August 30, 1997
Recent discoveries argue that a fossil long considered a jellyfish is actually an ancestor of mollusks. Sources:
Benjamin M. Waggoner
Ancient Animal Sheds False Identity
Department of Biology
University of Central Arkansas
Conway, AR 72035
Imaging shock waves via proton snapshots Proton radiography was used for the first time to obtain images of shock fronts produced inside an explosion. Sources:
John B. McClelland
Subatomic Physics Group
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, NM 87545
Novel gene defect for colorectal cancer
Researchers have found a genetic mutation among Ashkenazi Jews that doubles an individual's risk of colorectal cancer.
Sources:
Kenneth W. Kinzler
Johns Hopkins Oncology Center
424 North Bond Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
Kenneth Offit
Clinical Genetics Service
Department of Human Genetics
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY 10021
Dioxin's fowl deed: Misshapen brains
Birds exposed to dioxin during fetal maturation develop asymmetrical brains that can affect behavior.
Sources:
Michael Gilbertson
International Joint Commission
P.O. Box 32869
Detroit, MI 48232
Diane S. Henshel
School of Public and Environmental Affairs
10th and Fee Lane
Room 340, SPEA Building
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN 47405
Antitumor gene finds long-lost sibling
The first known relative of p53, a gene responsible for controlling cellular growth, resides at a location in the human chromosome long suspected of playing a role in several cancers.
Sources:
Frank D. McKeon
Department of Cell Biology
Harvard Medical School
240 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Endangered seals suffer massive die-off
A quarter of the world's Mediterranean monk seals, apparently stricken by a virus, have died since May.
Sources:
Philip Gibbs
Mediterranean Monk Seal Home Page
E-mail: philip.gibbs@pobox.com
Website: http://www.weburbia.com/pg/seal.htm
Albert Osterhaus
Institute of Virology
Erasmus University
P.O. Box 1738
300 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands
Mammograms better when timed to cycles
Fewer tumors are missed when women get mammograms during the first 2 weeks of their menstrual cycle.
Sources:
Cornelia J. Baines
Department of Public Health Sciences
University of Toronto
12 Queen's Park Crescent West
3rd Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8
Canada
Social links may counter health risks
Increased risk of death among elderly people and elevated blood pressure among black adults appear linked to chronic social isolation.
Sources:
Lisa F. Berkman
Department of Health and Social Behavior
Harvard School of Public Health
677 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 92115
James R. Cerhan
Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health
2800 Steindler Building
University of Iowa
College of Medicine
Iowa City, IA 52242-1008
David S. Strogatz
School of Public Health
University at Albany
State University of New York
One University Place
Rensselaer, NY 12144
Robert B. Wallace
Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health
2800 Steindler Building
University of Iowa
College of Medicine
Iowa City, IA 52242-1008
Freeze! Insect proteins halt ice growth
A protein isolated from insects acts as a potent antifreeze.
Sources:
Daniel Doucet
Departments of Biochemistry and Biology
Queen's University, Kingston
Ontario K7L 3N6
Canada
Laurie A. Graham
Departments of Biochemistry and Biology
Queen's University, Kingston
Ontario K7L 3N6
Canada
Website: http://biology.queensu.ca/~walkervk/
Choy L. Hew
Department of Clinical Biochemistry
University of Toronto
100 College Street
Room 351, Banting Institute
Ontario M5G 1L5
Canada
Website: http://bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca/~medstudy/Brochure/Hew.html
Research Notes:
Biology
Northern birds laying eggs earlier
Many birds in the United Kingdom now lay eggs earlier in spring than they did 25 years ago.
Sources:
Humphrey Q.P. Crick
British Trust for Ornithology
The National Centre for Ornithology
Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU
United Kingdom
Whiff of grass helps kill bugs fast
Sources:Molasses grass planted along with corn is effective in warding off the destructive stem borer.
John A. Pickett
Institute of Arable Crops Research-Rothamsted
Harpenden
Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ
United Kingdom
Where birds reign, ants rain
Ants crawling up trees often jump down to escape predatory birds. Sources:
Paul D. Haemig
Umea University
Department of Animal Ecology
S-901 87 Umea
Sweden
Biomedicine
Revising the risk of prostate surgery
Nerve-sparing surgery for prostate cancer may not work as well as previously believed.
Sources:
James A. Talcott
Center for Outcomes Research
Massachusetts General Hospital
B75 230
55 Fruit Street
Boston, MA 02114-2696
Smokers' hearts don't pick up pace
Compared to nonsmokers, smokers whose heart rates fail to increase in response to exercise run a five times greater risk of heart attack.
Sources:
Michael S. Lauer
Department of Cardiology
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Desk F-25
9500 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44195
Earth Science
How warming helps Antarctic ice
Climate warming may thicken Antarctic ice shelves instead of melting them.
Sources:
Keith W. Nicholls
British Antarctic Survey
High Cross Madingley Road
Cambridge CB3 0ET
United Kingdom
Sea tales from lead
A mineral crust growing on deep-sea rocks yields a bonanza of information about ancient ocean history.
Sources:
John N. Christensen
Department of Geological Sciences
University of Michigan
2534 C.C. Little Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Alex N. Halliday
Department of Geological Sciences
University of Michigan
2534 C.C. Little Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Material Science
Solid hydrogen resists becoming metal
Theoretical calculations reveal that hydrogen molecules become partially ionic under ultrahigh pressure, hindering the transformation of solid hydrogen to a metallic state.
Sources:
N. W. Ashcroft
Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics
529-A Clark Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-2501
The force of a cell's footsteps
A micromachined device measures the force exerted by cells creeping slowly over its surface.
Sources:
Catherine G. Galbraith
Department of Cell Biology
P.O. Box 3709
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC 27710
Michael P. Sheetz
Department of Cell Biology
P.O. Box 3709
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC 27710
A guitar only an amoeba could love
A tiny guitar made of silicon demonstrates a new technology for making microscopic devices.
Articles:
Researchers unearth ancient medical secrets
Analysis of ancient DNA makes an important contribution to the history of disease.
Sources:
Arthur C. Aufderheide
University of Minnesota School of Medicine
10 University Drive
Duluth, MN 55812
A. Rosalie David
Manchester University Museum
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
England
Felipe Guhl
Centro de Parasitologia Tropical
Universidad de los Andes
Santafe de Bogata
Columbia
A cancer cell's physical environment controls its growth Cells from different organs and tissues become almost indistinguishable when removed from their normal surroundings. Sources:
Mina BissellOutside Influences
Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Mail Stop 83-101
One Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
Table of Contents - 8/30/97