Physicists reveal water's secrets

Physicists reveal water's secrets

It's essential to all life, and numerous research papers are published about it every year. Yet there are still secrets to reveal about water, that seemingly simple compound we know as H2O. Equipped…
Brain Food Part 2

Brain Food Part 2

Do omega-3 fatty acids improve brain function? I blogged earlier that switching from olive oil (low omega-3) to walnut oil (high omega-3) and flaxseed-oil capsules (very high omega-3) caused my sleep…
Mouse Farm

Mouse Farm

Mouse lab culture This is a very exciting new forum for me. I am working on a book about the rise of the mouse as the preeminent biological model for human disease, and one of the most…
Lessons in wood formation from Arabidopsis

Lessons in wood formation from Arabidopsis

Wood is formed from secondary xylem tissue consisting of cells with a heavily thickened secondary cell wall that is enriched in lignin and cellulose. In contrast, primary cell walls are composed…
World's First Ideal Anti-Reflection Nanomaterials

World's First Ideal Anti-Reflection Nanomaterials

A team of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has created the world’s first material that reflects virtually no light. Reporting in the March issue of Nature Photonics, they describe an…
Sweat may pass on hepatitis B in contact sports

Sweat may pass on hepatitis B in contact sports

Sweat may be another way to pass on hepatitis B infection during contact sports, suggests research published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Hepatitis B virus attacks the…
Irish Potato Famine Started In ... South America

Irish Potato Famine Started In ... South America

Scientists at North Carolina State University have discovered that the fungus-like pathogen that caused the 1840s Irish potato famine originally came from the Andes of South America. By comparing…
Scientists expand microbe 'gene language'

Scientists expand microbe 'gene language'

An international group of scientists has expanded the universal language for the genes of both disease-causing and beneficial microbes and their hosts. This expanded "lingua franca," called The Gene…