In an exciting example of international collaboration, a Qatar astronomer teamed with scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and other institutions to discover a new alien world. This "hot Jupiter," now named Qatar-1b, adds to the growing list of alien planets orbiting distant stars. Its discovery demonstrates the power of science to cross political boundaries and increase ties between nations. "The discovery of Qatar-1b is a great achievement - one that further demonstrates Qatar's commitment to becoming a leader in innovative science and ...

JAMBI, Indonesia – A Sumatran rainforest named a global priority for tigers and home to a unique orangutan rescue project is targeted for clearcutting by one of the world's largest paper suppliers. An investigation found that since 2004, companies affiliated with Asia Pulp & Paper/Sinar Mas Group have sought out selective logging concessions with dense natural forests in the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape. The companies obtained government licenses to switch the forest status to industrial timber plantation concessions, sometimes under legally questionable circumstances. ...

TUCSON, Ariz. (Dec. 14, 2010) -- A unique underground surveillance system tested by UA researchers could be used to watch the entire U.S.-Mexico border continuously. The border-monitoring system, known as Helios, consists of laser pulses transmitted through fiber-optic cables buried in the ground that respond to movements on the surface above. A detector at one or both ends of the cable analyzes these responses. Helios is sensitive enough to detect a dog and can discriminate between people, horses and trucks. The system can be set to avoid being triggered by small animals, ...

YOUR BODY'S OWN VACCINE: Researchers at BRIC, the University of Copenhagen, have discovered for the first time a protein normally found in the body that can act to prevent chronic tissue inflammation. When administered in the form of a therapeutic vaccine it is able to effectively prevent and treat a number of different inflammatory disease models for multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), skin hypersensitivity and allergic asthma (AA). The article, entitled, "Endogenous collagen peptide activation of CD1d-restricted NKT cells ameliorates multiple tissue-specific ...

High-speed trains consume 29% less energy than conventional trains per passenger transported, and reduce CO2 emissions by the same proportion. These are the conclusions of a study by the Spanish Railways Foundation published in the journal Transportation Research Record. "A high speed train operating in normal conditions consumes less energy and produces less CO2 emissions per passenger transported (on average 29% less) than a conventional train travelling between the same two points at a lower speed", Alberto García, author of the study and a researcher at the Spanish ...

Scientists investigating the allergic reactions that asthmatics suffer towards a common mould have discovered that many people with asthma actually had the mould growing in their own lungs. The research led by University of Leicester scientists at Glenfield Hospital has been published in the December 2010 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The team based in the Institute for Lung Health at the University of Leicester and Glenfield Hospital examined the impact on asthmatics of a common environmental mould, Aspergillus fumigates, ...

University of Manchester scientists have discovered for the first time an important new way in which the human papilloma virus (HPV) triggers cancer in what could lead to new treatments for cervical and mouth cancer. HPV infection is known to increase the risk of developing cancers of the cervix and mouth with the two high-risk forms of the virus accounting for approximately 70% of all cervical cancer cases. Vaccinations against these high-risk forms of HPV should reduce the incidence of cervical cancer but the frequency of mouth cancer actually increased in the UK ...

Cyber bullying is an emerging phenomenon that is becoming increasingly common among teenagers. Research by the University of Valencia (UV), based on a study carried out in the region, shows that between 25% and 29% of all teenagers have been bullied via their mobile phone or the internet over the past year. "The data from our study shows that technological bullying affects 24.6% of teenagers in the case of mobile telephony, and 29% with regard to the internet. In the large majority of cases, this abuse lasts for a month or less", Sofía Buelga, co-author of the study and ...

On average we each consume 120 grammes of plastic wrapping on Christmas gifts most of which is of a type which is almost impossible to recycle. Now researchers at the University of Warwick have devised a new technique which could process 100% of Christmas and other household plastic instead of the tiny fraction that currently actually gets processed - typically only 12% of such waste is truly recycled often the rest is often put into land fill or simply burnt as fuel. Some plastic still goes straight to land fill but householders currently spend a great deal of effort ...

Tel Aviv ― Environmentalists around the world agree ― plastic bags are choking our landfills and polluting our seas. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher is developing new laboratory methods using corn starch and sugar to help sustainable plastics –– those that biodegrade and are even tougher than those made from petrochemicals –– compete in the industry. The answer to the problem, Prof. Moshe Kol of Tel Aviv University's School of Chemistry says, is a new variety of catalysts ― substances that initiate or sustain chemical reactions in other substances. ...

Cognitive tests and MRI scans have shown significant differences in the brains of fighter pilots when compared to a control group, according to a new study led by scientists from UCL. The study, published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, compares the cognitive performance of 11 front-line RAF (Royal Air Force) Tornado fighter pilots to a control group of a similar IQ with no previous experience of piloting aircraft. All the participants completed two 'cognitive control' tasks which were used to investigate rapid decision making. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a ...

An article in the current issue of TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION, Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors ™ http://www.cognizantcommunication.com/filecabinet/Technology/techinnovation.html reports on the removal of certain dyes and the antibiotic amoxicillin from water samples using Octolig ®, a commercially available material. "Because of their properties and the magnitude of their production and use, pharmaceuticals can represent a serious disposal problem," said corresponding author* Dean F. Martin, PhD, of the University of South Florida's Institute for Environmental ...

PITTSBURGH—A man in St. Louis and a woman in New Hampshire have received the first kidney transplants made possible through a new national program of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) that uses a Carnegie Mellon University computer algorithm to match transplant candidates with living donors. Both recipients — Ken Crowder of St. Louis and Kathy Niedzwiecki of Pelham, N.H. — had loved ones who were willing to donate a kidney but who were medically incompatible with them. So, through a paired donation, Mr. Crowder's fiancée, Rebecca Burkes, donated ...

Researchers at the Andalusian Institute for Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine (CABIMER) and the University of Granada found that cFLIP –an inhibitor of death ligand-induced apoptosis– is not only essential in breast tumor cells resistance to TRAIL treatments (a death ligand with a potent therapeutic potential against cancer), but this protein is also key to the survival of such cancer cells. Researchers proved that a variation in the expression of this protein may lead to the normal development of breast epithelium. This is an important finding to be considered ...

The delicate shell, photographed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, appears to float serenely in the depths of space, but this apparent calm hides an inner turmoil. The gaseous envelope formed as the expanding blast wave and ejected material from a supernova tore through the nearby interstellar medium. Called SNR B0509-67.5 (or SNR 0509 for short), the bubble is the visible remnant of a powerful stellar explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small galaxy about 160 000 light-years from Earth. Ripples seen in the shell's surface may be caused either by subtle ...

From southern Africa's pineapple lily to Western Australia's swamp bottlebrush, flowering plants are everywhere. Also called angiosperms, they make up 90 percent of all land-based, plant life. New research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides new insights into their genetic origin, an evolutionary innovation that quickly gave rise to many diverse flowering plants more than 130 million years ago. Moreover, a flower with genetic programming similar to a water lily may have started it all. "Water lilies and avocado flowers ...

A case study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet sheds light on the pathological course of Alzheimer's disease. The brain of the first Alzheimer's patient to display amyloids demonstrable with a PET scanner has been studied, both during progression of the disease and after death. One pathological characteristic of Alzheimer's disease is the accumulation in the brain of beta-amyloid proteins to form amyloid plaques. However, it is not known how early the plaques forms in the brain, whether they are the primary cause of the disease or what pathogenic ...

How depressed young people are strongly predicts how aggressive and violent they may be or may become. Contrary to popular belief, however, exposure to violence in video games or on television is not related to serious acts of youth aggression or violence among Hispanics in the US, according to new research by Dr. Christopher Ferguson from Texas A&M International University. His findings are published online in Springer's Journal of Youth and Adolescence. The potential negative effects of violent video games on adolescent antisocial behavior, and youth violence in particular, ...

Washington, DC, December 14, 2010—Perceived ethnic discrimination among Mexican and Mexican American students from Phoenix-area middle schools places them at risk for increased stress when trying to acculturate with mainstream U.S. culture, according to a new study. As the students experienced acculturation stress related to discrimination, they were at a higher risk for alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana use. The study is in the December issue of Prevention Science, a peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Prevention Research. "As levels of perceived discrimination ...

Hawaiians can now worry less about finding stray yellowjackets living in their Christmas trees shipped from the mainland United States, partly due to research by a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist and his university and state cooperators. Every year, fir trees from the Pacific Northwest are shipped to Hawaii for use as Christmas trees. Although yellowjackets usually nest in the ground, mated queens who haven't yet built their nests sometimes make fir trees their home during winter. So, when the trees are harvested in November for shipment to Hawaii, the ...

DURHAM, N.H. –- A team of scientists led by Marc Lessard of the University of New Hampshire Space Science Center launched an instrument-laden, four-stage sounding rocket from Norway's Andøya Rocket Range into aurora about 200 miles above Earth early Sunday morning (Dec. 12, 2010), just before the two-week launch window slammed shut. For the 10-minute flight, a 65-foot-long Black Brant XII rocket arced through a funnel-shaped region of Earth's magnetic field lines before landing some 900 miles downrange in the Norwegian Sea. The science data were transmitted to a ground ...

New York, NY, December 14, 2010 – Inhaled corticosteroids are widely used in the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, these drugs may be associated with diabetes development and progression. In a study published in the most recent issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers found that inhaled corticosteroids were associated with a 34% increase in the rate of diabetes onset and in the rate of diabetes progression. At the highest inhaled doses the risk increased by 64% in diabetes onset and 54% in diabetes progression. Although ...

If you're unsure about what foods to eat to maintain a healthy diet, you're not alone. Increasing evidence continues to point people back to basics – and reach for the milk. A study to be published in the January edition of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that drinking three glasses of milk per day may lead to an 18% decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. The research conducted at Wageningen and Harvard Universities, examined 17 studies from Europe, USA and Japan, also found no link between the consumption of regular or low-fat dairy and any increased ...

Children in Sweden are exposed to a huge number of TV advertisements. Food adverts – primarily for fast food and sweets – dominate the advertisements shown during children's viewing times. Research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows that Sweden is no different from other countries when it comes to the number of adverts that children are exposed to. Children between the age of three and 12 in Sweden encounter an average of 50 or so TV advertisements for food a week, dominated (in descending order) by fast food, alcohol, chocolate and sweets. The results were ...

Swedes are both happy and content with their lives, reveals a report from the SOM Institute at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The factors that contribute most to a sense of wellbeing are good health, family and friends, a good home and personal finances. Clothes and appearance play only a very minor role. More and more Swedes are describing themselves as happy and content. When the SOM Institute asked: "On balance, how content are you with the life you live?" and "On balance, how happy would you say you are?", nine out of ten replied that they are both content ...