- Making the paper: Paul Elliott
Thousands of urine samples point to the causes of high blood pressure. - Abstractions
Last authorThe 'progress zone' model of limb development posits that the embryonic cells that become limbs are specified in a progressive manner: first, the upper part; then the middle; and last, hand or foot. Despite there being no direct evidence for this, the model - From the blogosphere
Scientific informatics programmes require massive financial investment, so it is difficult for governments to decide which ones to support. One programme that has been successful in securing funding is the iPlant Collaborative (http://iplantcollaborative.org/) ? a 'cyberinfrastructure' collaborative for the plant sciences. Recently set - The next big climate challenge
Governments should work together to build the supercomputers needed for future predictions that can capture the detail required to inform policy. - Stuck in the mud
The Environmental Protection Agency must gather data on the toxicity of spreading sewage sludge.
- Climbing As Easy As Walking For Smaller Primates
Smaller primates expend no more energy climbing than they do walking. This surprising discovery may explain the evolutionary edge that encouraged the tiny ancestors of modern humans, apes and monkeys to climb into the trees about 65 million years ago and stay there. - Reducing Intake Of Dietary Fat Prevents Prostate Cancer In Mice
Scientists have showed that lowering intake of the type of fat common in a Western diet helps prevent prostate cancer in mice, the first finding of its kind in a mouse model that closely mimics human cancer, researchers said. The study focused on fat from corn oil, which is made up primarily of omega-6 fatty acids, or the polyunsaturated fat commonly found in the Western diet. - Ice Cores Reveal Fluctuations In Earth's Greenhouse Gases
The newest analysis of trace gases trapped in Antarctic ice cores now provide a reasonable view of greenhouse gas concentrations as much as 800,000 years into the past, and are further confirming the link between greenhouse gas levels and global warming, scientists have reported in Nature. - Incontinence Treatment: Muscle-derived Stem Cells Prove Effective In Reparing Sphincter Damage To Restore Continence
Transplantation of muscle-derived stem cells may provide a safe and effective treatment for patients suffering from urinary incontinence following a surgical procedure. Patients with incontinence resulting from iatrogenic sphincter damage may benefit from this therapy. - Precision Control Of Movement In Robots
Scientists are investigating the characteristics of various types of materials for their use in the generation and measurement of precise movements. When the arms of a robot move to pick up an egg or an electric lamp, the greatest precision possible is essential. To this end, advances in the science and technology of materials have provided the design and control of systems equipped with sensors and actuators built with new materials.
- Drug fends off kidney cancer progression
New data from an international, multicenter Phase III clinical trial has found that the experimental targeted therapy everolimus (RAD001) significantly delays cancer progression in patients with metastatic kidney cancer whose disease had worsened on other treatments.
- How Did That Chain Letter Get To My Inbox?
Everyone who has an e-mail account has probably received a forwarded chain letter promising good luck if the message is forwarded on to others--or terrible misfortune if it isn't. The sheer volume of forwarded messages such as chain letters, online petitions, jokes and other materials leads to a simple question--how do these messages reach so many people so quickly?
- Avoiding risk
One of the most famous figures in psychology is the following:
- Disabling mouse enzyme increases fertility
Changing the sugars attached to a hormone produced in the pituitary gland increased fertility levels in mice nearly 50 percent, a research group at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found. The change appears to alter a reproductive "thermostat," unveiling part of an intricate regulatory system that may one day be used to enhance human fertility.
- Interior of Mars Is Colder that Originally Thought
New observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter indicate that the crust and upper mantle of Mars are stiffer and colder than previously thought. The findings suggest any liquid water that might exist below the planet's surface and any possible organisms living in that water, would be located deeper than scientists had suspected.