February 28

February 27

  • 'Lost' Sediments Show Details of Polar Magnetic Field. UC Davis researchers studying cores of sediment collected 40 years ago have found evidence for magnetic field vortices in the Earth's core beneath the South Pole. The results contrast with earlier studies at lower latitudes, and could lead to a better understanding of processes in the core. (UC Davis)
  • Sandia Weighs in On New Definition for Kilogram. The kilogram is losing weight and many international scientists, including some at Sandia National Laboratories, agree that it’s time to redefine it. (Sandia Labs.)
  • Small 'Helper' Stars Needed for Massive Star Formation. In order for a rare, massive star to form inside an interstellar cloud of gas and dust, small "helper" stars about the size of the sun must first set the stage, according to a new theory proposed by astrophysicists at the University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University. (UC Berkeley)

February 26

  • Yale Scientists Create Artificial “Cells” that Boost the Immune Response to Cancer. Using artificial cell-like particles, Yale biomedical engineers have devised a rapid and efficient way to produce a 45-fold enhancement of T cell activation and expansion, an immune response important for a patient’s ability to fight cancer and infectious diseases, according to an advance on line report in Molecular Therapy. (Yale U.)
  • Special Coating Greatly Improves Solar Cell Performance. The energy from sunlight falling on only 9 percent of California’s Mojave Desert could power all of the United States’ electricity needs if the energy could be efficiently harvested, according to some estimates. Unfortunately, current-generation solar cell technologies are too expensive and inefficient for wide-scale commercial applications. (Northwestern U.)
  • Studying Rivers for Clues to Carbon Cycle. In the science world, in the media, and recently, in our daily lives, the debate continues over how carbon in the atmosphere is affecting global climate change. Studying just how carbon cycles throughout the Earth is an enormous challenge, but one Northwestern University professor is doing his part by studying one important segment -- rivers. (Northwestern U.)
  • Bacterial 'Battle for Survival' Leads to New Antibiotic. War may actually be healthy for you ... war between two microscopic bugs, that is. MIT biologists have provoked soil-dwelling bacteria into producing a new type of antibiotic by pitting them against another strain of bacteria in a battle for survival. (MIT)
  • Peaceful, Egalitarian Hunter-gatherers Retain Traditions Despite Homeland Loss. In the 1970s, the Batek people of the Malaysian rainforest were living much as their ancestors probably had for thousands of years: in groups of families, moving every few weeks to a fresh spot from which to hunt small game, dig tubers, and gather forest products for trade with outsiders. (Darmouth C.)

February 25

  • Royals Weren't Only Builders of Maya Temples, Archaeologist Finds. An intrepid archaeologist is well on her way to dislodging the prevailing assumptions of scholars about the people who built and used Maya temples. (UIUC)
  • Honey Bee Invaders Exploit the Genetic Resources of their Predecessors. Like any species that aspires to rule the world, the honey bee, Apis mellifera, invades new territories in repeated assaults. A new study demonstrates that when these honey bees arrive in a place that has already been invaded, the newcomers benefit from the genetic endowment of their predecessors. (UIUC)
  • Killer Electrons Surf Celestial Tsunamis. It's as if we took a trip into space with our best friends, and they turned into mutants and attacked us. Electrons are the best friends we've ever had from the subatomic world. We harness their flow as electricity to power all of modern life -- everything from cell phones and laptops to light bulbs. In space, however, electrons can turn against us. Boosted to almost the speed of light, "killer electrons" can knock out computers, pierce spacesuits, and damage the tissues of astronauts. New research using NASA's STEREO spacecraft is discovering exactly how this happens. (GSFC)
  • Washington University Unveils Draft Sequence of Corn Genome. A team of scientists led by Washington University in St. Louis has begun to unlock the genetic secrets of corn, a crop vital to U.S. agriculture. The researchers have completed a working draft of the corn genome, an accomplishment that should accelerate efforts to develop better crop varieties to meet society's growing demands for food, livestock feed and fuel. (WUSTL)
  • U.S. Experiment Retakes the Lead in Race To Find Dark Matter. Scientists of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment today announced that they have regained the lead in the worldwide race to find the particles that make up dark matter. The CDMS experiment, conducted a half-mile underground in a mine in Soudan, Minn., again sets the world's best constraints on the properties of dark matter candidates. (UCSB)
  • Scientists Identify Proteins That Help Bacteria Put Up A Fight. Scientists have identified the role of two proteins that contribute to disease-causing bacteria cells’ versatility in resisting certain classes of antibiotics. (OSU)

February 22

  • ‘Wii’ Bit of Technology Aids Medical Education. Practicing medicine is complicated, serious business. But learning to practice medicine – even surgical techniques – can be aided by some simple games designed for fun. (ASU)
  • Structure of Protein Collagen Seen at Unprecedented Level of Detail. The structure and behavior of one of the most common proteins in our bodies has been resolved at a level of detail never before seen, thanks to new research performed at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. (ANL)
  • Scientists Make First Map of Emerging Disease Hot Spots. A new study provides the first scientific evidence that deadly emerging diseases have increased steeply and maps the outbreaks’ main geographic and host sources. The researchers say that although historically a majority of new infectious diseases emerged in wealthy countries, the future risks are high in many poor areas. (Columbia U.)

February 21

February 20

February 19

February 18

  • Researchers Probe a DNA Repair Enzyme. U. of I. researchers have taken the first steps toward understanding how an enzyme repairs DNA. (UIUC)
  • Cosmic Ray Effect on Microchips Benefits from Accelerated Neutron Testing. UK neutron scientists are tackling the challenge of cosmic radiation and its damaging effect on sensitive microchips in the aviation industry in the drive to develop more robust electronic equipment. Accelerated testing of microelectronic components at the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) world leading ISIS neutron research centre replicates the effect of thousands of hours of flying time in just a few minutes. (STFC)
  • Cocaine's Effects on Brain Metabolism May Contribute to Abuse. Many studies on cocaine addiction - and attempts to block its addictiveness - have focused on dopamine transporters, proteins that reabsorb the brain's "reward" chemical once its signal is sent. Since cocaine blocks dopamine transporters from doing their recycling job, it leaves the feel-good chemical around to keep sending the pleasure signal. Now a new study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory suggests that cocaine's effects go beyond the dopamine system. In the study, cocaine had significant effects on brain metabolism, even in mice that lack the gene for dopamine transporters. (BNL)
  • Shocking Evolution into Action. Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) has a greater impact on the appearance of new traits than previously expected, according to two articles published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) by researchers in Whitehead Member Susan Lindquist's lab and their colleagues in Christine Queitsch’s lab at Harvard University’s FAS Center for Systems Biology. (Whitehead I.)
  • Scientists Discover "Giant Fossil Frog from Hell". A team of researchers, led by Stony Brook University paleontologist David Krause, has discovered the remains in Madagascar of what may be the largest frog ever to exist. (NSF)
  • Scientists Using Laser Light To Detect Potential Diseases Via Breath, Says Study. By blasting a person's breath with laser light, scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado at Boulder have shown that they can detect molecules that may be markers for diseases like asthma or cancer. (UCB)
  • MIT Creates Gecko-inspired Bandage. MIT researchers and colleagues have created a waterproof adhesive bandage inspired by gecko lizards that may soon join sutures and staples as a basic operating room tool for patching up surgical wounds or internal injuries. (MIT)
  • MIT Explains Spread of 1918 Flu Pandemic. MIT researchers have explained why two mutations in the H1N1 avian flu virus allowed the disease to spread during the 1918 pandemic that killed at least 50 million people. The work could help scientists detect and contain a future bird flu outbreak among humans. (MIT)

February 17

  • Many, Perhaps Most, Nearby Sun-Like Stars May Form Rocky Planets. Astronomers have discovered that terrestrial planets might form around many, if not most, of the nearby sun-like stars in the disk of our galaxy. These new results suggest that worlds with potential for life might be more common than thought. (U. Arizona)
  • No Easy Answers in Evolution of Human Language. The evolution of human speech was far more complex than is implied by some recent attempts to link it to a specific gene, says Robert Berwick, professor of computational linguistics at MIT. (MIT)

February 16

  • Learning about Brains from Computers, and Vice Versa. For many years, Tomaso Poggio's lab at MIT ran two parallel lines of research. Some projects were aimed at understanding how the brain works, using complex computational models. Others were aimed at improving the abilities of computers to perform tasks that our brains do with ease, such as making sense of complex visual images. (MIT)
  • Solar Evidence Points to Human Causes of Climate Change. It’s getting harder and harder to blame the sun for causing the gradual increase in global temperatures that are now being seen in the climate record, scientists said today. (Harvard U.)

February 15

  • Mobile Neanderthals. A 40,000-year-old tooth has provided scientists with the first direct evidence that Neanderthals moved from place to place during their lifetimes. (MPG)
  • Whose Voice is That? For vocal animals, recognising species-specific vocalizations is important for survival and social interactions. In humans, a ‘voice' region has been identified that is sensitive to human voices and vocalizations. As this region also strongly responds to speech, it is unclear whether it is tightly associated with linguistic processing and thus unique to humans. Using functional magnetic-resonance imaging (fMRI) of macaque monkeys (Old World primates) researcher at the Max-Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics discovered a high-level auditory region that prefers species-specific vocalizations over other vocalizations and sounds. (MPG)
  • Brain Waves Pattern Themselves After Rhythms of Nature. The same rules of physics that govern molecules as they condense from gas to liquid, or freeze from liquid to solid, also apply to the activity patterns of neurons in the human brain. (U. Chicago)
  • World-Wide Effort Bringing ALMA Telescope Into Reality. In the thin, dry air of northern Chile's Atacama Desert, at an altitude of 16,500 feet, an amazing new telescope system is taking shape, on schedule to provide the world's astronomers with unprecedented views of the origins of stars, galaxies, and planets. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) will open an entirely new "window" on the Universe, allowing scientists to unravel longstanding and important astronomical mysteries. (NRAO)
  • Stabilizing Climate Requires Near-Zero Carbon Emissions. Now that scientists have reached a consensus that carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are the major cause of global warming, the next question is: How can we stop it? Can we just cut back on carbon, or do we need to go cold turkey? According to a new study by scientists at the Carnegie Institution, halfway measures won’t do the job. To stabilize our planet’s climate, we need to find ways to kick the carbon habit altogether. (Carnegie I.)

February 14

  • New Technology Makes 3-D Imaging Quicker, Easier. Technology invented by scientists from The Johns Hopkins University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev can make three-dimensional imaging quicker, easier, less expensive and more accurate, the researchers said. (JHU)

February 13

February 12

  • Pupil Dilation Marks Decision Making. The eyes may be the windows to the soul, but the simple pupil--the circular opening at the center of the eye that contracts and dilates to regulate the amount of light the eye receives--offers a remarkable portal to the inner workings of the brain. Such is the conclusion of neurobiologist Christof Koch of the California Institute of Technology and his colleagues, who have found that changes in pupil diameter correspond to the moment when a simple decision is made. (Caltech)
  • Sandia, Stirling Energy Systems Set New World Record for Solar-to-grid Conversion Efficiency. On a perfect New Mexico winter day — with the sky almost 10 percent brighter than usual — Sandia National Laboratories and Stirling Energy Systems (SES) set a new solar-to-grid system conversion efficiency record by achieving a 31.25 percent net efficiency rate. The old 1984 record of 29.4 percent was toppled Jan. 31 on SES’s “Serial #3” solar dish Stirling system at Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility. (Sandia Labs.)
  • New Sensor System Improves Detection of Lead, Heavy Metals. The Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed a new rapid, portable and inexpensive detection system that identifies personal exposures to toxic lead and other dangerous heavy metals. The device can provide an accurate blood sample measurement from a simple finger prick, which is particularly important when sampling children. (PNNL)
  • MIT Reveals Superconducting Surprise. MIT physicists have taken a step toward understanding the puzzling nature of high-temperature superconductors, materials that conduct electricity with no resistance at temperatures well above absolute zero. (MIT)
  • Synthetic Fuel Concept to Steal CO2 From Air. Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a low-risk, transformational concept, called Green Freedom™, for large-scale production of carbon-neutral, sulfur-free fuels and organic chemicals from air and water. (LANL)
  • "Lab on a Chip" Mimics Brain Chemistry. Johns Hopkins researchers from the Whiting School of Engineering and the School of Medicine have devised a micro-scale tool — a lab on a chip — designed to mimic the chemical complexities of the brain. (JHU)
  • A Sense of Scarcity: Why it Seems Like All the Good Ones Are Taken.. Singles’ bars, classified personals and dating websites are a reflection, not only of the common human desire to find a mate, but of the sense of scarcity that seems to surround the hunt. Many people participate in dating activities in the hopes of finding that special someone, yet feel as though it is an impossible task. However, thanks to an international team of psychologists, the solution may be closer than we think—within ourselves, to be exact. (APS)

February 11

  • Study Reveals Why Muscles Get Tired and Identifies Possible Treatment. What do marathoners and heart failure patients have in common? More than you think according to new findings by physiologists at Columbia University Medical Center. (Columbia U.)
  • Fossil Record Suggests Insect Assaults on Foliage May Increase with Warming Globe. More than 55 million years ago, the Earth experienced a rapid jump in global carbon dioxide levels that raised temperatures across the planet. Now, researchers studying plants from that time have found that the rising temperatures may have boosted the foraging of insects. As modern temperatures continue to rise, the researchers believe the planet. (NSF)
  • Copper Connections Created for High-Speed Computing. Georgia Tech researchers are developing new methods to create more connections between computer chips and external circuitry and better connections that operate at higher frequencies with less loss. (GIT)
  • Carbon Capture Strategy Could Lead to Emission-Free Cars. Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a strategy to capture, store and eventually recycle carbon from vehicles. Georgia Tech researchers envision a zero emission car, and a transportation system completely free of fossil fuels. (GIT)
  • Artificial Sweeteners Linked to Weight Gain. Want to lose weight? It might help to pour that diet soda down the drain. Researchers have laboratory evidence that the widespread use of no-calorie sweeteners may actually make it harder for people to control their intake and body weight. (Purdue U.)
  • New Greenland Ice Sheet Data Will Impact Climate Change Models. A comprehensive new study authored by University at Buffalo scientists and their colleagues for the first time documents in detail the dynamics of parts of Greenland's ice sheet, important data that have long been missing from the ice sheet models on which projections about sea level rise and global warming are based. (U. Buffalo)
  • Researchers Find the Root of the Evolutionary Emergence of Vertebrates. Dartmouth researchers and colleagues from the University of Bristol in the U.K. have traced the beginnings of complex life, i.e. vertebrates, to microRNA. The researchers argue that the evolution of microRNAs, which regulate gene expression, are behind the origin of early vertebrates. (Darmouth C.)
  • Evolving Complexity Out of 'Junk DNA'. ‘Junk DNA’ could hold the secret of the evolutionary origin of complex animals, according to new research from Dartmouth College (NH, USA) and the University of Bristol (UK). (Bristol U.)
  • The Beauty Bias: Can People Love the One They Are Compatible With? Physical attractiveness is important in choosing whom to date. Good looking people are not only popular targets for romantic pursuits, they themselves also tend to flock together with more attractive others. Does this mean then that more attractive versus less attractive people wear a different pair of lens when evaluating others’ attractiveness? (APS)

February 8

  • Latest Supercomputer Calculations Support the Six-Quark Theory. A new calculation, reported in the January 25, 2008 issue of Physical Review Letters, confirms the six-quark theory of particle-anti-particle asymmetry. This is the first complete calculation of this phenomenon to employ a highly accurate description of the quarks that adds a fifth dimension beyond those of space and time. (BNL)

February 7

February 6

  • Engineers Announce Record-setting High-frequency Circuit. Engineering researchers from the University of Florida and Texas Instruments have crafted the world’s highest-frequency circuit made with a common type of semiconductor transistor, a step that could slash the price of detectors useful in earlier cancer detection and quicker pollution spotting. (U. Florida)
  • Scientists Rebuild Ancient Proteins to Reveal Primordial Earth’s Temperature. Using the genetic equivalent of an ancient thermometer, a team of scientists has determined that the Earth endured a massive cooling period between 500 million and 3.5 billion years ago. (U. Florida)
  • Optical Scientists Add New, Practical Dimension to Holography. University of Arizona optical scientists have broken a technological barrier by making three-dimensional holographic displays that can be erased and rewritten in a matter of minutes. (U. Arizona)
  • Fossil Fuels and Nitrogen Fertilizers May Be Slowly Reducing the Number of Plant Species Globally. The number of plant species worldwide may be dwindling from the effects of chronic low levels of nitrogen on terrestrial ecosystems, according to a University of Minnesota study. (U. Minnesota)
  • Racing Ahead at the Speed of Light. Imagine trying to catch up to something moving close to the speed of light - the fastest anything can move - and sending ahead information in time to make mid-path flight corrections. Impossible? Not quite. Physicists at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a particle accelerator at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, have achieved this tricky task - and the results may save the Lab money and time in their quest to understand the inner workings of the early universe. (BNL)

February 5

  • Chronic Pain Harms the Brain. People with unrelenting pain don't only suffer from the nonstop sensation of throbbing pain. They also have trouble sleeping, are often depressed, anxious and even have difficulty making simple decisions. (Northwestern U.)
  • Astronomers Map Full Extent of Mercury's Comet-Like Tail. Boston University astronomers released today new images of Mercury that capture both the source regions of and, for the first time, the extraordinary length of the planet’s comet-like tail. (Boston U.)
  • Team Develops Energy-efficient Microchip. Researchers at MIT and Texas Instruments have unveiled a new chip design for portable electronics that can be up to 10 times more energy-efficient than present technology. The design could lead to cell phones, implantable medical devices and sensors that last far longer when running from a battery. (MIT)
  • Gas ‘Finger’ Points to Galaxies’ Future. Like a fork piercing a fried egg, a giant finger of hydrogen gas is poking through our Milky Way Galaxy from outside, astronomers using CSIRO radio telescopes at Parkes and Narrabri have found. (CSIRO)
  • Breakthrough May Revolutionize Ethylene Production. A new environmentally friendly technology created by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory may revolutionize the production of the world's most commonly produced organic compound, ethylene. (ANL)

February 4

  • The History of Central African Pygmy and Bantu-speaking Farmer Populations. Researchers from CNRS and Institut Pasteur, working with an interdisciplinary and international team, have studied the demographic and genetic history of Central African Pygmee and Bantus-speaking farmer populations. The study suggests that the two groups started to diverge from a common ancestral population some 70,000 years ago. (CNRS)
  • Thinking Too Complicated? How sensitive are neuronal networks to external interference? To what extent are neuronal network processes including the thinking patterns of the brain predefined? These questions have been investigated by Sven Jahnke, Raoul-Martin Memmesheimer and Marc Timme at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organisation. They have found that, under certain conditions, neuronal networks are more predictable than was previously assumed. (MPG)
  • Study Demonstrates Effectiveness of Microneedles. In what is believed to be the first peer-reviewed study of its kind involving human subjects, researchers at the University of Kentucky and the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated that patches coated on one side with microscopic needles can facilitate transdermal delivery of clinically-relevant doses of a drug that normally cannot pass through the skin. (GIT)

February 3

February 1

  • Irregular Exercise Pattern May Add Pounds. The consequences of quitting exercise may be greater than previously thought, according to a new study from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that determined that the weight gained during an exercise hiatus can be tough to shed when exercise is resumed at a later date. (LBNL)
  • Rounding Up Gases, Nano Style. Chemists unveil new process for capturing and storing gas. Potential spin-offs include improvements to greenhouse gas management and fuel cell development. (U. Calgary)

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