Briny water may be at work in seasonal flows on Mars

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California, San Diego have discovered a way to prevent light signals on a silicon chip from reflecting backwards and interfering with its operation. Otherwise, the light beams would interfere with lasers and other photonic components on the chip and make the chip unstable. The breakthrough marks a significant achievement in the development of integrated photonic chips that could replace electronic chips as the backbone of information technology. Their findings are published Aug. 5 in the journal ...

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme announces the launch of its Million Dollar Raffle fundraiser. Ticket holders can win the grand prize of $1 million cash. Other prizes include a 2012 BMW Mini Cooper, 2012 Chevrolet Corvette, trip to Paris, Harley-Davidson motorcycle and cash. The 2011 Boys & Girls Club Million Dollar Raffle grand prize drawing is scheduled for Dec. 30. Early bird drawings will be Sept. 24, Oct. 28, and Nov. 30; early bird drawing winners are still eligible to win the grand prize. The multi-ticket drawing will be Dec. 30 ...

New Orleans, LA – A research team that included Hamilton E. Farris, PhD, Research Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Otorhinolaryngology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, reveals that two entirely different species show similar perception of auditory cues that drive basic biological functions; that these perceptions may be universally shared among animals; and that such perception may also limit the evolution of communication signals. The work is published in the August 5, 2011 issue of Science. Using the labs at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute ...

New York University neuroscientists have identified the parts of the brain we use to remember the timing of events within an episode. The study, which appears in the latest issue of the journal Science, enhances our understanding of how memories are processed and provides a potential roadmap for addressing memory-related afflictions. Previous research has shown the brain's medial temporal lobe (MTL) has a significant role in declarative memory—that is, memory of facts and events or episodes. Past studies have shown that damage to the MTL causes impairment in memory for ...

Interest rate changes will affect you less with a bond ladder. Here's why: - If interest rates go down over the next few years, you will already have locked in higher rates--and the current market value of your fixed income portfolio will be rising. - If interest rates stay the same, you will be earning longer term yields, so your return should exceed what you would be earning if you left your investment short term. - If interest rates go up, the current market value of your fixed income portfolio will be falling. However, as each rung on the ladder matures, ...

New research finds that growing blood stem cells in the laboratory for about a week may help to overcome one of the most difficult roadblocks to successful transplantation, immune rejection. The study, published by Cell Press in the August issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, may lead to more promising therapeutic strategies for transplanting blood stem cells. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are cells that can give rise to all of the different types of blood cells. Transplantation of HSCs has been used to treat leukemia, lymphoma, and other types of cancer, as well as ...

Recent studies have shown that the heart contains cardiac stem cells that can contribute to regeneration and healing during disease and aging. However, little is known about the molecules and pathways that regulate these cells. Now, a new study utilizing a heart failure model is providing insight into one way to coax the cardiac stem cells into repairing the damaged heart. The research, published by Cell Press in the August 2011 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, finds that low doses of erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone best known for controlling the production of red blood ...

Scientists have identified a mutation that might underlie an extremely rare condition, called "adermatoglyphia," which causes people to be born without any fingerprints. The research, published by Cell Press online August 4th in The American Journal of Human Genetics, not only provides valuable insight into the genetic basis of adermatoglyphia and of typical fingerprint formation but also underscores the usefulness of rare genetic mutations as a tool for investigating unknown aspects of our biology. Human skin has ridges called dermatoglyphs that are present on the fingers, ...

Until very recently, it was unclear why infection with malaria causes fever and, under severe circumstances, an infectious death. Although the parasite has an abundance of potentially toxic molecules, no one knew which ones were responsible for the inflammatory syndrome associated with disease. Now, a new study identifies a novel DNA-sensing mechanism that plays a role in the innate immune response to the parasite that causes malaria. The findings, published online August 4th by Cell Press in the journal Immunity, provide new insight into how the immune system detects ...

Floods and droughts in East Africa are often unleashed by far-away events in the tropical Pacific—the warm (El Niño) or cool (La Niña) phases of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). A catastrophic drought is currently wreaking havoc in wide regions of Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia, affecting food security and putting millions of people in urgent need of assistance. Scientists have attributed the severe drying to La Niña conditions that prevailed from June 2010 to May 2011 in the Pacific. The waxing and waning of rainfall in eastern tropical Africa in unison ...