A new brain imaging method pioneered by a German research group from several institutions can now produce images that localize the areas of the brain involved when test subjects perform physical activities, and can show how portions of the brain interact with each other. The technique, dubbed synchronization tomography, involves mapping the fluctuating magnetic fields produced by tiny electrical currents in the brain, and determining which brain regions are synchronized with an activity – such as a t
In recent years, scientists have discovered that the iridescence of various colorful creatures, from beetles to birds to butterflies, is often due to microscopic structures known as photonic crystals. Unlike pigments, which absorb or reflect certain frequencies of light as a result of their chemical composition, the way that photonic crystals reflect light is a function of their physical structure. That is, a material containing a periodic array of holes or bumps of a certain size may reflect blue
Glucosamine supplements reduce knee pain in people with cartilage damage and possibly the degenerative joint disease osteoarthritis, concludes research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Glucosamine is produced naturally in the body and found primarily in joint cartilage, damage to which often precedes osteoarthritis. Glucosamine capsules are widely available from health food shops, supermarkets, and over the internet
The researchers conducted a small trial in which 24 patie
Somewhere in the distant, old Universe, a population of stars hide undetected. They were the first to form after the birth of the Universe and are supposed to be far bigger in mass than any star visible today.
Astronomers know they must have been out there: only in this way could they solve the riddle of the origin and composition of stars in today’s Universe. A couple of ESA missions will help astronomers search for this elusive population.
When the Universe formed, there was
Nothing travels faster than light – it only takes 8 minutes for it to reach the Earth from the nearest star, the Sun, which is 150 million kilometres away. Now anyone can measure this speed – with chocolate stars and a microwave oven! The experiment is described on a new Institute of Physics web resource for teachers about fun physics demonstrations, inspired by the Physics on Stage 2 event.
The only equipment you need for this experiment is a microwave, a ruler and chocolate, cheese or any
Using atomic-force microscopy, vision researchers have taken pictures of some of the eye’s photon receptors in their natural state, and have analyzed their packing arrangement. Their findings, published in the Jan. 9 issue of Nature, offer insight on how light signaling might be controlled in the retina’s outer edge.
The retina receives light through rods and cones. Rods, which are most heavily concentrated on the retina’s outer edge, are sensitive to dim light and to movemen
Compound could lead to a new generation of antibiotics that battle resistance
University at Buffalo scientists have discovered a promising new drug lead that works by inhibiting the sophisticated bacterial communication system called quorum sensing.
The new compound is active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the gram-negative infection that strikes — and usually kills — cystic fibrosis patients and many others whose immune systems are compromised. The bacteria, like many o
Testing Begins This Winter
The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are testing a Web-based system for weather forecasting and winter road treatment that could soon save lives, cut costs, and help keep millions of drivers on the move. Highway officials and road crews in Des Moines and Ames, Iowa, will test the Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) February 3 to April 4.
Motor vehicle accidents involving bad weather
Hardworking sodium/ potassium pump fundamentally similar to free-flowing ion channel
Right now, in your body, tiny pumps in the fatty membranes surrounding all your cells are hard at work pushing select charged ions, such as sodium, potassium or calcium, through those membranes. Like a water pump in a high-rise apartment building overcoming the force of gravity to move water up to a tank on its roof, these ion pumps work against “electrochemical gradients” to transport ions from one s
With measures aimed at reducing the emission of pollutants such as ammonia, policy makers pay too little attention to the consequences for the emission of other substances. This is revealed in a computer model constructed by Corjan Brink from Wageningen University during his doctoral research. For example, the model shows that reducing the amount of ammonia emitted leads to an increase in the emission of nitrous oxide (laughing gas).
The computer model developed by the environmental economis
Vessel wall cells and blood cells have been found to release cell particles which can damage blood vessels. This was demonstrated in laboratory experiments carried out by Marja van Wijk during her doctoral research at the University of Amsterdam. Poorly functioning blood vessels play a role in pre-eclampsia.
For her research (conducted at the Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam) Van Wijk isolated blood vessels from pieces of tissue taken from pregnant women. She placed the blood
Stress at work and fatigue increase the chance of acute infections such as common colds, flu-like illnesses and gastroenteritis. This was discovered in research carried out by Danielle Mohren at Maastricht University, in which more than 8000 employees from various companies were followed over a three-year period.
The study revealed that employees in highly demanding jobs suffered from colds 20 percent more often than employees in less demanding positions. Also job insecurity, for example as
Oxford University researchers have devised a novel coil design for magnetic resonance (MR) application, devised specifically for deep organ MR where sensitive imaging and spectroscopy have been previously difficult.
Deep organ magnetic resonance requires maximised sensitivity and magnetic field homogeneity over a relatively large field of view (FOV). However, it is difficult to maximise both sensitivity and magnetic field homogeneity simultaneously. The sensitivity can be maximised by reduci
Video cameras are used to keep an eye on many indoor and outdoor locations, but to pinpoint suspicious activity, human security guards or intelligence analysts have the unenviable task of watching dozens of video monitors or many hours of recorded video.
Supported by an NSF award, Jezekiel Ben-Arie and his students at the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed a technique, much faster and more reliable than previous methods, that allows a computer to recognize a human action contai
Understanding how mountains form is critically important — from volcanic eruptions to earthquakes to catastrophic mudslides, the geologic processes active in mountain belts affect human societies every day. Yet, even though mountains are on all continents and in all ocean basins, scientists still understand relatively little about the forces that interact to form and destroy mountains, how mountains change over time, and the relationship between mountains and Earth’s climate.
To better
Recent research shows that insects and humans have something surprising in common: Some six-legged species take in oxygen using a similar means to the way we fill our lungs.
Scientists from the Field Museum and Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago and from Clemson University used a powerful x-ray imaging device to get the first comprehensive view of live insects breathing. Their observations and research results are reported in the Jan. 24 issue of Science, an internationally respected res
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