Birds modify digestive physiology during migration
When birds migrate over long distances to and from their breeding grounds, it takes more than strong flight muscles and an innate knowledge of where they’re going. According to a University of Rhode Island researcher, migration also takes guts.
Several studies conducted by URI physiological ecologist Scott McWilliams have shown that birds have a flexible digestive system that they modify to meet the changing energy dema
Space data are set to become an added ingredient in future European wines. ESA is contributing Earth Observation data and expertise to a European Commission-backed project called Bacchus.
The aim is to chart the continent’’s vineyards in unprecedented detail, and provide vine growers with information tools to improve production management and guarantee grape quality.
From Bordeaux to Frascati, there is good reason why wines are always known for their home region. As any connoi
Lotura launches CDPrest! a software that companies can use to generate their own multimedia catalogues, up-dating and customising them for their clients. Video, 3D imaging, photos of and instructions for use of the products can be included in the catalogues.
The Gipuzkoan-based company, Lotura (www.lotura.com), has launched the CDPrest! software on to the market, an application that enables companies to create their own products catalogue in multimedia format and their subsequent transfer to
Web Services is currently one of the hottest issues in the software industry. There are good reasons for predicting a success of Web Services. However, there are still a number of open issues. Is Web Services just another technology hype or the beginning of a new era in the evolution of information and communication technology? What will be the role for telcos in the emerging Web Service scenarios?
The new issue of ‘Eurescom mess@ge’, the quarterly magazine for R&D in telecoms, presents answ
Rats with severe strokes recovered function following intravenous injections of stem-like cells obtained from circulating human blood — a finding that points to another potential cell therapy for stroke.
The study, by researchers at the University of South Florida Center for Aging and Brain Repair, appears in today’s issue of the journal Cell Transplantation.
The human blood donors were injected with granulocyte stimulating factor (G-CSF) to stimulate the release of stem-like c
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have discovered a gene critical to the development of the human heart and that mutations in the gene lead to congenital heart defects – the leading noninfectious cause of death in newborns.
GATA4 is only the second gene to have been identified as a cause of isolated congenital heart disease not associated with medically identified syndromes.
The findings will be published in a future edition of the journal Nature and appear o
HRT could be used to protect younger postmenopausal women from heart disease. An article published in the journal Lipids in Health and Disease shows that estrogens commonly used in HRT reduce the build up of harmful oxidised lipoproteins, which can lead to heart disease, by acting as antioxidants.
It is well known that high-density lipoproteins (HDL) protect against heart disease while low-density lipoproteins (LDL) promote it. However, recent research has shown that the relationship is not
An article in Journal of Physics B, published on 7 July 2003 by the Institute of Physics, reports on a new technique which could in future help scientists working in rational drug design (a way of tailoring a new drug to fit the structure of the protein it targets) to develop drugs more efficiently. The work, which was on a molecule called stella-2,6-dione, was a collaboration between colleagues at three Australian universities (Flinders, Swinburne and ANU), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
A lot of people suffer from herpes for all their lives. The herpes simplex virus (Type 1) constantly inhabits the organism revealing its presence from time to time. Once highly active anti- herpes drugs were developed (acyclovir and phosofonoacetic acids), the virus responded with new forms resistant to theses drugs. The Belorus researchers from the State Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Ministry of Health, Republic of Belorus, and the Institute of Photobiology, Nationa
Scientists used a stimulation technique to improve the sensitivity of people’s fingertips, and then gave them drugs that either doubled or deleted this effect. Similar skin stimulation/drug treatment combinations may eventually help the elderly or stroke victims button shirts and aid professional pianists according to the authors of a paper appearing in the 04 July issue of the journal Science, published by AAAS, the science society.
Finger stimulations and drugs can temporarily reorgan
Science has a way of forcing us to reexamine some of our basic assumptions about nature. Consider the following statement: Animals that thrive in high temperatures are more likely to survive global warming than those that are less tolerant to heat. While this conclusion may seem obvious, a new study in the journal Science finds that the opposite may be true.
In an experiment published in the July 4 edition of Science, Stanford University postdoctoral fellow Jonathon H. Stillman examined th
Study clarifies key chemical reaction in atmosphere
While a breeze over the ocean may cool beach goers in the summertime, a new scientific study has revealed that tiny sea salt particles drifting into the atmosphere participate in a chemical reaction that may have impacts on climate and acid rain.
The research, published in the July 3 online issue of Science Express, could have substantial implications for increasing the accuracy of climate models.
The study by scienti
Discovery could ignite ‘engine of the future’ — Eliminating millions of dollars on use of precious metals
Researchers at Tufts University have discovered that it’s possible to make hydrogen from fossil fuels using far less platinum or gold than current fuel processing technology has required. Their research shows that 90 percent of precious metals used today may be removed from the catalyst without affecting its ability to produce hydrogen.
This finding could have potential
New report points out the high ecological and social costs of farming
Providence, RI – SeaWeb, an ocean conservation organization, today released its report, “What Price Farmed Fish: A Review of the Environmental and Social Costs of Farming Carnivorous Fish,” authored by Michael Weber, a marine conservation consultant. This timely report examines the impacts of farming salmon and warns that the trend toward farming additional carnivorous fish species, including tuna, cod, and halibut
Astronomers looking for planetary systems that resemble our own solar system have found the most similar formation so far. British astronomers, working with Australian and American colleagues, have discovered a planet like Jupiter in orbit round a nearby star that is very like our own Sun. Among the hundred found so far, this system is the one most similar to our Solar System. The planet’’s orbit is like that of Jupiter in our own Solar System, especially as it is nearly circular and there
Researchers from Myongji University, Korea, have developed a way to improve liquid crystal displays (LCD), which could revolutionise display technology. Published today in the Institute of Physics journal Semiconductor Science and Technology, Professor Yong-Sang Kim and his team propose a new structure for polycrystalline silicon thin film transistors (poly-Si TFT), which makes them more reliable when used in active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCD), like those on lap top screens and television
Feedback
