A University of Arkansas professor and his colleagues have shown that the Earth’s mantle contains the same isotopic signatures from magnesium as meteorites do, suggesting that the planet formed from meteoritic material. This resolves a long-standing debate in the field over the planet’s origins.
Neal Iverson has created a glacier in a freezer that could help scientists understand how glaciers slide across their beds. That could help researchers predict how climate change accelerates glacier sliding and contributes to rising sea levels.
Agricultural soils accumulate trace metals from waste and fungicide application. Regulations for soil concentrations of these potentially plant-toxic elements consider the individual elements, but not their interactions. This study evaluates whether the copper-zinc interaction in soils is additive as defined by the toxicity response in crops.
Researchers and students from The University of Alabama in Huntsville will swap T-shirts and flip flops from studying hurricane Ida for parkas and mukluks to join a multi-university team that is studying blizzards in the upper Midwest.
Becoming “hard of hearing” is a standard but unfortunate part of aging: A syndrome called age-related hearing loss affects about 40 percent of people over 65 in the United States, and will afflict an estimated 28 million Americans by 2030.
In an advance that could one day enable surgeons to reconstruct and restore function to damaged or diseased penile tissue in humans, researchers at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine have used tissue engineering techniques to completely replace penile erectile tissue in rabbits. This is the most complete replacement of penile erectile tissue to date and suggests the possibility of using the same approach for men with erectile dysfunction or conditions that require reconstruction, including penile cancer and congenital abnormalities.
Dana Filoti of the University of New Hampshire will present thin films of silver and copper she has developed that can kill bacteria and may one day help to cut down on hospital infections. The antimicrobial properties of silver and copper have been known for centuries -- last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officially registered copper alloys, allowing them to be marketed with the label "kills 99.9% of bacteria within two hours." Copper ions are known to penetrate bacteria and disrupt molecular pathways important for their survival.
The practice of sterilizing medical tools and devices helped revolutionize health care in the 19th century because it dramatically reduced infections associated with surgery. Through the years, numerous ways of sterilization techniques have been developed, but the old mainstay remains a 130-year-old device called an autoclave, which is something like a pressure steamer. The advantage of the autoclave is that the unsterile tools can be packed into sealed containers and then processed, staying sealed and sterile after they are removed.
Materials scientists have found a way to transform a chemical long used as an electrical conductor a thin film insulator potentially useful in transistor technology and in devices such as electronic books.
A chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean has been found by collaborating scientists at Rutgers University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). This same chemical may hold unexpected promise in cancer research.
Using imaging mass spectrometry, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed tools that will enable scientists to visualize how different cell populations of cells communicate. Their study shows how bacteria talk to one another – an understanding that may lead to new therapeutic discoveries for diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes and allergies.
Barriers to the adoption of sanding tools that lead to healthier environments include productivity, work quality, and perceptions of benefits and risks.
Picture it: One jerk in a bar spends the night delivering bad come-ons to women. By the end of the evening, the women aren’t receptive to even the nicest guys around. It’s a scenario with a basis in evolutionary theory. Males increase their fitness by acquiring more mates; however, this is often not the case for females – and therein lies the conflict.
Chemists found the first conclusive link between the size of catalyst particles on a surface, their electronic properties and their ability to speed reactions. It is a step toward better catalysts for energy production and to fight global warming.
The eyes may be the mirror to the soul, but the iris reveals a person's true identity. A new report from NIST demonstrates that iris recognition algorithms can maintain their accuracy even with compact images, affirming their potential for large-scale identity management applications.
A theoretical physicist at NIST has developed a method for calculating the motions and forces of thousands of atoms simultaneously over a wider range of time scales than previously possible. The method overcomes a longstanding timing gap in modeling nanometer-scale materials and many other physical, chemical and biological systems at atomic and molecular levels.
In their natural form, conch pearls are among the rarest pearls in the world. For the first time, novel and proprietary seeding techniques to produce beaded and non-beaded high-quality cultured pearls from the queen conch have been developed by scientists from FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute.
The world's greatest wines are the result of synergy among grape variety, human input, and terroir -- a term defined as the vineyard site, soil, and climate. Experts will discuss terroir with an emphasis on soil science on Nov. 4 in Pittsburgh, PA at the Annual Meeting of the ASA, CSSA, and SSSA.
Common household chemical, also made naturally by living cells, appears to be involved in regulation of circadian rhythms, according to new study in PLoS ONE.
Deep under the sea, a fossil the size of a sand grain is nestled among a billion of its closest dead relatives. Known as foraminifera, these complex little shells of calcium carbonate can tell you the sea level, temperature, and ocean conditions of Earth millions of years ago. That is, if you know what to look for.
The new book, “Organic Farming: The Ecological System,” combines farmer experience with the latest scientific research to better understand the role of organics in modern agriculture.
Sandia announces completion of mixed waste landfill cover construction. The Environmental Restoration Project at Sandia National Laboratories reports the successful construction of an alternative evapotranspirative cover at the Mixed Waste Landfill (MWL) in September. The 2.6-acre site is located in Technical Area 3 in the west-central part of Kirtland Air Force Base.
The immune system's T cells are both jury and executioner. How they shift from one role to another has been a mystery. Dana-Farber investigators report that when a T cell’s “receptors” lock onto antigens, parts of the receptors bend and signal the T cell to change from scanning to fighting mode.
The search for the holy grail of regenerative medicine-the ability to "grow back" a perfect body part when one is lost to injury or disease-has been under way for years, yet the steps involved in this seemingly magic process are still poorly understood.
Researchers have improved an enzyme that degrades dense scar tissue that forms when the central nervous system is damaged -- and developed a new system to deliver it, ultimately enabling spinal cord regeneration.
When Homeland Security's Tom Chirhart went looking for volunteers to test a new multiband radio that allows first responders to talk to one another across different frequency bands, the line of interested agencies was long and very eager.
On average, research shows, the United States loses the equivalent of at least one entire medical school class each year to suicide1 - as many as 400 physicians. The book Faculty Health in Academic Medicine: Scientists, Physicians, and the Pressures of Success (Humana Press/Springer), by faculty at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and other national medical experts, breaks new ground in a first-of-its-kind look at faculty health.
Like savvy Wall Street money managers, bacteria hedge their bets to increase their chances of survival in uncertain times, strategically investing their biological resources to weather unpredictable environments.
The AVS 56th International Symposium & Exhibition next month in San Jose, CA will showcase advances in alternative energy, materials research, nanotechnology, and medicine. Highlights of papers from among the 1,250 talks and posters at the meeting are described below.
Suggesting that atoms can transport through a solid seems impossible, like trying to inject stuff into a billiard ball with a syringe. It shouldn’t work, but such “superflow” may be possible in super-solid helium, as theoretical physicist Boris Svistunov and colleagues propose in a new paper.
Scientists have built the first optical frequency comb—a tool for precisely measuring different frequencies of visible light—whose "teeth" can actually be seen with a simple optical system. A frequency comb with well-separated, visibly distinct teeth will be an important tool for astronomy, communications and many other areas.
Many of nature's most fascinating phenomena involve forms of fluid flow -- the motions of liquids and gases -- from the flight of golf and tennis balls to the slip of a red blood cell, the flap of an elephant ear, the line of a wildfire, the spin of a storm, or the formation of a crater on the Moon.
PAIR Technologies, a start-up company established by University of Delaware researchers and a former DuPont scientist, is preparing to commercialize a high-precision detector -- a planar array infrared spectrograph -- that can identify biological and chemical agents in solids, liquids, and gases, in quantities as small as an atom, and in less than a second.
While comedian Tommy Smothers always told his brother, “Mom always liked you best,” a study by biology researchers at North Dakota State University, Fargo, and Iowa State University, Ames, have found that female American coots favor their largest offspring, even before they hatch.
Monitoring the daily ship traffic of a busy waterway like the Hudson River isn't an easy task for the Department of Homeland Security. The biggest ships are required to carry an Automatic Identification System that broadcasts information about their identity and location, but boats weighing less than 300 tons are often an invisible security risk.
The question of how hormones affect a woman's voice is relevant to professional singers because hormonal fluctuations may place them at risk of injury. Knowing when the risks are greatest would help singers avoid performing at those times -- in the same way that a track star with a bad knee will sit out a competition.
A lecture on Nov. 3 in Pittsburgh will highlight the role of phosphorus in wetlands, including the Gulf of Mexico’s hypoxia zone/dead zone in the Mississippi River basin. In addition to an overview of current research, suggestions for realistic management techniques that balance wetland ecosystems and landscape functions will also be discussed.
More than 2,700 scientists will present research and discuss emerging trends in agriculture, energy, education, and more, Nov. 1-5 in Pittsburgh.
Plant breeding industry stakeholders discuss public-private partnerships; commercialization strategies now driving public programs; the impact of foundations in targeted support for cultivar development; and national and global programs that may help build industry capacity and public support in a Nov. 5 symposium in Pittsburgh.
A distinguished group of international experts in agricultural research, science policy, and soil science will present daily lectures under the common theme of sustainability during the 2009 ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meetings, Nov. 1-5 in Pittsburgh, PA.
Sandia researcher solves problem of mixing liquids in tiny volumes.
Researchers have discovered the pivotal role that volcanoes played in a deadly ice age 450 million years ago. But first, these volcanoes first caused global warming, by releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
A recent study at Oregon State University has shown that native bumble bee species have high pollination and seed production levels in red clover. These findings offer promise for alternative crop pollinators, as the population of European honey bee in the US declines
Try to pronounce the words "caught" and "cot." If you're a New Yorker by birth, the two words will sound as different as their spellings. But if you grew up in California, you probably pronounce them identically.
How does the voice of a woman differ from the voice of man? You might think that pitch is the big difference, but according to speech pathologist James Dembowski, you would be wrong. And he should know -- for the last year, he has been working with a middle-aged transgendered woman born as a boy, teaching "Ms. J" to use her male vocal anatomy to speak in a womanly way.
Teachers tend to spend more time speaking than most professionals, putting them at a greater risk for hurting their voices -- they're 32 times more likely to experience voice problems, according to one study. And unlike singers or actors, teachers can't take a day off when their voices hurt.
What do a West African drummer and a sperm whale have in common? According to some reports, they can both spot rhythms in the chatter of an ocean crowded with the calls of marine mammals -- a feat impossible for the untrained human ear.
Contributing Editor Peter Fairley investigates the promise of a small city car that uses pneumatic propulsion.
Low enrollment, not low retention, undercuts the number of women graduating with engineering bachelor’s degrees, according to an Urban Institute study highlighted in this month’s issue of PRISM magazine, the flagship publication of the American Society for Engineering Education.
A study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified a key player in a molecular process essential for DNA replication within cells.
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