The scientists from NPO Astrofizika, have designed a terrestrial telescope, which has no match all over the world. Fundamentally new technical solutions ensure that a unique telescope with the mirror of 25 meters in diameter is able to investigate previously invisible celestial objects of up to the 29-th magnitude.
What makes astronomers design the telescopes with the larger and larger mirrors? Certainly, astronomers are driven by the capacity of a telescope to provide more informati
New Findings Reveal That The Regulation Of Gene Expression Is Much Less Strictly Controlled Than Was Previously Thought
The inaugural issue of Journal of Biology features groundbreaking research that challenges the traditional view of how genes are controlled. Our current understanding of gene expression, the fundamental process by which proteins are made from the instructions encoded in DNA, is that the process is tightly controlled so that the correct amount of each protein is prod
After 15 years of observation and a lot of patience, the world’s premier planet-hunting team has found a planetary system that reminds them of our home solar system.
Geoffrey Marcy, astronomy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and astronomer Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C., today announced the discovery of a Jupiter-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star at nearly the same distance as the Jovian system orbits our sun.
“All other extr
Farmers growing corn in the mid-Atlantic region will have a new tool to help them identify appropriate cultural practices for the types of soils in their fields, thanks to research conducted by researchers from Virginia Tech and Colorado State University.
“Soils vary in their ability to hold water,” said Mark Alley, professor of crop and soil environmental sciences at Virginia Tech. “If a farmer knows the water-use efficiency of the soils in his field, he has a very important clue on how to mana
Investigators reporting at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) have determined that a noninvasive nuclear medicine technique can accurately and safely detect the extent of persistent heart muscle damage after a heart attack. In two studies, researchers reported on the safety and efficacy 201Tl/99mTc Annexin (ApomateTM) SPECT in detecting and localizing myocardial tissue damage and revealing areas of persistent cellular injury. SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomogr
Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (HSC), the University Health Network (UHN), and the University of Toronto (U of T) have identified a novel gene that when mutated results in medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumour found in children. This research is reported in the July issue of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
Brain tumours are the second most common cancer in children after leukemia, with the incidence increasing at a rate of five to 10 per cent per yea
Study has implications for lowering heart-disease risk in Type 2 diabetes patients
A drug used widely as an insulin sensitizer appears also to have a significant anti-inflammatory effect in diabetics, a property that could make it useful in helping to prevent heart disease in these patients, a study by endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo has found.
Results of the research, involving the drug rosiglitazone, were presented here today (June 15, 2002) at the annual mee
Finding may help explain related conditions in people
Inactivating just one of more than two dozen similar genes can cause temporary but profound hair loss, known as alopecia, in mice, researchers from Johns Hopkins and the Pasteur Institute in France report in the June issue of Genes & Development.
Surprisingly, the impact of loss of this keratin 17 gene (K17) depended on an animal’s genetic make-up: its loss caused no effect in one strain of mice and complete alopecia in an
The long-sought ability to control the movement of prosthetic limbs with brain waves has edged a little closer to reality.
In experiments published in the June 7 issue of the journal Science, monkeys were able to move balls around in 3D space on a computer screen just by thinking about it. With a little practice, they got even better at it.
“They achieved nearly the same accuracy and speed as normal arm movements,” said senior author Andrew Schwartz, Ph.D., of the Departme
Like the glitter and glare of Las Vegas beckoning tourists to the gambling tables, the orb-weaving spiny spider flashes its colorful back to lure unsuspecting quarry into its web. The discovery of this lethal use of color runs contrary to the long-held belief that in the animal kingdom color is used generally to attract mates rather than to entice prey, says a Cornell University animal behavior researcher
“Attraction is all casinos are about. They lure you; they want to get you there. They
A Northwestern University environmental engineer has received a U.S. patent for a treatment device that renders perchlorate — a thyroid-damaging ingredient of rocket fuel and a drinking water problem — harmless. The applications extend beyond the safety of drinking water and this one pollutant.
Bruce E. Rittmann, John Evans Professor of Environmental Engineering at the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, received U.S. Patent No. 6,387,262 for a hollow-fiber membra
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Part of International Research Group Refuting Popular Theory
In 1996, marine geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman published a scientifically popular hypothesis, titled Noah’s Flood Hypothesis. The researchers presented evidence of a bursting flood about 7,500 years ago in what is now the Black Sea. This, some say, supports the biblical story of Noah and the flood.
But, such a forceful flood could not have taken place, says
A Saint Louis University neurosurgeon has become the first U.S. doctor to implant a potentially revolutionary electronic eye device that allows a blind patient to see. He is the only United States doctor ever to perform the procedure.
Kenneth R. Smith Jr., M.D., professor of neurosurgery at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, performed the two- to three-hour surgical procedure in Lisbon, Portugal, in April. He was one of four specialists who operated on eight blind patients who paid
A simple clinical test could make it easier to track and treat Alzheimer’s
A urine sample taken at the doctor’s office can be the step in determining your chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. They have determined that a urine test can reliably detect free radical damage associated with people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) – a recognized precursor to AD. The test detects isop
New research distinguishes between learning physical skills and brain activity associated with performing those skills
A new study from the Department of Veterans Affairs suggests that the brain’s coordination center is not active while we learn new motor skills – but it is active while we use them. The findings appear in the June 14 issue of Science.
Investigators concentrated on the cerebellum — a part of the brain closely linked to movement (motor skills) and coordinatio
Machines not bigger than a molecule will one day surf our blood stream, search and destroy infected tissues, and heal our wounds. This is just one of the applications of nanotechnology. EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin will chair an information day on nanotech new frontiers in Grenoble, France, on 14 June 2002. Nanotech research is still in its start-up phase, and will be far more effective if co-ordinated and supported at EU level. The Commission will therefore allocate € 700 million to nan
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