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Top Stories in Science
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May 2006 Issue |
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| [D] Defence and security |  |
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Combating an influenza pandemic Researchers at Imperial College have used detailed population and travel models to predict how various responses might affect the spread of an H5N1 influenza pandemic across Britain and the US. The results indicate that restricting travel will do very little. Even a border closure that was 99.9 percent effective would slow the pandemic by at most a few weeks. If most people are treated with antiviral drugs the day after symptoms appear, schools are closed as soon as a case appears, and households of cases are quarantined, the number of cases might fall, but only by one-fifth. However, if household members, schoolmates and colleagues of each case are treated with antiviral drugs and if one-fifth of the population, starting with children, has already received a pre-pandemic vaccine, the number of cases falls by about 90 percent. Still better, if people could be given a vaccine based on the exact pandemic strain, starting 30 days after it emerges and vaccinating 1 percent of the population a day, this might cut the number of cases by 97 percent. [D][E][C][H][X]
Combating an influenza pandemic US scientists have simulated how an avian flu pandemic would be likely to spread in the US over the course of 180 days, and have examined the impact of interventions, from antiviral therapy to school closures and travel restrictions. The results indicate that advance preparation of a modestly effective vaccine in large quantities appears to be preferable to waiting for the development of a well-matched vaccine that may not become available until a pandemic has already reached the US. [D][E][C][H][X]
Tamiflu mass production Mass producing enough antiviral drug to combat an influenza pandemic is difficult because the existing Roche process for making the Tamiflu drug starts from a scarce chemical called shikimic acid and involves an intermediary step that is highly explosive. Now, researchers at Harvard, including Elias Corey who won a Nobel prize in 1990 for his work on chemical synthesis, have devised a new and simpler way to make Tamiflu. The new process starts from two cheap and plentiful petrochemicals, acrylate and butadiene, and it avoids any explosive intermediary step. This means that it is much easier to scale up to large production volumes and to transfer to many manufacturers. [D][H][M]
Bird flu Seven people from the same family in northern Sumatra have died from H5N1 bird flu, although there has been no sign of diseased poultry in their immediate area. The WHO says that it is extremely worried by this cluster. The fear is that, even though the H5N1 virus does not seem to have mutated further, the cluster could be due to human-human transmission. [D][H]
Marburg vaccine Marburg haemorrhagic fever is potentially very dangerous. In some Marburg outbreaks in Africa, nearly 90 percent of cases have been fatal, and the virus could also be used by bioterrorists. Currently there is no effective treatment. However, Canadian and US scientists have now created a vaccine containing a Marburg virus gene that shows encouraging results in tests on monkeys. Five rhesus monkeys were infected with the virus and then injected with the vaccines 20 to 30 minutes later, and all five survived, whilst the controls all died. Studies are now in progress to determine how late after exposure the vaccine remains beneficial. [D][H]
Crisis management Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a decision support tool to help US state, city and county health care departments to create and test more efficient plans for treating an epidemic. The software takes the numerous variables associated with a health care department's treatment of a very large group of people, including variables such as panic and language barriers, and identifies the most efficient way to move patients to and through a facility. This pinpoints the best location for emergency clinics based on population density and road accessibility, the most efficient facility layout, the number of health care professionals needed in certain areas, the number of vaccinations needed and the time it will take to treat patients. [D][C][E][H][K][X]
Building security Protecting buildings and people within them from chemical and biological attacks within buildings requires fast, accurate detection systems with a very low false alarm rate, integrated with building control systems that can stop an agent spreading. The system must also be affordable. [D][H][R][S][T] |
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| [A] Aeronautics and space | |
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Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 has completed its maiden flight and has also made its first flight to Heathrow Airport. It is powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, which were designed specially for the superjumbo. More than a year of flight-testing and certification-programme work will now follow before the A380 starts commercial services. [A][P]
Sub-orbital CanSats A US company, Masten Space Systems, has begun a "CanSats To Space" payload program intended to carry 350gm, soda-can sized payloads into sub-orbital space and back for an initial price of $99, beginning in 2007. Typical payloads would include science experiments such as amateur space telescopes, cellular mitosis in microgravity, and multi-spectral Earth imaging missions. [A][R]
Space-based supercomputing US agencies are aiming to dramatically increases in-orbit computational capabilities. The technology to be tested will provide more than 1,000 giga operations per second processing capability. This will be used for software-defined radio functions in space. [A][C][I]
History of Mars Mineral maps based on data from Europe's Mars Express probe are helping to provide a detailed picture of Mars' history. This shows the planet had three distinct geological eras. The first would have been the most hospitable for life and lasted until about four billion years ago. Rocks include some clay-rich minerals that would have required a water-abundant alkaline environment. In the second era, massive volcanic activity made the environment very acidic and converted water into sulphates. This was followed by the third era that has lasted for the past 3.5 billion years. Minerals during this third era were not formed in the presence of water. [A][R]
Xena Sharp images obtainable with the Hubble space telescope have shown that Xena, unofficially called the 10th planet, has a diameter of 2,384 kilometres, making it about 5 percent larger than Pluto. This means that Xena reflects 86 percent of sunlight. Scientists had previously expected that its reflectivity would be similar to that of Pluto, which reflects 60 percent. Scientists have proposed two scenarios to explain Xena's high reflectivity. In one, a jet of methane leaks continuously from Xena, blanketing the surface with fresh methane snow. In the other model, the planet has a methane-rich atmosphere created during the portion of its 560-year-long orbit when it is nearest the sun. As Xena speeds away, the atmosphere freezes on the surface as a bright frost. [A][R] |
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| [U] Unmanned vehicles and robotics | |
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Android South Korean scientists say they have created the world's second android, a female named EveR-1. The android can understand about 400 words, speak, blink her eyes and display several facial expressions. Journalists report that from a distance she can be mistaken for a real person. [U][K]
Robot infant A European consortium has developed a robot called BabyBot, modelled on the torso of a two year-old child, and has used this to test a model of the human sense of 'presence'. Using tests on infants 6 to 18 month old, the researchers first studied how the perception of self in the environment emerges in humans. From this, they developed a 'process' model of consciousness that accorded with how infants have cognitive awareness of objects around them and progressively learn to perceive them. Testing this with the BabyBot demonstrated that it could learn to successfully separate objects from the background and could then develop useful knowledge about specific properties of objects, necessary, for example, to be able to grasp them. [U][B][K]
Childcare robots Japanese researchers are using children under 24 months old to explore how children might adapt to childcare robots. They are finding that the children welcome and even develop emotions towards the robots. They seem to consider them not to be toys or living humans, but something in between. [U][K][V]
Robot turtle A robotic turtle is helping researchers to understand how marine animals such as sea turtles, sea lions and penguins propel and manoeuvre themselves, and when it is best to swim with four flippers and when to use two. The robot may also help in developing better autonomous underwater vehicles. [U][E]
Robotic logistics vehicle Researchers at Carnegie Mellon, with funding from DARPA and the US Army, have developed a prototype unmanned ground vehicle that they say demonstrates very advanced autonomous navigation and vehicle technologies and is suitable not only for military use but also in areas like construction, farming and mining. The hull is made from high-strength aluminium tubes and titanium nodes protected by a steel skid plate that can absorb shocks from impacts with rocks or tree stumps. The vehicle can carry more than 8,000 pounds of payload and armour with a top speed currently of 26 mph. It can move smoothly over rough terrain and overcome obstacles like large ditches, man-made barriers or piles of boulders. Electric motors embedded in each of the vehicle's six wheels are powered with a hybrid system that uses a turbo diesel generator to recharge its batteries. [U][D][E][M][P]
CLEVER micro-vehicle A tiny, three-wheeled car that could help solve city congestion has been demonstrated by a European collaboration. The prototype car is one metre wide and less polluting than normal vehicles. It uses a novel tilting chassis to make it safe and manoeuvrable. Both driver and passenger are protected inside a strengthened aluminium safety frame, which the researchers claim makes it as safe as a small car. In the event of a head-on collision, the vehicle's front wheel and axle are designed to crumple to protect the driver from harm. The vehicle, which has a top speed of 100 km/hr, is powered by a 230cc one-cylinder engine that runs on compressed natural gas and which produces 60 gm of carbon dioxide emissions per km. [U][E][M][P][V] |
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| [P] Propulsion and energy | |
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Solar and ion beam propulsion By using a very large solar panel powering an extremely high-energy ion propulsion engine, it may be possible to send probes to the outer solar system. Work at UCLA suggests that a probe weighing 200 kg with a solar array covering 3125 square metres could travel at 666,000 km/hour and reach Pluto in less than a year. This would provide a safer alternative to using a nuclear powered engine. [P][A][J]
Antimatter propulsion NASA is funding research on a new concept for an antimatter-powered spaceship. Previous concepts employed antiprotons, which produce high-energy gamma rays when they annihilate with protons. The new design will use positrons, which produce gamma rays with about 400 times lower energy. In the engine the gamma rays are converted into x-rays using lead, and these x-rays ablate and expel nozzle material at high velocity. The positron engine may be a feasible and safer alternative than using a nuclear engine for a manned mission to Mars. A rough estimate to produce the 10 milligrams of positrons needed for a human Mars mission is about 250 million dollars using technology that is currently under development. [P][A]
Low-thrust space propulsion NASA has developed a tool set called Low-Thrust Trajectory Tools to help engineers analyze space-travel concepts and missions that use low-thrust propulsion technologies. Five tools are used to analyze simple Earth-centred and complicated multiple-body missions using any of a variety of propulsion systems. [P][A]
Flywheel energy storage US researchers have begun a 5 year experiment to demonstrate whether flywheels can be used for energy storage in satellites as well as for attitude stabilisation. The hope is that flywheels will be able to handle high peak power demands, such as are required for satellite radars. This could remove the need for heavy chemical batteries. [P][A][M][R]
Magnetic refrigeration Researchers at the University of Cambridge have discovered a magnetocaloric material that is non-toxic and relatively cheap, and that generates significant cooling at around room temperature. The material - an alloy of cobalt, manganese, silicon and germanium - could lead to a new type of refrigerator that is up to 40 percent more energy-efficient than conventional refrigeration. The researchers say that the new magnetocaloric material is particularly attractive because it can be tuned to work over a wide temperature range. This would make it potentially suitable not just for a kitchen fridge working at room temperature but for other cooling applications at higher or lower temperatures. [P][M]
Droplet propulsion Drops of water on a hot surface, such as a scorching pan bottom, will hover over the surface on a layer of steam. Researchers have shown that if the metal surface is scored with a carefully designed array of grooves, the random motion of steam molecules can be channelled into a directed force. They speculate that the effect might be used to pump coolant through hot integrated circuits. [P][J]
Nanogenerators Researchers at Georgia Tech have used arrays of zinc oxide nanowires to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. The technique could ultimately have applications in self-powering nanosensors inside the body. This could exploit body movement or muscle stretching, or use vibration energy such as acoustic or ultrasonic waves, or use hydraulic energy such as the flow of body fluid and blood. The technology might also be useful for powering wireless sensors by harvesting energy from the environment, or in shoes for powering portable electronics. [P][I][J][N][R][S][V]
Tritium power supply Researchers have demonstrated a laser-based technique that locks tritium into Ge-doped silica films. Tritium micro-power sources might be integrated on-chip to provide long-lasting power for micromotors, self-charging MEMS actuation, sensors, computer chips and implantable medical devices. [P][H][J][O][R][S]
Enzyme-powered fuel cells A hydrogen fuel cell that uses enzymes instead of expensive metal catalysts to drive chemical reactions has been developed at Oxford University. Enzyme-powered fuel cells could be smaller, simpler and cheaper to make than conventional ones, the researchers claim. They have already powered a digital watch using their invention. [P]
Diesel from coal Oil is made up of long hydrocarbon chains and can be broken down into a slew of useful substances and products. Coal and natural gas, in contrast, are made up of much shorter chains. Coal can be converted into synthetic petroleum substitutes using the Fischer-Tropsch process, invented in 1920, but this has never been commercially attractive because it yields a wide distribution of products, many of which are not useful. Chemists at Rutgers and the University of North Carolina have now overcome this problem, and have developed a way to convert coal into diesel fuel. The technology employs a pair of catalytic chemical reactions that operate in tandem. [P][M]
Carbon sequestration In what could be a significant step in scaling up carbon sequestration, a Japanese consortium is planning to liquefy about 20 percent of the carbon dioxide produced by an Australian power station and to store it underground. [P][E]
Third world fuel Just under half of the world's six billion people cook with solid fuels, sometimes breathing in smoke equivalent to 40 cigarettes a day. This leads to the deaths of 1.5 million people a year, according to the WHO, and kills more children under age five than malaria or AIDS. The WHO analysis suggests that an annual investment of $13 billion could halve the number of people cooking with such fuels by 2015 and would have an annual productivity benefit of $91 billion as a result of less time being lost to illness and collecting fuel. [P][D][H]
Chernobyl 20 years on A new analysis suggests the cost of the Chernobyl accident may be far higher than previously estimated. Twenty years after the accident, social benefits are still paid to about 7 million affected people and are a huge burden on national budgets. According to the UN, 3 million children require treatment and not until 2016 will one know the full number of those likely to develop serious medical conditions. The contamination from Chernobyl was around 100 times that from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs combined. More than half of the Caesium-137 emitted was carried in the atmosphere to other European countries, and fourteen of these were contaminated by radiation levels above 1 Ci per square metre - the level used to define areas as being nuclear contaminated. [P][E][H] |
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| [M] Materials, structures and surfaces | |
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High temperature superconductivity Neutron scattering measurements of lattice vibrations provide experimental support for the existence of "stripes" in high-temperature superconductors. The measurements indicate that stripes, which are a particular spatial arrangement of electrical charges, are common to copper-oxide superconductors, but disappear when the material is overdoped or underdoped so that it is no longer superconducting. This suggests that the stripes play an important role in the mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity. [M][P][R]
Thermal interface materials To cope with higher power dissipation in integrated circuits, researchers are developing new types of thermal interface materials that can be sandwiched between chips and metal heat sinks to enhance heat flow. According to research at Purdue, carpets of carbon nanotubes make a good interface material and can enhance the heat flow by a factor of three. [M][J][N][P]
Nanotube sandwich composites By stacking layers of ceramic cloth with interlocking nanotubes in between, a team of researchers has created new composite materials with significantly improved properties compared to traditional composites. The researchers report that the interlocking nanotubes provided remarkable improvements in strength and toughness under various loading conditions, performed extremely well in fracture tests, and demonstrated a five-fold increase in damping. Tests also showed that both the thermal and electrical conductivity of the new composites were significantly improved. They could potentially be employed as sensors to monitor crack propagation in various structures. [M][A][N][P][S]
Work hardening of metals Through a series of computer simulations and experiments using the metal molybdenum, researchers at Lawrence Livermore have developed a more detailed understanding of dislocation interactions and their role in hardening metals. The results show that three or more dislocations intersecting create a strong, nearly indestructible locking mechanism, and are much better than just two dislocations intersecting. [M][C]
Extreme states of matter An international research team has shown that it is possible to study extreme states of matter by using laser-ignited explosions created with just an ordinary femtosecond laser and standard techniques. The team created microexplosions by focussing laser pulses into a sapphire crystal. They calculated that with a 100 nanojoule pulse, the microexplosion produced a pressure of 10 terapascals, about 20 times the pressure at the Earth's core, a temperature of half a million degrees Kelvin, and a heating rate of a million degrees per picosecond. [M][O][P] |
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| [E] Environment, transport and marine | |
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Global warming Even assuming major steps are taken to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it is widely expected that carbon dioxide levels will rise to twice their pre-industrial level. Some observational studies suggest the possibility that this could cause average global temperatures to rise by more than 9 degrees. However, a new study, using reconstructions of Northern Hemisphere temperatures since the year 1270, confirms the predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that the increase is unlikely to be more than 4.5 degrees C. The new study finds that there is a 90 percent probability that a doubling of carbon dioxide levels will result in average temperature increases of between 1.5 and 6.2 degrees C, with a chance of no more than 15 percent that it will exceed 4.5 degrees. To date, average global temperature has increased by 0.6 degrees C plus/minus 0.2 degrees in the past 30 years. [E]
Future climate Human activity is altering the circulation of the tropical atmosphere and ocean through global warming, according to a US study that has used computer simulations and historical records dating back to the mid-19th century. The study concludes that the principal loop of winds that drives climate and ocean behaviour across the tropical Pacific is slowing down and causing the climate to drift towards a more El Niño-like state. This could have important implications for the frequency and intensity of future El Niño events and biological productivity in tropical oceans. [E]
Ozone and Arctic warming NASA scientists estimate that ozone pollution is responsible for one-third to half of the observed warming trend in the Arctic during winter and spring, which is causing early melting of sea ice. Ozone is a greenhouse gas and in the lower atmosphere it contributes to global warming as well as to pollution. However, unlike other greenhouse gases, it does not last long enough to spread uniformly around the globe and its warming impact is closely tied to the region it originates from. In summer, sunlight quickly destroys the ozone. But in winter the ozone produced in the industrialised Northern hemisphere persists longer and is transported into the Arctic. [E]
Origin of Antarctic ice sheet The Antarctic ice sheet is believed to have formed more than 33 million years ago, when a rapid cooling replaced boreal pine forests with ice and snow. The cooling occurred in a very warm era when levels of carbon dioxide levels were three to four times higher than today. New fossil evidence supports the hypothesis that the cooling was triggered by the opening of the Drake Passage, connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific. This established the circumpolar current that isolates Antarctica climatically from the rest of the world. The upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water produced by the circumpolar current could also have caused a great growth of algae that lowered the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. [E]
Antarctic lakes and rivers By examining small changes in elevation, observed using the radar altimetry and radar interferometry on ESA's ERS-2 satellite, UK scientists have discovered large rivers, hundreds of miles long, connecting subglacial lakes under the Antarctic ice shelf. The surprising finding challenges the widely held assumption that the subglacial lakes have evolved individually under isolated conditions. It also raises the possibility that large flows of water from deep within the ice's interior may can generate huge floods that reach the ocean, affecting the thermohaline circulation. Over 150 subglacial lakes have so far been discovered and it is thought thousands of others may exist. [E][R]
Endangered species The 'Red List' of threatened species, published by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) had been updated, and now contains 16,119 individual species classified as endangered. Species on the list include the hippopotamus, polar bear, gazelle and ray. Some 784 species have been declared extinct, while a further 65 species are now only found in captivity. One in three amphibians, one-quarter of the world's coniferous trees, one-quarter of mammals and one-eighth of the world's birds are threatened with extinction. [E]
Ocean crust Project MoHole, begun in the 1950s, had the aim of drilling all the way through the ocean crust, into the Earth’s mantle. Half a century later an international team of scientists aboard the research drilling ship JOIDES Resolution has succeed in doing this. The results confirm ideas from seismologic interpretation about how fast-spreading oceanic crust is built, and refine understanding of the relationship between seismic velocity and crustal rock composition. [E][R] |
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| [R] Remote sensing and sensor systems | |
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Measuring Antarctic melting The Antarctic ice sheet, up to 4 km thick, holds 90 percent of the Earth's fresh water. Determining whether it is growing or declining as a result of global warming has a big bearing on how much sea levels are likely to rise, and the prognosis for cities such as New York and London. But unravelling what is happening is very difficult. Measuring the ice sheet using satellite radar altimetry suggests it is increasing by 27 ± 29 gigatonnes per year. Measuring how much snow is falling and how much ice is melting indicates the ice sheet is declining by 26 ± 37 gigatonnes per year. Gravity measurements from the GRACE two-satellite system indicates a much faster decline of 139 ± 73 gigatonnes per year. Much of this difference can be accounted for by the fact that each technique surveys different areas of the continent. A key uncertainty is what is happening to the ice sheets in the coastal sectors of Antarctica, a question that makes ESA's replacement Cryosat 2 mission highly important. [R][A][E][T][X]
Cloudsat and Calipso A big uncertainty in modelling global warming and climate change is caused by the lack of sufficiently detailed knowledge about clouds and aerosols at various heights in the atmosphere. NASA has launched two satellites to remedy this. One, called Cloudsat, carries an extremely sensitive radar that can image the structure and water content of clouds. The other, called Calipso (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite) uses infrared and visible lidar to image the very fine particles that are thrown up into the atmosphere by human activities and by natural processes, such as volcanic eruptions, dust and sand storms and sea spray. [R][E]
Crop monitoring Real-time monitoring may be useful for optimising the production of crops, particularly of high value greenhouse crops such as strawberries. A European project has developed a prototype system that uses an infrared camera to scan the entire crop canopy. It can automatically detect when individual plants or groups of plants are getting too hot. Another sensor detects chlorophyll fluorescence, which identifies the rate at which the plant is absorbing energy and hence the health of photosynthesis. [R]
Geoinformation from space Geoinformation, created by combining 'real-world population’ maps based on Earth observation with road and other network information and with statistical population data, can assist the private and public sector in fields such as marketing, market research, business location analysis, risk assessment and transport and urban planning. [R][A][K][T][X]
Search for extraterrestrial intelligence A new telescope will scan for optical signals from possible extra-terrestrial civilisations in the galaxy. It will conduct a year-round, all-sky survey, scanning the entire swath of the Milky Way that is visible in the northern hemisphere, performing one trillion measurements per second and expanding by 100,000-fold the sky coverage of previous optical SETI search. [R][A]
Cellphone remote sensing Monitoring the way rain interferes with the signals routinely sent between mobile phone masts provides an accurate picture of rainfall over an area, according to Israeli researchers. The same technique could one day also be used to measure pollution, they suggest. [R][E][I]
Proton spin-noise NMR imaging US and Austrian researchers have developed a completely non-invasive imaging method that offers the benefits of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while eliminating patients' exposure to irradiation. It exploits a low-energy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique that relies on the detection of spontaneous, proton spin-noise in a tightly coupled rf-cavity. The technique does not require very strong magnetic fields and could lead to extremely portable and minimally invasive instruments. It is also applicable to NMR spectroscopy. Very delicate samples, such as explosives could be investigated with this method, according to the researchers. [R][H][M][S]
Terahertz medical imaging According to a study on 22 breast cancer patients at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, terahertz imaging can reliably distinguish between normal breast tissue, tumour and even early-stage 'in situ' cancers. The imaging takes less than five minutes and provides a way that surgeons can check during an operation that the entire tumour has been removed with an adequate margin of normal tissue, whilst minimizing the amount of healthy tissue being removed. [R][H][S] |
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| [S] Sensor devices | |
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Nanotube infrared sensors Researchers at the University of California have found that a film of single-walled carbon nanotubes suspended in a vacuum has a very high sensitivity to infrared radiation. They believe this could make nanotubes useful as infrared sensors for thermal imaging, spectroscopy and infrared astronomy. [S][N][R]
Nanoparticle sensor Gold nanoparticles coated with sugars tailored to detect different biological substances are very effective detectors of biological toxins, according to research at the University of East Anglia. When mixed with a weak solution of the sugar-coated nanoparticles, the target substance, be it a poison such as ricin or a microbe such as E.coli, binds to the sugar, producing a change in colour. [S][H][N]
Nanobiosensor Carbon nanotubes coated with layers of enzymes can make very sensitive detectors for a wide range of applications, from ultra-precise blood-sugar monitoring to detecting infectious agents. [S][H][N]
Cancer screening Several new techniques have been reported for early detection of cancer from molecular messages and signals circulating in blood or contained in cells lining the airway. [S][H]
Artificial compound eye Using insect eyes as models, bioengineers at Berkeley have created a series of artificial compound eyes. These can eventually perform even better than the best fish-eye lens in capturing information from a wide field of view. Potential applications include surveillance, high-speed motion detectors, environmental sensing, and medical procedures such as endoscopy and image-guided surgery. The researchers used templating in a photosensitive polymer resin to make thousands of tiny hexagonal-shaped lenses, each measuring just microns across. Each is connected to a waveguide that directs light down into photodetector arrays that then build up an image of an object. [S][E][H][O][R]
New x-ray microscope A team from six UK universities has created a new type of 3D x-ray microscope that uses 'time delay integration'. Through averaging out imperfections in the image across all pixels, this approach enables the microscope to produce clearer and bigger pictures than previously possible. Potential applications include studying how bone and tooth tissue behave in conditions such as osteoporosis, observing how crude oil is held in sandstone pores, investigating the mechanical behaviour of metals at a microscopic level, and detailed study of fossils embedded in rocks. [S][A][H][M][P]
3D molecular sensing By making nanoparticles with intricate shapes, researchers can control how they interact with light. At Rice University, researchers have created star-shaped gold nanoparticles in which each arm of the star has a unique spectral signature that is extremely sensitive to the dielectric environment. This gives the materials potential applications in 3D molecular sensing. [S][G][N][O]
STEM In contrast to conventional far-field light microscopy, stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy has a resolution that is not fundamentally limited by the wavelength of light used. With STED, nanoscale optical studies are now possible inside cells. This has allowed German researchers to image, for the first time, proteins from single synaptic vesicles - answering long-standing questions about neurocommunication - and has also aided the understanding of the role of bruchpilot protein in the formation of active synaptic zones. [S][B][G][M][N][O] |
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| [O] Optoelectronics, optics and lasers | |
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Cloaking Mathematicians have shown that, in principle, it is possible to make objects invisible using an effect known as anomalous localised resonance. Their calculations show how an illuminated speck of dust would scatter light at frequencies that induce a strong, finely tuned resonance in a cloaking material placed very close by. The resonance effectively cancels out the light bouncing off the speck of dust, rendering the dust particle invisible. The cloaking effect might work for larger objects, but only at certain frequencies of light, so that some objects placed near the cloak might only partially disappear. [O][M][R]
T-wave propagation Researchers have found that terahertz waves (T-rays) travel more slowly if sent down smaller diameter wires. When T-rays strike the metal wire, they create plasmons, and via these electron waves the T-ray energy propagates down the wire. The plasmonic properties of the wire depend on its curvature. The greater curvature of smaller diameter wires, together with the properties of the metal itself, cause the T-rays to more slowly. [O][M][R][S]
Laser photothermyolysis US researchers have shown that a laser can preferentially heat lipid-rich tissues, or fat, in the body without harming the overlying skin. At most infrared wavelengths, water is more efficiently heated by light. However, using a free-electron laser, the researchers were able to find three wavelengths – 915, 1210 and 1720 nm – where fat was more efficiently heated than water. If laser therapies can be developed at these wavelengths, they could potentially treat a variety of fat-related health conditions, including severe acne, atherosclerotic plaque and unwanted cellulite. [O][H]
Femtosecond photochemistry Dutch and German researchers have demonstrated that the detailed shape of the electric field inside a femtosecond light pulse can be used to control the motion of electrons involved in chemical bonding and to change the outcome of a simple chemical reaction. This result, which was obtained on the dissociation of deuterium molecules, may open a new way of steering intra-molecular electron transfer processes like those in DNA base-pairs. [O][G][N]
Electron wave packet interferometry Scientists at the University of Lund have demonstrated that attosecond laser pulses are an extremely powerful tool for studying the wave-like nature of electrons. They have developed a technique for measuring the phase of an electronic wave function. The technique is based on interferences between electrons that are created by two attosecond pulses that quickly follow each other. [O][F]
Quantum dot nano-lasers Making miniature quantum dot lasers has presented a challenge since the very sharp transitions of just a few quantum dots are unlikely to resonate with the laser cavity. Scientists in Italy and the US have discovered a way to overcome this problem by embedding the dots in a photonic crystal nano cavity. This forces the dots to interact with electronic carriers in their immediate surroundings and makes the dots self-tune into resonance with the cavity. The researchers have been able to create nano lasers containing only two to four quantum dots. The record low lasing thresholds combined with the high efficiencies make these nano lasers promising for integrated photonic circuits on a chip and for bio-sensing of individual molecules. [O][J][M][N][S]
Slow light Slow light provides a way to synchronise optical signals, and might also be used to store information in 'frozen photons' and to create a quantum computer. UK researchers have shown that they can slow light to less than 1/40th of its speed in empty space by passing it through a stack of quantum wells. The stack is formed of alternating nanometre thick layers of the semiconductors indium gallium arsenide and aluminium indium arsenide. Its electronic states can be tailored to manifest quantum-optical phenomena such as slow light, and the researchers believe that it should be possible to bring light to a complete halt. The layered films also display an unusual effect called 'gain without inversion', which enables a light signal to be amplified without first having to create a population inversion. [O][C][I][J][N]
Spin photonics A beam of light can carry linear momentum and two forms of angular momentum: spin and orbital angular momentum. Physicists at the University of Naples have shown that with a specially twisted half wave plate one can convert one form of angular momentum into the other. Exploiting orbital angular momentum allows light to carry more bits of information per photon than using spin alone, so the ability to manipulate the orbital component could open up new communication methods. Controlling the interaction of spin and orbital angular momentum in the same photon might also allow novel kinds of logic operations in future optical or even quantum computers. [O][C][I][J] |
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| [I] IT, communications, networking and secure systems | |
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High frequency wireless comms In order to listen for and send information on exactly the right frequency at all times, a cell phone or a WiFi laptop must maintain a very accurate and stable clock. Currently, this involves using a digital frequency divider circuit, which consumes a serious amount of the battery power. A new circuit design called an injection locked frequency divider (ILFD) cuts this consumption by an order of magnitude. This power reduction is important as WiFi and other wireless networking devices push up into the 60GHz band. ILFDs use an analog method and a circuit that can divide by two or divide by three so that the right combination of even and odd divisions can produce any transmission frequency needed with very high resolution. [I][J]
Worldwide broadband Intel has announced plans to invest more than one billion dollars over the next five years to speed access to technology and education for people in the developing world. The objectives of the World Ahead Program are to extend broadband Internet access to the world's next billion users while training 10 million more teachers on the use of technology in education. [I][D][E][K]
Internet at sea Internet use at sea is currently poor and expensive. Data transmission using satellite links typically provides 10kbps at a cost of around € 20 per megabyte. A new approach, combining Ku-band satellites for the downlink and narrow L-band satellites for the return channel, promises to reduce the cost by as much as 70 percent. The downlink offers a speed of 512 kbps and the uplink channel speed is 9.6 kbps for Globalstar and up to 64 kbps for Inmarsat. [I]
Emergency mobile device An EU funded project has developed a mobile alarm, built into a simple lightweight mobile phone and designed particularly to assist people suffering from age-related frailty or Parkinson's disease that impairs motor skills. The device allows users to place a call to a service centre in the event of an emergency, while satellite positioning via GPS provides information about their location. [I][H][V]
Road information networks Around 40,000 people are killed on European roads every year and more than 3.3 million are injured. The European Parliament has now voted to adopt the eCall safety system for all new cars from 2009. eCall will automatically alert the emergency services to an accident and provide a precise GPS location, significantly reducing response times. [I][H][R]
Road information networks A collaborative EU project involving 63 organisations is developing a 'smart' system to allow vehicles and road infrastructure to communicate. The aim is that drivers will be able to influence the traffic control system directly, and to be guided to the quickest route to their destination avoiding road congestion. Information shown on road signs would be available wirelessly and be shown on a display inside the vehicle. Transportation of hazardous goods could be tracked at all times and have priority along a pre-selected safe route. [I][E][R][U]
Database interoperability Organizations frequently need to access data belonging to other organizations. But sharing data is difficult because databases are typically constructed using different terms or vocabularies. Penn State researchers have developed generic software, called the Privacy-preserving Access Control Toolkit (PACT), that allows databases to "talk to each other" automatically without compromising the security of the data and metadata. [I][C][K]
Trusted networking The 2006 UK government survey of information security breaches experienced by business has found that traditional network boundaries are extending as companies make increasing use of wireless networking and start to implement VoIP technology. About a third of large companies have now adopted VoIP. However, half the businesses that implemented VoIP did so without evaluating the security risks. [I][X]
Internet vulnerability According to scientists at Cornell, the internet domain name system is now seriously vulnerable to attack. They found that simple attacks could let malicious hackers take over more than one-third of the net's sites, and that if the simple attacks were combined with denial-of-service attacks, 85 percent of the net could be vulnerable to take-over. [I][D] |
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| [K] Knowledge, information and technology management | |
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Mining the Internet Dutch researchers have developed a software tool, called MoodViews, that can trace and explain significant changes in mood patterns on the Internet by mapping and analysing the moods of bloggers as they write their messages. Each day MoodViews picks up about 150,000 blog messages, it uses language technology to predict the mood on the Web, it records unusual peaks in mood levels, and it uses search engine technology to find an explanation for these mood swings. Various other components of MoodViews are still under development. One will search the moods associated with certain persons, locations or products. [K][D][I][X]
Image search engine Mathematicians and computer scientists from four European universities have developed more efficient algorithms for comparing shapes, particularly to allow faster and more efficient searching of medical images. [K][C][H][R]
Medical decision support A trial at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children has shown that web-based clinical decision support can significantly improve the quality of treatment decisions made by clinicians and prevent diagnostic errors. [K][H]
Communicating in words By analysing a wide range of outstanding writing, scientists at the Weizmann Institute have identified some basic principles of good communication. Strings of words are one-dimensional. The mind and memory of the reader or listener recreates complex ideas from these strings. The researchers found that the underlying structure in strings of words can be represented mathematically as concept vectors. These can go in many directions, and reading the text can be thought of as a tour along paths in the resulting network. The multidimensional concept vectors seem to span a "web of ideas." The scientists' work suggests this network is based on a tree-like hierarchy and that this may be a basic underpinning of language. [K][B][V]
Origin of language Linguists have developed a mathematically rigorous set of definitions, a hierarchy of syntactical complexity, that governs the process of how humans create and understand utterances. Language experts have used properties of these rules, whose complexity is described by the Chomsky hierarchy, to define the boundaries between humans and other creatures. Until now, certain patterns of language organization were thought to be the exclusive province of humans. However, US researchers have discovered the same capacity to recognize such patterns and distinguish between them in the common European starling. UK researchers have also found the first evidence that monkeys can string "words" together to communicate in a similar way to humans. [K][B]
Ranking research areas Carbon nanotubes are the hottest topic in physics, according to a new way of ranking the popularity of different scientific fields. Second in the popularity chart are nanowires, followed by quantum dots, fullerenes, giant magnetoresistance, M-theory and quantum computation. The new ranking has been developed by Michael Banks, a PhD student at Max Planck. He thinks the new index could be a quick and simple way of determining the most important subject areas in physics. The new index is based on the "Hirsch index", which was devised in 2005 by Jorge Hirsch of the University of California at San Diego as a way of quantifying the performance of individual scientists. [K][F][T]
Measuring scientific impact Google could be a good way of measuring the "impact" of a particular scientific paper and might even be used to replace traditional citation indices, according to a new statistical analysis by physicists in the US. The researchers have found that the Google PageRank algorithm, which measures the relative importance of Web pages, can provide a systematic way to find important papers. The technique also uncovers top scientific papers that are overlooked by conventional searches. [K][T] |
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| [C] Computing, supercomputing, modelling and simulation | |
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Quantum-dot molecule A pair of quantum dots can form a quantum-dot molecule, due to electrons tunnelling between the dots. Quantum-dot molecules are potentially useful for carrying out quantum computing operations. Researchers have now shown that they can probe, and change, the quantum energy states of a quantum dot molecule using surface acoustic waves excited in the substrate supporting the dots. [C][J][N][O][S]
Quantum computing US researchers have set a new algorithmic benchmark for quantum computing by successfully controlling a 12 Qubit system and decoding the output. [C]
Simulating gravitational waves NASA scientists have reached a breakthrough in computer modelling that allows them to simulate what gravitational waves from merging black holes look like. Einstein's theory of general relativity employs a type of mathematics called tensor calculus, which cannot easily be turned into computer instructions. The simplest tensor calculus equations require thousands of lines of computer code. The NASA team succeeding in finding appropriate formulations that led to simulations that were stable and reproducible. [C][F] |
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| [W] Whole life engineering, manufacture and testing | |
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Service-oriented architecture Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a technique for building software applications that allows loose links between components so they can be reused and information can be shared. Using SOA one can adapt applications to changing technologies, easily integrate applications with other systems, leverage existing investments in legacy applications, and quickly and easily create a business process from existing services. But to work well and to provide an agile, reconfigurable system, there needs to be good architectural thinking about what services are useful now and in the near future. [W][I][K][T]
Open source business The term "open source" first described a model of software development where the underlying programming code is open to inspection, modification and redistribution. However, the open source approach has now widened: open-business practices have emerged as a mainstream way for collaboration to happen online, new business models are being built around commercialising open-source wares, and corporations are looking to adopt and adapt more open-source practices. The challenges are how to ensure quality and to sustain motivation. [W][C][I][K][T] |
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| [X] Systems, complexity and risk | |
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Social co-operation Humans cooperate on all sorts of issues and tasks, but every so often a member of the group fails to pull his weight. If such free riding is allowed to proliferate, cooperation itself can break down. A new study suggests that the threat of penalty is the key to successful cooperation. [X][K]
Order in non-linear systems According to a computational study of a network of oscillators at Washington University in St. Louis, one may create order by introducing disorder. Their results showed that introducing disorder by applying forces at random to each oscillator surprisingly caused the system to become ordered and synchronized. Conversely, when driven by ordered forces, the oscillators behaved chaotically. The findings may explain puzzling properties of neuronal systems. [X]
Evolution of complexity How natural selection can drive the evolution of tightly integrated molecular systems – those in which the function of each part depends on its interactions with the other parts—has been an unsolved issue in evolutionary biology. Advocates of Intelligent Design argue that such systems are "irreducibly complex" and thus incompatible with gradual evolution by natural selection. However, new techniques are now showing how such complexity has evolved piecemeal through a process of molecular exploitation in which old genes, constrained by selection for entirely different functions, were later recruited by evolution to participate in new interactions and new functions. [X][G] |
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| [V] Virtuality and human-machine interface | |
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Driver interfaces According to a US study, nearly 80 percent of vehicle crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event. Primary causes of inattention are distracting activities, such as cell phone use, and drowsiness. The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study tracked the behaviour of the drivers of 100 vehicles equipped with video and sensor devices for more than one year. During that time, the vehicles were driven nearly 2,000,000 miles, yielding 42,300 hours of data. The 241 drivers of the vehicles were involved in 82 crashes, 761 near crashes, and 8,295 critical incidents. [V][B][E][I][R][U]
Infrared enhanced vision A European research project has developed a prototype dual-band infrared-camera system that substantially enhances human visual perception in poor visibility conditions such as fog, heavy rain and at night. The system doubled airline pilots' ability to detect obstacles in tests simulating poor visibility, and in road tests it boosted automobile drivers' vision up to 400 per cent. It could eventually be used on commercial airliners and in cars to improve safety. [V][A][R][S]
Smart shirt A US company has launched a fully washable shirt that can monitor the wearer's movement, heart rate and respiration rate in real time through a nanotechnology conductive fibre grid that is seamlessly knit into the material. The aim is that the system could be used to remotely monitor the elderly at home; observe outpatients in post-operative or chronic illness situations; provide training support for athletes and remote monitoring for first responders, hazardous-materials workers and soldiers in the field; and monitor truck drivers' vital signs to alert them of fatigue. [V][D][H][K][M][N][R][S]
Virtual reality Orbiter 2006 is a comprehensive freeware space flight simulator that offers accurate physics, excellent 3D graphics, astronomy features, and a first-person astronaut's perspective. Created as an educational project at University College London, Orbiter allows users to virtually experience many aspects of space flight, including launching to orbit, orbital manoeuvring, rendezvous/docking with the International Space Station, deploying satellites from the space shuttle, and even flying to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. [V][A][C]
Virtual reality games A kung-fu computer game that requires players to perform real flying kicks and punches is being developed for gaming consoles. The game lets players fight onscreen enemies using real kicks, punches and head-butts, or by wielding any improvised weapon they choose. A video camera captures their movements from one side and superimposes a two-dimensional silhouette of them onto a computer screen. A computer then translates the silhouette's moves into real-time computerised kicks and punches, enabling a player to take on virtual opponents. [V][K]
Tele-immersive videoconferencing Videoconferencing using a 2-dimensional single view could soon be replaced by 3-dimensional tele-immersive environments currently under development. According to researchers at the University of Illinois such tele-immersive environments, which enable people to view their counterparts at remote sites from all angles, can be achieved using relatively inexpensive technology and commercial-off-the-shelf products and equipment. [V][I]
Mobile displays Samsung Electronics has announced that it has developed the industry's first amorphous silicon seven-inch, single-chip TFT-LCD panel that reproduces colours in high resolution. It was thought that such a high degree of circuit integration using amorphous silicon (a-Si) would be prohibitively difficult. The new display opens the way to thinner and more mobile devices. [V][J]
Solar-powered implant A solar-powered chip that sits at the back of the eye and squirts neurotransmitters onto the retinal cells in response to light could restore sight to people with retinal diseases. Unlike other implants, the US-built device does not cause retinal cells to heat up and does not need external batteries. [V][B][J][P]
Dynamic range of senses Physicists in Brazil have shown how the mathematical models that describe phase transitions in physical systems might also explain why the senses of hearing, vision, smell, taste and touch in humans and animals have such a huge dynamic range. The models show how a random network of "excitable elements," such as neurons or axons, can have a collective response that is both exquisitely sensitive and broad in scope. When subtle stimuli hit the network, sensitivity is improved because of the ability of one neuron to excite its neighbour, leading to a power law response. [V][B][C][S][V][X] |
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| [B] Brain research and human science | |
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Losing oneself The common experience of "losing oneself in an engrossing activity" is due to the brain shutting down introspection in order to focus maximum resources on the sensory task, according to studies at the Weizmann Institute. Using fMRI, the researchers found that regions of the brain activated during sensory processing or self-reflective introspection were quite distinct and segregated: sensory processing activated the sensory cortex and related structures, while introspection activated the prefrontal cortex. They also found that the activity in the prefrontal cortex was silenced during intense sensory processing. This is reminiscent of Eastern philosophies, such as Zen teachings, which emphasize the need to enter into a 'mindless' selfless mental state to achieve a true sense of reality. [B][V]
Neuroeconomics Behavioural research has shown that, in numerous circumstances, peoples' economic choices violate the criteria of economic rationality. The emerging field of neuroeconomics is concerned with understanding the neural basis of such economic choice, such as choosing between working and earning more or enjoying more leisure time, or choosing to invest in bonds or in stocks. In general, it is believed that economic choice involves assigning values to available options. Researchers have now found a population of neurons located in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) that assigns values to different goods on a common value scale, thereby allowing comparison of goods, like apples and oranges, that otherwise lack a natural basis for comparison. This discovery has enabled the researchers to explore experimentally what factors do and do not affect the value assigned and the choice made. [B][D][E][K][X]
Decisions under dread Neuroeconomics combines neuroscience, economics, and psychology to study how people make choices, evaluate decisions, categorize risks and rewards, and interact with each other, and how their behaviour is affected by factors such as fear, anxiety and dread. Using fMRI, neuroeconomists have determined the areas of the brain involved in dread. The scans showed that brain activity related to dread was localized in the parts of the pain network linked to attention. This suggests that dread is not as simple as fear or anxiety, which are controlled by different brain regions, and explains why dread leads to impulsive and rash decisions. It also suggests that dread can be mitigated by diverting attention. [B][D][H][K][X]
Risk aversion Evidence that human risk aversion is innate rather than learned is provided by a Yale study that has found that a colony of capuchin monkeys shows similar behaviour. [B][D][H][K][X]
Creative insight Researchers have previously demonstrated that the brain functions differently when a person arrives at insightful "Aha!" solutions to a problem, compared to methodical solutions. The researchers have now found that the distinct patterns of brain activity begin much earlier than the time a problem is solved. As people prepare for problems that they solve with creative insight, their pattern of brain activity suggests that they are focusing attention inwardly, are ready to switch to new trains of thought, and perhaps are actively silencing irrelevant thoughts. The findings show that people can mentally prepare to solve problems with different thinking styles and that these different forms of preparation can be identified with specific patterns of brain activity. This may lead to an understanding of how to put people in the optimal "frame of mind" to deal with particular types of problems. [B][K]
Neuron operation An important discovery has been made at Max Planck about the functioning and speed of neurons. The researchers analyzed how nerve cells in the cerebral cortex decide to send out impulses. They discovered that the flexibility and speed with which these cells work cannot be explained using the present core model of neurophysiology, the Hodgkin-Huxley model. The new findings suggest that the sodium channels, which open in the cell membranes during a nerve impulse, do not work independently of each other, as has always been assumed, but instead work co-operatively. This enables neurons to transmit fast changing signals well and to suppress slow signals, and this speed and filtering may play a major role in the cognitive ability of higher animals and humans. [B]
Stroke Taking the “triple therapy” of aspirin, statins and blood pressure reducing drugs not only helps to prevent stroke but also reduces the severity of a stroke if one occurs, according to a US study. [B][H]
Brain structure and ability Researchers are beginning to understand how brain shape and structure affect mental abilities. At UCL, research has found that the brains of people who can learn languages quickly have more white matter in a region responsible for sound processing, and are also less symmetrical than normal. The fatty tissue of white matter provides insulation and enables signals to travel faster through nerve fibres, whereas grey matter contains neurons without this protective layer. [B]
Alzheimer's disease New research is revealing strategies for blocking the molecular processes that lead to memory destruction in Alzheimer's disease. Several candidate therapies are undergoing clinical trials and have yielded some promising preliminary results. A review article in the May issue of Scientific American describes the progress in understanding the disease, and the challenges in finding a cure. [B][G][H][T] |
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| [H] Healthcare and medicine | |
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Health in America and England A collaborative study by RAND and UCL to compare the health of middle-aged people in the US and England has found that in both countries there are very similar socioeconomic differences in health: the less education and income people had, the worse their health. However, overall, English people are remarkably healthier than their American counterparts. Americans aged between 55 and 64 suffer from diseases such as diabetes, high-blood pressure and lung cancer at rates up to twice those seen among similar aged people in England. Such a large difference is very surprising. Having ruled out several explanations, the researchers believe that past differences in health risk may be the most significant factor. Rising levels of obesity occurred several decades ago in the US but only recently in the UK. [H][X]
Calorie restriction and ageing Scientists from the University of Florida's Institute on Aging have found that eating a little less food and exercising a little more over a lifespan can reduce or even reverse aging-related cell and organ damage in rats. The discovery builds on recent research in animals and humans that has shown that a more drastic 20 to 40 percent cut in calories slows aging damage. The new findings suggest that even small reductions in calories could have big effects on health. [H]
Cholesterol and cancer A study involving nearly 3000 men in four areas of Italy has found a link between high cholesterol levels and prostate cancer. A possible explanation is that the body uses cholesterol to make hormones known as androgens that influence prostate tissue. A surplus of cholesterol may lead to unbalanced production of the hormone. The findings could help explain why cholesterol-cutting drugs appear to decrease the risk of prostate cancer. [H]
Cancer therapy Traditional cancer treatments have established different drug regimens depending on where the cancer is located. However a US study comparing eight different kinds of cancerous tumours has found that the tumour's pharmacologic profile is more important than where it is located. This suggests that treatment should be tailored to how each patient's tumour reacts to anticancer drugs, regardless of the tumour's anatomical origin. [H][G]
Blocking cancer from spreading Many tumours are short of oxygen because they do not have a sufficient blood supply, and these hypoxic tumours are often among the most deadly cancers. Researchers at the Stanford University have now found a protein that may explain this. The protein, called lysyl oxidase, or LOX, is produced by the hypoxic tumour cells and helps them to spread. The researchers found that blocking LOX stopped the spread of tumours in mice. They are now developing human-compatible antibodies to block LOX. As well as offering a potential new treatment for hypoxic cancers, the findings create an entirely new set of insights into the mechanisms of invasion and spread of cancer. [H][G]
Fat development A serendipitous discovery has shown that the initial development of fat requires a "remodelling" protein that must first make space for the lipid-laden tissue's growth. An enzyme that "chews" through collagen fibres sculpts the matrix surrounding fat cells, allowing them to expand and mature. This process may control the activity and function of genes in white fat tissue throughout life by remodelling surrounding extracellular matrix barriers as fat cells accumulate or break down lipids in response to changing energy demands. [H][G]
Laughter and health Mirthful laughter - and even the anticipation of mirth - appears to have a beneficial effect on health. Blood levels of experimental subjects just before they watched their favourite mirthful laughter video had 27 percent more beta-endorphins and 87 percent more human growth hormone. The researchers found that the physiological effects of a one-hour viewing lasted up to a day. [H][B][K]
Preventing massive bleeding Researchers have shown that chemically blocking carbon monoxide (CO) arrests traumatic bleeding in rats. The research is still a long way from use in humans, but could eventually help stanch massive bleeding in instances of soft tissue trauma, and reduce the need for blood transfusions of patients facing lengthy surgery. The researchers say that it is also possible that the principle could be applied as a preventative treatment to soldiers in battle zones to stem blood loss if they are subsequently wounded. [H][D]
Treating diabetes A treatment combining an experimental vaccine with an immunity-altering drug can reverse type I diabetes in mice, a new study suggests. The combination therapy reversed the symptoms of diabetes in about half of the mice treated. [H]
Male contraception A number of clinical trials have shown that taking a certain mix of hormones, including testosterone, can reliably suppress sperm production in men. But until now researchers have remained uncertain about how long it takes for men to regain fertility once treatment stops. A new study analysing data from more than 1500 men across different trials has found that on average it takes about three months and that all of the men had regained fertile sperm levels within two years. [H]
New class of drugs Of the 20 top selling drugs in the US, 12 target G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs are a key part of the signalling cascades in cells that are involved in vision, nerve messages, immune response, timing of heartbeats, and so forth. Faulty GPCR signalling plays a key role in several major diseases. Researchers at University of Rochester believe they have found a new way to regulate the same GCPR pathways, but at different points. Whilst most drugs change the behaviour of GPCRs on the outside of cells, the new class of drugs seeks to influence related signalling on the inside. Early studies suggest that the newly discovered "drug candidates" can provide better control of pathways involved in pain relief, inflammation and heart disease, while leaving healthy functions in place. [H][G] |
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| [G] Genomics, biotechnology and bioinformatics | |
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Personalised medicine Not all drugs are effective in all patients and in rare cases adverse drug reactions can occur in susceptible individuals. To address this, researchers from Imperial College and Pfizer have been exploring new methods for profiling individuals prior to drug therapy by analysing their metabolites present in urine, or other biofluid, samples. The new methodology uses a combination of advanced chemical analysis and mathematical modelling. It has been tested in rats and will now be evaluated in humans. It is possible that individual metabolite patterns can be used to diagnose diseases, to predict an individual's future illnesses and likely response to treatments, and to tailor drug treatments for best effect. [G][H][S]
NK immune cells The immune systems has three major types of cells: T cells, B cells and natural killer (NK) cells. It has been known for decades that T and B cells develop in the thymus and bone marrow, but it has been a mystery where NK cells develop. Researchers here now shown that NK cells mature from progenitor stem cells in four discrete stages in secondary lymphoid tissue such as tonsils and lymph glands. NK cells play a key role in defence against cancer and infections. An important question is whether patients with cancer have altered NK cell development. [G][H]
Stem cell therapy Stem cells can be prompted to develop into bone, instead of muscle or cartilage tissue, if they are grown on a substrate etched with nanoscopic patterns, according to researchers at the University of Glasgow. The discovery could lead to longer-lasting artificial implants that are nano-engineered to encourage suitable tissue to develop around them. [G][H][N]
Growth of bone Researchers have found that a single nucleotide error in the ACVR1 gene is responsible for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a rare and extremely disabling genetic condition in which muscle is progressively replaced by bone. The discovery is not only an important step towards finding a treatment for FOV but may also be significant for treating many common disorders that affect the skeleton – conditions such as non-genetic forms of extra bone growth that may occur following total hip replacement, head injuries, spinal cord injuries, sports injuries, blast injuries from war, and even osteoarthritis and damaged heart valves. [G][H]
Light-activated gene therapy Damage to articular cartilage, unlike bone, does not mend itself but instead erodes. Gene therapy might provide a way to turn on cartilage regrowth if it can be confined precisely to the damaged area. According to recent research, it may be possible to achieve this by delivering the gene therapy using a particular virus that only delivers a single strand of DNA into a cell rather than both strands. For the gene therapy to take effect, a second strand of DNA must then be built inside the cell. This can be triggered to happen in the areas needing repair by pre-exposing just those areas to long wavelength UV light via the same optical fibre that is inserted into the joint and used by the surgeon to view the damage. The UV causes the cell to produce DNA-polymerase, which generates the second strand of DNA. The approach should also be suitable for delivering therapeutic genes to treat cancer and cardiovascular disease. [G][H][O]
Genetic factor in Alzheimer's disease Belgian researchers have found that the quantity of amyloid protein in brain cells plays a key role in the development of Alzheimer's disease; the greater the quantity of the protein, the younger the dementia can start. The results of the research mean that it is possible to identify those with an increased genetic risk of developing Alzheimer's by measuring the amount of amyloid precursor protein that an individual has. [G][B][H] Cancer immunity In 1999 scientists discovered a mutant mouse with the ability to ward off aggressive cancers. Bred with a female, this mouse passed on its cancer resistance to roughly 40 percent of its offspring. Now investigators have found that normal mice injected with white blood cells from these | |||