Using particles that are 1/100,000 the width of a human hair to deliver drugs to cells or assist plants in fighting off pests may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but these scenarios may be a common occurrence in the near future. Carbon nanotubes, cylindrically shaped carbon molecules with a diameter of about 1 nanometer, have many potential applications in a variety of fields, such as biomedical engineering and medical chemistry. Proteins, nucleic acids, and drugs can be attached to these nanotubes and delivered to cells and organs. Carbon nanotubes ...

BERKELEY, Calif.—The Department of Energy's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), already one of the world's leading centers for scientific productivity, is now home to the fifth most powerful supercomputer in the world and the second most powerful in the United States, according to the latest edition of the TOP500 list, the definitive ranking of the world's top computers. NERSC's newest supercomputer, a 153,408 processor-core Cray XE6 system, posted a performance of 1.05 petaflops (quadrillions of calculations per second) running the Linpack benchmark. ...

With the help of babies and more than 5,000 of their diapers, Emory University researchers have developed an accurate, noninvasive method to determine estrogen levels in infants. The method, previously used in nonhuman primates, will allow researchers to learn more about the association between estrogen levels in human infants and their long-term reproductive development as well as the development of sex-specific behaviors, such as toy preference or cognitive differences. What's more, the method will also allow researchers to look at how early disruption of the endocrine ...

VIDEO: University of Cincinnati researcher Denis Conover has cataloged countless plant species in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area in recent years. Click here for more information. According to research published today by a University of Cincinnati faculty member, native plants in southwestern Ohio are flowering significantly earlier, a finding he attributes, at least in part, to global warming. UC biologist Denis Conover, field service associate professor, has spent countless ...

CINCINNATI—Cardiac researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found a new cellular pathway that could help in developing therapeutic treatments for obesity-related disorders, like diabetes and heart disease. This research is being presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Session in Chicago Nov. 16. Tapan Chatterjee, PhD, and researchers in the division of cardiovascular diseases found that action by the enzyme histone deacetylase 9 (HDAC9) can lead to obesity-induced body fat dysfunction and that HDAC9-regulated pathways could be targets for ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Transforming vacant urban lots into farms and community gardens could provide Detroit residents with a majority of their fruits and vegetables. As city officials ponder proposals for urban farms, a Michigan State University study indicates that a combination of urban farms, community gardens, storage facilities and hoop houses – greenhouses used to extend the growing season – could supply local residents with more than 75 percent of their vegetables and more than 40 percent of their fruits. The study, which appears in the current issue of The Journal ...

(CHICAGO) – New results from a study by neuroscientists at Rush University Medical Center suggest that people at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease exhibit a specific structural change in the brain that can be visualized by brain imaging. The findings may help identify those who would most benefit from early intervention. The study will be presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting for the Society of Neuroscience in San Diego, Calif., on Wednesday, November 17. "One of the main challenges in the field of Alzheimer's disease is identifying individuals at ...

VIDEO: The binary star system J0923+3028 consists of two white dwarfs that are gradually spiraling in toward each other. In about 100 million years they will merge. Since their combined mass... Click here for more information. Sometimes when you're looking for one thing, you find something completely different and unexpected. In the scientific endeavor, such serendipity can lead to new discoveries. Today, researchers who found the first hypervelocity stars escaping the ...

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Patients with head and neck cancer who have never smoked have much better survival rates after radiation therapy than patients with a history of smoking, new research from UC Davis Cancer Center has found. The study by Allen M. Chen and colleagues in the UC Davis radiation oncology and otolaryngology departments is among the first of its kind to examine prognosis differences based on smoking history in patients with head and neck cancer who are treated with radiation therapy. The study, published online in American Journal of Clinical Oncology, ...

How you think about your goals—whether it's to improve yourself or to do better than others—can affect whether you reach those goals. Different kinds of goals can also have distinct effects on your relationships with people around you, according to the authors of a paper published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. People with "mastery goals" want to improve themselves. Maybe they want to get better grades, make more sales, or land that triple toe loop. On the other hand, people with what psychologists ...

SAN DIEGO — New research indicates that the integration of senses and functions in the brain is common. About two percent of the population has a condition called synesthesia, in which two different sensations, like color and sound, are experienced at once. Although this condition is rare, the new findings suggest the brain is wired in complex and sometimes overlapping ways to help people interpret and understand their environments. The research was presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging ...

A Princeton scientist with an interdisciplinary bent has taken two well-known problems in mathematics and reformulated them as a physics question, offering new tools to solve challenges relevant to a host of subjects ranging from improving data compression to detecting gravitational waves. Salvatore Torquato, a professor of chemistry, has shown that two abstract puzzles in geometry -- known as the "covering" and "quantizer" problems -- can be recast as "ground state" problems in physics. Ground state problems relate to the study of molecule systems at their lowest levels ...

Bioengineers from the University of California, San Diego have achieved the "Triple Crown" of stem cell culture – they created an artificial environment for stem cells that simultaneously provides the chemical, mechanical and electrical cues necessary for stem cell growth and differentiation. Building better microenvironments for nurturing stem cells is critical for realizing the promises of stem-cell-based regenerative medicine, including cartilage for joint repair, cardiac cells for damaged hearts, and healthy skeletal myoblasts for muscular dystrophy patients. The advance ...

SAN DIEGO — New human and animal studies released today uncover the extensive brain wiring used in communication and provide new insights into how the brain processes and produces language, accents, and sounds. The research also explores the brain abnormalities in people with speech and language problems, such as stuttering, suggesting future treatment avenues. The new findings were presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health. Communication involves a complex ...

SAN DIEGO — New studies identify brain changes in people with Alzheimer's disease. The results give researchers a greater understanding of the disease and may help at-risk individuals by improving early detection. New animal research also shows a novel approach to Alzheimer's vaccine design that may avoid dangerous side effects. These new results were reported at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health. About 5.3 million people have Alzheimer's disease, according ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Civil engineers at Oregon State University have developed a new system to better analyze the connections that hold major bridge members together, which may improve public safety, help address a trillion-dollar concern about aging infrastructure around the world, and save lives. When testing is complete and the technology implemented, the system might allow a technician working for a day to produce a better analysis of a bridge's structural condition than a more expensive and highly-trained engineer could do in weeks. Developed at OSU, the technology ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Working mothers are two-and-a-half times as likely as working fathers to interrupt their sleep to take care of others. That is the finding of a University of Michigan study providing the first known nationally representative data documenting substantial gender differences in getting up at night, mainly with babies and small children. And women are not only more likely to get up at night to care for others, their sleep interruptions last longer---an average of 44 minutes for women, compared to about 30 minutes for men. "Interrupted sleep is a burden ...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Nov. 17, 2010 ¬– Eight states earned a better grade on the 2010 March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card and 32 others and the District of Columbia saw their preterm birth rates improve. Following three decades of increases, in 2008 the nation saw the first two-year decline in the preterm birth rate, a 4 percent drop from 2006. The 2008 preliminary preterm birth rate dropped to 12.3 percent, from the 2006 final rate of 12.8 percent. The March of Dimes says 79 percent of the decline was among babies born just a few weeks too soon. Overall, the ...

DURHAM, N.H. -- The New England economic outlook remains precarious, with the regional economy struggling to continue its recovery if the U.S. economy remains weak. The looming federal and state fiscal crises will make a difficult road to recovery in the region even more difficult, according to Ross Gittell, James R. Carter Professor of Management at the University of New Hampshire. Gittell will release his fall 2010 economic forecast at the New England Economic Partnership economic outlook conference, "Deficits as Far as the Eye Can See: Seeking Solutions to our National ...

As hospitals consider ED strategies to help satisfy meaningful use objectives, they seek a blend of robust functionality and tight integration, according to a new report by KLAS. For this latest study, "EDIS 2010--Functionality vs. Integration: Finding the Right Mix", KLAS compiled feedback from over 700 providers to investigate the effect of ARRA on ED purchasing priorities, as well as to highlight vendor progress in delivering both clinical functionality and integration. "Historically, best-of-breed EDIS vendors have led the market in addressing the needs of ED ...

Print It Fast Online recently launched a new Affiliate Program web site for prospective and current Print It Fast Online Affiliates. The new web site provides complete details and information on the Print It Fast Online Affiliate Program. Print It Fast Online offers a unique affiliate experience to online associates. Affiliates earn a 10% commission rate on all sales forwarded to Print It Fast Online with a 90-day period after the initial visit. In addition, new Affiliates receive a $25 sign-up bonus which they receive with their first commission payment. New Affiliates ...

Leading dentist in Bristol, Dr. Neil Salesky, invites patients to visit Southington Dentistry's innovative website for further education and resources on dental care. With new online patient education resources, this dentist in Southington allows patients to access valuable dental care information via their website, prior to their dental appointments. Patients can now access resources to further advance their knowledge of dental services, treatments, ailments and procedures via the practice's website at any moment during their day. The educational library provides valuable ...

Innovative video effects creator and technology developer NewBlue, Inc. announces the inclusion of select NewBlueFX plugins in the latest release of Adobe Premiere Elements 9. The NewBlue collection of integrated video effects filters provides a creative set of plugins that give Adobe users dynamic, easy to use creativity tools. In delivering the collection, NewBlue worked closely with Adobe to give its customers powerful effects with a minimal learning curve. These NewBlueFX video plugins turn any video into an animated film and solve basic audio problems. "We ...

The number of natural disasters that our world has had to deal with this year is truly unbelievable. It has left rescue aid groups scrambling to come up with enough supplies and means to get them there. But it is not only the rescue organizations that have found themselves overwhelmed. Tarp companies have been the number one supplier for temporary shelters to the victims. The tarps have been in huge demand this year, and this demand has at times actually resulted in a shortage. However, supply has grown to meet demand as these suppliers and manufacturers are stepping up ...

All shelled hazelnuts processed by Willamette Shelling from October 12, 2009 through November 25, 2009 have been recalled due to possible contamination with Salmonella. The recalled hazelnuts were shelled in Oregon, and are sold in many states throughout the country. The Willamette Shelling hazelnut recall is affecting several brands of raw and roasted, organic and non-organic, shelled hazelnuts, and products containing them. It does not apply to hazelnuts sold in their shells. So far, no illnesses have been reported in connection with the recall. One production lot ...