The link between environmental tobacco smoke and coronary heart disease and lung cancer may be considerably weaker than generally believed, conclude James Enstrom of the University of California, Los Angeles and Geoffrey Kabat of New Rochelle, New York, in this week’s BMJ.
This study will add to the already controversial debate on the health impact of passive smoking.
Their analysis involved 118,094 California adults enrolled in the American Cancer Society cancer prevention study in
We humans are poorly adapted for underwater vision. However, the Moken peoples of south-east Asia manage to collect shells, clams and sea cucumbers using no visual aids when diving to a depth of 3 or 4 metres. Scientists from Lund University in Sweden have now measured the visual acuity of these children and have found that their ability to see well underwater is not a myth: their acuity in this environment is indeed superior to that of European children. The scientists have also found an explanation
The ability to understand how small bodies such as moons switch from orbiting the Sun to orbiting a planet has long remained one of the outstanding problems of planetary science. A paper published in Nature on 15 May shows how this problem has been resolved using chaos theory, enabling scientists to predict where astronomers might search for new moons orbiting the giant planets.
In the last couple of years many small moons have been found orbiting the giant planets in our Solar System. For e
Brief activation of signaling protein stimulates hair follicle growth phase
University of Michigan graduate student David Van Mater knew something strange was going on when he noticed stubble on the shaved skin of experimental mice in his laboratory. Instead of the tumors he had originally expected to see, the mice were growing hair.
Van Mater had stumbled on the discovery that beta-catenin (“bay-tuh-kuh-TEEN-in”), a signaling protein involved in embryonic development and se
Taken from a microbe that thrives in the depths of a Yellowstone National Park hot springs pool, a newly discovered enzyme may be the key to transforming industrial bleaching from environmentally problematic to environmentally green.
Chemical engineer Vicki Thompson and biologists William Apel and Kastli Schaller from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory discovered that the catalase enzyme from a Thermus brockianus microbe flourishes i
Mine-infested land can now be rendered safe by a new tractor that crushes unexploded bombs.
Unexploded anti-personnel landmines litter the border between Croatia and what was once Yugoslavia. The mine-infested area spans more or less half of the country and roughly 1,700 km2 of minefields are left to clear.
EUREKA’s first foray into anti-personnel landmine technology, the ORACLE project has developed a rugged tractor for clearing mines and unexploded shells from agricu
90 % of all large fish including tuna, marlin, swordfish, sharks, cod and halibut are gone – leading scientists say need to attempt restoration on a global scale is urgent
The cover story of the May 15th issue of the international journal Nature reveals that we have only 10% of all large fish– both open ocean species including tuna, swordfish, marlin and the large groundfish such as cod, halibut, skates and flounder– left in the sea. Most strikingly, the study shows that industrial
Findings may aid the development of drugs to treat thyroid disorders
Structural analysis has revealed for the first time how a key messenger in the body’s chemical communication system hooks up with one of the proteins that delivers it to sites of action in the body.
Using X-ray crystallography, scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Hawaii have identified the location of four binding sites on human serum albumin (HSA), the principal protein in bl
Detecting the presence of hazardous lead paint could become as simple as pressing a piece of paper against a wall and noting a color change.
Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a highly sensitive and selective biosensor that functions in much the same fashion as a strip of litmus paper. The researchers report their discovery in a paper that has been accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and posted on its Web
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have identified three genes, long linked to a rare inherited disease known as Fanconi’s Anemia (FA), that now appear to play a role in many cases of pancreatic cancer.
All of the genes identified, when functioning normally, are part of the DNA repair process. The work is reported in the May 15, 2003 issue of Cancer Research.
“What we think we have is a new genetic cause of some cases, approximately 10 percent or more, of pa
Finding new ways to deliver gene therapy without using viruses as carriers is the aim of research by chemist Michael Nantz at UC Davis.
Nantz’s lab engineers lipids, oily molecules that can form a protective complex around DNA, to do the same job as a virus. The lipids protect the DNA and help it get into the target cell. The approach could eventually make gene therapy treatments that are stable enough to take as a pill.
Gene therapy holds the promise of curing diseases such
A technique for studying the magnetic properties of rocks developed by earth scientists at UC Davis is drawing attention from other scientists and the magnetic recording industry.
An international group of scientists recently met in Davis to discuss the First Order Reversal Curve (FORC) method and its applications for studying million-year old rocks, thousand-year old lake sediments, modern hard drives and wholly new kinds of materials made in the lab.
Magnetic materials are made
Researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have developed a mouse model of the premature aging syndrome known as Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), according to a report appearing in the journal Nature. Researchers hope the mouse model will facilitate a better understanding of the fatal syndrome, as well as provide clues to the normal aging process.
Currently, there is no treatment for progeria, and children with the rare condition usually die of heart disease in their e
New list spotlights most endangered turtles and action plan to save them
The Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF) today released its first-ever list of the World’s Top 25 Most Endangered Turtles to highlight the survival crisis facing the world’s tortoises and freshwater turtles and to unveil a Global Action Plan to prevent further extinctions. Fully 200 of the 300 living species of tortoises and freshwater turtles are threatened and require conservation action.
The TCF
Findings may aid the development of drugs to treat thyroid disorders
Structural analysis has revealed for the first time how a key messenger in the body’s chemical communication system hooks up with one of the proteins that delivers it to sites of action in the body.
Using X-ray crystallography, scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Hawaii have identified the location of four binding sites on human serum albumin (HSA), the principal protein in blood pl
Ambient intelligence is likely to be a novel concept for many but perhaps others will link it to advances in IC technologies. In fact, ambient intelligence wishes to create active environments capable of adapting at all times to the needs of the end-user. To achieve this aim, techniques based on context aware ubiquitous computing are used.
But, what are the needs of the end-user? And does a handicapped person have the same needs as others? Or an elderly person? The University of the Basque C
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