In a new study of breast milk and store-bought milk from across the United States, scientists at Texas Tech University found perchlorate in every sample but one. The results suggest that this thyroid-disrupting chemical may be more widespread than previously believed.
The report was published Feb. 22 on the Web site of Environmental Science & Technology, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.
Perchlorate oc
Using high-intensity ultrasound, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created hollow nanospheres and the first hollow nanocrystals. The nanospheres could be used in microelectronics, drug delivery and as catalysts for making environmentally friendly fuels.
“We use high-intensity ultrasound to generate nanoparticles of molybdenum disulfide or molybdenum oxide, which bind to the surface of tiny silica spheres that are much smaller than red blood cells
New in vitro model system will allow study of therapeutics and virus life cycle
For the first time, scientists have replicated hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the laboratory. The ability to replicate HCV in cell culture will allow researchers to better study the life cycle and biology of this virus and to test potential antiviral compounds, which may lead to new therapies for the liver disease that results from infection with HCV. Scientists at the National Institute of Diabetes an
Two soil-dwelling strangers – a friend and a foe – approach a plant and communicate with it in order to enter a partnership. The friend wants to trade nitrogen for food. The foe is a parasite that wants to burrow in and harm the plant.
In a new finding published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at North Carolina State University have found that the two strangers communicate with the plant in very similar ways. The plant’s responses to both friend and f
A daisy-like plant known as Feverfew or Bachelor’s Button, found in gardens across North America, is the source of an agent that kills human leukemia stem cells like no other single therapy, scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s James P. Wilmot Cancer Center have discovered. Their investigation is reported in the online edition of the journal, Blood.
It will take months before a useable, pharmaceutical compound can be made from parthenolide, the main componen
The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) invites entries for its fourth Award for Communication in the Life Sciences.
The EMBO Award for Communication in the Life Sciences is presented annually to a practising life scientist in Europe who has made significant contributions to public understanding of science. Launched in 2002, the award highlights the exceptional efforts made by many scientists to combine science communication activities with a full-time research career.
A few in the know can lead the many, according to new research into travelling animal groups carried out by the universities of Leeds and Oxford. Crowds of Leeds biology undergraduates will be observed to test their theory later this year.
Large groups of animals such as bees, fish, sheep and birds have to make collective decisions about which direction to take, although only a few individuals know the route. Some animals use signals to communicate, such as the honeybee’s famous
Discovery that termites use vibrations to choose the wood they eat may provide opportunities to new methods of reducing infestations in homes and also may provide insights into the “cocktail party effect” of signal processing – how to ignore most noise but have some signals that trigger attention – that may prove useful in artificial intelligence.
CSIRO entomologist Theo Evans says laboratory experiments have found that termites use their ability to detect vibrations to determine
After eleven years and over $2 million in research funding, the Ken and Yasuko Myer Plant Science Research Fund will be wound up at the CSIRO Discovery Centre in Canberra today.
Over its life, the Fund has supported eight scientists at CSIRO Plant Industry to undertake research to advance Australian agriculture, food processing industries and natural resource management.
The three latest projects included research into plant flowering processes, fusarium infection of pl
Thanks to a handful of very special mice, scientists have discovered a new tumor suppressor gene and a unique chemical signature implicated in the development of human leukemia, findings that open up a “treasure box” of opportunity and possibility, study authors say.
Researchers in The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center bred a type of mouse that develops acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The mouse first goes through a pre-leukemic stage marked by rapidly expan
Specialized brain cells predict intentions as well as define actions
The road to interpreting intentions is paved with mirror neurons. A study by UCLA neuroscientists featuring functional magnetic resonance imaging and a well-stocked tea service suggests for the first time that mirror neurons help people understand the intentions of others — a key component to social interaction.
Reporting Feb. 22 in the online edition of PLoS Biology, the UCLA team found that pre motor m
In the battle against insect pests, new research indicates that it may all come down to the sense of smell. A group of Rockefeller University scientists who had previously identified a key gene essential for the sense of smell in fruit flies now shows that this gene’s function appears to be evolutionarily conserved across very different insect species.
Research by Leslie Vosshall’s laboratory had previously shown that of 62 odorant-receptor proteins expressed by fruit f
Differing forms of taste genes mean that we all live in our own unique taste world
Why do brussels sprouts taste bitterly repellent to one person and bland – or even delicious – to the next? A study published in the February 22 issue of Current Biology confirms the influential role of genetics in determining the wide range of human sensitivity to taste, ultimately impacting how we each perceive the world in a slightly different way.
“Each human carries their own distincti
How smart is your parakeet or that crow in the back yard? Ask Dr. Louis Lefebvre, inventor of the world’s only comprehensive avian IQ index. His intelligence index is not only separating the featherweights from the big bird brains, it’s also providing clues about why some birds make great immigrants, as well as insight into the parallel evolution of primate and bird brains.
The smarts pecking order is based not on a single bird-in-cage test, but on 2,000 reports of feeding innova
Also protects against bone loss from aging or lack of estrogen
Leaping tall buildings in a single bound may be out of the question, but the genetically engineered “supermice” in Ormond MacDougald’s laboratory at the University of Michigan Medical School are definitely stronger than average. With bone mass up to four times greater than ordinary mice, these research animals could hold the secret to new drugs for preventing or treating osteoporosis and other human diseases.
Scientists at Jefferson Medical College and Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified a protein that plays a leading part in triggering kidney disease in diabetic patients, a condition known as diabetic nephropathy and the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide. The finding, which they report February 22 in the journal PLoS Medicine, could lead to the eventual development of compounds that might be used to treat diabetic kidney disease.
According to study co-author K
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