Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of California, San Diego, have created the first computer simulation of full-system protein folding thermodynamics at the atomic-level. Understanding the basic physics of protein folding could solve one of the grand mysteries of computational biology.
Proteins are the basic building blocks of life and protein folding, the process by which proteins reconfigure themselves – the actions that result in structural change – are the
Engineers, computer scientists and graphics technology experts at Purdue University have created the first publicly available simulation that uses scientific principles to study in detail what theoretically happened when the Boeing 757 crashed into the Pentagon last Sept. 11.
Researchers said the simulation could be used as a tool for designing critical buildings – such as hospitals and fire stations – to withstand terrorist attacks.
The simulation merges a realistic-looking visual
For the first time, Stanford researchers have compared genetic patterns with archeological findings to discover that genetics can help predict with a high degree of accuracy the presence of certain artifacts. And they say the strength of this link adds credence to theories that prehistoric people migrated from the Middle East to Europe, taking both their ideas and their way of life with them.
“The recovery of history is really a jigsaw puzzle,” said Peter Underhill, PhD, senior research sci
Nine projects and two extensive networks will share 44 million Swedish kronor (SEK) in research funds, the first grants awarded by Sweden’s new Joint Program on Stem Cell Research. Of nearly 50 applicants, 11 received grants. Several of the funded projects address the nervous system. Diabetes is another area to receive funding. – The entire stem cell field is on the threshold of development. These grants are extremely important for advancing research so that we can identify areas with the greatest po
Researchers at the University of Sheffield and the University of Keele have discovered that Dinoponera quadriceps ants, known as Dinosaur ants, and the Mafia have something in common. Both have dominant leaders who give rivals a “kiss of death”, as a signal for their ‘mob’ to punish the offender. The alpha female in a colony of Dinosaur ants marks rival females with a chemical which signals lower ranking ants in the colony to punish the “pretender”. This secures the alpha female’s position as the onl
Analyses of the similar bones to the fossils lead a leading physiologist to term the anthropological finding as ’farfetched speculation’
The remains included a jawbone with teeth, hand bones and foot bones, fragments of arms, and a piece of collarbone. The remains also included a single toe bone; its form providing strong evidence that the pre-human creatures walked upright.
The discovery by two Ethiopian scholars, Yohannes Haile-Selassie, an anthropologist studyin
People living in the north and west of Britain in poor quality housing are at a significantly greater risk of high blood pressure than those living in warmer climates, and better quality housing, say scientists today.
The research, published recently in the International Journal of Epidemiology, shows how scientists from Imperial College London, the University of Edinburgh and University College London identified an `inverse housing law` in Britain, whereby people in colder climates such as
Ordinary alfalfa plants are being used as miniature gold factories that one day could provide the nanotechnology industry with a continuous harvest of gold nanoparticles.
An international research team from the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) and Mexico advanced the work at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) – part of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in Menlo Park, Calif. The researchers are using, as tiny factories, the alfalfa’s natural, physiological
Without adequate cleaning regimes swimming pools can become a health hazard.
Now water experts and mathematicians are ‘pooling’ their expertise to anticipate the factors that lead to an unhealthy swimming environment.
The researchers are testing different water treatments using a unique pilot pool, donated by an advisory body, that simulates the chemical environment of a municipal swimming pool. Significantly this research technique could also be applied to other water recycling systems,
Parchment points to authenticity of Vinland Map
For the first time, scientists have ascribed a date – 1434 A.D., plus or minus 11 years – to the parchment of the controversial Vinland Map, possibly the first map of the North American continent. Collaborators from the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education (SCMRE), Suitland, Md., the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, N.Y., used carbon-dating techn
For the first time in the controversial saga of the famous Vinland Map, scientists say they have shown with certainty that the supposed relic is actually a 20th-century forgery. The findings are reported in the July 31 print issue of Analytical Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.
The Vinland Map — a drawing that suggests Norse explorers charted North America long before Columbus — has given scientists and historians
A drug widely used to treat patients with heart failure is as effective for black patients as it is for white patients, according to researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
The results of this analysis do not support the hypothesis that black patients with heart failure may not respond as well to angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors as white patients with heart failure, said Dr. Daniel Dries, lead author of the study in today’s issue of the Journal of the Americ
Material could be used to make better filters, more efficient sensors, and faster catalysts
For the first time, scientists have created a material with a gradient of gold nanoparticles on a silica covered silicon surface using a molecular template. The material, which was developed at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and tested at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National
MIT engineers are excited about a new technique for repairing cartilage that could have significant advantages over the procedure now commonly used. This could affect people disabled by osteoarthritis, which slowly destroys the tissue that cushions joints. Hundreds of thousands others damage cartilage through sports-related injuries and other accidents. The new technique involves growing cartilage cells within a novel “designer” gel outside the body, then ultimately delivering the cell-seede
Prey have evolved a suite of tricks to avoid falling victim to a predator. They may escape, hide, protect, become toxic/inedible or defend themselves. In principle, they could also scare the predator away, but this is risky when predators are big. Recent work led by a Dutch research team and published in the July issue of Ecology Letters revealed that a plant-feeding thrips insect overcomes this differential size problem by killing the eggs of its enemy, a plant-inhabiting predatory mite. Th
French birds love the smell of perfumed nests. In an article published this month in Ecology Letters, scientists from the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique report that a small cavity-nesting bird on the island of Corsica, the blue tit, adorns its nests with fragments of strongly perfumed plants, including lavender and mint. The chemical compounds of these plants are economically important as they are used for aromatic house cleaners and herbal medicines. The researchers also discovered that t
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