News Articles

An immune system response that is critical to the first stages of fighting off viruses and harmful bacteria comes from an entirely different direction than most scientists had thought, according to a finding by researchers at the Duke University Medical Center. Type 1 helper (TH1) T cell immune responses are critical for the control of viruses and certain bacteria. Immunologists have generally believed that TH1 responses are induced by rare immune cells, called dendritic cells. When activated by infection or vaccination, the dendritic cells were thought to move from peripheral tissues into lymph nodes to stimulate T cell responses. 

The agglutination and accumulation of proteins in nerve cells are major hallmarks of age-related neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease. Cellular survival thus depends on a controlled removal of excessive protein. Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have now discovered exactly how specific control proteins regulate protein breakdown during the ageing process.

Geothermal energy is increasingly contributing to the power supply where it is affordable and efficient. Iceland is world-leader in expanding development of geothermal utilization: in recent years the annual power supply there doubled to more than 500 MW in the supply of electricity.  Even in Germany, over 100 MW of heat are currently being provided through geothermal energy.  

We hear a lot from various advocacy groups that modern lifestyle is the worst thing that can happen to us.    Indeed, some won't be happy until we get back to the sustainable, renewable period of 1300AD.   But modern lifestyle has at least one friend; our teeth. A review of studies published in a Supplement to Obesity Review examined evidence over the past 150 years and says that the effects of fluoride toothpaste, good oral hygiene and health education has overriden the effects of food on tooth decay.

The American Institute of Physics (AIP) announced the winners of its 2008 Science Writing Awards today. The winners -- two scientists, a journalist, a children's book author, and a public television producer -- will receive four prizes of $3,000, engraved Windsor chairs, and certificates of recognition. "These outstanding science communicators have each improved the general public's appreciation of physics, astronomy, and related sciences through their wonderfully creative endeavors," says Catherine O'Riordan, AIP Vice President, Physics Resources.

Unique fractures in lavas on ancient Mars suggest water occasionally flooded portions of the planet's surface.   The fractures, known as "columnar joints," are the first that have been observed on a planet other than Earth. The characteristics of the column-like fractures can help scientists understand the role of water in geologic processes on Mars, said Moses Milazzo, a geophysicist with the U. S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Team in Flagstaff and lead author on a paper on the discovery recently published in the journal Geology."Columnar joints form as cooling lava contracts," said Milazzo. 

Teams of scientists from Australia and the United States have used yeast and mammalian cells to discover a connection between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson's disease. Yeasts are single cell organisms, used widely in biological research because their structure resembles that of cells found in animals and humans. Yeasts share many genes, or their functional equivalents, with humans and offer the ability to screen or test thousands of genes and analysing their effects. 

The detailed structure of a protective 'jacket' that surrounds cells of the Clostridium difficile superbug, and which helps the dangerous pathogen stick to human host cells and tissues, is revealed in part in the 1 March issue of Molecular Microbiology. Scientists hope that unravelling the secrets of this protective layer's molecular structure might reveal possible targets for new drugs to treat C. difficile infections.The 'jacket' is a surface layer, or 'S-layer', made of two different proteins, with half a million of each covering every C. difficile cell. The S-layer is believed to help C. difficile cells colonise the human gut, where they release sickness-causing toxins. 

When Evo Morales, Bolivia's first president of Indian origin, was appointed in 2006 he initiated a "decolonising revolution."   Now, in a new thesis in social anthropology at the University of Gothenburg, Anders Burman examines how the government policy for decolonization has been interwoven with the rituals and cosmology of the indigenous population.For the indigenous population in the Bolivian Andes, colonialism was not something that was consigned to history when Bolivia was founded. Their exploitation and marginalization simply took on new forms. 

Mendel solved the logic of inheritance in his monastery garden with no more technology than Darwin had in his garden at Down House, so why couldn't Darwin have done it too? A Journal of Biology article argues that Darwin's background, influences and research focus gave him a viewpoint that prevented him from interpreting the evidence that was all around him, even in his own work. Moravian priest and scientist Gregor Mendel (1822 - 1884) studied clear-cut, inherited traits in pea plants, which he grew in the monastery gardens in Brno. Mendel showed that trait inheritance follows simple laws, and 'Mendels Laws Of Inheritance' (1) were later named after him. Mendel's work was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century, and laid the foundations for genetics.

In times of starvation, cells tighten their belts: they start to digest their own proteins and cellular organs. The process - known as autophagy - takes place in special organelles called autophagosomes. It is a strategy that simple yeast cells have developed as a means of survival when times get tough, and in the course of evolution, it has become a kind of self-cleaning process. In mammalian cells, autophagosomes are also responsible for getting rid of misfolded proteins, damaged organelles or disease-causing bacteria. 

What had once been impossible has now been shown to be possible – an alloy between two incompatible elements. A research team led by Professor H.K. Mao from Carnegie Institution of Washington and Professor Rajeev Ahuja from UU have used high pressure experiments and theoretical calculations to study the behavior of Ce3Al under high pressure."We were surprised to find that Cerium and Aluminium formed a so called substitutional alloy under high pressure. Forming these alloys has been limited to elements close in atomic radii and electronegativity up until now", sais Professor Rajeev Ahuja of Uppsala University.