Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston and Jefferson Medical College have found that the body’s natural biological clock is more sensitive to shorter wavelength blue light than it is to the longer wavelength green light, which is needed to see.
The discovery proves what scientists have suspected over the last decade: a second, non-visual photoreceptor system drives the body’s internal clock, which sets sleep patterns and other physiological and behavioral functions.
Prototype microsensor arrays connected to artificial neural networks—computer models that “learn”—can reliably identify trace amounts of toxic gases in seconds, well before concentration levels become lethal, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientists and a guest researcher reported Sept. 7 at the American Chemical Society annual meeting in New York City. The system has the potential to provide cost-effective early warning of chemical warfare agents.
Lab experiments sh
A lack of rigorous design methods and comprehensive performance data has slowed U.S. acceptance of natural ventilation technology, which proponents argue can increase energy efficiency in commercial buildings as well as improve indoor environmental conditions. The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) new LoopDA 1.0 software program (for Loop Design and Analysis) helps fill this critical information gap.
The LoopDA simulation tool enables building designers and engineers to
Analysis of 11,000 mammal, amphibian and bird species shows major gaps in global coverage
At least 223 bird, 140 mammal and 346 amphibian species threatened with extinction currently have no protection whatsoever over any part of their ranges, according to the most comprehensive analysis of its kind of the world’s protected area system.
In addition, many existing protected areas are so small in size as to be virtually ineffective in conserving species, placing another 9
The Atlantic Ocean becomes a meteorological mixing bowl from June 1 to November 30, replete with all needed ingredients for a hurricane recipe. NASA turns to its cadre of satellites to serve up a feast of information to the forecasters who seek to monitor and understand these awesome storms.
Typically, during the peak of hurricane season, from late August to mid-September, tropical cyclones of interest to U.S. coastal regions form around the Cape Verde Islands off Africa. NASA satellites ar
NSF-funded study suggests paternal care may be ancient trait in primates
In a finding that surprised researchers, a recent three-year study of five baboon groups at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya reveals that baboon fathers overwhelming side with their offspring when intervening in disputes.
The study, which appears in the Sept. 11 issue of the journal Nature, was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Chicago Zoological Society, the L.S.B. Leakey Foundati
In the VIIth International Conference on Agri-Food Antibodies that is going to be held in September in Uppsala (Sweden), AZTI is going to present immnunosensors to detect pesticides.
AZTI has a great deal of experience in this area, since it has worked several years in projects related to research and development of biosensors adapted to the needs of the food industry. Biosensors or rapid monitoring tools are great potentials for the food industry, because in contrast to conventional analyti
Dryness in the mouth is not an agreeable sensation and much less so if the condition becomes an illness. Effectively, there are illnesses related to lack of saliva, as is the case of the sicca-sicca disease and the Goujerot-Sjögren syndrome.
The research regarding these uncommon illnesses began to be important in 1976 when new functions of the molecule ATP (adenine triphosphate) were discovered. In that year it was found that the ATP molecule and its derivative controlled a number of biologi
Modern radiometric dating of the Siloam Tunnel in Jerusalem shows that it was excavated about 700 years before the Common Era, and can thus be safely attributed to the Judean King Hezekiah. This is the first time that a structure mentioned in the Bible (Kings II 20:20; Chronicles II 32:3, 4) has been radiometrically dated.
A report on the study of the Siloam Tunnel will be published on Sept. 11 in the scientific journal Nature. The research was conducted by Dr. Amos Frumkin of the Geograp
Physicists in the UK are ready to start construction of a major part of an advanced new experiment, designed to search for elusive gravitational waves. They are already part of two experiments: the UK/German GEO 600 project and the US LIGO experiment (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), both in their commissioning phases. By bringing GEO 600 technology to LIGO, they and their German colleagues from the Albert Einstein Institute are now set to become full partners in Advanced LIGO, a
A common table commodity that people sprinkle on their food every day is the main ingredient in new measurements by scientists at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO).
In a presentation on Sunday September 7th, at TAUP2003, a major scientific conference in Seattle, Washington, new measurements were reported that strongly confirm the original SNO results announced in 2001 and 2002 that solved the “Solar Neutrino Problem” and go much further in establishing the properties of neutrin
Goal is to create better filters
Virginia Tech researchers are using a modified form of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to observe at subatomic levels the efficiency of the attachment of bacteria to silica surfaces.
The geological scientists are simulating environments similar to ground water in sandy soils. Sticking efficiency of bacteria has not been previously measured experimentally using the AFM.
Graduate student Tracy Cail will report the research results at th
Carbon-fiber reinforced polymer matrix composite materials are strong without being brittle and retain their integrity over a wide temperature range while being impervious to most environments. While the materials’ qualities make them important to the aerospace industry, present processing technology makes carbon fiber too expensive for broader use, such as in the automotive industry.
Chemistry and chemical engineering researchers at Virginia Tech and Clemson University have been worki
Scientists studying the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to carbon monoxide (CO) — a crucial step in transforming CO2 to useful organic compounds such as methanol — are trying to mimic what plants do when they convert CO2 and water to carbohydrates and oxygen in the presence of chlorophyll and sunlight. Such “artificial photosynthesis” could produce inexpensive fuels and raw materials for the chemical industry from renewable solar energy. But achieving this goal is no simple task.
“Natu
When Benjamin in “The Graduate” was told to go into plastics, computers were in their infancy and silicon technology ruled. Now, conducting organic polymers are infiltrating the electronics sphere and the watchword is once again plastics, according to Penn State researchers.
“For plastic circuits we cannot use the old processing,” says Dr. Qing Wang, assistant professor of materials science and engineering. “Photolithography and silicon technologies require harsh environments and plastics ca
Scientists looking for ways to clean up a common, persistent type of organic pollutant have developed an approach that not only restores the power of a naturally occurring pollution buster but also boosts it to levels of effectiveness that they can’t currently explain.
“It’s safe to say that we don’t fully understand why this approach works so well, but we’ll take it and develop it and figure out the details as we go,” Gerald Meyer, professor of chemistry in the Krieger
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