When spores sent through the mail in 2001 caused 11 people to contract anthrax – ultimately killing five of them – infectious disease specialists noted that the death rate was substantially lower than the historical mortality rate, which approached 100 percent. Many assumed that access to modern intensive care units and more powerful antibiotics made the difference.

But after completing the most comprehensive review of anthrax cases ever conducted, researchers at the Veterans Aff

New report suggests promising areas for intervention

With the rapid aging of the population, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is intensifying the search for strategies to preserve brain health as people grow older. The effort moved an important step forward today with a report by an expert panel to the NIH, suggesting a number of promising avenues for maintaining or enhancing cognitive and emotional function. Specifically, the group said, education, cardiovascular health, p

New research shows X-ray bursts from the Sun cause dramatic alterations to the planet’s ionosphere

Boston University astronomers announced today the first clear evidence that solar flares change the upper atmosphere of Mars. In an article published in the February 24th issue of the journal Science, the researchers describe how X-ray bursts from the Sun in April 2001 recorded by satellites near Earth reached Mars and caused dramatic enhancements to the planet’s ionosp

New Hubble Images Offer Best View yet of Distant Planet and its Three Satellites

In the Feb. 23 issue of the journal Nature, a team led by Dr. Hal Weaver of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., describes its discovery of two new moons around Pluto – a finding that made the ninth planet the first Kuiper Belt object known to have multiple satellites.

In a companion paper, also in the Feb. 23 Nature, discovery team members led by Dr. A

Engineers have found a way to pinpoint and identify the tiny iron oxide particles associated with Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases in the brain.

The technique is likely to accelerate research on the cause of the diseases and could lead to the first diagnostic procedure for Alzheimer’s in patients while they are alive.

“We’re the first to be able to tell you both the location of the particles and what kind of particles they are,” said Mark Davidson, a Unive

Newly published research by a Princeton engineer suggests that understanding how air travels across the sunroof of a car may one day make jet engines less noisy.

Clarence Rowley, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, did not actually conduct his experiments on a sunroof. Rather, he and collaborators used computer simulations and subsonic wind tunnels at Princeton and at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, to experiment with models that rese

During migration, polar bears reach mainland by ice. The exit to the coast is extremely important for them, as bears find food there – remains of walrused perished at coastal breeding-grounds, remainder of aboriginal population’s sea fishery, ringed seal (Pusa hispida). Pregnant females come out to the locations of hiding into maternity dens. Lagging of ice sheet arrival in the south makes a lot of bears reach mainland by swimming.

In 2005, reports appeared that polar bears were more frequ

New study finds PROCAM and SCORE most accurate

Two methods of assessing a patient’s risk of cardiovascular events–SCORE and PROCAM–proved more valuable for liver transplant recipients than an alternative method, according to a new study. These findings are published in the March 2006 issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS). Published o

Syngo iPilot supports physicians during interventions

Global Positioning Systems for cars search for the fastest and most practical way to reach a specific destination. The software function syngo iPilot from Siemens Medical Solutions (Med) works in a similar way: It supports the physician in guiding the catheter as smoothly as possible through the arteries during interventional procedures. During this time, syngo iPilot visualizes the two-dimensional fluoro image, which appears in

Shipping companies can route ships more safely and efficiently. Ocean search-and-rescue can operate more effectively. Meteorologists and climatologists now have a tool to provide long-range weather prediction more accurately. Navies too can perform more accurate anti-submarine surveillance. And environmental managers now have a mechanism to track pollution, algal blooms, or emergent situations such as oil spills. And, this is all due to a unique three-dimensional ocean model that has been developed

Researchers from BU’s Center for Remote Sensing locate crater using detailed satellite data

Researchers from Boston University have discovered the remnants of the largest crater of the Great Sahara of North Africa, which may have been formed by a meteorite impact tens of millions of years ago. Dr. Farouk El-Baz made the discovery while studying satellite images of the Western Desert of Egypt with his colleague, Dr. Eman Ghoneim, at BU’s Center for Remote Sensing.

The

Research financiers Vinnova in Sweden and Tekes in Finland have granted SEK 6 million to a Nordic research project in printed electronics and RFID, Radio Frequency Identification. Eventually RFID will replace bar codes on packaging, for example. With the help of radio technology, many items can then be identified at the same time, which is of great value in taking inventory, for instance. The research project was initiated by a research team in RFID technology at Mid Sweden University.

T

By scanning the entire human genome in search of genetic variations that may signal recent evolution, University of Chicago researchers found more than 700 genetic variants that may be targets of recent natural positive selection during the past 10,000 years of human evolution.

In one of the first comprehensive genome scans for selection, the researchers found widespread evidence of evolution in all of the populations studied. Their results are published and freely available online in t

The record-breaking performance of the Tevatron collider at the Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is pushing the search for dark matter, supersymmetric particles and extra dimensions to new limits. Repeatedly smashing peak luminosity records, the Tevatron has created record numbers of proton-antiproton collisions that provide the means to unveil the secrets of the universe. Accelerator experts at the lab announced today (March 2) that in only 14 months the Tevatron

Oil palm is the most widely produced and consumed vegetable oil in developing countries. With around 3.3 tonnes per hectare per year, it is 7 or 8 times more productive than soybean oil. Palm and soybean are the most widely consumed oils worldwide. Indonesia and Malaysia are the world’s leading palm oil producers, with 12 and 14 million tonnes of oil per year respectively. However, a soil fungus, Ganoderma boninense, which causes basal stem rot in oil palms, devastates thousands of hectares

The vast differences between humans and chimpanzees are due more to changes in gene regulation than differences in individual genes themselves, researchers from Yale, the University of Chicago, and the Hall Institute in Parkville, Victoria, Australia, argue in the 9 March 2006 issue of the journal Nature.

The scientists provide powerful new evidence for a 30-year-old theory, proposed in a classic paper from Mary-Claire King and Allan Wilson of Berkeley. That 1975 paper documented

Embryonic development is already disturbed at concentrations 10 times lower than the norm for human consumption.

Dioxin-like contaminants such as PCB’s are probably playing a key role in the extinction of the eel. Embronyic development in this species is halted at dioxin concentrations 10 times below the levels for human consumption. This discovery was made by a team of biologists, led by Guido van den Thillart, who are conducting research in Leiden into the sexual maturity and

Rats that have a strong craving for cocaine have a different biochemical response to the drug than their less-addicted counterparts, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

The difference lies in the pleasure-seeking area of the brain, according to a study available online and appearing in a future issue of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

“This work shows that there are profound alterations in the brain mechanisms that regulate motivated behavi

Problem gambling runs in families according to a University of Iowa study published online Feb. 24 in the journal Psychiatry Research. The study also found an excess of alcoholism, drug disorders and antisocial personality disorder in families with pathological gamblers.

This is the first study of its kind to include detailed family interviews of relatives of persons with pathological gambling, said Donald W. Black, M.D., professor of psychiatry in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Car

New class of selective inhibitors paralyze essential plasmodium enzymes

The most dangerous variant of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, infects up to 600 million people every year. The search for new effective therapies is thus an urgent area of research. An international team headed by François Diederich has now found a new point of attack: using a novel class of inhibitors, the researchers aim to block certain plasmodium enzymes known as plasmepsins, “starving ou