Microbes living in the brilliantly colored hot springs of Yellowstone National Park use primarily hydrogen for fuel, a discovery University of Colorado at Boulder researchers say bodes well for life in extreme environments on other planets and could add to understanding of bacteria inside the human body.
A team of CU-Boulder biologists led by Professor Norman Pace, one of the world’s leading experts on molecular evolution and microbiology, published their report “Hydrogen an
Within the framework of the “CRAFT” programme for the development of technological programmes for small and medium-sized companies, the European Union have recently approved a new proposal from CIDEMCO in the field of protection treatment for wood: “Innovative green wood treatment to achieve Risk 4 protection (SURFASAM)”. The main aim of this project is the development of a new, non-toxic protection treatment.
In this project those involved in R+D are commissioned by business
Climate change and the future of air travel
Researchers are investigating how air travel can be adapted to ease its impact on the environment.
The investigation focuses on how aircraft can avoid creating vapour trails, also known as contrails. These spindly threads of condensation may not seem important but some persist for hours and behave in the same way as high altitude cirrus clouds, trapping warmth in the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming.
Air travel
Parasitic diseases, especially leishmaniases and trypanosomiases, kill hundreds of thousands of people every year in the world, mainly in the countries of the South. The most severe form of leishmaniosis (kala-azar, the visceral form), induced by Leishmania donovani and L. infantum, affects about 500 000 people per year and proves fatal if no treatment is given.
Although drugs do exist for treating these diseases, they are not always effective, owing to the appearance of r
Ever since Aids appeared, migration has been thought to be a driving force behind the epidemic. The disease is often represented either as an “imported pathology”, migrants being the disease (or at least risk), carriers or as a “pathology of adaptation”. Migrants, mainly young men who move around to find work, are subjected to the constraints of a new environment they find in the host region or country. They therefore become economically, socially and emotionally more vulnerable. This situation e
One of the most basic yet least understood processes in our bodies is how cells crawl along tissues. This behavior is essential to the formation of an embryo and other processes, but it must be tightly controlled. A disturbance can lead to the spread of cancer cells or diseases like Spina bifida and Lissencephaly, in which cells fail to reach their proper destinations. Scientists from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo have now made a significant step forward in un
Jumping on that treadmill or bike is not only good for one’s health, but also can help significantly reduce depression, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
The first study to look at exercise alone in treating mild to moderate depression in adults aged 20 to 45 showed that depressive symptoms were reduced almost 50 percent in individuals who participated in 30-minute aerobic exercise sessions three to five times a week.
The results, published in th
Whole-body computed tomography (CT) is not a cost-effective screening method, according to a study published in the February issue of the journal Radiology.
The use of whole-body CT as a screening tool for cancer and other diseases is the focus of an ongoing debate. Proponents of whole-body CT emphasize the potential benefit of early detection of disease, but others caution that the costs, false-positive findings and unnecessary radiation might render the procedure more harmfu
Recurring blood clots in the lungs could be prevented with computed tomography (CT) scans of the legs, according to a study in the February issue of the journal Radiology.
Researchers found that indirect CT venography (CTV) could identify blood clots in the legs that have the potential to break free, travel to the lung and block an artery–a life-threatening condition known as pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary emboli and blood clots in the legs, also called deep vein thrombosis, are
Clear evidence in a Chinese meteorite for the past presence of chlorine-36, a short-lived radioactive isotope, lends further support to the controversial concept that a nearby supernova blast was involved in the formation of our solar system, according to a report forthcoming in the February 1 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (to be published online today).
Known as the Ningqiang carbonaceous chondrite, the primitive meteorite is a space relic that fo
Kinniya Hospital on the east coast of Sri Lanka was destroyed by the Dec. 26 tsunami, and its 40 patients and hospital staff are missing. It was just one of many buildings poorly prepared for actual disaster. In the weeks and months ahead, scientists and engineers will be studying damage sites all over the island to evaluate the power of the tidal wave and recommend new construction standards to help such buildings withstand the expected stresses.
A new Web site at Cornell Universit
A common protein that protects plants from fungal infection mimics the activity of a hormone in mammals that is linked to weight loss and is believed to play a role in mitigating heart disease, obesity and diabetes, according to a team of researchers at Purdue University and several collaborating institutions.
The research has the potential to lead to a simple screening system for developing new drugs to treat these and several other human diseases, including some forms of ca
Iron-sulfur nanosystem isolated from bacterium is more reactive than catalysts in use
Those seeking to design more efficient catalysts for the production of hydrogen and the control of air pollutants might do well to take a closer look at how chemistry works in nature, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory say. Their theoretical investigations of a bacterial enzyme reveal a catalytic complex with higher predicted chemical reactivity than that o
Research responds to need for protection against potential bioweapons
A new technique devised by UC Irvine researchers can greatly facilitate the development of vaccines against infectious diseases such as smallpox, malaria and tuberculosis. Because the new technique can synthesize a large number of proteins very quickly, it has potential to accelerate vaccine development, particularly crucial in the fight against bioterrorism.
The technique is based on “polymerase chain
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists can mineralize wood in record time
California has Silicon Valley. Could a Silicon Forest in Washington be next? A team of materials scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is on it.
Yongsoon Shin and colleagues at the Department of Energy lab have converted wood to mineral, achieving in days what it takes nature millions of years to do in such places as the Gingko Petrified Forest, an hour up the Columbia Riv
Mitral valve tissue undergoes dramatic changes during congestive heart failure
Surprising new findings in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology show that the basic biochemical composition of heart valves in patients with congestive heart failure are markedly different than those with healthy hearts, a finding that may explain the mixed success of surgery to repair valve dysfunction in these patients.
The valves of patients with congestive heart failure often
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