For centuries, Islamic culture has been both vilified and romanticized by westerners, says University of Toronto professor Ivan Kalmar of anthropology. He is investigating western perceptions through the ages that portray Islam as weak and passive on one hand but also as exotic and romantic.

“In the past, looking at Muslim nations as backward allowed western conquerors to justify their colonialist plans,” says Kalmar. “But at the same time, there was a difference – especially along western

When amazing new computers and other electronic devices emerge, they will have been conceived and incubated in university laboratories like that of Dr. Chris Gorman, professor of chemistry at North Carolina State University. There, the scientist and his multidisciplinary team are working to build, molecule by molecule, a nanoscale transistor.

That’s an electronic switch so small it can only be seen with a high-tech device called a scanning tunneling microscope. And if you go to the library t

Researchers suspect that the number of people infected during the recent Midwest outbreak may be higher than first reported

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University are trying to gain a better understanding of last summer’s monkeypox outbreak. The researchers traveled to the Midwest twice during the past few months to obtain blood samples from residents exposed to the disease. A third trip is planned for December. The samples will be used to better understand the human i

A multi-center research team has discovered how to deliver antimicrobial medications directly to the infectious parasites that cause diseases such as toxoplasmosis, even when the parasites lay hidden and inactive within cysts, where they have been untreatable by any available medicines.

The study, to be published online Nov. 17 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrates the first effective, non-toxic method of transporting drugs across multiple membrane barriers an

By screening the genomes of mice with heart failure, Duke University Medical Center researchers have discovered multiple stretches of DNA containing genes that modify the heart’s pumping ability and survival with the disease. The findings could point researchers to genes that determine the severity of heart failure in patients, according to the Duke team.

“Our goal is to find novel genes that modify human heart failure by letting the mouse point us in the right direction,” said Duke ca

More than 150 researchers from across Europe, Canada, the United States, China and as far away as Chile have come together to recount their many and varied uses of a single instrument – a desk-sized camera called MERIS, hurtling through space aboard Envisat at more than seven kilometres per second.

The Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) is one of ten sensors on Envisat, looking down from the earthward face of the spacecraft. It works by recording visible and near-infrared radiati

It took from the beginning of time until 1950 to put the first 2.5 billion people on the planet. Yet in the next half-century, an increase that exceeds the total population of the world in 1950 will occur.

So writes Joel E. Cohen, Ph.D., Dr.P.H., professor and head of the Laboratory of Populations at The Rockefeller University and Columbia University, in a Viewpoint article in the November 14 issue of the journal Science.

In “Human Population: The Next Half-Century,” Cohen examin

Researchers have found subtle damage in the brains of HIV-positive patients whose viral load is effectively suppressed by anti-retroviral therapy. In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers from the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC) used a combination of MRI brain imaging, recording of electrical brain activity, and behavioral tests to compare the size and function of brains of HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral therapy with those of healthy subjects.

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New study in rats suggests that nicotine at concentrations found in the blood of smokers may increase atrial vulnerability to inducible atrial tachycardia and atrial fibrillation in normal adult atria with no atrial disease.

Large numbers of Americans still smoke cigarettes or use over-the-counter nicotine products such as patches and gums to satisfy their craving for nicotine. However, serious and sometime fatal cases of atrial fibrillation (AF) have been reported in patients who use

A new study in rats has found that after severe spinal cord injury, molecules intended to help nerves communicate can attack the tissue surrounding the initial injury and cause further damage.

Interestingly, this latent, or secondary, injury develops over days and even weeks after the initial injury. It also appears to cause larger, more debilitating lesions in the spinal cord, said Randy Christensen, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at Ohio State Univers

New studies find much to recommend in pregnancy and motherhood. Findings include that: pregnancy produces heightened smell sensitivity; suckling one’s young puts brain reward systems into high gear; lactation increases the rate of wound healing; and motherhood protects against stress.

Morning sickness, food cravings, and food aversions are not the only side effects of pregnancy. Many women also say that they perceived changes in their chemical senses during pregnancy; perhaps a certain dish

How computer programs help children overcome language problems and the effect of estrogen

Scientists continue to unravel the mystery of the brain’s role in the development of language skills — and with some provocative results. One new study in this area, for example, reveals that children raised bilingually may actually be “smarter” than their monolingual peers. Other studies show how two computer learning programs potentially help children overcome reading and speech problems — res

Recent advances in understanding the behavioral, molecular, and anatomical bases of fear extinction in animals and humans are leading to new knowledge about the nature of fear and new treatments for anxiety disorders that affect millions of Americans.

Although every human being experiences some fear and anxiety during the course of normal life, excessive amounts of fear and anxiety are associated with almost all psychiatric illnesses. In those people who suffer from anxiety disorders like p

In new studies, scientists are discovering the neurobiological underpinnings of romantic love, trust, and even of self. New research also shows that a specific brain area – the amygdala – is involved in the process of understanding the intentions of others, in particular when lying is involved.

Using brain imaging, researchers Helen Fisher, Arthur Aron, Lucy Brown and colleagues find that feelings of intense romantic love are associated with specific activity in dopamine-rich brain regions

Contrary to previous assumptions, recent findings indicate that experience-dependent mechanisms have a fundamental role for the proper development and function of the pain system.

Tactile, or touch, information now appears to play a fundamental role in guiding the functional maturation of the pain sensitivity system during normal development. This explains how the pain system can be functionally adapted despite the rare occurrence of noxious stimuli during development. Maintained input ove

Show that little sleep for a short period improves some simple tasks

Lack of sleep can affect an individual’s memory, ability to perform simple daily tasks, and attention span. Recent studies that help decipher the basic mechanism of sleep may help in the development of drugs that reduce the need for sleep in military combat or other circumstances.

In other research, investigators have found that sleeping only a few hours a night over a long period of time impairs memor