Superb conductors of heat and infinitesimal in size, carbon nanotubes might be used to prevent overheating in next-generation computing devices or as fillers to enhance thermal conductivity of insulating materials, such as durable plastics or engine oil. But a research team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has discovered that the nanotubes’ role as thermal superconductors is greatly diminished when mixed with materials such as polymers that make up plastics.
“Carbon nanotubes are superio
How computer programs help children overcome language problems and the effect of estrogen
Scientists continue to unravel the mystery of the brain’s role in the development of language skills — and with some provocative results. One new study in this area, for example, reveals that children raised bilingually may actually be “smarter” than their monolingual peers. Other studies show how two computer learning programs potentially help children overcome reading and speech problems — res
New studies find much to recommend in pregnancy and motherhood. Findings include that: pregnancy produces heightened smell sensitivity; suckling one’s young puts brain reward systems into high gear; lactation increases the rate of wound healing; and motherhood protects against stress.
Morning sickness, food cravings, and food aversions are not the only side effects of pregnancy. Many women also say that they perceived changes in their chemical senses during pregnancy; perhaps a certain dish
ESA’s gamma-ray observatory Integral is making excellent progress, mapping the Galaxy at key gamma-ray wavelengths.
It is now poised to give astronomers their truest picture yet of recent changes in the Milky Way’s chemical composition. At the same time, it has confirmed an ’antimatter’ mystery at the centre of the Galaxy.
Since its formation from a cloud of hydrogen and helium gas, around 12 000 million years ago, the Milky Way has gradually been enriched
Research News from British Journal of Surgery
Using key-hole surgery to remove a kidney from a healthy living donor means that donors require less pain relief after the operation, spend less time in hospital and return to work sooner than donors who give up a kidney by standard open surgery. Writing in the latest edition of the British Journal of Surgery, Dr Alexander Handschin, Dr Markus Weber, Professor Pierre-Alan Clavien and colleagues from Zurich, Switzerland, say that this metho
Researchers from Cardiff University have uncovered a molecular pathway that plays a pivotal role in the onset of arthritis. Their research, published this week in Arthritis Research & Therapy, could aid in the discovery of novel targets for arthritis drugs. The researchers found that inhibiting the molecule PKR could prevent two processes central to the onset of arthritis: the production and activation of enzymes that break down connective tissue; and the release from cartilage of one of its
A 30-year satellite record of sea ice in the two polar regions reveals that while the Northern Hemisphere Arctic ice has melted, Southern Hemisphere Antarctic ice has actually increased in more recent years. However, due to dramatic losses of Antarctic sea ice between 1973 and 1977, sea ice in both hemispheres has shrunk on average when examined over the 30-year time frame.
This study presents the longest continuous record of sea ice for both hemispheres based primarily on satellites, an
Dutch research has demonstrated that lipids from the parasite schistosoma can inhibit human immune responses. This property makes the lipids interesting for a possible new treatment of diseases such as asthma and diabetes where the immune system responds inappropriately.
During her doctoral research, Desiree van der Kleij discovered that lipids from the parasite schistosoma steer the development of the immune system in a certain direction. Cells from the innate immune system, so-called dend
Dutch research has revealed that energy subsidies can delay the dissemination of new energy-saving technologies. Furthermore, companies do not always want to get rid of the old technology straightaway and therefore new ideas are confined to the top shelf for longer.
Ph.D. student Peter Mulder demonstrated that subsidies for investments in energy-saving can have an adverse affect in the longer term. These subsidies can be counter-effective, since they only stimulate investment in existing te
During her doctoral research in the Netherlands, Gemma Piella developed a new method for processing images. With this method more details are visible at a lower resolution than the original image: both the wood and the individual trees are distinct. Piella also combined various images of the same object to produce a detailed complete picture.
Mathematician Gemma Piella has developed a new technique for processing images. For this she used a mathematical operation that makes use of so-called
The first clinical study ever with a new type of nerve prosthesis has been launched at Northern Sweden University Hospital. It is being carried out by a research team from Umeå University under the leadership of Professors Jan-Olof Kellerth and Mikael Wiberg.
The team, at the Department of Integrative Medical Biology and the Department of Surgery and Perioperative Sciences, were recently granted SEK 1 million from the Kempe Foundations to purchase advanced neuro-anatomical microscopes and im
American Heart Association meeting report
A bone marrow stem cell transplant restored circulation to injured blood vessels in animals with pulmonary hypertension, according to a study presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2003.
“This is a novel and exciting approach,” said Duncan Stewart, M.D., professor and director of cardiology at the University of Toronto and head of cardiology at St. Michael’s Hospital. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (P
Researchers at Ohio State University have found new clues to how free radicals can contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
The study found that oxidation – a type of damage to cells caused by free radicals – can damage certain kinds of messenger RNA in the brain. That damage may be related to Alzheimer’s.
Messenger RNA (or mRNA) is important because it turns DNA’s genetic code into the proteins needed for healthy brain function. But in an Alzheime
A newly discovered mechanism by which an infectious fungus evades the immune system could lead to novel methods to fight the fungus and other disease-causing microbes, according to Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators at Duke University Medical Center.
Disruption of a key enzyme in the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans — a common cause of infection of the central nervous system in patients such as organ transplant recipients who lack a functioning immune system — led to a significan
Fooling with Mother Nature by fragmenting long-established land parcels can have unanticipated and punishing consequences, leaving lasting damage to the environment.
A report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (online early edition the week of Nov. 10) by two University of Illinois at Chicago biologists documents such harm caused to a tree native to Tanzania’s East Usambara Mountains where habitat fragmentation has broken a mutual relationship with the bir
A small, portable device greatly increases the chance of surviving sudden cardiac death by restoring blood pressure better than conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation, according to a Stanford University School of Medicine animal study. Following restoration of heart function, most of the animals in the Stanford study also showed no neurological damage, which commonly results from even a momentary blood flow interruption to the brain.
To model what happens during abrupt loss of heart fun
Feedback
