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News | Archive (3 December 2008)
Professor publishes 'Folktales of the Amazon'
— 18:00 GMT | HealthAs a boy living on a small farm with his grandparents in the Amazon region of Colombia, Juan Carlos Galeano was entranced with the lush, naturalistic and often violent folktales that had been passed down from tribal Amazonians and had evolved through generations of natives and multiethnic newcomers like his relatives…
Tycho Brahe's 1572 supernova classified
— 18:00 GMT | AstronomyOne of the most famous supernovae in the history of astronomy, Tycho Brahe's supernova of 1572 (SN 1572), first identified more than 400 years ago, is a normal type Ia supernova, according to research published in the current (4 December 2008) issue of Nature. An international team of astronomers, led by Oliver Krause of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, have used light echoes as a time machine to unearth secrets of one of the most influential events in the history of astronomy…
Crystallography reveals the 3D structure of mammalian sperm receptor
— 18:00 GMT | HealthScientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have determined the first 3D structure of ZP3, a protein essential for the interaction between the mammalian egg coat and sperm. The findings, presented in Nature, gives a first glimpse into the molecular architecture of animal egg coats, with important implications for the future of human reproductive medicine and the possibility of developing novel contraceptives…
Scientists probe limits of 'cancer stem-cell model'
— 18:00 GMT | HealthOne of the most promising new ideas about the causes of cancer, known as the cancer stem-cell model, must be reassessed because it is based largely on evidence from a laboratory test that is surprisingly flawed when applied to some cancers, University of Michigan researchers have concluded…
Venus comes to life in the ultraviolet and the infrared
— 18:00 GMT | AstronomyA pale dot to the human eye, Venus, Earth's twin planet comes to life in the ultraviolet and the infrared. New data and images from the Venus Express spacecraft reveal a clearer picture of the atmosphere of the planet, showing temperature, conditions, cloud structure and dynamics. The observations by D. Titov of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and colleagues ('Atmospheric structure and dynamics as the cause of ultraviolet markings in the clouds of Venus'), published in the 4 December 2008 issue of Nature, will enable scientists to better understand the meteorology of Venus and compare it to that of Earth…
A novel human stem cell-based model of ALS opens doors for rapid drug screening
— 17:00 GMT | HealthLong thought of as mere bystanders, astrocytes are crucial for the survival and well-being of motor neurones, which control voluntary muscle movements. In fact, defective astrocytes can lay waste to motor neurones and are the main suspects in the muscle-wasting disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)…
Endothelial cells give rise to blood stem cells during embryonic development
— 17:00 GMT | HealthStem cell researchers at UCLA have proven definitively that blood stem cells are made during mid-gestational embryonic development by endothelial cells, the cells that line the inside of blood vessels…
Brown dwarfs do form like stars
— 15:42 GMT | AstronomyAstronomers have uncovered strong evidence that brown dwarfs form like stars. Using the Smithsonian's Submillimetre Array (SMA), they detected molecules of carbon monoxide shooting outward from the object known as ISO-Oph 102. Such molecular outflows typically are seen coming from young stars or protostars. However, this object has an estimated mass of 60 Jupiters, meaning it is too small to be a star. Astronomers have classified it as a brown dwarf…
Top-up system has hidden costs that have not been accounted for
— 15:42 GMT | HealthThe 'cost' of top-up payments to the NHS are not confined to the cost of the drug and require the NHS to make some long overdue changes or risk financial failure, argue two editorials published in Clinical Oncology, by Elsevier…
New HIV film tackles stigma faced by teachers in Africa
— 15:42 GMT | HealthAddressing the discrimination against HIV-positive teachers in Africa is a key aim of a new documentary and accompanying book being launched in Senegal today by the Partnership for Child Development based at Imperial College London…
Hubble snaps sharp image of cosmic concoction
Origins of multicellularity: All in the family