News
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- Humans
Nanotech bill gives field a boost
Congress has approved a nanotechnology act that commits $3.7 billion in funding over 4 years and calls for research on the societal, environmental, and ethical implications of this rapidly growing field.
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Plants, bats magnify neurotoxin in Guam
Researchers have found that the natural neurotoxin BMAA gets magnified as it rises through a food chain on Guam, a finding that strengthens a recent hypothesis that attempts to explain a spike in neurological disease on that island.
- Planetary Science
Martian sand ripples are taller than Earth’s
New data gathered by a Mars-orbiting probe suggest that large ripples found in sandy areas of the Red Planet are more than twice as tall as their terrestrial counterparts.
- Health & Medicine
Two markers may predict heart risk
Two proteins that play a role in inflammation may serve as indicators of a person's risk of heart disease and stroke.
- Earth
The Next MTBE: Contamination from fuel additives could spread
Several alternatives to the common gasoline additives methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and ethanol could create environmental problems similar to those that MTBE has already caused.
- Tech
Electronic Thread: Fiber transistor may lead to woven circuits
By coating flexible metal fibers with semiconductors, researchers have developed individual threads that act as transistors and that should be linkable into circuits by means of wires included among a fabric's threads.
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Protein Portal: Enzyme acts as door for the SARS virus
A protein that regulates blood pressure also serves as the cellular portal for the SARS virus.
- Materials Science
This Won’t Hurt . . . Tiny needles deliver drugs painlessly
Microscopic needles may provide a painless alternative to syringes and patches.
- Earth
Lake Retreat: African river valley once hosted big lake
The valley of the White Nile in Africa may long ago have held a shallow lake that sprawled 70 kilometers across and stretched more than 500 km along the river.
- Chemistry
The March of History: Terra-cotta warriors show their true colors
As archaeologists continue to excavate the famous Chinese terra-cotta warriors, a new restoration technique could preserve the figures' paint coats, which normally peel off when exposed to the elements.
- Health & Medicine
Fetal Risk: Inflammation in womb tied to cerebral palsy
For a pregnant woman carrying a baby to term, inflammation in the womb nearly quadruples the chance her baby will be born with cerebral palsy.
