News Articles

News Account

News Account

News Releases From All Over The World, Right To You
RSS Feed
GWAS Pinpoints 2 Genetic Variants Associated With Rosacea

GWAS Pinpoints 2 Genetic Variants Associated With Rosacea

Rosacea is estimated to affect up to 16 million people in the United States alone, with symptoms typically including redness, visible blood vessels, and pimple-like sores on the skin of the central face. Because rosacea affects facial appearance, it can also have a psychological impact on those who suffer from it, according to surveys by the National Rosacea Society.

PolySTAT: Injectable Plastic Finds Wound And Stops You From Bleeding Out

PolySTAT: Injectable Plastic Finds Wound And Stops You From Bleeding Out

A new injectable polymer 
called PolySTAT
strengthens blood clots and that means that  soldiers who might otherwise die from uncontrolled bleeding before reaching a surgical hospital could be saved. Likewise for civilian traumas.A tourniquet won't stop bleeding from a chest wound, and clotting treatments that require refrigerated or frozen blood products aren't always available in the field. 

Plumbonacrite: The Red Lead Reason Van Gogh's Paintings Are Fading

Plumbonacrite: The Red Lead Reason Van Gogh's Paintings Are Fading

Red lead is familiar to us due to rustproof paint but artists have treasured the brilliant color for its durability since ancient times. Yet it has limits and now scientists are learning more about why.  A combination of X-ray diffraction mapping and tomography experiments at the DESY synchrotron light source PETRA III has shown an additional step in the light-induced degradation of lead red. Key was identification of the very rare lead carbonate mineral plumbonacrite in a painting by Van Gogh.

Back To BASIC For Synthetic DNA Design

Back To BASIC For Synthetic DNA Design

A new system called BASIC could give synthetic biology a boost by creating artificial DNA that is faster, more accurate and more flexible than existing methods. To engineer new organisms, scientists build artificial genes from individual molecules and then put these together to create larger genetic constructs which, when inserted into a cell, will create the required product. Various attempts have been made to standardisz the design and assembly process but, until now, none have been completely successful. 

Common Genes For Autism And High Intelligence - Study

Common Genes For Autism And High Intelligence - Study

A study has found new evidence linking genetic factors associated with autism to better cognitive ability in people who do not have the condition - which means like many things in genetics it could be a small variation that separates a benefit from a detriment.Autism is a disability often marked by significant language and speech difficulties but there is no firm relationship between autism and intelligence. Up to 70 percent of individuals with autism do have an intellectual disability but some people with the disorder have well-preserved, or even higher than average, non-verbal intelligence. Non-verbal intelligence is how people solve complex problems using visual and hands-on reasoning skills with little or no use of language.   

Hellfire And Damnation: Just Another Day In The Heart Of The Milky Way

Hellfire And Damnation: Just Another Day In The Heart Of The Milky Way

Researchers have detected about 20 rotating dust and gas discs in two clusters hosting exceptionally large and hot stars. The science mystery is how the rotating discs are able to withstand evaporation under such extreme conditions - if there is a Hell, this must certainly be it.The center of the Milky Way is a nursery for young stars: In its heart, more young stars are born in dark clouds than in any other place in the Galaxy. These stars form in rich groups such as the 'Quintuplet' and 'Arches' clusters. Both star clusters are only a few million years old and contain stars as massive as 100 times the mass of the Sun. 

Microbes Cleaning Fukushima Soil

Microbes Cleaning Fukushima Soil

Salt-loving, halophilic, microbes could donate proteins to clean up radioactive strontium and caesium ions from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant incident in Japan. The X-ray structure of a beta-lactamase enzyme from one such microbe, the halophile Chromohalobacter sp. 560, shows it has highly selective cesium binding sites.  A 1.8 to 2.9 angstrom resolution structure for this enzyme. Anomalous X-ray diffraction also revealed binding sites in the protein for Sr2+ and Cs+ ions, the team reports.

Overweight? The Clue In Your Poo

Overweight? The Clue In Your Poo

We are all populated by microbes – helpful or otherwise – which form a community known as a microbiome. Recent research by Ryan Newton and co-workers has shown that sewage-based analysis of the human microbiome can be used to diagnose health issues at a population level.

High LDL Cholesterol Linked To Lower Diabetes - A Gene Mutation Reason Why

High LDL Cholesterol Linked To Lower Diabetes - A Gene Mutation Reason Why

Statins are associated with increased risk for diabetes, though it is unclear why. One hypothesis is that statins increase expression of LDL receptors and increase cholesterol uptake into cells including the pancreas, which could cause pancreatic dysfunction. Familial hypercholesterolemia causes decreased LDL transport into cells and researchers have hypothesized that with familial hypercholesterolemia, decreased pancreatic LDL transport would lessen cell death and ultimately lead to lower rates of diabetes.  

Sun's Orbital Forcing Of Climate Change 1.4 Billion Years Ago Much Like Today

Sun's Orbital Forcing Of Climate Change 1.4 Billion Years Ago Much Like Today

We may idealize the last century but natural forces have always caused climate on Earth to fluctuate - sometimes quite a bit. But science is about controlling nature and not letting random behavior control our destinies and since we know that some periods were good and some awful, we'd like to avoid the awful.We can't control everything - the earth is still going to orbit the sun and such orbital forcing of climate change happens over thousands of years and brings ice ages and warming periods. 

Hibernation Rethink - Bat Species Hibernate At Constant Warm Temperature

Hibernation Rethink - Bat Species Hibernate At Constant Warm Temperature

Many mammals, and some birds, escape the winter by hibernating for three to nine months. This period of dormancy permits species which would otherwise perish from the cold and scarce food to survive to see another spring. The Middle East, with temperate winters, was until recently considered an unlikely host for hibernating mammals.

Old Tech May Lead To New AI Computing

Old Tech May Lead To New AI Computing

Though every month we read about some new advance in artificial intelligence, how much progress is really being made?  Neuromorphic computing has created software and electronic hardware that mimic brain functions and signal protocols but, like economic models that successfully predict the past, they have only slightly improved the efficiency and adaptability of conventional technology and are not really making bold advances.