A golden early old age is within sight for many people, says new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, which demonstrates that the good life is much less influenced by your past – the job your father had, for instance – than by the present, when two of the most important influences are having choices about working or not working, and having friends in whom you can confide.
“Good quality of life in early old age is a realistic ambition for all”, says the research team,
Mysterious patterns arise through simple feedback mechanisms and self-organization
Perfect circles of stones cover the ground in parts of Alaska and the Norwegian islands of Spitsbergen. Elsewhere in the far north, stones form other striking patterns on the ground: polygons, stripes, islands, and labyrinths. No, pranksters are not at work in these remote areas, nor are aliens, elves, or any other outside forces moving the stones around. According to scientists who have studied the phe
The spectacular aurora borealis displays that light up the northern nights could be powered by a gigantic “slinky” effect in Earth’s magnetic field lines, according to research performed at the University of Minnesota. Earth’s magnetic field resemble a slinky in that when “wiggled,” it undulates in waves that travel down the field lines at speeds up to 25 million miles per hour. These waves can pass energy to electrons, accelerating them along the magnetic field lines toward Earth. When the
Research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reveals that a unique combination of genes inherited less than 10,000 years ago allows the parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis to infect virtually all warm-blooded animals.
Parasite life cycles are complex and thought to develop over long periods with their hosts. This study reveals that parasites sometimes adapt rapidly to new hosts, indicating that host-parasite relationships may not always represent stable, long-term as
Two-legged dinosaurs may have used their forelimbs as wing-like structures to propel themselves rapidly up steep inclines long before they took to the skies, reports a University of Montana researcher in the January 17 issue of the journal Science. The new theory adds a middle step that may link two current and opposing explanations for how reptiles evolved into flying birds.
According to Kenneth Dial, author of the report, the transition from ground travel to flight may have required a “
The cushioning material or matrix within the umbilical cord known as Wharton’s jelly is a rich and readily available source of primitive stem cells, according to findings by a research team at Kansas State University.
Animal and human umbilical cord matrix cells exhibit the tell-tale characteristics of all stem cells, the capacity to self-renew and to differentiate into multiple cell types.
Researchers Kathy Mitchell, Deryl Troyer, and Mark Weiss of the College of Veterinary
Using biological means to detoxify large, contaminated sites is receiving high praise as an alternative to incineration or landfill methods
A pesticide used extensively all over the world is receiving attention these days more for methods being used to clean it up than for its use as chemical to control insects and mites.
Endosulfan, classified as an organochlorine (the same family as DDT), is registered for use as a pesticide on 60 U.S. crops. Its residues have been found i
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have discovered how an embryo initially attaches to the wall of the uterus-what appears to be one of the earliest steps needed to establish a successful pregnancy.
Specifically, the researchers found that 6 days after an egg is fertilized, the embryo uses specialized molecules on its surface and molecules on the surface of the uterus to attach itself to the wall of the uterus.
“This discovery opens up a promising new realm of
Results appear January 17 in the journal Molecular Cell
A lab headed by a Saint Louis University researcher has made a major breakthrough that could lead to a better molecular understanding of cancer.
Results published today in the Journal Molecular Cell by Ali Shilatifard, Ph.D., and colleagues show for the first time how a protein known to be involved in the development of cancer functions in normal cells.
The research shows how the protein “Bre1” plays a pivotal
An important step towards controlling bubonic and pneumonic plague may soon be possible with the use of a straightforward and accurate diagnostic test, according to authors of a study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.
Plague is a flea-borne rodent disease that is occasionally transmitted to man, with around 3000-4000 cases annually in more than 20 countries, mainly in Africa. A rapid diagnostic test for the disease is urgently needed as current diagnosis is not possible until severe sympto
Encouraging findings from a study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggest that factor VII—an agent involved in blood clotting—could be effective in reducing excessive blood loss during abdominal surgery.
Factor VII has been shown to promote blood clotting in patients with haemophilia. Marcel Levi from Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues investigated whether recombinant activated factor VII (factor VIIA) could be used to reduce excessive blood loss during sur
European scientists will be ‘turning off’ the effects of gravity during the STS-107 Space Shuttle research mission this month in order to gain a better understanding of processes in medicine, technology and science.
Their investigations will be among some 80 experiments performed during a 16-day mission in Earth orbit to be launched from Cape Canaveral tomorrow.
Seven of the 31 payloads are sponsored by ESA, and the crew will work 24 hours a day in two alternating shifts on experi
Two University of York graduates have found and preserved the giant tusk of the largest elephant fossil of its type ever to be found in the Middle East.
The tusk, two-and-a-half metres long and thought to be between six and eight million years old, was discovered by Dr Mark Beech, who finished his PhD at York recently and is now senior resident archaeologist for the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (ADIAS).
Mark discovered the tusk in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region last October
The cosmetic, textile, and food industries and even the construction industry use starch, the main energy reserve of plants, as a biodegradable and renewable substance for a variety of applications. To get to know the metabolism of this carbohydrate better and thus facilitate its industrial use and application, Milagros Rodríguez López proposed, in her PhD thesis, the identifying and isolating of the enzyme (or enzymes) responsible for the degradation activity of the precursor molecule for starch: A
2% of buildings capable of having solar air-conditioning installed, could stop emitting 27,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere
The Basque Energy Authority (BEA) has been participating in the European ALTENER programme for the encouragement of renewable energies since their creation in 1992. Along these lines, the BEA has been chosen to develop a project involving the air-conditioning of buildings using renewable energies as an alternative to the traditional systems based on energies
For the first time, engineers have enabled paralysed people to stand up and balance for significant periods without holding an external support. This is an important breakthrough in helping individuals with spinal cord injuries to start standing again for useful lengths of time – up to seven minutes have been achieved in experiments.
The cutting-edge research project that achieved this advance was carried out by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Glasgow with fund
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