100 years after Einstein’s landmark work on Brownian motion, physicists have discovered a new concept of temperature that could be the key to explaining how ice and snow particles flow during an avalanche, and could lead to a better way of handling tablets in the pharmaceutical industry. This research is reported today in a special Einstein Year issue of the New Journal of Physics published jointly by the Institute of Physics and the German Physical Society (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellscha
A new use of an ultra-sensitive method that employs bionanotechnology might lead to a clinical test capable of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages — instead of during an autopsy.
Scientists at Northwestern University have become the first to detect in living humans a biomarker associated with Alzheimer’s disease, a development that promises early intervention when therapeutics may be most effective — long before plaques and tangles develop in t
Researchers now see birds’ cognitive ability as more comparable to mammals
Duke University neurobiologist Erich Jarvis and a team of 28 other neuroscientists have proposed sweeping changes to the terminology associated with the brain structures of birds–a century-old nomenclature the researchers consider outdated and irrelevant to birds’ true brainpower.
The international research group concludes in a Feb. 2005, paper published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience
CSIRO Minerals has found a way to reduce waste from car recycling, recycle materials that are currently thrown away, and make the end waste less harmful for disposal.
In the age of environmental responsibility, old cars no longer rust away disgracefully, overgrown by weeds in remote country paddocks. Today they disappear into the jaws of huge shredding machines in metal recycling plants, along with broken washing machines, refrigerators and other metal wastes.
The recycl
Scientists have made a significant advance toward understanding the regulation of blood stem cells and the complex, lifelong process of blood cell formation. A research study published in the February issue of Developmental Cell expands on previous studies by using adult animals to examine the role of a key gene known to be required for blood cell formation. Information gained from this research will be useful for future studies aimed at directing stem cell differentiation in a variety of pote
Nearly 10,000 preterm births could have been prevented in 2002 if all pregnant women at high risk for a premature baby and eligible for weekly injections of a derivative of the hormone progesterone had received them, according to a new study published in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The result would have been a reduction in the overall rate of preterm birth (before 37 completed weeks gestation) in the United States of about 2 percent — from the 2002 rate of 12.1
Many cases of sciatica not relieved by current treatments may now be successfully diagnosed and treated using new nerve imaging technology
For the last 70 years, a damaged disc in the lower back has been widely accepted as the most common cause of sciatica – a condition where the sciatic nerve is pinched, causing pain to radiate down the leg. As a result, treatment for sciatica is based on diagnosis of a damaged disc, despite the fact that nerves cannot be viewed with routine im
Thieves could exploit encryption vulnerabilities, computer scientists warn
A popular radio-frequency ID system that is used to deter car thefts and as a convenience device for the purchase of gasoline can be defeated with low-cost technology, computer scientists from The Johns Hopkins University and RSA Laboratories have determined.
Their findings, described in a new research paper, indicate that the encryption in RFID microchips in some newer car keys and wireless payment tag
In 2003 cell phone distraction resulted in 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries
Ninety percent of cell phone owners report that they use the phone while driving, according to a report published in 1999. Another report from 2003 indicates that cell phone distraction results in 2,600 deaths, 330,000 injuries, and 1.5 million instances of property damage in the United States each year. Can hands-free devices reduce accidents, fatalities, or damage? No, say human factors researchers p
Evidence is mounting that climate change is adversely affecting wildlife, an international scientific conference on climate change will hear today.
John Lanchbery, Head of Climate Change at the RSPB, Europe’s largest wildlife conservation group, will present a paper to the conference warning that failure to cut levels of the greenhouse gases responsible for air and sea temperature rises, could cause the loss of thousands of species.
“There is substantial and compelling evide
The chances of gaining approval for a change in public policy through a referendum are about 50 percent or lower, research conducted at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has shown. This is the case, even if a government is sure of its chances of gaining approval of its policy via the referendum process, the research indicates.
The research is part of a doctoral thesis written by Dr. Avital Moshinsky on the subject, “The Status-Quo Bias in Policy Judgment.” Her research incorpora
European scientists confirmed that Arctic high atmosphere is reaching the lowest ever temperatures this winter, warning that destruction of the protective ozone layer is substantially increased under very cold conditions. First signs of ozone loss have already been detected. The ozone layer is located in the so called stratosphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, at an altitude of about 8 km in the Poles, and its function is to protect the earth’s surface from harmful solar UV radiation.
Currently around one in five menopausal women die from heart disease. But according to new research by exercise scientists at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), this shocking statistic could be reversed if women took just 30 minutes exercise, five days a week. The findings are based on the initial results of a 12-month study of 24 60-year-old postmenopausal women.
Professor Tim Cable, Director of LJMU’s School of Sports and Exercise Sciences explained: “In the same way
The Finnish company Deltabit Oy is creating awareness of access-control systems that are replacing traditional keys. A fingerprint already opens the door to keep-fit rooms at Tampere, Finland.
Deltabit Oy has been developing systems and applications based on fingerprint recognition for more than six years. The basic idea is the keyless concept. Fingerprint recognition can be used in access control for opening doors, controlling burglar alarms and supervising working hours. The only
If you are touring in Finnish Lapland, you no longer need to shiver outside when watching the heavens in order to see the Northern Lights. Information about the Northern Lights can now be received directly into a mobile phone via the world’s first Aurora Borealis Alarm System.
“This is a service in which local beliefs, the natural surroundings, and technology are combined in an interesting way. Asian tourists in particular are interested in the system,” says Miikka Raulo, the managi
Parents of children with rare diseases appealed this week to Europe’s lawmakers to approve proposals for encouraging clinical trials involving children. The call came at a conference in Brussels organised by the European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP). Throughout Europe, 15 million children suffer from rare diseases, said Yann Le Cam from the European Organisation for Rare Diseases, yet almost no new medicines are being produced with them in mind. “In drug development, children come l
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