What determines the number of species in a given area? The amount of energy available to organisms (an areas primary productivity) has been shown to be a key determinant of plant and animal biodiversity. However, it is not known if primary productivity can affect bacterial biodiversity. In an article to appear in the July 2003 issue of Ecology Letters, researchers led by a team at Stanford University report for the first time that primary productivity can, in fact, influence the diversity of ba
Research News in the Journal of Pathology
Doctors working near to the first outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) Guangdong, China, have just published the first histopathological description of the effects of this viral infection in the Journal of Pathology.
Basing their findings on autopsies of three people who died of SARS, Dr Yanqing Ding and his colleagues showed the virus causes extensive disruption throughout the body.
The main pathological cha
A research study under way at Northwestern Memorial Hospital is trying to find out if the popular anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex might do more than ease arthritis pain. Researchers at Northwestern Memorial are enrolling patients with early stage head and neck cancers or non-small cell lung cancers in a research study to see if Celebrex reduces the return of old tumors or the chance of getting a new cancer when taken after surgery or radiation treatments.
The double-blind, randomized study
USC researchers have moved one step closer to understanding how the body fights harmful antigens – foreign molecules that trigger an immune response.
The team successfully simulated a mutation process that diversifies the proteins, or antibodies, responsible for immunity – a phenomenon known as somatic hypermutation. This process enables the body to fight off a wide range of diseases.
Their findings are detailed in the July 3 issue of the journal Nature.
“When performin
An X-ray movie of the Vela pulsar, made from a series of observations by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, reveals a spectacularly erratic jet that varies in a way never seen before. The jet of high-energy particles whips about like an untended firehose at about half the speed of light. This behavior gives scientists new insight into the nature of jets from pulsars and black holes.
Chandra observed the Vela pulsar, a rotating neutron star, 13 times between January 2000 and August 2002. The
The human brain combines motion and shape information to recognize faces and facial expressions, a new study suggests.
That new finding, part of an engineer’s quest to design computers that “see” faces the way humans do, provides more evidence concerning a controversy in cognitive psychology.
Were computers to become adept at recognizing faces and moods, they would be more user-friendly, said Aleix Martinez, assistant professor of electrical engineering at Ohio State University. T
… solving the puzzle of stellar metal pollution. Dead stars known as white dwarfs, have a mass like the Sun while being similar in size to Earth. They are common…
Precisely measuring the energy states of individual atoms has been a historical challenge for physicists due to atomic recoil. When an atom interacts with a photon, the atom “recoils” in…
The technique opens possibilities for exploring exotic states of matter and building new quantum materials. Proximity is key for many quantum phenomena, as interactions between atoms are stronger when the…
Pan-cancer analysis uncovers a new class of promising CAR T–cell immunotherapy targets. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital found 156 potential CAR targets across the brain and solid tumors,…
An international research team is examining the molecular mechanisms that enabled plants to colonize the surface of the Earth. Around 550 million years ago, the Earth’s surface was a barren…
New sensor is six orders of magnitude more sensitive than the next best thing. A research team at Pitt led by Alexander Star, a chemistry professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich…
Research led by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has demonstrated that small changes in the isotopic content of thin semiconductor materials can influence their optical…
Charge-recharge cycling of lithium-superrich iron oxide, a cost-effective and high-capacity cathode for new-generation lithium-ion batteries, can be greatly improved by doping with readily available mineral elements. The energy capacity and…
Engineers in Australia have found a new way to make power-pole insulators resistant to fire and electrical sparking, promising to prevent dangerous pole-top fires and reduce blackouts. Pole-top fires pose…
Parkinson’s disease is one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative conditions. It causes motor impairments such as tremors, slow movement, muscle stiffness, and balance problems. The individual course of the disease…
A four-legged robot trained with machine learning by EPFL researchers has learned to avoid falls by spontaneously switching between walking, trotting, and pronking – a milestone for roboticists as well…
TUM professor uses ChatGPT for choreographies with flying robots. Prof. Angela Schoellig has proved that large language models can be used safely in robotics. ChatGPT develops choreographies for up to…