In the future, our computers no longer crash as we try and download pictures that are too heavy in memory, our cars no longer pollute the atmosphere and cancer could be dealt with by a visit to the GP. Some of it, at least, will happen thanks to cutting edge research happening now at the University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Here scientists are among a handful across the world helping to turn science fiction into a fact of the future through the science of nanotechnol
The world’s largest scale model of the Solar System will be created in the UK thanks to an award of £28,000 from NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts), the organisation that invests in UK creativity and innovation. The project, run by Spaced Out UK, will be made with 18 UK schools and visitor attractions and bring together artists, scientist and designers in raising the profile of astronomy and creating an exciting new learning resource for the nation.
In all, th
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have determined that a particular type of cellular stress called osmotic stress is of critical importance to cell growth and the body’s immune response against infection. The findings may have implications for autoimmune disorders, transplant rejections, and potential cancer therapies.
Published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) the week of July 5, 2004, the res
Anal cancer is on the rise in both sexes, particularly among American men, and changing trends in sexual behavior – combined with current tobacco use and infection by a specific strain of the human papillomavirus – may help explain the increase. These findings, from two separate studies by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, will be reported in a pair of papers in the July 15 issue of Cancer. The first study, by lead author Lisa G. Johnson, Ph.D., a statistical-research associate
Farm equipment in the future might very well resemble the robot R2D2 of Star Wars fame. But instead of careening through a galaxy far, far away, these ag robots might be wobbling down a corn row, scouting for insects, blasting weeds and taking soil tests.
University of Illinois agricultural engineers have developed several ag robots, one of which actually resembles R2D2, except that it’s square instead of round. The robots are completely autonomous, directing themselves down corn rows, tur
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers have developed a new technique for rapidly identifying the functions of genes.
The “high throughput” technique can be used in both cell culture and in animal models to screen thousands of genes for a particular biological function. It provides a method for the rapid development of a cDNA library, which would contain protein-encoding sequences of DNA. Researchers then can use the library to analyze a specific gene function.
Scientists at Florida State University subjected walnuts, cashew nuts and almonds to radiation, roasting, pressure cooking, blanching, frying and microwave heating in an effort to make them safe for allergy sufferers.
In the end, the nutritious little nuggets refused to surrender their allergens, but the research yielded sensitive techniques that detect minute traces of the nuts — potentially fatal to allergic consumers — in seemingly nut-free processed foods.
The study, “Impac
About half of the 700,000 annual cases of suspected appendicitis in the United States lack the usual symptoms – pain in the lower right abdomen, fever and a rising white blood cell count – making the decision to operate somewhat problematic. Now, thanks to a new imaging agent based on technology developed by nuclear medicine researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, doctors may finally have a way to rapidly and accurately detect those hard-to-diagnose cases.
The U.S. Food
Clinical trials awaited for procedure that is less invasive than laparoscopy
Surgeries performed with specialized medical devices requiring only small incisions, called laparoscopic surgery, have many advantages over traditional open surgery, including less pain, fewer complications and quicker recoveries. Now, scientists at Johns Hopkins have created a new surgical technique that in extensive animal studies is safe and may improve even further the benefit of minimally invasive surg
More than 8,000 international scientists and clinicians will arrive in Montreal to share the latest advances in Immunology in the July heat. Researchers from 70 countries will arrive in the city on July 18 to attend the weeklong 12th International Congress of Immunology (ICI) and 4th Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) Meeting.
“There will be over 5,000 presentations including diverse topics such as, asthma, stem cell and bone marrow transplantation, vaccines, art
University of Iowa researchers have shown for the first time that gene therapy delivered to the brains of living mice can prevent the physical symptoms and neurological damage caused by an inherited neurodegenerative disease that is similar to Huntington’s disease (HD).
If the therapeutic approach can be extended to humans, it may provide a treatment for a group of incurable, progressive neurological diseases called polyglutamine-repeat diseases, which include HD and several spinocerebe
Research in monkeys suggests that a diet high in the natural plant estrogens found in soy does not increase the risk of breast or uterine cancer in postmenopausal women.
“This is convincing evidence that at dietary levels, the estrogens found in soy do not stimulate cell growth and other markers for cancer risk,” said Charles E. Wood, D.V.M., lead researcher, from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. “The findings should be especially interesting to women at high risk for breast
Studies of the geographic variation of colon and rectal (colorectal) cancer mortality rates in the U.S. have long indicated that they are primariliy linked to solar ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation: the more UVB in summer, the lower the mortality rate.
The hypothesis to explain this result is that UVB radiation produces vitamin D in the skin, and vitamin D acts to reduce the risk of colorectal and over a dozen other types of cancer. One major study found that intake of 150 IU/day of vitamin D
A new study by scientists at the University of Southampton suggests that MRSA contamination can be reduced by using copper alloys for surfaces in healthcare facilities.
Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a virulent organism, essentially resistant to all beta-lactam antibiotics (for example: penicillins, ampicillins, cephalosporins). It can cause skin, bone and life-threatening blood infections, as well as pneumonia.
In a study co-funded by the International Copp
Snow quality may affect the Canadian lynx’s ability to kill its prey, according to new research suggesting climate may be impacting one of the most fascinating ecological systems to intrigue biologists for decades. The University of Alberta’s Dr. Stan Boutin is part of a research team to study the relationship between the lynx and the snowshoe hare—an interaction that has grave implications on the dynamics of the whole boreal forest.
Boutin teamed up with other researchers from Canada, the U
A protein responsible for regulating acid levels within cells – and pumping out acid accumulated in cardiac cells after a heart attack – activates in direct response to changes in a cell’s volume, according to a new study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
Their findings show that the protein NHE1, which is found in the membranes of nearly all cells and is especially active in cancer cells, is regulated by the stretch and pull of the membrane as a cell changes volum
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