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News | Archive (16 February 2011) [Page 3]
If greenhouse gas emissions stopped now, Earth still would likely get warmer
— 04:14 GMT | EnvironmentWhile governments debate about potential policies that might curb the emission of greenhouse gases, new University of Washington research shows that the world is already committed to a warmer climate because of emissions that have occurred up to now…
Scientists find new way to estimate global rainfall and track ocean pollution
— 04:11 GMT | EnvironmentA study by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science suggests a new way to estimate how much of the ocean's pollution is falling from the sky. The new findings can help improve scientific understanding of how toxic airborne chemicals, from the burning of fossil fuels and industrial power plants emissions, are impacting the oceans globally…
Peer support offers promise for reducing depression symptoms
— 04:08 GMT | HealthPeer support offers promise as an effective, low-cost tool for fighting depression, a new study by the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and University of Michigan Health System finds…
Uncovering the genome secrets of the Blackleg fungus
— 04:05 GMT | BiologyThe genome of the Blackleg fungus, which causes the most damaging disease to canola crops worldwide, has been sequenced for the first time by a team of French and Australian scientists…
Tick population plummets in absence of lizard hosts
— 04:02 GMT | BiologyThe Western fence lizard's reputation for helping to reduce the threat of Lyme disease is in jeopardy. A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, found that areas where the lizard had been removed saw a subsequent drop in the population of the ticks that transmit Lyme disease…
International team of scientists says it's high 'NOON' for microwave photons
— 03:59 GMT | TechnologyAn important milestone toward the realisation of a large-scale quantum computer, and further demonstration of a new level of the quantum control of light, were accomplished by a team of scientists at UC Santa Barbara and in China and Japan…
The lock shapes the key
— 03:56 GMT | BiologyInteractions between proteins are of fundamental importance for a number of processes in virtually every living cell. However, in order for the proteins to carry out any biological function, they must first assume their specific three-dimensional shape. A number of reactions have been described in recent years, where one of the interaction partners does not assume its active structure until the actual binding process commences. It was still a great mystery, though, how the binding partners could actually recognise such unstructured proteins…
Designing new molecular tools to study the life and death of a cancer cell
— 03:53 GMT | HealthBasic and translational research on cancer, and development of new cancer therapeutics, has focused on different aspects of cancer cellular function. One area of focus is the life and death of a cancer cell. Apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death, is a fundamental process of cells including cancer cells. The signal transduction pathways of apoptosis involve many different proteins and their interactions with each other. Protein-protein interactions involved in these apoptotic signals, like those in many other biological processes, are often determined or influenced by a short fragment of protein sequence or even certain key amino acid residues with important functional or structural roles in the protein-protein interface. For biomedical and pharmaceutical scientists, developing new molecular tools to understand and control the functions of these small protein fragments or residues and the biological and pathological processes that they mediate is a task and challenge of both fundamental interest and practical value…
Ion-exchange water softeners do not improve eczema in children
— 03:50 GMT | HealthWater softeners provide no additional clinical benefit to usual care in children with eczema, so the use of ion-exchange water softeners for the treatment of moderate to severe eczema in children should not be recommended. However, it is up to each family to decide whether or not the wider benefits of installing a water softener in their home are sufficient to consider buying one. These are the findings of a study by Kim Thomas from the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK, and colleagues and published in this week's PLoS Medicine…
Intravaginal practices are associated with acquiring HIV infection
— 03:47 GMT | HealthAlthough there is no evidence to suggest a direct causal pathway, some intravaginal practices used by women in sub-Saharan Africa (such as washing the vagina with soap) may increase the acquisition of HIV infection and so should be avoided. Encouraging women to use less harmful intravaginal practices (for example, washing with water alone) should therefore be included in female-initiated HIV prevention research strategies in sub-Saharan Africa. These are the key findings from a study by Nicola Low, from the University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, and colleagues and published in this week's PLoS Medicine…
Mars is literally pulling on Phoenix spacecraft
Phoenix on course for 25 May Mars landing