Coral reefs and coastal upwelling ecosystems are the subjects of two new Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites awarded funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF). With the addition of the Moorea Coral Reef LTER Site and the California Current Ecosystem LTER Site, there are now 26 NSF-funded sites in the LTER network. The two newest sites will receive approximately $820,000 for the next six years, for a total of about $ 5 million each.
“These two new sites significantly augment th
Nearly everyone has heard the popular notion that the blind hear better than the sighted – possibly to make up for their inability to see. Now, researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University and at the Université de Montréal have shown that the blind really do hear notes more precisely but only if they became blind when they were very young. Their findings, Pitch discrimination in the Early Blind, were published in the journal Nature (July 15th).
Dr. Robert Zat
Crude oil imported to the United States costs more than $100 billion per year. As these reserves become depleted, synthetic alternatives may provide the best opportunities to displace these imports with indigenous products, including ethanol from corn, bio-diesel from vegetable oils, and oil from coal. However, it has been difficult to bring this new alternative fuel technology to the United States. A new study by a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher found that by changing existing roadbloc
The next time the New Madrid fault zone produces a strong earthquake, buildings in the Midwest may see less damage if they use a new device developed by a researcher at the University of Missouri-Rolla.
Dr. Genda Chen, associate professor of civil engineering at UMR, has spent the past five years developing a “smart” damper that can adapt to external disturbances such as earthquakes and keep buildings from shaking as much. His most recent findings are included in an upcoming issue of the Jo
Patients with or at risk for heart disease who take the anti-hypertensive drug clonidine before non-cardiac surgery can significantly reduce the risk of complications and death due to inadequate blood flow to the heart, according to a study by UCSF researchers at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
The findings add a second drug to the list of inexpensive preventive measures available to these patients before non-cardiac surgery. In 1998 the same UCSF/SFVAMC researcher
While studying the relationship between vitamin A and lung inflammation, a Kansas State University researcher made a surprising discovery — a link between vitamin A and emphysema in smokers. Richard Baybutt, associate professor of human nutrition, said his research could have a number of implications for smokers and the cigarette and health industries.
The discovery was accidental, Baybutt said, but the research project quickly shifted to investigate the link. “We essentially weren’t
Researchers have discovered a possible inherited component for lung cancer, a disease normally associated with external causes, such as cigarette smoking. An interdisciplinary consortium consisting of 12 research institutions and universities, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), identified a major lung cancer susceptibility region on a segment of chromosome 6. The findings appear
Results suggest the fluid could increase survival in trauma patients and wounded soldiers
A novel resuscitation fluid derived from aloe vera that was developed by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine has the potential to save the lives of patients with massive blood loss, according to results of an animal study published in the August edition of the medical journal Shock. The findings could have a significant impact on the tr
The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, funded by the National Science Foundation and the State of Florida, has achieved another world record in magnet development with the successful testing of its 21.1 Tesla, superconducting, ultra-wide bore, NMR magnet. The magnet reached full field on July 21, 2004, and will remain at field for years — and even decades — to come. A team of engineers headed by Denis Markiewicz, Tom Painter, Iain Dixon, and Jim Ferner at the NHMFL developed, designed, manuf
For nearly a decade, scientists have known that leptin plays an important fat-burning role in humans. But the map of leptin’s path through the body – the key to understanding how and why the hormone works – is still incomplete.
Now a small but critical section of that map is charted, based on new research conducted at Brown Medical School and Rhode Island Hospital and at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
The research team found that lepti
A stroke leaves a permanent gap in the brain that can destroy a person’s ability to speak and move normally. Filling that gap with new cells has been a long sought-after goal of stem cell research, but all attempts have met with complications – until now. Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine report the first success using stem cells to populate the damaged region with new neurons in rats. If those cells also replace the function of the lost cells, they could help people recover
Taking something of a back-to-the-future approach, biologists from Boston University have looked into the past to find that flowering plants growing today blossom more than a week earlier than a century ago. Their findings, being presented at the Society for Conservation Biology’s annual meeting in New York City July 30 – August 2, show that among the plants studied in Boston’s Arnold Arboretum, flowering times have moved forward over the decades, with the plants flowering eight days earl
An accidental discovery may provide insights into the creation of tubular structures such as those found in caves and at hydrothermal vents.
While doing some electroplating work for a class project, David Stone stumbled upon a way to grow tiny tubes that look like the cave formations known as soda straws. At the time, Stone, a former sculptor and foundry worker, had just returned to school.
“I botched the experiment. I can still remember being in my carport, picking up the
Despite recent gains in the awareness and treatment of osteoporosis, millions of Americans who have the disease remain undiagnosed and untreated and may learn of their condition only when they suffer a fracture, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers report.
Writing in the July 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, the research group estimates that fewer than half of the people with osteoporosis have been recognized as such. “If a person’s doctor hasn’t diagnosed
New research using nearly a dozen different genomic testing procedures has revealed unprecedented detail about the molecular characteristics and virulence of group A streptococcus (GAS), the “flesh-eating” bacteria, according to scientists at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health.
The study, conducted by an international team led by RML scientist James M. Musser, M.D., Ph.D., will
Before long, the majority of mobile phones will have the capacity to show short films. If you want to be one of the pioneering filmmakers to make their mark in this new genre then Pocket Shorts, a new initiative supported by NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), the organisation that supports UK creativity and innovation, could be for you.
Pocket Shorts is a supportive environment, offering both generic filmmaking and technology training, while financially supp
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