A small unmanned observatory high on the Antarctic plateau provides the best star-viewing site on Earth, according to research published today in Nature.
Australian researchers have shown than a ground-based telescope in Antarctica can take images almost as good as those from the Hubble Space Telescope, at a fraction of the cost. “It represents arguably the most dramatic breakthrough in the potential for ground-based optical astronomy since the invention of the telescope,” says Unive
When he’s not in the operating room performing surgery, Donald M. O’Rourke, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is fighting brain tumors from the research laboratory bench. He and colleagues are making inroads to understanding the basic molecular biology that makes brain tumors so hard to treat. An estimated 41,000 new cases of primary brain tumors are expected to be diagnosed in 2004, according to the American Brain Tumor Association.
Roles of thromboxane A2 and prostacyclin in the development of atherosclerosis in apoE-deficient mice
Atherosclerosis is an inflammation in the lining of the arteries. Biological chemicals in the body called pros-tanoids, which are made from the breakdown of arachidonic acid by the action of an enzyme called COX have been implicated in the development of atherosclerosis. The role of prostanoids in inflammation is well known, based on studies of aspirin-like non-steroidal anti-inflamm
NDUFS6 mutations are a novel cause of lethal neonatal mitochondrial complex I deficiency
A whole range of human muscular and neuromuscular diseases are caused by mutations in the mitochondrial respiratory chain/oxidative phosphorylation system. The problem is that there are about 120 genes involved in this system, some that are found in the mitochondria, and thus inherited through the mother, and some that are found in the nucleus and are inherited from both the mother and the fathe
Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have found a new way to detect ovarian cancer in the blood. Reported in the Sept. 15, 2004, issue of Cancer Research, the new method targets hypermethylation–one mechanism used by cancer cells to turn off genes that protect against tumor development.
When these tumor-suppressor genes are inactivated by hypermethylation, they cannot do their job, which then allows cancer cells to develop. This research marks the first time hypermethylation has bee
From the munchies to the giggles to paranoia, smoking marijuana causes widespread changes in the brain. Now researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine are a step closer to understanding how the drug’s active ingredients – tetrahydrocannabinol and related compounds, called cannabinoids – may exert their effects.
David Prince, MD, the Edward F. and Irene Thiele Pimley Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and his colleagues found that a group of neurons that
Close your eyes and acutely listen to the sounds around you, and you’ll find you’re able not only to accurately place the location of sounds in space, but their motion. Imagine then that, strangely, you suddenly became unable to distinguish the motion of sounds, even while you retained the ability to pinpoint their location. That’s exactly the experience of a patient reported by Christine Ducommun and her colleagues, who used studies of the patient to demonstrate conclusively for th
Fruit flies have cells that function like a miniature pancreas. That’s good news not only for the flies, but also for researchers hoping to use the tiny insects to develop cures for diabetes.
Almost two years ago Seung Kim, MD, PhD, assistant professor of developmental biology and of medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and colleagues including then-postdoctoral scholar Eric Rulifson, PhD, found cells in the fruit fly brain that make insulin. These cells tel
University of California scientists working at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a theory describing light pulse dynamics in optical fibers that explains how an interplay of noise, line imperfections and pulse collisions lead to the deterioration of information in optical fiber lines. The theory will help to enhance the performance necessary for high-speed optical communication systems like video on demand and ultra-broadband Internet, and the research has helped establish a new field of
Precision placement may help in building nanoscale devices
In an effort to put more science into the largely trial and error building of nanostructures, physicists at the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated new methods for placing what are typically unruly individual atoms at precise locations on a crystal surface. Reported in the Sept. 9, 2004, online version of the journal Science, the advance enables scientists to observe
A recently discovered disinfection byproduct (DBP) found in U.S. drinking water treated with chloramines is the most toxic ever found, says a scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who tested samples on mammalian cells.
The discovery raises health-related questions regarding an Environmental Protection Agency plan to encourage all U.S. water-treatment facilities to adopt chlorine alternatives, said Michael J. Plewa [PLEV-uh], a genetic toxicologist in the depart
When a major disaster–man-made or natural–takes down the phone system, who ya gonna call? No one, ’cause the phone’s dead, right? Not if you’re using a novel emergency communications system under development by the Maryland start-up TeleContinuity Inc. With initial support from the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Advanced Technology Program (ATP), TeleContinuity is creating a “survivable” emergency telephone system back-up network that keeps individuals, compani
A simplified design for ultra-sensitive X-ray detectors offering more precise materials analysis has been demonstrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The advance is a step toward making such devices cheaper and easier to produce. Users may eventually include the semiconductor industry, which needs better X-ray detectors to identify and distinguish between nanoscale contaminant particles on silicon wafers.
The new design, described in the Sept. 13 issue of App
The first Meteosat Second Generation meteorological satellite is today in operational service as Meteosat-8. The data it streams down from 36000 km over Africa’s Gulf of Guinea assists not just European weather forecasters but also numerous scientific teams.
This dual role was highlighted during a two-day Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) Research Announcement of Opportunity Workshop in Salzburg Austria, last week, running alongside the final two days of ESA’s Envisat S
In the past old age or disabilities have often implied a loss of independence, as elderly and disabled people find themselves reliant on family members and carers to look after them. In the future that situation may change, thanks to a location-aware mobile system developed by LOCOMOTION.
The central aim of the 30-month IST project is to allow elderly and disabled people to continue living independently, while at the same time providing peace of mind to their families and reducing t
Severe infections with Group A streptococci, sometimes called “flesh-eating killer bacteria,” are considerably more common than expected in many countries. In an EU project covering 11 countries, headed by Lund University in Sweden, it was calculated that some 1,000 cases would be found over an initial 1½-year period. Fully 5,000 were identified.
Group A streptococci, GAS, can sometimes occur in the throat without the carrier noticing anything. In other cases, the bacteria can cause
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