IODP team succeeds in recovering sub-seafloor sample
The first 40 million years of Arctic climate history have been recovered from beneath the Arctic seafloor this week. After four days of working in hazardous conditions, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program’s (IODP) Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) retrieved 272 meters of core. Extreme sea ice then forced the ship to abandon its position.
Coring of the Arctic’s first scientific borehole–located roughly 145 miles (23
A University of Alberta researcher has discovered two new species of shrimp–adding to an unusual family that already includes varieties who can shoot bubbles that create sound waves, stunning their prey.
Dr. Arthur Anker, a post-doctoral fellow in the University of Alberta’s Department of Biological Sciences, focuses his research on a family of shrimp known as snapping shrimp–scientifically known as alpheidae–and has recently discovered two new species.
Shrimp from
Fifteen years ago, the largest telescopes in the world had yet to locate a planet orbiting another star. Today telescopes no larger than those available in department stores are proving capable of spotting previously unknown worlds. A newfound planet detected by a small, 4-inch-diameter telescope demonstrates that we are at the cusp of a new age of planet discovery. Soon, new worlds may be located at an accelerating pace, bringing the detection of the first Earth-sized world one step closer.
Early results of a UK study published online today by THE LANCET (Wednesday 25 August 2004) suggest that a surgical procedure to repair aortic aneurysm that is less invasive than conventional open surgery could reduce death within a month of surgery by around two-thirds.
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) is a dangerous swelling of the abdominal aorta which has an increased chance of rupture if it is larger than 5•5cm—a majority of people die from ruptures. The cause of AAA is complex
Scientists at Plymouth Marine Laboratory are developing new methods to rapidly assess the biodiversity of living organisms on beaches and other marine environments. They have already found many new creatures which have not been classified in previous studies.
The research is part of a programme called RAMBLERS (Rapid Assessment of Marine Biodiversity Linked to Environmental Remediation Studies.)
One of the objectives is to create a comprehensive inventory of marine plants
Compounds ’break bonds’ holding dangerous pollutants together
Everything from the manufacture of new materials to the creation of modern medications relies on chemicals known as metal-based catalysts. Catalysts pack a double punch: Even as they greatly increase the rate of chemical processes, they regenerate so they can be used again. Catalysts also can be designed to break or make powerful chemical bonds at one end of a molecule while leaving the other end to sit quietly inactive. For
Chemical cages deliver drugs and peer into cells
As our understanding of biology increases, the tools of research become almost as important as the researchers wielding them. Currently, one of the major obstacles to research is actually getting inside of cells and tissue to see what is going on as it happens.
At the University of Pennsylvania, researchers are caging molecules – xenon, gene-blocking strands of antisense DNA and even therapeutics – to facilitate their entry i
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed new technologies for further use of wastepaper in an optimal and environmentally acceptable way. The particular problem in this process was the mixing of digitally printed paper and normal household wastepaper in the collection phase, which deteriorates the de-inking result. The new technologies improve the recyclability of fibres and decrease the amount of unexploitable fibre. These alternative technologies can make the conventional de-inking pr
The first 40 million years of Arctic climate history was recovered from beneath the Arctic sea floor on Monday 23 August.
After four days drilling in hazardous conditions the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program’s Arctic Coring Expedition retrieved a 272m core before sea ice forced the work to be abandoned.
The deepest ever Arctic borehole, just 233 kilometres from the North Pole, was interrupted late on Monday when very thick, moving ice floes meant that even the world’s most p
Using a network of small telescopes and the “transit method” of detection, scientists have made their first direct discovery of a planet orbiting a bright star. A periodic dimming of light from a bright star 500 light-years away revealed the planet’s presence. The star’s intense light will allow scientists to explore the chemical makeup of the planet’s atmosphere in future observations. A paper on the recent discovery will appear on-line today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
NASA decides to send astronauts to Mars and farther out, one of the biggest technological hurdles it will face will be making sure they don’t get thirsty.
A $49,000 toilet at Purdue University may provide part of the answer. When NASA engineers first considered manned missions to Mars to follow the moon landings, they imagined that the astronauts would simply pack lots of water and food.
“We could go to Mars with Apollo technologies,” said Dr. Daniel J. Barta, deputy manag
The Department of Homeland Security’s recent selection of Memphis as a “best practices” model for high-tech security measures could speed the implementation of similar technologies in other cities.
As the third of four sites to be named under DHS’ Regional Technology Integration Initiative, Memphis becomes a source of practical security “know-how,” providing technology solutions to security concerns, lessons learned and other data to help local and regional sites improve preparednes
Breast cancer tends to progress to nearby lymph nodes, but surgeons can find it difficult to determine what tissue to remove with the breast tumor and what to leave intact. National Cancer Institute researchers hope to change that.
“Our advance is that we have a non-invasive method that may minimize surgical trauma,” says the team’s leader, Martin Brechbiel, Ph.D. “At the least, surgeons can acquire a set of images and have a feel, a road map if you will, for what they need to do be
The air pollution emitted by cigarettes is 10 times greater than diesel car exhaust, suggests a controlled experiment, reported in Tobacco Control.
Environmental tobacco smoke produces fine particulate matter, which is the most dangerous element of air pollution for health. Levels indoors can far exceed those outdoors, because new engine models and lead free fuels have cut the levels of particulate matter emissions from car exhausts, say the authors.
The controlled experimen
Using an ancient Chinese folk remedy as a model, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have designed several new compounds that, in early testing, promise to be both safer and more effective in fighting malaria and some forms of cancer than the current “gold standard” drug treatments.
Scientists will announce their successful results in late August at the American Chemical Society’s annual summer meeting, held this year in Philadelphia. Some of the results also
It was the first of the new-generation targeted therapies, and, in some ways, it remains the standard bearer. More women with breast cancer are treated with Herceptin, which was approved for use in 1998 after decades of development, than are patients using the newer targeted drugs that treat other cancers.
Herceptin can strike the most aggressive breast cancer that has spread with an effectiveness no chemotherapy agent has yet matched. And such help is much needed. Breast cancer is
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