'Pioneers': the Spanish medics fighting Ebola in Europe
Madrid (AFP) Oct 19, 2014 -
Doctor Lago was with her kids, Doctor Fernandez was at Pilates class and Doctors Arsuaga and De la Calle were eating chocolate ice cream, when the call came about Ebola.
They were taking some down-time after several tough weeks trying in vain to save the lives of two missionaries who caught the disease in Africa - but now it had struck one of their own colleagues.
The infection of a nur ...
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All in a flap: Seychelles fears foreign bird invader
Victoria, Seychelles (AFP) Oct 17, 2014 -
It was just a feather: but in the tropical paradise of the Seychelles, the discovery of parakeet plumage has put environmentalists in a flutter, with a foreign invading bird threatening the national parrot.
In the steamy and thick jungles of Praslin, one of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean archipelago of white sand beaches ringed by palms, the authorities are worried after the warning sign of ...
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Secrets of Dinosaur Ecology Found in Fragile Amber
Boulder CO (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Ryan McKellar's research sounds like it was plucked from Jurassic Park: he studies pieces of amber found buried with dinosaur skeletons. But rather than re-creating dinosaurs, McKellar uses the tiny pieces of fossilized tree resin to study the world in which the now-extinct behemoths lived.
New techniques for investigating very tiny pieces of fragile amber buried in dinosaur bonebeds could ...
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Cadavers beat computers for learning anatomy
East Lansing MI (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Despite the growing popularity of using computer simulation to help teach college anatomy, students learn much better through the traditional use of human cadavers, according to new research that has implications for health care.
Cary Roseth, associate professor of educational psychology at Michigan State University, said the study suggests cadaver-based instruction should continue in unde ...
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Scientific breakthrough will help design the antibiotics of the future
Bristol, UK (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Scientists have used computer simulations to show how bacteria are able to destroy antibiotics - a breakthrough which will help develop drugs which can effectively tackle infections in the future. Researchers at the University of Bristol focused on the role of enzymes in the bacteria, which split the structure of the antibiotic and stop it working, making the bacteria resistant.
The new fi ...
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High-speed evolution in the lab powers genome analysis
Vienna, Austria (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Life implies change. And this holds true for genes as well. Organisms require a flexible genome in order to adapt to changes in the local environment. Christian Schlotterer and his team from the Institute for Population Genetics at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna study the genomes of entire populations.
The scientists want to know why individuals differ from each other and ho ...
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Graphene sensors provide insights into brain structure and function
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Understanding the anatomical structure and function of the brain is a longstanding goal in neuroscience and a top priority of President Obama's brain initiative. Electrical monitoring and stimulation of neuronal signaling is a mainstay technique for studying brain function, while emerging optical techniques-which use photons instead of electrons-are opening new opportunities for visualizing neur ...
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Leipzig researchers discover new functionality of molecular light switches
Leipzig, Germany (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Diatoms play an important role in water quality and in the global climate. They generate about one fourth of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere and perform around one-quarter of the global CO2 assimilation, i.e. they convert carbon dioxide into organic substances.
Their light receptors are a crucial factor in this process. Researchers at the Leipzig University and the Helmholtz Centre fo ...
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Crystallizing the DNA nanotechnology dream
Boston MA (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
DNA has garnered attention for its potential as a programmable material platform that could spawn entire new and revolutionary nanodevices in computer science, microscopy, biology, and more. Researchers have been working to master the ability to coax DNA molecules to self assemble into the precise shapes and sizes needed in order to fully realize these nanotechnology dreams.
For the last 2 ...
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Major breakthrough could help detoxify pollutants
Manchester, UK (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Scientists at The University of Manchester hope a major breakthrough could lead to more effective methods for detoxifying dangerous pollutants like PCBs and dioxins. The result is a culmination of 15 years of research and has been published in Nature. It details how certain organisms manage to lower the toxicity of pollutants.
The team at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology were inve ...
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WSU researchers see how plants optimize their repair
Pullman WA (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Researchers led by a Washington State University biologist have found the optimal mechanism by which plants heal the botanical equivalent of a bad sunburn. Their work, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could lead to the development of crops that can repair the sun's damage more easily, improving yields and profitability.
Helmut Kirchhoff, an assistant profes ...
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Mediterranean, Semi-Arid Ecosystems Prove Resistant to Climate Change
Tel Aviv, Australia (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Climate change predictions for the Middle East, like other arid regions of the world, are alarming. In an area known for its water scarcity, rainfall is expected to decrease even further in the near future, spelling disaster for the functioning of unique ecosystems - hotspots of biodiversity and rich genetic fodder for essential crops.
To test these dire predictions, Prof. Marcelo Sternber ...
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Autism autism evolved recently in human history
Bethesda MD (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Human geneticists have discovered that a region of the genome associated with autism contains genetic variation that evolved in the last 250,000 years, after the divergence of humans from ancient hominids, and likely plays an important role in disease. Their findings were presented the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2014 Annual Meeting in San Diego.
Researchers at the University ...
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The breathing sand
Kiel, Germany (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
New analytical methods show for the first time, how the permeable, sandy sediment at the bottom of the North Sea is supplied with oxygen and which factors determine the exchange. Because the metabolic rate is particularly high in this type of seabed, and the sediments are permeable, measurements are particularly complicated.
Based on the detailed investigation and new measurement technolog ...
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Massive debris pile reveals risk of huge tsunamis in Hawaii
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
A mass of marine debris discovered in a giant sinkhole in the Hawaiian islands provides evidence that at least one mammoth tsunami, larger than any in Hawaii's recorded history, has struck the islands, and that a similar disaster could happen again, new research finds.
Scientists are reporting that a wall of water up to nine meters (30 feet) high surged onto Hawaiian shores about 500 years ...
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Scientists create possible precursor to life
Odense M, Denmark (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
How did life originate? And can scientists create life? These questions not only occupy the minds of scientists interested in the origin of life, but also researchers working with technology of the future. If we can create artificial living systems, we may not only understand the origin of life - we can also revolutionize the future of technology.
Protocells are the simplest, most primitiv ...
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Australian volcanic mystery explained
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Scientists have solved a long-standing mystery surrounding Australia's only active volcanic area, in the country's southeast. The research explains a volcanic region that has seen more than 400 volcanic events in the last four million years.
The 500 kilometre long region stretches from Melbourne to the South Australian town of Mount Gambier, which surrounds a dormant volcano that last erup ...
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