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News | Archive (9 December 2008)
New microbe species provides animal model for 'emerging pathogen'
— 12:48 GMT | BiologyAn international team of biologists has discovered a new species of microsporidia, a single-celled parasite of animals, in a roundworm used in genetic laboratories around the world…
Black and white is not always a clear distinction
— 12:48 GMT | HealthIs race defined by appearance, or can a person also be coloured by socioeconomic status? A new study finds that Americans who are unemployed, incarcerated or impoverished today are more likely to be classified and identified as black, by themselves or by others, regardless of how they were seen - or self identified - in the past…
Dissertation work led to world-leading wave power
— 12:26 GMT | TechnologyA technology that is adapted to the special conditions for wave energy places the wave energy technology from Uppsala on the absolute cutting edge in the world. In his dissertation, Rafael Waters presents the findings from the experimental facility located in the sea outside Lysekil, Sweden, in which he has played a leading role in designing and constructing. He is publicly defending his dissertation at Uppsala University on 12 December…
Mould toxins more prevalent and hazardous than thought
— 12:26 GMT | HealthMould toxins in buildings damaged by moisture are considerably more prevalent than was previously thought, according to new international research. Erica Bloom from the Division of Medical Microbiology at Lund University in Sweden has contributed to research in this field by analysing dust and materials samples from buildings damaged by mould. Virtually all of the samples contained toxins from mould…
New hybrid nanostructures detect nanoscale magnetism
— 12:26 GMT | TechnologyA key challenge of nanotechnology research is investigating how different materials behave at lengths of merely one-billionth of a metre. When shrunk to such tiny sizes, many everyday materials exhibit interesting and potentially beneficial new properties…
Rivers of gas flow around stars in new space image
— 12:26 GMT | AstronomyA new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a turbulent star-forming region, where rivers of gas and stellar winds are eroding thickets of dusty material. The picture provides some of the best examples yet of the ripples of gas, or bow shocks, that can form around stars in choppy cosmic waters…
DOE Joint Genome Institute completes soybean genome
— 12:26 GMT | BiologyThe U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) has released a complete draft assembly of the soybean (Glycine max) genetic code, making it widely available to the research community to advance new breeding strategies for one of the world's most valuable plant commodities. Soybean not only accounts for 70 percent of the world's edible protein, but also is an emerging feedstock for biodiesel production. Soybean is second only to corn as an agricultural commodity and is the leading U.S. agricultural export…
Late Neanderthals and modern human contact in Iberia
— 12:26 GMT | Geology and palaeontologyIt is widely accepted that Upper Palaeolithic early modern humans spread westward across Europe about 42,000 years ago, variably displacing and absorbing Neanderthal populations in the process. However, Middle Palaeolithic, presumably Neanderthal, assemblages persisted for another 8,000 years in Iberia. It has been unclear whether these late Middle Paleolithic Iberian assemblages were made by Neanderthals, and what the nature of those humans might have been…
'Mars Webcam' offline for low-bit-rate season
— 12:26 GMT | AstronomyOn 5 December 2008, Mars and Earth lined up on opposite sides of the Sun, forcing radio signals between the ground and the spacecraft to pass through the Sun's turbulent upper atmosphere. This marks the start of 'low-bit-rate season,' and the Visual Monitoring Camera - the 'Mars Webcam' on board Mars Express - is now temporarily offline…
CT scans reveal that dinosaurs were airheads
— 12:26 GMT | Geology and palaeontologyPalaeontologists have long known that dinosaurs had tiny brains, but they had no idea the beasts were such airheads. A new study by Ohio University researchers Lawrence Witmer and Ryan Ridgely found that dinosaurs had more air cavities in their heads than expected. By using CT scans, the scientists were able to develop 3-D images of the dinosaur skulls that show a clearer picture of the physiology of the airways…
NASA's Dawn spacecraft falling for Mars
Sequences capture the code of the common cold