News Articles

A specific antioxidant supplement containing N-Acetylcysteine, or NAC may be an effective therapy for some features of autism, according to a pilot trial from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital that involved 31 children with the disorder.

You've read a lot about 'invisibility' over the last few years.  Mathematicians and scientists have been working on various devices that enable invisibility cloaks which shield small objects from detection by microwaves or sound waves.

Stem cell research is very dynamic with research trends, focus, and approaches evolving rapidly - but increased government restrictions on the private sector have led to a steep decline in venture capital, which threatens to slow the pace of research and development. 
New analysis from Frost&Sullivan, 'Strategic Analysis of the European Stem Cell Research Tools Market', finds that the market earned revenues of $148.4 million in 2011 and estimates this could reach $322 million in 2017. The segments covered include: bio-imaging and microscopy, cell biology tools, immunochemical, molecular biology tools, and protein biochemistry tools.

'The cloud' is so cliché Microsoft even has housewives using it in commercials.  All it basically means is that you can have a new way for your data to be hacked and stolen.  Unless the company storing it goes out of business and you made no backups.  Plus, that's not really a cloud, it's stored in a solid medium, it just happens to be outside your house.But true cloud storage is on the horizon. Light signals have been stored as patterns in a room-temperature atomic vapor by scientists at the Joint Quantum Institute. They stored two letters of the alphabet in a cell filled with rubidium (Rb) atoms. 

A recent placebo-controlled study showed evidence of trans-cranial bright light's effect to brain functions when administered through the ear. Bright light stimulation was found to increase activity in brain areas related to processing of visual sensory information and tactile stimuli. The findings are the first ever published scientific article about functional modulation of the brain with bright light delivered to the brain through the ears.

The ribosome is the cell's protein-building workbench and ribonucleic acids, the molecules we call RNA, are key tools perform a host of vital functions in cells.According to a new analysis, even before the ribosome's many working parts were recruited for protein synthesis, proteins also were on the scene and interacting with RNA. This finding challenges a hypothesis about the early evolution of life.

More than 600 million people could be fed each year by halting the spread of fungal diseases in the world's five most important crops -  rice, wheat, maize, potatoes and soybeansRecent data further suggests that in 70% of cases where infectious disease causes the extinction of a type of animal or plant, an emerging species of fungus is behind the problem. 

Molecules containing large chains of carbon and hydrogen, which happen to be the building blocks of all life on Earth, have been found in meteorites from Mars but scientists have been unsure how this organic carbon was formed and even disagreed on whether or not it came from Mars. A new paper shows evidence that this carbon did originate on Mars - but don't call the folks at SETI just yet, it isn't biological. 

Taylor Farms Retail, Inc. of Salinas, California is initiating a voluntary recall of Organic Baby Spinach following a random test conducted on a finished package by the USDA that found salmonella.Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause infection and symptoms, including diarrhea (sometimes bloody), stomach cramps and fever. Infection typically lasts a few days and most people recover without medical treatment but, because of that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe there may be as many as 30 times the 42,000 cases reported each year in the U.S. alone.

Skin cells, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), from heart failure patients have been reprogrammed to transform into healthy, new heart muscle cells that are capable of integrating with existing heart tissue, according to a new paper in the European Heart Journal.

YiZRi LLC has unveiled VoiceSee, the world's first hands-free, eyes-free web navigation platform that uses mobile apps to read aloud recipes, digital newspapers and Wikipedia entries for the Android smartphone.
VoiceSee's flagship beta application, Culinary Pal, is a cooking web navigation mobile app that will follow your voice commands to search for recipes and choose the one you want. Sadie, the voice of VoiceSee, will then read aloud the ingredients list followed by preparation and cooking or baking instructions. She will pause at your command so you can finish each task before listening to the next one.

The anterior insular cortex is a small region of the brain, but it plays a big role in human self-awareness and in neuropsychiatric disorders. A unique cell type, the von Economo neuron (VEN), is located there.  For a long time, the VEN was assumed to be unique to humans, great apes, whales and elephants. But scientists have recently discovered these brain cells in monkeys. Bring on the self-awareness and empathy?  Not just yet.