Healing powers Carl-Philipp Heisenberg group detects mechanism in cell division relevant for closing wounds This news release is available in German. Spreading of the epithelial cell layer is fundamental for epithelial closure ...

Natural disasters of the past can help solve future problems Were you one of the many people who got stuck in an airport when the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted in 2010? It wasn't a major eruption, and it happened a long way from the heart of Europe. But it ...

New generation of micro sensors for monitoring ocean acidification The first step in developing a cost-effective micro sensor for long-term monitoring of ocean acidification has been achieved by a team of scientists and engineers. The new ...

Largest lake in Britain and Ireland has lost three-quarters of winter water birds The largest lake in Britain and Ireland, Lough Neagh, has lost more than three quarters of its overwintering water birds according to researchers at Queen's University Belfast. The ...

Back to the future: Nostalgia increases optimism New research from the University of Southampton shows that feeling nostalgic about the past will increase optimism about the future. The research, published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, ...

Squeeze and you shall measure -- squeezed coherent states shown to be optimal for gravitational wave Extremely precise measurements of distances are key in all techniques used to detect gravitational waves. To increase ...

Redesigned protein opens door for safer gene therapy A fusion protein engineered by researchers at KU Leuven combining proteins active in HIV and Moloney murine leukaemia virus (MLV) replication may lead to safer, more effective retroviral gene therapy. Gene therapy ...

Monkeys 'understand' rules underlying language musicality This news release is available in German. Many of us have mixed feelings when remembering painful lessons in German or Latin grammar in school. Languages feature a large number of complex ...

BU study finds gymnasts' face high exposure to flame retardants (Boston) -- Competitive gymnasts have a higher exposure to potentially harmful flame-retardants than the general population, likely because such contaminants are present in foam used in gym ...

Island biodiversity in danger of total submersion with climate change Sea level rise caused by global warming can prove extremely destructive to island habitats, which hold about 20% of the world's biodiversity. Research by C. Bellard, C. Leclerc and F. Courchamp ...

Compound stymies polyomaviruses in lab tests A team of scientists reports that a small molecule compound showed significant success in controlling the infectivity and spread of three polyomaviruses in human cell cultures. To date there has been no medicine ...

'Missing heat' discovery prompts new estimate of global warming An interdisciplinary team of researchers say they have found 'missing heat' in the climate system, casting doubt on suggestions that global warming has slowed or stopped over the past decade. Observational ...

Menstrual cycle influences concussion outcomes Study may reconcile recovery differences in male, female gender How well a woman recovers from a concussion may depend on that time of the month. Researchers found that women injured during ...

Carbon dioxide's new-found signalling role could be applied to blood flow, birth and deafness New research reveals exactly how the body measures carbon dioxide and suggests that far from being a metabolic waste product, it could play a key role as a biological signalling ...

Schools help kids choose carrots over candy bars When schools adopt healthful nutrition policies and practices, kids' diets improve. According to new research led by Michigan State University and published in the current issue of Childhood Obesity, when ...

Study finds few patients with newly-diagnosed hyperlipidemia receive recommended thyroid screening (Boston)--Despite current guidelines that recommend newly diagnosed high-cholesterol patients have a TSH blood test done to make sure they do not have ...

CVI puts research into practice on firearms and domestic violence HUNTSVILLE, TX (11/13/13) -- The Crime Victims' Institute (CVI) at Sam Houston State University initiated a new series of reports to help victim advocates translate the latest research in the field ...

Generation length for mammals: An essential reference point for conservation studies Life history traits are the basic ecological descriptors of a species. These include physical traits, such as body mass and physiological traits, such as reproductive rate. Ecologists ...

Clues to cocaine's toxicity could lead to better tests for its detection in biofluids A new study on cocaine, the notorious white powder illegally snorted, injected or smoked by nearly 2 million Americans, details how it may permanently damage proteins in ...

Improving detection of radioactive material in nuclear waste water As the Fukushima crisis continues to remind the world of the potential dangers of nuclear disposal and unforeseen accidents, scientists are reporting progress toward a new way to detect the ...

Better batteries through biology? CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Lithium-air batteries have become a hot research area in recent years: They hold the promise of drastically increasing power per battery weight, which could lead, for example, to electric cars with ...

Building a better tokamak by blowing giant plasma bubbles Research shows how magnetic reconnection -- the force behind solar flares -- could initiate fusion in a tokamak reactor Advanced computer codes are helping scientists reimagine how they might initiate a fusion ...

Smartphone accelerometers distinguish between different motorized transportation modalities Identifying the individual's transportation behavior is a fundamental problem, as it reveals information about the user's physical activity, personal CO2 -footprint ...

New way to dissolve semiconductors holds promise for electronics industry Semiconductors, the foundation of modern electronics used in flat-screen TVs and fighter jets, could become even more versatile as researchers make headway on a novel, inexpensive way ...

Major chemical companies turn to new specialties for growth Triggered by the recession that began in 2008, major chemical companies are aggressively re-inventing themselves through multi-billion dollar overhauls, reports Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly ...