Genetically engineered adult stem cell cultures will be accompanying Israel’s first astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon, on his mission aboard the U.S. space shuttle Columbia, as part of research being carried out at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The research focuses on building new, specialized cells through the use of adult stem cells, using techniques of genetic engineering. The technology is based on isolating adult stems cells taken from bone marrow and converting them into bone, cartilage
Subaru and VLT Join Forces in New Study of Virgo Galaxy Cluster
At a distance of some 50 million light-years, the Virgo Cluster is the nearest galaxy cluster. It is located in the zodiacal constellation of the same name (The Virgin) and is a large and dense assembly of hundreds of galaxies.
The “intracluster” space between the Virgo galaxies is permeated by hot X-ray emitting gas and, as has become clear recently, by a sparse “intracluster population of stars”.
So fa
Fog-related pileups such as last month’s 71-car collision in Texas could become a thing of the past with roadside “smart beacons” that use the latest wireless technology to sense wrecks and warn motorists of danger ahead.
So say three University of Florida engineering researchers who this month applied for a patent on the concept for the beacons, which would be placed at regular intervals on roadside rights of way and would flash red or yellow lights to indicate a hazard ahead.
Findings detailed in Jan. 16 issue of Nature; greenhouse gases implicated
A study by University of Massachusetts Amherst geoscientist Robert DeConto posits an alternative theory regarding why Antarctica suddenly became glaciated 34 million years ago. The study challenges previous thinking about why the ice sheet formed and holds ramifications for the next several hundred years as greenhouse gases continue to rise. DeConto, who collaborated with David Pollard of Pennsylvania State Univ
Herpes viruses are notorious for their ability to hide from the immune system and establish lifelong infections. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered how one mouse herpes virus escapes detection. The study appears in the January issue of the journal Immunity.
“These findings not only provide a better understanding of viral infections,” says study leader Ted H. Hansen, Ph.D., professor of genetics, “they also offer novel insights into basic cel
Inexpensive and fast route to large-scale production, say scientists at The Scripps Research Institute
A group of scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have used algae to express an antibody that targets herpes virus, describing the work in an upcoming issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
This antibody could potentially be an ingredient in an anti-herpes topical cream or other anti-herpes treatments, but more importantly the alg
NASA-funded scientists have recently learned that cloud-to-ground lightning frequently strikes the ground in two or more places and that the chances of being struck are about 45 percent higher than what people commonly assume.
Recently, William C. Valine and E. Philip Krider in the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Arizona, co-authors of the study, took to the field using video and other technology to study lightning, which is one of the biggest weather-related killers i
A doctor gets a better view inside a patient by probing the body with CAT and MRI scanning equipment. Now, NASA meteorologists have done a kind of “full-body scan” of an evolving thunderstorm in the tropics, using advanced radar equipment to provide a remarkable picture of the storm’s anatomy. The observations are expected to help double-check satellite rainfall measurements, improve computer models of storms, and make the skies safer for airplanes to navigate.
David Atlas of NASA’s Goddar
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that afflicts 17 million people in the United States and is the fourth leading cause of death. Over 2 million patients suffer from its most severe form – childhood diabetes – also known as Type 1, juvenile or insulin-dependent diabetes. We now understand that childhood diabetes is an autoimmune illness, where the body’s own white blood cells, which normally fight infection, turn and act against the body. These white blood cells target a specific group of
Wheat growers turn to aerial imagery to overcome economic, environmental challenges
Today’s wheat growers face many economic and environmental challenges, but arguably their greatest challenge is the efficient use of fertilizer.
Growers need to apply nitrogen-based fertilizer in sufficient quantities to achieve the highest possible crop yields without over-applying – a situation that could lead to serious environmental effects. In wheat, a critical factor comes down to
Research conducted at Ohio State University suggests that cell biologists may be exposing the cell cultures they study to too much oxygen.
This finding could have broad implications for cellular biology research, which receives billions of dollars of funding nationally, said Ohio State scientist Chandan Sen. He is the lead author of a study which suggests that cells act differently depending on how much oxygen they are exposed to, especially when it is too much.
The air we br
The hormone leptin, primarily produced in fat cells, helps regulate food intake, metabolism and reproduction. It has also been shown to promote and sustain the bodys immune response by binding to T lymphocytes – the frontline cells that protect against infection.
The disease experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in mice is currently used by researchers as a model of human multiple sclerosis (MS). The disease is characterized by the production of autoreactive T lymphocytes that tur
Ultrafast lasers helping to make some of the shortest pulses of light ever seen in the UK will be at the heart of a new system to capture the movements of electrons as they whizz around the nucleus of atoms.
A UKP3.5 million research grant from the UK Research Councils’ Basic Technology Programme announced today has been awarded to a team of scientists to develop and build the first attosecond laser system capable of freeze-framing and controlling the motion of electrons.
Researcher
A rare dolphin species known for assisting fishermen by driving fish into their nets may soon disappear from the great Asian river for which the animals are named. According to a recent scientific survey by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and its partners, the Irrawaddy dolphin may vanish from the Ayeyarwady River (formerly Irrawaddy) without efforts to protect these aquatic mammals from human activities along the river.
A research team with members from WCS, WDCS (the Whale and Dol
A dramatic increase in deformed frogs and other amphibians is being caused by a range of environmental factors, all of which ultimately can be linked to human impacts on habitat, but the primary cause of many of the deformities is an epidemic of a key parasite.
These findings are the results of eight years of research by scientists around the world, and are presented in the February issue of Scientific American by researchers from Oregon State University and the University of Wisconsin.
To be able to detect gravitation waves in space, physicist have to measure truly minimal displacements: ten billion times smaller than the size of an atom. An improved superconducting sensor is a suitable candidate for this job, Martin Podt of the University of Twente now states in his PhD thesis. He has improved the sensitivity of a so-called ‘SQUID’ in way that it can be combined with a large ball-shaped gravitation detector. Podt succeeds in this by improving the sensitivity. He integrates the sen
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