Researchers studying supplies of copper, zinc and other metals have determined that these finite resources, even if recycled, may not meet the needs of the global population forever, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

According to the study, even the full extraction of metals from the Earth’s crust and extensive recycling programs may not meet future demand if all nations begin to use the same services enjoyed in developed n

Transistor channels can detect single DNA base mutations

University of Pittsburgh researcher Alexander Star and colleagues at California-based company Nanomix, Inc., have developed devices made of carbon nanotubes that can find mutations in genes causing hereditary diseases, they report in the Jan. 16 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. This method is less expensive and takes less time than conventional techniques.

Carbon nanotubes are ro

Fathers who are anxious during a caesarean operation may increase the pain experienced by the mother after the delivery of their baby, according to new research published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

In a study involving 65 women scheduled for an elective caesarean, researchers found that the way their birth partners felt during the operation was related to the woman’s own levels of fear and anxiety about the operation.

This increased the amount of pain the w

A newer antibiotic medication proved more effective at knocking out community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in patients 65 and older than the antibiotic that has been the front-line CAP treatment the last decade, according to a national study coordinated at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

CAP is the fifth-leading cause of death in the elderly, is diagnosed in 5.6 million adults annually in the U.S., and is 60 percent more likely to occur in the elderly th

Long-term, low-quality marriages have significant effects on overall well-being, according to a recent study by Penn State researchers.

Daniel Hawkins, graduate student, and Alan Booth, distinguished professor of sociology, human development and family studies, and demography, said that people who remain unhappily married suffer from lower levels of self-esteem, overall health, overall happiness, and life satisfaction along with elevated levels of psychological distress, in cont

A fascinating new study from the forthcoming issue of The American Naturalist attempts to explain the mysterious persistence of two forms of females in many diving beetle populations. Their findings have important implications for theories of sexual conflict, which arises when the costs and benefits of multiple matings differ for males and females.

“The male versus female arms race (involving physical structures, behaviors, chemicals, etc.) for control over mating may take place over ev

In the continuing battle against antibiotic resistance, two new studies shed light on the complex defense mechanisms pathogenic bacteria use to evade antibiotic attack, an understanding of which could lead to new, more effective antibiotics to help save lives and combat the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. The studies, both of which target chemical components in the protective membrane surrounding bacterial cells, will appear in the February 17 inaugural print issue of ACS Chemical Biolog

World class science results from UK particle physicists, astronomers and space scientists are destined for wider commercial use following the announcement today (24th January 2006) of extra Government funds to help them turn their research into commercial reality.

The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) has been awarded £893,000 in the third round of the Government’s Public Sector Exploitation fund (PSRE) to fund knowledge transfer emerging from the large int

Study also finds human evolution slower than apes

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found genetic evidence that seems to support a controversial hypothesis that humans and chimpanzees may be more closely related to each other than chimps are to the other two species of great apes – gorillas and orangutans. They also found that humans evolved at a slower rate than apes.
Appearing in the January 23, 2006 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of

Study explores views of Arab Americans, Hispanics, blacks and whites

Many Arab Americans would prefer not to go to a nursing home as they near the end of their lives, while many African Americans are comfortable with nursing homes and hospitals. Many Hispanic people are strongly concerned about dying with dignity. And many white people don’t want their families to take care of them, but they – like members of other racial and ethnic groups – want their families nearby as th

Bad Weather Increases Risk Eight-Fold

Post-crash fires, darkness or bad weather greatly decrease the likelihood of surviving an emergency medical service (EMS) helicopter crash, according to a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Injury Research and Policy and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Improving crashworthiness of helicopters and reducing trips during hazardous conditions can decrease EMS helicopter fatality rates. The st

Building spacecraft is a tough job. They are precision pieces of engineering that have to survive in the airless environment of space, where temperatures can swing from hundreds of degrees Celsius to hundreds of degree below zero in moments. Once a spacecraft is in orbit, engineers have virtually no chance of repairing anything that breaks. But what if a spacecraft could fix itself?

Thanks to a new study funded by ESA’s General Studies Programme, and carried out by the D

Mobile phones are not associated with an increased risk of the most common type of brain tumour, according to the findings of the first UK study of the relationship between mobile phone use and risk of glioma.

A four-year study by the Universities of Nottingham, Leeds and Manchester, and the Institute of Cancer Research, London, found those who had regularly used a mobile phone were not at a greater overall risk of developing this type of tumour. The research is published onli

An ounce of prevention may actually be worth a pound of cure, especially if the actions taken are to reduce losses from natural hazards, such as tornados, hurricanes or flooding, according to a Penn State researcher.

“Our analysis found that for each dollar spent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for grants to mitigate the effects of natural hazards, approximately $4 was saved from what would have eventually been spent on correcting damages,” says Dr. Adam Rose, pro

For the first time, scientists have identified a significant increase in the incidence rate of melanoma–an invasive form of an already deadly skin cancer–among California Hispanics. A new study published in the March 1, 2006 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, finds in contrast to non-Hispanic Caucasians, increases in melanoma in Hispanics have been confined to thicker lesions, which have a poorer prognosis.

While melanoma accounts for a minor

We might not be able to resist a pretty face after all, according to a report from the University of Pennsylvania. Experiments in which subjects were given a fraction of a second to judge “attractiveness” offered further evidence that our preference for beauty might be hard-wired. People who participated in the studies were also more likely to associate pretty faces with positive traits.

“We’re able to judge attractiveness with surprising speed and on the basis of very little inf