Long before a Hollywood blockbuster about catastrophic climate change packed cinema multiplexes this spring, researchers at the top of the world, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), were using an array of scientific tools to build a comprehensive scientific picture of environmental change in the Arctic and what it may mean for the rest of the globe. Led by oceanographer James Morison, of the University of Washington, NSF-supported scientists from Oregon State University, as we

Whenever a hurricane races across the Atlantic Ocean, chances are phytoplankton will bloom behind it. According to a new study using NASA satellite data, these phytoplankton blooms may also affect the Earth’s climate and carbon cycle.

Dr. Steven Babin, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., studied 13 North Atlantic hurricanes between 1998 and 2001. Ocean color data from the SeaWiFS instrument on the SeaStar satellite were used to analyze l

Acrylamide (AA)is a substance that has found widespread application in industry, e.g. for the purification of drinking water and in food packaging. Due to its toxicological properties, legal limits have been set both for drinking water and for migration into food.

Following a request of the participants of the European Workshop on “Analytical methods for the acrylamide determination in food”, the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) of the European Commission’s Directo

Iowa City Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center and University of Iowa (UI) researchers have unlocked part of the mystery of how a harmless virus known as GBV-C slows the progression of HIV and prolongs survival for many patients. The report appears in the June 19 issue of The Lancet, the leading British medical journal.

The findings provide the clearest insight yet into the biological mechanisms of GBV-C, a benign cousin of the hepatitis C virus. The virus infects almost all HIV patients

University of Ulster research probes pals’ influences on Northern Ireland prejudice levels.

Just having a friend who has a friend from the ‘other side’ can reduce levels of sectarian prejudice among individuals in Northern Ireland, according to new psychological research from the University of Ulster.

This research was carried out in the context of inter-community relations in Northern Ireland. In two surveys, one with over 300 university students and the other with over 70

Sometimes it takes time to uncover nature’s secrets. Take the case of callimicos, also called Goeldi’s monkeys, a reclusive and diminutive South American primate. Discovered a century ago by Swiss naturalist Emil August Goeldi, the animals were once considered to be a possible “missing link” between small and large New World monkeys.
But new findings from the first long-term studies of the monkeys in the wild seem to indicate that this is not the case, although the animals have a uniqu

New research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill provides insights into the fundamental mechanisms controlling blood vessel formation and may have implications for therapies such as non-surgical restoration of circulation.

The study findings appear in the June 15 issue of the journal Blood.

Blood vessel formation, or angiogenesis, is an integral part of normal organ development and function. It also contributes to abnormal conditions, particularly tumor formation an

According to a new report, Asian/Pacific Islanders living in the United States earn more science or engineering (S&E) bachelor’s degrees than whites earn, relative to their college-age (20-24 year old) peers. Meanwhile, data on blacks, Hispanics, and American Indian/Alaska Natives show steady, although small, increases in the number of S&E bachelor’s degrees earned during the same period. The new, online report, Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engine

Study of major significance unlocks the door to the complex role of how hormones work in women and demonstrates steep decline of hormones in early reproductive years.

Findings from the Australian based Jean Hailes Foundation will be presented this week at the Endocrine Society’s 86th Annual Meeting that establish normal hormone levels in women across the life span.

This definitive study is part of the Sue Ismiel International Study into Women’s Health and Hormones, involving 1

The European Commission has today proposed increasing the European Union’s research funding to an average of €10 billion a year for the duration of the next framework programme, i.e. twice as much as today, and to devote it to six major objectives, including the creation of European centres of excellence, the launching of technology initiatives in industrial fields of growth and the creation of a European “agency” to support European basic research teams. In its strategy document entitled “Science a

Just being unhappy with their bodies is not enough to lead most women into eating disorders – it takes additional factors, according to a new study.

Women are more likely to have eating disorders when their body dissatisfaction is accompanied by other issues – most importantly, a tendency to obsessively examine their bodies and think about how they appear to others.

The results of the study help clarify a long-running issue that has complicated the problem of identifying women at ri

Trait anger is a tendency to experience frequent and intense episodes of anger.
Individuals with high levels of trait anger, along with low levels of anger control, are likely to commit alcohol-related aggression.
Researchers suggest these individuals refrain from alcohol consumption. Despite its powerful pharmacological effects on the central nervous system, alcohol does not facilitate aggression in all persons or in all situations. Trait anger – a tendency to experi

Is there – or has there ever been – life on Mars? A UK project could help provide the answer to this fascinating question.

The team are working to improve the equipment on space probes which is used to try and identify evidence of life on other planets.

The work is focusing on the development of more effective and robust systems for detecting ’biomarkers’. (’Biomarkers’ are molecules that indicate the existence of current or extinct life.)

Researchers

New research has found that the brain continues to accept ambiguous visual information about an object in motion even when it conflicts with more reliable information that we can touch. The studies, which appear in the June 7 issue of the journal Psychological Science and the forthcoming June issue of the journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, provide new insights into the way the brain blends and balances information from different senses.

The research, conducted by Vander

Latest Eurostat data show that although women are still significantly under-represented in scientific and engineering disciplines, the numbers of female graduates in these fields have increased over the last few years. The new figures on “Women, science and technology: Measuring recent progress towards gender equality” provide continuing evidence of a narrowing of the gender gap for graduates in “hard sciences”, especially in engineering. From 1998-2001, the numbers of graduates in engineering and re

The findings of a new study published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology demonstrate that the use of high resolution imaging can greatly aid physicians who are treating patients suffering from a particular type of irregular heart beat.

The study, conducted at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, provides insight into the mechanism of atrial flutter, a common heart rhythm disturbance that circulates around the atria, or top chambers of the human heart. Three