is blocked.
Purdue University researchers found that this group of plants produces, but does not respond to, the molecule that triggers the infection response used by nearly all other plants. The molecule does, however, allow this group of plants, called metal hyperaccumulators, to store high levels of metal in their tissues, rendering them pat
Analysis finds marked differences among countries indicating the importance of cultural and political factors
In most countries around the world, men significantly outnumber women in academic leadership positions. A group of researchers recently set out to explain this disparity, as well as to examine whether this difference reflects the female to male ratio among physicians or whether it reflects country-specific factors. Their findings, published in the March 2005 issue of Ar
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