On 14 January ESA’s Huygens probe made an historic first ever descent to the surface of Titan, 1.2 billion kilometres from Earth and the largest of Saturn’s moons. Huygens travelled to Titan as part of the joint ESA/NASA/ASI Cassini-Huygens mission. Starting at about 150 kilometres altitude, six multi-function instruments on board Huygens recorded data during the descent and on the surface. The first scientific assessments of Huygens’ data were presented during a press conference
People who need artificial limbs to help with their day-to-day living are among those who are likely to benefit from a project funded with the help of €1.974 million (euros) from the Information Society Technologies area of the EUs Framework Programme.
The MOL SWITCH project set out to build a single-molecule DNA sequencing device and a MOLecular magnetic SWITCH that links the biological and silicon worlds. This nano-switch combines a biological motor and a moving magnetic bead tha
These images from the Huygens DISR instrument show new features, such as evidence of flow around ’islands’, deposits of water ice and channels which could have been created by methane springs.
Major developments in biotech, genomics and stem cell research now offer exciting and far-reaching new opportunities for health care in conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease to genetic disorders. However the very pharmaceutical companies who could otherwise be expected to bring the relevant treatments to the market place are facing disturbingly turbulent conditions in their relations with policy makers, regulators and members of the public.
Existing succe
The Institute of Food Science & Technology, through its Public Affairs and Technical & Legislative Committees, has authorised the following Information Statement, dated January 2005. This cancels and replaces that dated June 2000.
Summary
The term “phytosterols” covers plant sterols and plant stanols. Plant sterols are naturally occurring substances present in the diet principally as minor components of vegetable oils. Plant stanols, occurring in nature at a lower l
Those abused as adults often say no to marriage, cohabitation
Poor women who are physically or sexually abused at some point in their lives are less likely to maintain stable intimate relationships, according to a new study of more than 2,500 women by sociologists from The Johns Hopkins University and Penn State University.
The women involved in the study said they want fair treatment and companionship from their partners, just like everybody does, the researchers said. Many
Livermore researchers have determined the Karakorum fault in Tibet, a feature formed by the same tectonic “collision” that caused the recent tsunami, has slipped 10 millimeters per year during the last 140,000 years.
Earlier research by outside scientists using satellite radar interferometry (InSAR) conducted over a decadal time scale indicated that the Karakorum fault and the Karakax segment of the Altyn Tagh fault in western Tibet are essentially inactive.
But Live
Supplement projects future possibilities and partnering with patients in providing care
A special supplement to the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s Journal of Nuclear Medicine examines current and future uses of radionuclide therapy and its importance in medical practice and patient management.
Supplement editors Steven M. Larson, M.D., and Eric P. Krenning, M.D., Ph.D., present a comprehensive overview intended to offer relevant advice to nuclear medicine practitioners
Another important piece to the photosynthesis puzzle is now in place. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have identified one of the key molecules that help protect plants from oxidation damage as the result of absorbing too much light.
The researchers determined that when chlorophyll molecules in green plants take in more solar energy than they are able to immediately us
A research team lead by University of British Columbia zoology assistant professor Darren Irwin is the first in the world to demonstrate a genetic gradient–or path of gradually changing genetic traits–between two distinct species that have been isolated by distance. The research challenges the prevailing theory among evolutionary biologists that species evolve only when separated by a geographical barrier.
The findings, published in the January 21 issue of Science magazine, ha
Some massive earthquakes like the one that generated the recent tsunami in South Asia are preceded by slight sinking along nearby coastlines two to five years before the rupture, according to a new study by scientists from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.
If coastal subsidence is common before subduction zone quakes, areas such as those ringing the Pacific Rim could be on th
Newly published North Carolina State University research into the evolution of birds shows the first definitive fossil proof linking close relatives of living birds to a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Research by paleontologist Dr. Julia A. Clarke, an assistant professor in the marine, earth and atmospheric sciences department at NC State, and colleagues provides unprecedented fossil proof that some close cousins to living bird species coexisted with dinosaurs more than
Whether it is barn-raising or crafting a business plan, humans are among the few creatures that are able to work well cooperatively. According to an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, our success at cooperation results from three distinct personality types.
“In any given group of people, youl find three kinds of people: Cooperators, Free Riders, and what we call Reciprocators. Cooperators do the most work and Free Riders do as little as possible, but
The scientists found that depressed female monkeys become socially withdrawn and have reduced body fat, low levels of activity, high heart rates and disruptions in hormone levels – all of which are known or suspected characteristics of major depression in women. Their research is based on female monkeys because women are 66 percent more likely than men to experience depression during their lifetimes.
“We believe these monkeys can be a useful model for learning more about depressio
Men and women use different brain areas to achieve similar IQ results, UCI study finds
While there are essentially no disparities in general intelligence between the sexes, a UC Irvine study has found significant differences in brain areas where males and females manifest their intelligence.
The study shows women having more white matter and men more gray matter related to intellectual skill, revealing that no single neuroanatomical structure determines general intelligen
University of Pittsburgh findings published in leading European journal
Reduced blood concentrations of a protein called adiponectin appear to indicate a significant risk of cardiovascular disease in one of the first studies to focus on risk of the disorder among patients with diabetes mellitus type 1, previously known as juvenile diabetes. Recent studies suggest that adiponectin, a protein specific to fat tissue, is involved in obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Results of the s
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