The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is providing astronomers with extraordinary views of comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 as it disintegrates before our eyes. Recent Hubble images have uncovered many more fragments than have been reported by ground-based observers. These observations provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the demise of a comet nucleus.

Amateur and professional astronomers around the world have been tracking the spectacular disintegration of 73P/Schwassmann-Wach

During April, computers in the UK have been working overtime in the fight against avian flu. As part of an international collaboration, computers at eleven UK universities and research labs have put in one hundred thousand hours of time searching for possible drug components against the avian flu virus H5N1. The analysis used a computing Grid, a new network that brings together worldwide computer resources to solve scientific problems.

The computing Grid used in the UK was originally

Professor Luis Corrochano Peláez, from the Genetics Department of the University of Seville, and his PhD student Julio Rodríguez Romero, in collaboration with researchers of the Duke University of USA and the University of Salamanca, have identified a gene that allows Phycomyces fungus to react to light and orientate their growth toward it. Results will be published in the prestigious journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA” next week. These researches are part of the scientif

With ESO’s VLT, astronomers find molecular hydrogen at edge of Universe

Using a quasar located 12.3 billion light-years away as a beacon, a team of astronomers detected the presence of molecular hydrogen in the farthest system ever, an otherwise invisible galaxy that we observe when the Universe was less than 1.5 billion years old, that is, about 10% of its present age. The astronomers find that there is about one hydrogen molecule for 250 hydrogen atoms. A similar set of

IQWiG publishes a comparative review of inhaled insulin versus insulin administered subcutaneously

There is currently no evidence available that inhaled insulin (Exubera) in diabetes therapy shows advantages over short-acting human insulin or insulin analogues administered subcutaneously. The available studies do not provide evidence that Exubera would improve the quality of life or treatment satisfaction of diabetes patients in Germany. However, they do provide indications of di

Deep observations of two X-ray bright clusters of galaxies with ESA’s XMM-Newton satellite allowed a group of international astronomers to measure their chemical composition with an unprecedented accuracy. Knowing the chemical composition of galaxy clusters is of crucial importance to understanding the origin of chemical elements in the Universe.

Clusters, or conglomerates, of galaxies are the largest objects in the Universe. By looking at them through optical telescopes it is possible t

Study holds promise for susceptibility test

Cell and animal studies conducted jointly by scientists at Johns Hopkins, Yale and other institutions have uncovered at least one important contributor to the severe anemia that kills almost half of the 2 million people worldwide who die each year of malaria. The culprit is a protein cells make in response to inflammation called MIF, which appears to suppress red blood cell production in people whose red blood cells already are infec

Carbon fullerenes now have metallic cousins, ‘hollow golden cages’

Scientists have uncovered a class of gold atom clusters that are the first known metallic hollow equivalents of the famous hollow carbon fullerenes known as buckyballs.
The evidence for what their discoverers call “hollow golden cages” appeared today in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The fullerene is made up of a sphere of 60 carbon (C) atoms; gol

If computers could create a society, what kind of world would they make? Thanks to the work of an ambitious project that adds a whole new meaning to the phrase, ‘computer society’, in which millions of software agents will potentially evolve their own culture, we could be about to find out.

With funding from the European Commission’s Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) initiative of the IST programme, five European research institutes are collaborating on the NEW TIES project

One of the attractions at the ILA2006 Space Pavilion is the full-scale ExoMars rover mock-up based on an artist’s impression of Europe’s next mission to Mars and the first robotic mission with the European Space Exploration Programme Aurora.

The large rover and its deployment on the surface of Mars are probably the most challenging elements of the ExoMars mission, currently slated for launch in 2011, which will search for traces of life on and underneath the surface of Mars. T

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have taken a step toward understanding the genetics that make people more susceptible to the loss of hearing as they age.

In a study of 50 pairs of fraternal twins with hearing loss, the scientists uncovered evidence linking the hearing loss to a particular region of DNA that previously was tied to a hereditary form of progressive deafness that begins much earlier in life.

The work is believed to be the first geno

From May 22-30, Harbor Branch scientists, along with colleagues from the University of Miami, will use the Harbor Branch Johnson-Sea-Link II submersible to explore for the first time newly discovered deep-sea reefs between Florida and the Bahamas. The reefs were discovered in 2,000 to 2,900 feet of water last December by a University of Miami team using advanced sonar techniques. A primary goal of the upcoming expedition, which is funded largely by the State of Florida’s “Florida Oceans Ini

Scientists explore newly discovered reefs for pharmaceutical potential, ecological impacts

Last December, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science researchers using advanced sonar techniques discovered new deepwater reef sites in the Straits of Florida between Miami and Bimini. Today through May 30, the Rosenstiel School scientists will work with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution colleagues to explore these areas for the first time. The expediti

Doctor Harry Holthöfer, M.D., Ph.D, at the University of Helsinki, Finland, coordinates a new EU-funded project, which aims to develop new diagnostic approaches for early identification of patients at high risk of rapid loss of kidney function. The project links together researchers from Finland, the Netherlands and Switzerland and four SMEs from Finland, the Netherlands and Italy. The EU has granted 4.4 million euro funding for this project.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an increasing

The severe neurodegeneration associated with HuntingtonÕs disease may result from molecular mutations that block the transport of nutrients within cells. Findings from the Emory University School of Medicine indicate that the mutant huntingtin protein limits the efforts of the huntingtin-associated protein-1 (HAP1) to provide nutrients to growing neurons, or neurites. Without those nutrients, neurites fail to develop and mature neurons degenerate.

Huntington’s disease was first

Any owner of a freshwater aquarium likely has had guppies (Poecilia reticulata), those small brightly colored fish with a propensity for breeding. Now guppy populations manipulated in natural habitats in Trinidad have taught researchers an evolutionary lesson on the survival of a rare genetic trait. Reporting in the June 1 issue of the journal Nature, scientists from six institutions detail how male guppies with the most colorful – and most rare – patterns are more likely than their more c

Simulations forecast favorable conditions for verifying Einstein predictions

A wispy collection of atoms and molecules fuels the vast cosmic maelstroms produced by colliding galaxies and merging supermassive black holes, according to some of the most advanced supercomputer simulations ever conducted on this topic.

“We found that gas is essential in driving the co-evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes,” said Stelios Kazantzidis, a Fellow in the University o

The first study to assess the benefits of naps for medical residents during extended shifts found that creating protected times when interns could sleep during a night on-call significantly reduced fatigue.

In the June 6, 2006, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers from the University of Chicago report that although average sleep time for interns in the study increased only modestly — by about one hour — the interns felt that even small gains in sleep led to su

Researchers have built the first comprehensive manually-generated, literature-based, database of genetic and protein interactions. The database, which doubles the amount of information available on interaction networks in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, will be a useful resource for both the yeast and the systems biology community. In a study published today in the open access journal Journal of Biology, researchers manually curated the entire literature for genetic and physical protein i

Research conducted by Delft University of Technology has brought the efficient production of the environmentally-friendly fuel bio-ethanol a great deal closer to fruition. The work of Delft researcher Marko Kuyper was an important factor in this. His research in recent years has greatly improved the conversion of certain sugars from agricultural waste to ethanol. On Tuesday 6 June, Kuyper received his PhD degree for his research into the subject.

The search for alternatives to the current