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| <<< 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | >>> | 10.03.2010
Risky DNA: Autism studies yield fresh genetic leads
 One finds that spontaneous alterations to a tiny stretch of chromosome 16 contribute to about 1 percent of childhood autism cases. Either a deletion or a duplication of this DNA section raises a child's susceptibility to autism and related disorders, report geneticist Mark J. Daly of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and his colleagues...
more info>>> | 17.02.2010
Life from Scratch
 The only time life arose from nonlife, biologists believe, was almost 4 billion years ago, when simple living cells first appeared on Earth. But now, with the help of a microscopic parasite that infects people's genitals, researchers may rehabilitate the core of Aristotle's idea...
more info>>> | 17.02.2010
Hued Afterglow: Fingerprinting diamonds via phosphorescence
 Phosphorescence, a "glow-in-the-dark" process in which energy previously absorbed by a substance is released slowly in the form of light, is common in a certain type of blue diamond. After exposure to light, these type IIb diamonds, which have boron- and nitrogen-containing impurities, softly glow in colors ranging from blue through pink to fiery red, says Sally Eaton-Magaña, a chemical engineer at the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, Calif. The orange-red glow from the 45.52-carat Hope Diamond, a type IIb gemstone on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is visible for as long as a minute after the lights go out...
more info>>> | 31.01.2010
Shadow World
 In a school of thought that teaches the existence of extra dimensions, Juan Maldacena may at first sound a little out of place. String theory is physicists' still-tentative strategy for reconciling Einstein's theory of gravitation with quantum physics. Its premise is that the subatomic particles that roam our three-dimensional world are really infinitesimally thin strings vibrating in nine dimensions. According to Maldacena, however, the key to understanding string theory is not to add more dimensions but to cut their number down...
more info>>> | 31.01.2010
Superbug: What makes one bacterium so deadly
Some of the most aggressive antibiotic-resistant staph infections gain their advantage with a molecule that punctures the immune cells trying to fight off the bacteria, scientists have discovered. Understanding the role of this molecule in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) could lead to new therapies for the notoriously hard-to-treat, and sometimes fatal, skin infection...
more info>>> | 30.01.2010
Flawed Stem Cells Yield Fragile X Clues: Researchers study genetic disorder via discarded embryos
Scrutinizing the first days of development in abnormal embryonic stem cells, researchers have uncovered a basic mechanism underlying fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental retardation in boys...
more info>>> | 30.01.2010
Digging the Scene: Dinos burrowed, built dens
 Paleontologists have unearthed an ancient, sediment-filled burrow that holds remains of the creatures that dug it. The find is the first indisputable evidence that some dinosaurs maintained an underground lifestyle for at least part of their lives...
more info>>> | 20.01.2010
Let There Be Aluminum-42: Experiment creates surprise isotope
Physicists have created the heaviest isotope yet of magnesium, but in their experiments an unexpected isotope of aluminum also showed up. The findings could help astrophysicists understand occasional X-ray emissions from neutron stars that are growing in mass...
more info>>> | 14.10.2009
Moving up the Charts: Drug-resistant bug invades military, civilian hospitals
A common bacterium is becoming more virulent and drug resistant in hospitals. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) now ranks Acinetobacter baumannii on its list of "bad bugs" alongside two perennial chart toppers, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus...
more info>>> | 14.10.2009
Shifty Talk: Probing the process of word evolution
Here's an evolutionary talking point: Two new studies quantify parts of the mechanism by which frequently used words change slowly over many millennia whereas rarely used words more rapidly take on new forms. In fact, frequency of word usage exerts a "lawlike" influence on the rapidity of language evolution, the research teams conclude...
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