Technologies used to spin wool have been adapted to produce yarns made solely from carbon nanotubes (CNTs)
In a collaborative effort, scientists at CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology (CTFT) have achieved a major technological breakthrough that should soon lead to the production of futuristic strong, light and flexible ’smart’ clothing materials. In partnership with the world-renowned NanoTech Institute at the University of Texas at Dallas, CTFT has adapted textile tech
Most solids expand when heated, a familiar phenomenon with many practical implications. Among the rare exceptions to this rule, the compound zirconium tungstate stands out by virtue of the enormous temperature range over which it exhibits so-called “negative thermal expansion,” contracting as it heats up and expanding as it cools, and because it does so uniformly in all directions.
While engineers are already pursuing practical applications in areas ranging from electronics to
A recent study, published in the journal Pain Practice, identified situations in which injections of local anesthetic would be the best treatment for pain and reduce unnecessary risk and procedural costs.
While the use of sympathetic blocks (injections) is controversial, in this study, 20 patients suffering from complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) were given injections to examine the method’s contribution “as prospective predictors of outcome.”
The patients, who exhib
The Earth Institute at Columbia University, NYC–Researchers suggest that reductions of trace gases may allow stabilization of climate so that additional global warming would be less than 1° C, a level needed to maintain global coastlines. Although carbon dioxide emissions, an inherent product of fossil fuel use, must also be slowed, the required carbon dioxide reduction is much more feasible if trace gases decrease.
In the current edition of Proceedings of the National Academy
Holds hope for sufferers of macular degeneration
For the first time researchers have shown that transplanted stem cells can preserve and improve vision in eyes damaged by retinal disease. In the cover article in the November 2004 Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, scientists from Harvard’s Schepens Eye Research Institute describe results of a mouse study in which transplanted stem cells develop into retinal cells, prevent the death of “at risk” retina cells in the rec
With the confirmation that soybean rust has been detected in the U.S., plant pathologists with The American Phytopathological Society (APS) are offering insight into the management and identification of this disease.
According to Doug Jardine, director of the APS Office of Public Affairs and Education and plant pathology professor at Kansas State University, plant pathologists from government agencies, industry, and universities have been working together to prepare for the appear
Scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, have created a model that predicts the survival of follicular lymphoma patients based on the molecular characteristics of their tumors at diagnosis. The model is based on two sets of genes–called survival-associated signatures–whose activity was found to be associated with good or poor prognosis for patients with the cancer. The scientists’ results, to be published in the November 19, 2004,
It’s the scientific equivalent of having your cake and eating it too. A team of researchers from JILA, a joint institute of the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado at Boulder, has developed an efficient, low-cost way to measure the energy levels of atoms in a gas with extremely high accuracy, and simultaneously detect and control transitions between the levels as fast as they occur. The technique is expected to have practical applica
In a developing embryo, the growth of nerves cannot outpace the establishment of life-giving blood vessels. Now, researchers have found that a protein intimately involved in blood vessel patterning actually belongs to a family of proteins known to guide neural development.
The researchers said the studies provide more evidence of communication between developing nerves and blood vessels. Understanding how those networks talk to each other could help researchers devise methods to
Implications for chronic use of COX-2 Inhibitors in pre-menopausal women
Heart disease is less pronounced in women than in men as humans age, but this difference narrows after menopause. Some studies have shown that estrogen slows heart disease in mouse models, but the mechanism is largely unknown. Now scientists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine show for the first time that in female mice protection from hardening of the arteries purported to come from higher l
An effective navigation system would improve the mobility of millions of blind people all over the world. A new “eye” developed by scientists in Japan will allow blind people to cross busy roads in total safety for the first time.
The “electronic eye”, which would be mounted on a pair of glasses, will be capable of detecting the existence and location of a pedestrian crossing, and at the same time measure the width of the road to the nearest step and detect the colour of the traf
Generic antipsychotic drugs can protect brain cells from a virus that causes a fatal nervous system disorder, according to research conducted at Brown University and Case Western Reserve University.
The disorder, called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy or PML, affects hundreds of Americans with suppressed immune systems, including kidney transplant recipients, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and an estimated 4 percent of people with AIDS.
PML is cau
Most older people are healthier, wealthier, and better educated than previous generations, but these gains have not been equal among today’s older Americans.
In 2003, there were almost 36 million people age 65 and over living in the United States, accounting for just over 12 percent of the total population. Most of these older Americans reported better health, greater wealth, and higher levels of education than older people in the past. However, some groups of older Americans are
A new ape species from Spain called Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, or its close relative, may have been the last common ancestor to all living great apes, including humans, researchers say. The Spanish paleontology team describes its fossil find in the 19 November issue of the journal Science, published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.
Like other great apes, Pierolapithecus had a stiff lower spine and other special adaptations for climbing. These features, plus the fossil&#
The first digital map of the multiple changes that have occurred in Europe’s landscapes since 1990 was unveiled today, enabling policy-makers to draw lessons from how their decisions in areas such as agriculture and transport are impacting on the region’s finite land resources and the wider environment.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) presented the results of its Corine Land Cover (CLC) 2000 project at a high-level event in Brussels for representatives from several Europe
A recent trial, published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, shows that women with abnormal heart rhythms benefit from implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) as much as men, stressing the importance of including females in future research. Previous studies have raised the concern of possible gender bias, in favor of men, in the evaluation and treatment of heart disease.
The Multicenter UnSustained Tachycardia Trial (MUSTT) studied the influence of gender
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