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Astronomers at the University of Illinois have found the first clear evidence for a cradle in space where planets and moons form. The cradle, revealed in photographs taken with NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, consists of a flattened envelope of gas and dust surrounding a young protostar.
“We are seeing this object in the early stages of stellar birth,” said U. of I. astronomy professor Leslie Looney, the lead author of a paper accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters. “Eventually, the protostar will form into a star much like our sun, and the disk will form into planets and moons.”
Located about 800 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus, the object is obscured by dust and therefore invisible to the eye.

Meiosis is a type of cell division that produces cells with only one copy of each chromosome—spores in yeast, and eggs and sperm in higher organisms.
During meiosis, chromosome pairs line up in the middle of the cell. The chromosome pairs are then pulled apart, with complete copies of all of the chromosomes ending up at opposite sides of the cell. To ensure that the chromosomes align properly in the middle of the cell, the chromosomes crossover—swap certain sections of genes. Without the crossovers, the chromosomes could misalign and both copies of a chromosome could end up in one cell. When this happens, the cells die or suffer from severe genetic problems, such as Down syndrome.

Scientists analysing data gathered by Cassini have confirmed the presence of heavy negative ions in the upper regions of Titan’s atmosphere. These particles may act as building blocks for more complicated organic molecules.
The discovery was completely unexpected because of the chemical composition of the atmosphere (which lacks oxygen - responsible for forming negative ions in the lower ionosphere of the Earth - and mainly consists of nitrogen and methane). The observation has now been verified on 16 different encounters.
Prof Andrew Coates, researcher at University College London’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory and lead author of the paper, says: “Cassini’s electron spectrometer has enabled us to detect negative ions which have 10 000 times the mass of hydrogen.

“When biologists talk about the ‘Battle of the Sexes,’ they often tacitly assume that the battle is between persistent males who always want to mate and females who don’t,” says Jakob Bro-Jørgensen of University of Jyväskylä in Finland. “However, in topi antelopes, where females are known to prefer to mate with males in the center of mating arenas, we’ve found a reversal of these stereotypic sex roles.”
The classical view of sexual conflict holds that males, for whom reproducing is cheap, will mate as much as possible. On the other hand, females, who must pay a heftier price, are choosier about their mating partners.

Finally, those females have stopped hounding me - male Topi

Astronomers at the University of Michigan have found what are believed to be some of the youngest solar systems yet detected.
The systems are around the young stars UX Tau A and LkCa 15, located in the Taurus star formation region just 450 light years away. Using a telescope that measures levels of infrared radiation, the researchers noticed gaps in the protoplanetary disks of gas and dust surrounding these stars. They say those gaps are most likely caused by infant planets sweeping those areas clear of debris.
A paper on the findings by astronomy doctoral student Catherine Espaillat, professor Nuria Calvet, and their colleagues is published in the Dec. 1 issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters.

CHICAGO – Using a novel imaging technique to study autistic children, researchers have found increased gray matter in the brain areas that govern social processing and learning by observation. Results of the study conducted at the Fay J.

CHICAGO – Stereoscopic digital mammography, a new diagnostic technique capable of producing three-dimensional, in-depth views of breast tissue, could significantly reduce the number of women who are recalled for additional tests following routine screening mammography. Results of a clinical trial being conducted at Emory University Breast Clinic in Atlanta were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
“Standard mammography is one of the most difficult radiographic exams to interpret,” said David J. Getty, Ph.D., division scientist at BBN Technologies of Cambridge, Mass.

A technique for controlling the magnetic properties of a commonly used blue dye could revolutionise computer processing power, according to research published recently in Advanced Materials.
Scientists have demonstrated that they can control the properties in a dye known as Metal Phthalocyanine, or MPc, with the use of magnetism.
Though this technology is still in its infancy, researchers claim that the ability to control the magnetic properties of MPc could have the potential to dramatically improve information processing in the future.
iPods, CD read/writers, and other electronic devices already use magnetism as a system for signalling to process and store information.
Current technology, however, has limitations.

The N-Myc gene lives a double life, triggering cancer when it works with the growth-promoting protein IL-3 and causing cell suicide in the absence of IL-3
(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Nov. 26, 2007) A gene called N-Myc leads a double life in certain white blood cells when it is overexpressed, helping to trigger a cancer called acute myeloid leukemia (AML) under some conditions while triggering apoptosis, or cell suicide, under other conditions, according to results of a mouse study done by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
“This discovery gives researchers an important insight into N-Myc’s role in human AML and might contribute to new strategies for treating this leukemia or disrupting this gene’s ability to cause it,” said Gerard Grosveld, Ph.D., chair of the St.

One of the fastest moving stars ever seen has been discovered with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This cosmic cannonball is challenging theories to explain its blistering speed.
Astronomers used Chandra to observe a neutron star, known as RX J0822-4300, over a period of about five years. During that span, three Chandra observations clearly show the neutron star moving away from the center of the Puppis A supernova remnant. This remnant is the stellar debris field created during the same explosion in which the neutron star was formed about 3700 years ago.
By combining how far it has moved across the sky with its distance from Earth, astronomers determined the neutron star is moving at over 3 million miles per hour.

Mutant mice could provide genetic clues to understanding incurable human sight loss resulting from retinal degeneration. Research published in the online open access journal Genome Biology uncovers a role for microRNA in retinal disease, and may point the way to future therapies.
A team from the Trinity College Dublin and the Sanger Institute, Cambridge (UK), led by Dr Arpad Palfi and Dr Jane Farrar of the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin used mutant mice that model the human eye disease retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The researchers compared these mice with wild-type mice, testing their hypothesis that changes in microRNA expression may be evident in retinal degeneration.

Two transporters that deliver alternative energy sources to the eye may help delay retinal damage that can occur in diabetes, researchers say.
The transporters, SMCT1 and SMCT2, can circumvent the eye’s protective blood-retinal barrier, delivering energy sources lactate and ketone bodies to a healthy eye, says Dr. Pamela Martin, biochemist at the Medical College of Georgia.
In diabetes, characterized by plenty of glucose but the inability of cells to use it, the retina may turn to those alternate sources for survival.
“Glucose is your primary energy source,” says Dr. Martin. “But in diabetes, the retina undergoes a lot of stress, there is oxidative damage and a lot of other things going on.