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News | Archive (2 May 2009)
Adapting to extreme environments
— 19:45 GMT | EnvironmentA student at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia is bringing understanding to the troubling problem of ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide…
Birds can dance, really
— 19:42 GMT | BiologyPeople aren't the only ones who've got rhythm. Two reports published online on 30th April in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, reveal that birds - and parrots in particular - can also bob their heads, tap their feet, and sway their bodies along to a musical beat. The findings show that a very basic aspect of the human response to music is shared with other species, according to the researchers…
Stanford scientists turn adult skin cells into muscle and vice versa
— 19:40 GMT | HealthIn a study featured on the cover of the May issue of The FASEB Journal, researchers describe how they are able to reprogram human adult skin cells into other cell types in order to decipher the elusive mechanisms underlying reprogramming. To demonstrate their point, they transformed human skin cells into mouse muscle cells and vice versa. This research shows that by understanding the regulation of cell specialisation it may be possible to convert one cell type into another, eventually bypassing stem cells…
Xbox forensics
— 19:37 GMT | TechnologyA forensics toolkit for the Xbox gaming console is described by US researchers in the latest issue of the International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics. The toolkit could allow law enforcement agencies to scour the inbuilt hard disk of such devices and find illicit hidden materials easily…
Folic acid may help treat allergies, asthma
— 19:35 GMT | HealthFolic acid, or vitamin B9, essential for red blood cell health and long known to reduce the risk of spinal birth defects, may also suppress allergic reactions and lessen the severity of allergy and asthma symptoms, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Children's Centre…
Researchers find that tree-killing hurricanes could contribute to global warming
— 19:32 GMT | EnvironmentA first-of-its kind, long-term study of hurricane impact on U.S. trees shows that hurricane damage can diminish a forest's ability to absorb carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming, from the atmosphere. Tulane University researchers from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology examined the impact of tropical cyclones on U.S. forests from 1851 - 2000 and found that changes in hurricane frequency might contribute to global warming. The results will be published in an upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…
Berkeley researchers create an 'invisibility cloak'
— 19:30 GMT | TechnologyThe great science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke famously noted the similarities between advanced technology and magic. This summer on the big screen, the young wizard Harry Potter will once again don his magic invisibility cloak and disappear. Meanwhile, researchers with Berkeley Lab and the University of California (UC) Berkeley will be studying an invisibility cloak of their own that also hides objects from view…
Tiny differences in our genes help shed light on the big picture of human history
— 19:27 GMT | HealthBy examining very small differences in people's genes, scientists from Cornell University have developed a new tool for identifying big events in human history and pinpointing the origins of specific gene mutations. This research, published in the May issue of the journal GENETICS, helps shed light on times when the human population moved close to extinction and helps scientists close in on gene mutations that make some demographic groups more likely to develop diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, among others…
ISU researcher identifies key function in protein, cell transcription
— 19:24 GMT | HealthWhen cells decide to make proteins, key building blocks of all organisms, they need to know where to start reading the instructions for assembling them…
When cells reach out and touch
— 19:22 GMT | HealthMicroRNAs are single-stranded snippets that, not long ago, were given short shrift as genetic junk. Now that studies have shown they regulate genes involved in normal functioning as well as diseases such as cancer, everyone wants to know: What regulates microRNAs?…
New catfish species named after Frank Gallagher
Creating a safe zone for endangered right whales