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31 Aug--Environment key to helping poor A new report concludes that the Millennium Development Goals cannot be met without environmental progress. BBCNews

 

31 Aug--XMM-Newton probes formation of galaxy clusters ESA's X-ray observatory, XMM-Newton, has for the first time allowed scientists to study in detail the formation history of galaxy clusters, not only with single arbitrarily selected objects, but with a complete representative sample of clusters. EurekAlert

31 Aug--Asteroid Dust May Influence Weather, Study Finds In a study to be published this week in the journal Nature, scientists from the Australian Antarctic Division, the University of Western Ontario, the Aerospace Corporation, and Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories found evidence that dust from an asteroid burning up as it descended through Earth's atmosphere formed a cloud of micron-sized particles significant enough to influence local weather in Antarctica. ScienceDaily

31 Aug--Finding A Way To Test For Dark Energy Physics models of dark energy can be separated into distinct scenarios, which could be used to rule out Einstein's cosmological constant and distinguish among two major classes of dynamic quintessence, a thawing model and a freezing model. Which scenario makes the best fit can be tested with the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM) proposed by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy. ScienceDaily

31 Aug--Spongy nanocoating makes for fog-free glass  Easy technology could soon be on car windscreens. Nature

31 Aug--Vermont Blends 'Green' Flush Toilets and a Greenhouse The state has installed a system that uses plants and organisms to clean wastewater at a rebuilt rest stop on Interstate 89. KATIE ZEZIMA, NYTimes

31 Aug--Teaching of Creationism Is Endorsed in New Survey A poll found that nearly two-thirds of Americans say that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public schools. LAURIE GOODSTEIN, NYTimes

30 Aug--Glow' dye to spot early dementia  US scientists are developing a "glowing" dye to help spot signs in the brain of early dementia. The dye works by binding to the brain areas damaged in Alzheimer's disease and giving off a fluorescent glow that can be seen with a brain scan.The Massachusetts Institute of Technology team have made a prototype that they hope will soon be ready to use clinically. Their findings appear in the journal Angewandte Chemie.  BBCNews

The dye attaches to and shows up brain lesions

30 Aug--Snowball Antarctica ñ early Drake passage opening led to global change New results shed light on how Antarctica became the icy, barren continent that we know today. British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists have discovered that 30-50 million years ago, South America and Antarctica split apart very rapidly. This formed the Drake Passage and resulted in a major global cooling. The findings are published in the latest issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters. EurekAlert

30 Aug--Saturn moon delights and baffles  Space scientists say their discoveries about Saturn's moon Enceladus are stunning, if just a little baffling. BBCNews

 

30 Aug--Mirror, Mirror Astronomers racing to build the biggest telescope ever are engaged in a feat of optical derring-do (not to mention fund-raising). DENNIS OVERBYE, NYTimes
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30 Aug--Gold bowties may shed light on molecules and other nano-sized objects One of the great challenges in nanotechnology is designing a microscope that produces high-resolution images of nano-sized objects. Now Stanford researchers have greatly improved the optical mismatch between nano-objects and light by creating the "bowtie nanoantenna," a tiny device that compresses ordinary light waves into an intense spotlight only 20 nanometers wide.  EurekAlert

30 Aug--New Look At DNA Hints At Origin Of Ultraviolet Damage Chemists at Ohio State University have gained new insight into how sunlight affects DNA. And what they found overturns ideas about genetic mutation that originated decades ago. In the current issue of the journal Nature, Bern Kohler and his colleagues report that DNA dissipates the energy from ultraviolet (UV) radiation in a kind of energy wave that travels up the edge of the DNA molecule, as if the energy were climbing one side of the helical DNA "ladder." Science Daily

30 Aug--Scientific Savvy? In U.S., Not Much The findings of Jon D. Miller, a political scientist, about how much Americans know. CORNELIA DEAN,  NYTimes

30  Aug--New Method For Trapping Light May Improve Communications Technologies A discovery by Princeton researchers may lead to an efficient method for controlling the transmission of light and improve new generations of communications technologies powered by light rather than electricity. The discovery could be used to develop new structures that would work in the same fashion as an elbow joint in plumbing by enabling light to make sharp turns as it travels through photonic circuits. Fiber-optic cables currently used in computers, televisions and other devices can transport light rapidly and efficiently, but cannot bend at sharp angles. ScienceDaily

29 Aug--Boost to CO2 mass extinction idea A computer simulation of the Earth's climate 250 million years ago suggests that climate warming triggered the so-called "great dying". BBC News

29 Aug--Gender Hormones May Lend To Social Disorder Therapies Researchers at UW-Madison have made the surprising finding that estrogen-and even dopamine, a neurotransmitter-also play critical roles in the development of aggressive social play behaviors. ScienceDaily

29 Aug--Researchers shed more light on conversion of water to hydrogen gas Chemists are several steps closer to teasing hydrogen fuel from water using man-made molecular devices that collect electrons and use them to split hydrogen from oxygen. EurekAlert

29 Aug--Robot-assisted prostate surgery has possible benefits, high cost Although minimally invasive prostate removal aided by a robot can lead to less blood loss, shorter hospital stays and fewer complications, there is no evidence that the procedure improves cure rates, according to a new technology assessment. EurekAlert

29 Aug--Homeopathy's benefit questioned A leading medical journal has made a damning attack on homeopathy, saying it is no better than dummy drugs. The Lancet says the time for more studies is over and doctors should be bold and honest with patients about homeopathy's "lack of benefit". A Swiss-UK review of 110 trials found no convincing evidence the treatment worked any better than a placebo. Advocates of homeopathy maintained the therapy, which works on the principle of treating like with like, does work.

Heavily diluted solutions are used in homeopathic remedies

29 Aug--Robot-assisted prostate surgery has possible benefits, high cost Although minimally invasive prostate removal aided by a robot can lead to less blood loss, shorter hospital stays and fewer complications, there is no evidence that the procedure improves cure rates, according to a new technology assessment. EurekAlert

29 Sep--Early Look at Research Project to Re-engineer the Internet The National Science Foundation is planning an effort to create a network more suited to the computerized world of the next decade.  JOHN MARKOFF NYTimes

26 Aug--Scientists probe anti-ageing gene US scientists find a gene in mice which plays a key role in the ageing process. BBCNews

  26 Aug--Species evolve to the brink of evolution A biologist at The University of Texas at Austin has presented a new theory that sheds light on how organisms, including viruses like HIV, rapidly evolve in the face of vaccines and antibiotics. Dr. Lauren Ancel Meyers' model predicts that populations can evolve "genetic potential" ñ genes that can create new traits quickly and simply in changing environments. EurekAlert

26 Aug--Physicists Describe A New Mechanism For Metallic Magnetism Predicting the magnetic behavior of metallic compounds is a surprisingly difficult problem for theoretical physicists. While the properties of a common refrigerator magnet are not a great mystery, ScienceDaily

26 Aug--New Dye Could Offer Early Test For Alzheimer's; MIT Technique Is Noninvasive MIT scientists have developed a new dye that could offer noninvasive early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, a discovery that could aid in monitoring the progression of the disease and in studying the efficacy of new treatments to stop it. The new dye, called NIAD-4, was developed through a targeted design process based on a set of specific requirements, including the ability to enter the brain rapidly upon injection, bind to amyloid plaques, absorb and fluoresce radiation in the right spectral range, and provide sharp contrast between the plaques and the surrounding tissue. ScienceDaily

26 Aug--Lasers trigger cleaner fusion Neutron-free reaction makes less radioactive waste. Nature

26 Aug--Scientists Say Earth's Center Rotates Faster Than Surface  A team of geophysicists is presenting data on Friday showing that the earth's inner core spins faster than the rest of the planet. KENNETH CHANG, NYTimes

25 Aug--Europe aims lone rover for Mars Europe has fixed on a single robot rover concept for its next mission to land on the Red Planet. BBCNews

25 Aug--Stem cells with heart bypass surgery trial to begin at University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has been granted approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to conduct a clinical trial to determine the safety and feasibility of injecting a patient's own bone marrow-derived stem cells directly into the heart during conventional heart bypass surgery. The trial will involve patients with ischemic heart disease who are scheduled for off-pump (beating heart) coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. EurekAlert

25 Aug--Brain Plays Key Role In Regulating Bone Density The brain plays an important role in the maintenance of proper bone density, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have revealed. ScienceDaily

25 Aug--Chickens Orient Using A Magnetic Compass Many species of birds use the Earth's magnetic field to select a direction of movement. However, until now it has not been possible to train birds to move in a certain direction in the laboratory, even if they are motivated by a food reward. Researchers now report that they have been able to successfully accomplish this training task, providing new insight into the evolution of magnetic sensing and opening new opportunities for further study of magnetoreception. ScienceDaily

25 Aug--Scientists Make First Step Towards Growing Human Lungs For Transplant Scientists have successfully converted human embryonic stem cells into lung cells, taking a first step towards building human lungs for transplantation. According to research to be published in the journal Tissue Engineering, the team from Imperial College London, took human embryonic stem cells and 'directed' them to convert into the type of cells needed for gas exchange in the lung, known as mature small airway epithelium. NewScientist

25 Aug--Pakistan Now Says Scientist Did Send Koreans Nuclear Gear Pakistan's president confirmed that Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan provided machines that could be used to make fuel for an atomic bomb. SALMAN MASOOD and DAVID ROHDE, NYTimes

24 Aug--Water returns to Iraqi marshlands The marshlands of Iraq, which were drained during the early 1990s, are returning to their original state. Under Saddam Hussein, the area of marsh was reduced to a tenth of its former size, as the government punished people living there for acts of rebellion. The latest United Nations data shows that nearly 40% of the area has been restored to its original condition. Drinking water and sanitation projects are under way, but the UN says that a full recovery will take many years.  BBCNews

The marshland area has many channels which serve as byways

24 Aug--Now You See It, Now You Don't: 'Change Blindness' Isn't Magic A team of scientists at UCL (University College London) has discovered why we often miss major changes in our surroundings - such as a traffic light turning green when we're listening to the radio. Our inability to notice large changes in a visual scene is a phenomenon often exploited by magicians - but only now can scientists put their finger on the exact part of the brain that is so often deceived. ScienceDaily

24 Aug--Physicists Entangle Photon And Atom In Atomic Cloud    Physicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have just reached an important milestone in the development of quantum communications networks by entangling a photon and a single atom located in an atomic cloud. Researchers believe this is the first time an entanglement between a photon and a collective excitation of atoms has passed the rigorous test of quantum behavior known as a Bell inequality violation. ScienceDaily

24 Aug--NASA's Swift Satellite Finds Newborn Black Holes Scientists using NASA's Swift satellite say they have found newborn black holes, just seconds old, in a confused state of existence. The holes are consuming material falling into them while somehow propelling other material away at great speeds. ScienceDaily

24 Aug--Climate model links higher temperatures to prehistoric extinction Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research have created a detailed computer simulation showing Earth's climate at the time of the greatest mass extinction in history. The work supports a theory that increased atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide triggered the Permian extinction 251 million years ago. EurekAlert

24 Aug--Brain cells tune in to music Neurons respond selectively to distinct pitches. Nature

23 Aug-- Scientific struggle Harold Evans on Bush's hostility to science In his weekly opinion column, Harold Evans considers rising concern in the US over the Bush administration's hostility to science. BBCNews

23 Aug--Scientists make first step towards growing human lungs for transplant Scientists have successfully converted human embryonic stem cells into lung cells, taking a first step towards building human lungs for transplantation. EurekAlert

23 Aug--Early Humans Wore 'Shoes' 30,000 Years Ago Our modern day Nikes and Reeboks are direct descendents of the first supportive footwear that new research suggests came into use in western Eurasia between 26,000 and 30,000 years ago. Erik Trinkaus, professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, derived those dates by analyzing anatomical evidence of early modern humans, which suggests a reduction in the strength of the smaller toes in Upper Paleolithic humans while there was little change in leg strength. ScienceDaily

23 Aug--Beetle-inspired switch uses water for bonding A new switch designed by Cornell University engineers uses water droplets to create very strong adhesive bonds that can flicked on and off in an instant. The switch was inspired by a mechanism found in palm beetles and is described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. EurekAlert

23 Aug--Saturn's Rings Have Own Atmosphere Data from the Cassini spacecraft indicate that Saturn's majestic ring system has its own atmosphere - separate from that of the planet itself. During its close fly-bys of the ring system, instruments on Cassini have been able to determine that the environment around the rings is like an atmosphere, composed principally of molecular oxygen. This atmosphere is very similar to that of Jupiter's moons Europa and Ganymede. ScienceDaily

23 Aug--Under the Old Neighborhood: In Iraq, an Archaeologist's Paradise In Erbil, Iraq, the Citadel is a layer cake of civilizations that may go back 100 centuries. Now, to begin digging without displacing those on top. JAMES GLANZ, NYTimes

22 Aug--Stem cell research hybrid hope US scientists believe they have found a less controversial way of creating embryonic stem cells. BBCNews

22 Aug--Carnegie Mellon University research reveals how cells process large genes Important messages require accurate transmission. Big genes are especially challenging. During processing, introns (non-coding elements) are snipped out and exons (coding segments) pasted together to form a template for proteins. How a cell's molecular machinery eliminates introns without making errors has puzzled scientists for years. Now, investigators at Carnegie Mellon have discovered that a novel mechanism removes long introns by steadily paring them down in a predictable fashion and joining the remaining exons. EurekAlert

22 Aug--First kittens for cloned wildcats US scientists produce wildcat kittens by cross-breeding clones, a move which could help with future preservation of endangered species. BBCNews