MIT and Columbia University students and researchers have begun operation of a novel experiment that confines high-temperature ionized gas, called plasma, using the strong magnetic fields from a half-ton superconducting ring inside a huge vessel reminiscent of a spaceship. The experiment, the first of its kind, will test whether nature’s way of confining high-temperature gas might lead to a new source of energy for the world.
First results from the Levitated Dipole Experiment
Subra Suresh has spent the last two decades studying the mechanical properties of engineered materials from the atomic to the structural scale. So, until recently, the head of MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering never thought he’d be a player in the hunt for cures to malaria and pancreatic cancer.
It turns out, however, that Suresh’s expertise in nanotechnology is quite applicable to biology and medicine. With colleagues in engineering, science a
In a paper published this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, engineers report creating a small swatch of heart tissue that displays many of the hallmarks of mature cardiac tissue, including regular contractions.
“We have been trying to engineer a patch of tissue that has the same properties as native heart tissue, or myocardium, that could be attached over injured myocardium,” said Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, a principal research sci
U-M study shows nocturnal splinting reduces pain, discomfort for active workers with CTS
After a long day on the job, tired minds and sore feet look forward to a long night of rejuvenating rest. A new study finds that nocturnal rest can do a world of good for your hands and wrists too, especially if you are one of the millions of American workers who are just beginning to feel the common pain and discomfort linked to carpal tunnel syndrome. The findings, made by a team of researche
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have succeeded in discovering and isolating a new protein from the poplar tree with special structural and qualitative characteristics that could have consequences for development of future nanocapsules for drug delivery to cancer cells.
In addition to being obtained from plant tissue, the protein can now also be produced in large quantities as a recombinant protein in bacteria, making it highly available for medicinal or other ap
Flow control techniques and aerodynamic improvements developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology could save the U.S. trucking industry hundreds of millions of gallons of fuel per year.
Recent tests done using a full-size tractor-trailer truck show the techniques – which are based on systems originally developed for jet aircraft wings – could increase fuel economy by as much as 11-12 percent. The improvements could also enhance braking and directional control, potentially
Philip Liu, Cornell University professor of civil and environmental engineering, will lead a delegation of American scientists from the National Science Foundation’s Tsunami Research Group and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) into the tsunami-ravaged areas of Sri Lanka, Jan. 9-16.
The scientists will examine inundation areas, estimate wave heights, determine the precise arrival time of the tsunami, scour the area for geological evidence and sediment deposits and examine
The rice genome is larger, but we make the most of what we’ve got
In April 2003, scientists completed the massive Human Genome Project, recording for the first time in history the location and sequence of every gene in the human body. One result of the international project came as a bit of a shock. Scientists discovered that the body has only 30,000 genes, far fewer than the 50,000 to 140,000 they had expected to find.
Moreover, scientists learned that some less compl
A team headed by scientists at Northwestern University, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), has shown how to visualize the human brain as a massive, interacting, complex network governed by a few underlying dynamic principles.
The research opens fascinating possibilities for future basic and applied studies to investigate the dynamics of brain states, particularly in cases of dysfunction — such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease and chronic pain — withou
Over the past five years, so-called molecularly targeted therapies for cancer have held out great promise. These therapies are based on blocking a cancer-causing genetic pathway that has been turned on in a tumor, thereby allowing it to proliferate and grow in an uncontrolled manner. For a small number of cancers, chronic treatment with molecularly targeted therapies has been shown to be effective in the clinic – at least in the short-term. Recently, based on animal models, several investigators ha
University of Arizona scientists, working on one of the most stunning robotic space missions ever attempted, head for Germany next week.
Their experiments ride on the Huygens probe to Saturn’s giant moon, Titan, part of the four-year NASA/European Space Agency/Italian Space Agency Cassini Huygens mission to the Saturn system.
The probe separated from the Cassini spacecraft early Saturday, Dec. 25, 2004, central European time (or about 8:30 p.m. Dec. 24, Arizona ti
Shielding the male gonads using a type of lead capsule previously only used in X-ray imaging also reduces indirect radiation to the testes during MDCT of the abdomen and pelvis, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Technology of Aachen in Germany. Protecting the testes from radiation is important because the testes are sensitive to radiation damage, which could result in cancer, infertility, or sperm mutation.
For the study, the researchers analyzed 66 m
Researchers have known for a decade that the p53 tumor suppressor gene is important for killing cells as they proliferate under low-oxygen conditions inside tumors. As tumors grow they outstrip their oxygen supply. If a cell has a normal p53 gene, the p53 protein will eliminate cancerous cells, keeping tumor growth at bay. Under conditions of stress to the cell – such as radiation or chemotherapy and hypoxia – p53 normally eliminates tumors.
Hypoxia, however, induces p53 to mu
More sexually active adolescent females than previously thought may be infected with a virus linked to cervical cancer and genital warts, according to a study published in the Jan. 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
The research, reported by Darron R. Brown, M.D., and colleagues at the Indiana University School of Medicine, found four out of five sexually active adolescent females infected with the human papillomavirus. The study said the rates observed among the
Cord blood cells limit heart attack damage in animal study
Stem cells from umbilical cord blood effectively treated heart attacks in an animal study, report cardiologist Robert J. Henning, MD, and colleagues at the University of South Florida and James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital.
When injected into rats’ hearts soon after a heart attack, stem cells taken from human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) greatly reduced the size of heart damage and restored pumping func
For the first time, a team of astronomers based in Germany has detected the presence of magnetic fields in the central stars of four planetary nebulae. Planetary nebulae are expanding gas shells that remain after Sun-like stars eject their outer layers at the end of their lifetimes. It is a long-standing and unsolved mystery why 80% of all planetary nebulae are not spherical. Theories suggest that magnetic fields play a role in shaping planetary nebulae. The team, led by Stefan Jordan, has now
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