(Press-News.org) Alexandria, VA – In 1993, "Jurassic Park" thrilled the world with the idea that dinosaurs could be resurrected from bits of DNA preserved in mosquitoes trapped in ancient amber. In the 18 years since the movie came out, scientists have been finding that parts of this scenario are closer to reality than anyone ever imagined: Researchers have found microbes living for tens of thousands - and maybe millions - of years inside salt crystals.
These findings raise exciting questions, as EARTH explores in "Bacteria Back From the Brink" in the April issue. Could these hibernating microbes be brought back to active life today? If so, what can such microbes tell us about ancient life on Earth? And could similar microbes also be living on other planets?
Learn more about how these fascinating microbes stay alive over millennia, and read other stories on topics such as how black carbon affects climate, how to figure out if there is hexavalent chromium in your drinking water, and whether science education is passing or failing in the U.S. in the April issue. Plus, don't miss the surprising story about discovering dinosaur tracks in a New Jersey housing development.
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These stories and many more can be found in the April issue of EARTH, now available digitally (http://www.earthmagazine.org/digital/) or in print on your local newsstands.
For further information on the April featured article, go to http://www.earthmagazine.org/earth/article/423-7db-3-7 .
Keep up to date with the latest happenings in earth, energy and environment news with EARTH magazine, available on local newsstands or online at http://www.earthmagazine.org/. Published by the American Geological Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.
Earth: Alive -- bacteria back from the brink
2011-03-09
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Eating disorders and body dissatisfaction is double in Muslim teenagers than in Christian
2011-03-09
This release is available in Spanish and French.
The incidence of eating disorders was found to be 2.3-fold higher among Muslim adolescents than among their Christian classmates. Similarly, body dissatisfaction was 1.8-fold higher in the former group. Finally, as a general conclusion, an average of one in four adolescents suffers some type of eating disorder, and 15% suffers body dissatisfaction. These were the conclusions drawn of a research conducted at the University of Granada.
The sample was taken from a Spanish multicultural city, Ceuta, where different religious ...
Migrating moths and songbirds travel at similar rates
2011-03-09
A study published today (09 March) in Proceedings of the Royal Society B by researchers at Rothamsted Research (an institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council), and the universities of Lund (Sweden), Greenwich and York, reports the surprising finding that night-flying moths are able to match their songbird counterparts for travel speed and direction during their annual migrations but they use quite different strategies to do so - information that adds to our understanding of the lifestyle of such insects, which are important for maintaining ...
University of South Florida researchers find blood-brain barrier damaged by disease
2011-03-09
A study into the effects of Sanfilippo Syndrome type B (MPS III B) has found that the barrier responsible for protecting the brain from the entry of harmful blood-borne substances is structurally and functionally damaged by the devastating disease. University of South Florida researchers identified damage in specific brain structures involved in the pathology of MPS III B, one of four Sanfilippo syndromes, all of which are inherited diseases of metabolism.
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Cancer in HIV-positive patients
2011-03-09
Most HIV-positive patients die of cancer. In the latest issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2011; 108[8]: 117), Manfred Hensel's research group presents epidemiological data.
The authors surveyed all German hospital outpatient clinics and ambulatory care centers specializing in the treatment of HIV patients in the period from 2000 to 2007 and were thus able to analyze the largest collection of data on the incidence of cancer in HIV patients ever assembled in Germany. It first became clear in the early 1980s that HIV infection is associated ...
Boston researchers create 'SMArt' platform architecture, launch $5,000 health app competition
2011-03-09
Boston, Mass. – Through a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School have developed a first-of-its kind platform architecture to support a flexible health information technology (IT) environment and promote innovation. The SMArt (Substitutable Medical Applications, reusable technologies) platform and interface are being made publicly available today to kick off the start of a $5,000 competition challenging developers to create web applications that provide ...
Research finds open-source software is actually more secure for health care IT
2011-03-09
Globally the sale of health care information systems is a multibillion dollar industry. The vast costs, frequent failed systems, and inability of systems to talk to each other regularly attract media comment. However policy makers still shy away from a class of software, Open Source, that could address many of these problems, because of worries about the safety and security of Open Source systems. Now new research by the University of Warwick's Institute for Digital Healthcare, and the Centre for Health Informatics and Multiprofessional Education at UCL Medical School, ...
Identifying 'anonymous' email authors
2011-03-09
Montreal, March 8, 2011 – A team of researchers from Concordia University has developed an effective new technique to determine the authorship of anonymous emails. Tests showed their method has a high level of accuracy – and unlike many other methods of ascertaining authorship, it can provide presentable evidence in courts of law. Findings on the new technique are published in the journal Digital Investigation.
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Spanish tourists criticize other Mediterranean countries' lack of hospitality
2011-03-09
People visiting Spain have a high opinion of the price-quality ratio of Spanish hotels. Spanish tourists, on the contrary, complain about the quality of hotels, cleanliness and hospitality in countries such as Italy, Greece and France. This is one of the conclusions of a study carried out by the University of Cádiz (UCA) on tourism in southern Mediterranean countries.
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Aging with grace: In-home assessments lead to better care, lower health costs
2011-03-09
INDIANAPOLIS – The March 2011 issue of the journal Heath Affairs highlights an evidence-based model of geriatric care management developed, implemented and tested by researchers and clinicians from Indiana University, the Regenstrief Institute and Wishard Health Services.
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Oops -- graphene oxide's solubility disappears in the wash
2011-03-09
Graphene Oxide has had a scrum of researchers fall upon it as it retains much of the properties of the highly valued super material pure Graphene, but it is much easier, and cheaper, to make in bulk quantities; easier to process; and its significant oxygen content appears to make it soluble in water. However new research led by University of Warwick Chemist Dr Jonathan P. Rourke and Physicist University of Warwick Physicist Dr Neil Wilson, has found that that last assumption is incorrect and unfortunately Graphene oxide's solubility literally comes out in the wash.
Drs ...