Method has potential of changing the metal’s properties; many new applications possible
Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico have developed a new way of mimicking photosynthetic proteins to manipulate platinum at the nanoscale. The method has the potential of changing the metal’s properties and benefiting emerging technologies.
“While we are in the early stages of research, we see the possibi
Operation time somewhat longer, but benefits seen
In the first-ever direct comparison of robot-assisted and traditional surgery for children’s heart defects, University of Michigan surgeons report that the robot’s help reduces patients’ recuperation time and surgery-related trauma and scarring, while extending the length of the operation by just over half an hour.
Their finding suggests that the minimally invasive surgical techniques made possible by the surge
Poaching nearly eliminated in Central American nesting ground
Poaching of a critically important population of endangered hawksbill sea turtles along the coast of Nicaragua has dropped by more than 79 percent, thanks to a unique program developed by the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society that enlists support from local communities, fishing groups, and government agencies.
Over a four-year period, the practice of illegally removing turtle eggs from nests has droppe
Rosetta is scheduled to be launched on board an Ariane-5 rocket on 26 February from Kourou, French Guiana.
Originally timed to begin about a year ago, Rosetta’s journey had to be postponed, as a precaution, following the failure of a different version of Ariane-5 in December 2002. This will be the first mission to orbit and land on a comet, one of the icy bodies that travel throughout the Solar System and develop a characteristic tail when they approach the Sun.
This del
Scientists, led by NYU paleoanthropologist Katerina Harvati, use computer imaging techniques to settle the issue of the Neanderthal role in human evolution
In the most recent and mathematically rigorous study to date determining whether Neanderthals contributed to the evolution of modern humans, a team of anthropologists examining the skulls of modern humans and Neanderthals as well as 11 existing species of non-human primates found strong evidence that Neanderthals differ so greatly
Physically damaged or chewed plants produce a volatile chemical that may serve as a primer to prepare nearby plants to defend themselves against insect attack, according to a team of researchers.
“We know that when caterpillars chew on plants, eventually the plants produce chemicals attracting wasps that are the natural enemy of the caterpillar,” says Dr. James H. Tumlinson, the Ralph O. Mumma endowed professor of entomology at Penn State. “Natural predators can be an effective method of bi
Study is among first to evaluate genetic susceptibility to neurodevelopmental problems in children with heart defects
Children with heart conditions who require surgery as infants may be more vulnerable to neurologic problems if they have a particular variety of a gene.
Researchers from the Cardiac Center and other divisions of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that children carrying the epsilon2 version (APOE å2) of the apolipoprotein E gene were significan
Weizmann Institute scientists have created a new type of nanotube built of gold, silver and other nanoparticles. The tubes exhibit unique electrical, optical and other properties, depending on their components, and as such, may form the basis for future nanosensors, catalysts and chemistry-on-a-chip systems.
The study, published in Angewandte Chemie, was performed by Prof. Israel Rubinstein, Dr. Alexander Vaskevich, postdoctoral associate Dr. Michal Lahav and doctoral student Tali Sehayek,
When someone’s spinal cord is completely severed, brain signals can no longer reach the legs to tell the legs to walk.
A study in this month’s journal Spinal Cord shows that those who have suffered a spinal cord injury can generate muscle activity independent of brain signals. Dan Ferris, now an assistant professor of kinesiology at U-M, led the research as part of his post-doctorate work with Susan Harkema at University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medi
Earliest evidence of humans affecting aquatic ecology in Canada, United States
New findings from Canadian scientists dispel the belief that European settlers were the first humans to cause major changes to Canadian and U.S. freshwater ecosystems.
A University of Toronto-led, multidisciplinary team including researchers from Queen’s, McGill, and University of Ottawa show for the first time that prehistoric Inuit whalers dramatically altered high Arctic pond ecosystems through
Approximately 75,000 years ago, a massive explosive eruption from a volcano in western Indonesia (Toba caldera) coincided with the onset of the Earth’s last Ice Age.
In the current issue of Geology, University of Rhode Island geological oceanographers Meng-Yang Lee and Steven Carey; Chang-Hwa Chen and Yoshiyuki Iizuka of the Academia Sinica in Taiwan; and Kuo-Yen Wei of National Taiwan University describe their investigation into the possibility that eruptions from the Toba caldera on
Since most criminals only strike when they aren’t being watched, reliable surveillance of homes and businesses is a round-the-clock job. A University of Rhode Island researcher has made that job considerably easier and less expensive, thanks to a new technology he developed that can automatically track moving objects in real time.
Using low-cost, commercially available hardware, the Automatic Image Motion Seeking (AIMS) camera follows a moving object and keeps the target at the center of the
URI student researcher: Chickadees avoid caterpillars that eat leaves exposed to high levels of CO2
In yet another example of the far-reaching impact of global warming, a University of Rhode Island student found evidence that suggests some songbirds may avoid eating insects that consume leaves exposed to high levels of carbon dioxide.
URI senior Martina Müller of Kingston, working in cooperation with Associate Professor Scott McWilliams, Ph.D. candidate David Podlesak and col
C-reactive protein, already accepted as indicating a risk of heart disease, also participates in the process of atherosclerosis that narrows heart arteries, said a Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) researcher.
In a report that went online in the “rapid track” portion of the website of Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association, today, Dr. Lawrence Chan, chief of the BCM division of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism, and members of his laboratory said that when mice genet
A statistical model from Ohio State University is forecasting sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean in a new way.
The model gives scientists a way to quantify the uncertainty that surrounds the climatic phenomenon known as El Niño, which triggers severe weather changes in North and South America and Australia and endangers crops and wildlife, said Noel Cressie, professor of statistics and director of the university’s Program in Spatial Statistics and Environmental Sci
Russia incurs significant losses as a result of breaking fishing rules. Satellite-based control over domestic and foreign illegal fishers is most efficient. Watching the industrial fishing vessels by satellite is already practiced in Kamchatka.
Joint effort of the State Committee for Fisheries of the Russian Federation, Basin Administration for Fish Conservation of the Federal State Office “Sevvostryvod”, and Kamchatka Centre of Communication and Monitoring (KCCM) has allowed for testing the
Feedback
