Tactile input has a greater impact on visual perception than we thought
When vision alone can’t tell you what’s going on in your environment, touch can lend a helping hand. A recent study from Vanderbilt University looked at the way this works by forcing people to feel out a visually ambiguous situation.
Researchers Randolph Blake, Kenith V. Sobel and Thomas W. James created such a scenario by asking subjects to describe the rotation of a virtual sphere with an ind
Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania today presented the first comprehensive study results which show that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is significantly better than traditional mammography for detecting the presence and extent of disease in patients with a diagnosis of breast cancer. The research has significant implications for women considering surgical options – other than a full mastectomy – to remove their breast cancer, such as a lumpectomy. Indeed,
Carnegie Mellon University biologists are the first to show that minor changes in the tail of one protein cripple yeast’s ability to assemble protein-making machines called ribosomes. The findings, published in a recent issue of Molecular Cell, ultimately could help scientists develop better drugs to fight fungal infections.
“Our findings are the first to link the structure of a ribosomal protein to a critical step in the pathway to assembling a fully functional ribosome,” explained Joh
Reduction is significant enough that it might lead to a reduction in the risk of heart disease caused by testosterone suppression
A small adhesive estrogen patch worn by men being treated for advanced prostate cancer lowers cholesterol, according to a new study conducted by Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers.
This is important because men who have advanced prostate cancer are often treated with hormone deprivation therapy, which turns off testos
After a 7-year, 2.2-billion-mile looping voyage across the solar system, the international Cassini mission reaches Saturn on June 30 Cassini promises to run rings around earlier spacecraft-Saturn encounters. One of the biggest planetary spacecraft ever built, Cassini won’t just fly by Saturn. It will be the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn, sending data from 12 orbiter experiments back for at least the next four years. In December, Cassini will launch a European-built probe calle
Phase I trial shows experimental drug is safe and lowers level of key blood protein
Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers have reported that the antiangiogenesis drug they developed—called Veglin—not only is safe for patients with a wide variety of cancers, but also lowers levels of a key protein that tumors need to grow and stabilizes or even reverses some cancers for a period.
Alexandra M. Levine, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Medicine and chief of hematology at t
’The Fusion of Neuroscience and Robotics for Augmenting Human Capabilities’
FET, the Unit dealing with Future and Emerging Technologies and acting as the pathfinder of IST by exploring new science and technology frontiers, has launched a new research initiative- Beyond Robotics. Neurobotics is one out of three so-called Integrated Projects.
The ultimate objective of the NEUROBOTICS project is to introduce a discontinuity in the robot design, thus going literally “
Location: Solar System
On June 8 Venus – the Earth’s sister planet – will pass in front of the Sun. This event, a ’transit’, is extremely rare – the last one occurred in 1882, 122 years ago. Easily observable in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, it is likely to attract the attention of millions of people on these continents and, indeed, all over the world.
On this important occasion, the European Southern Observatory (ESO)has joined forces with the European
With Euro 2004 fast approaching, all eyes will be fixed on David Beckham’s right foot, with the fervent hope that he will kick the perfect free kick. Now researchers at Loughborough University have invented the world’s first device to capture this magic formula – in an instant.
To kick the perfect free kick, the ball must travel with sufficient speed and elevation to clear any defensive wall, whilst spinning fast enough to swerve away from the goalkeeper and into the goal. Until now it has n
Zum letzten Mal fand dieses Naturschauspiel 1882 statt und erst im Jahr 2247 wird es wieder von Deutschland aus in voller Länge zu beobachten sein: der Venustransit. Am 8. Juni 2004 besteht nun die einmalige Chance von Jena aus zu betrachten, wie der innere Nachbarplanet der Erde vor der Sonnenscheibe herzieht. Dieses Spektakel ist so ungewöhnlich, weil die Himmelskörper selten in der dafür notwendigen Achse stehen. Der kommende Transit dauert von 7.20 bis 13.23 Uhr mitteleuropäischer Sommerzeit.
Folgende Wissenschaftlerin und Wissenschaftler stehen der Presse honorarfrei für Interviews zur Verfügung.
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Neukum
Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften, Fachrichtung Geoinformatik/Planetologie
Malteserstr. 74-100, 12249 Berlin
Telefon: 030/838-70570, -70575, Sekretariat
Schwerpunkte:
– Planetologie: Fernerkundung der Erde und der Planeten
– Astronomie
– Mars-Kamera
Tilmann Denk
Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften, Fachrichtung
Researchers have uncovered a cellular mechanism that can alter the fate of progenitor cells that normally generate the lung, causing them to create gut cells instead. The findings, which are published this week in the top-tier Open Access journal, Journal of Biology, could help researchers hoping to use adult stem cells for therapeutic purposes. Brigid Hogan and Tadashi Okubo, from Duke University Medical Center, studied the lungs of transgenic mice that had developed under the influence of
Epilepsy drugs can increase the rate of bone loss in older women, according to a study published in the June 8 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Women over age 65 who were taking drugs for epilepsy were losing bone mass at nearly twice the rate of women who were not taking epilepsy drugs.
“If this rate of bone loss is not addressed, the risk of hip fracture for these women will jump by 29 percent over five years,” said study author Kris
As surgeons develop ways to make breast cancer treatment less invasive and less disfiguring, mastectomy rates have remained surprisingly high, causing many researchers to suspect doctors are not giving their patients these options. But a new study shows it’s the patients who are choosing the more aggressive surgery.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Wayne State University found that women with breast cancer who said they made their own treatment decis
A potential vaccine candidate against chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infections is presented in a thesis from Karolinska Institutet. The new genetic vaccine can activate immune responses that are needed to clear HCV, a disease that today is difficult to treat effectively.
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. It is estimated that HCV affects approximately 170 million people around the world. Today, no vaccine is available to prevent or cure HCV infection
The implementation of European Space Policy is moving forward this week as experts from Member States and international organisations meet to flesh out the main lines of a European Space Programme. Experts are meeting today to assess the EU’s space and security capabilities and future needs. Discussions on the security dimension of Space Policy address satellite border control, conflict prevention, humanitarian missions, and fighting organised crime and terrorism. On 4 June, Member State experts g
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