The diversity of life that can be seen in environments ranging from the rainforests of the Amazon to the spring blooms of the Mohave Desert is awe-inspiring. But this diversity would not be possible if the ancestors of modern plants had just stayed in the water with their green algal cousins. Moving onto dry land required major lifestyle changes to adapt to this new "hostile" environment, and in turn helped change global climate and atmospheric conditions to conditions we recognize today. By absorbing carbon while making food, and releasing oxygen, early plants shaped ecosystems ...

Glaciers can help actively growing mountains become higher by protecting them from erosion, according to a University of Arizona-led research team. The finding is contrary to the conventional view of glaciers as powerful agents of erosion that carve deep fjords and move massive amounts of sediment down mountains. Mountains grow when movements of the Earth's crust push the rocks up. The research is the first to show that the erosion effect of glaciers – what has been dubbed the "glacial buzzsaw" – reverses on mountains in colder climates. The researchers were surprised, ...

September 15, 2010 – (BRONX, NY) – By constructing a microscope apparatus that achieves resolution never before possible in living cells, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have illuminated the molecular interactions that occur during one of the most important "trips" in all of biology: the journey of individual messenger Ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules from the nucleus into the cytoplasm (the area between the nucleus and cell membrane) so that proteins can be made. The results, published in the September 15 online edition of Nature, ...

New Haven, Conn.—Glaciers have carved some of the planet's most dramatic landscapes, from Yosemite National Park to the Himalayas. Now geologists have discovered that glaciers can do more than erode mountain peaks and shape valleys—they can actually encourage mountain growth. A new study, which appears in the September 16 issue of Nature, found that glaciers in the southern reaches of the Patagonian Andes have acted as a kind of protective shield throughout the mountain range's 25-million-year history, providing the first evidence to contradict the widely held belief ...

Cambridge, Mass., September 15, 2010 – bluebird bio (formerly Genetix Pharmaceuticals Inc.) an emerging leader in the development of innovative gene therapies for severe genetic disorders, today announced publication in the journal Nature of its promising Phase 1/2 data highlighting positive results of LentiGlobin™ gene therapy treatment in a young adult with severe beta-thalassemia, a blood disorder that is one of the most frequent inherited diseases. The patient, who had been transfusion dependent since early childhood, has become transfusion independent for the past ...

Experts from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Transplantation at King's College London, based at Guy's Hospital, have revealed exciting new scientific developments for people with an organ transplant, intended to help prevent rejection of the new organ and extend its life. Although organ transplantation has been taking place for over 50 years, there are a number of significant challenges, such as a shortage of donor organs, maintaining the quality of an organ in transit, and the risk of organ rejection both immediately after transplant and in the following ...

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have developed a new computational method that will help streamline the analysis of gene expression experiments and provide scientists with a better mechanistic understanding of the differences between diseased and normal cells. The new database and software, called ChIP Enrichment Analysis (ChEA), will revolutionize how researchers identify drug targets and biomarkers. Researchers can find the tool online at http://amp.pharm.mssm.edu/lib/chea.jsp. The data are published in the September 15th issue of Bioinformatics. Until ...

BOSTON--A new focus on the immune system's ability to both unleash and restrain its attack on disease has led Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists to identify cells in mice that prevent the immune system from attacking the animals' own cells, protecting them from autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and lupus. The discovery, reported online on Sept. 16 by the journal Nature, may give scientists an effective way of operating the immune system's internal "control panel," leading to improved therapies for a variety of diseases – from vaccines ...

If these walls had ears, they might tell a homeowner some interesting things. Like when water is dripping into an attic crawl space, or where an open window is letting hot air escape during winter. The walls do have ears, thanks to a device that uses a home's electrical wiring as a giant antenna. Sensors developed by researchers at the University of Washington and the Georgia Institute of Technology use residential wiring to transmit information to and from almost anywhere in the home, allowing for wireless sensors that run for decades on a single watch battery. The technology, ...

VIDEO: NC State's Dr. Greg Buckner has developed a robotic catheter that is significantly more maneuverable than existing devices, which could lead to reduced operating times for patients undergoing heart surgery... Click here for more information. Atrial fibrillation is a heart disorder that affects more than two million Americans, and is considered a key contributor to blood clots and stroke. Now researchers from North Carolina State University are developing a new ...

Employees with a high level of emotional intelligence are more dedicated and satisfied at work, compared to other employees. This has been shown in a new study from the University of Haifa. "This study has shown that employees with a higher level of emotional intelligence are assets to their organization. I believe it will not be long before emotional intelligence is incorporated in employee screening and training processes and in employee assessment and promotion decisions" stated Dr. Galit Meisler, who conducted the research. The study, which Dr. Meisler carried out ...

A gene network behind hardening of the arteries and coronary heart disease has been identified by a team of scientists from Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom. Their findings expose potential targets for the treatment of heart disease. Dr Michael Inouye, a postdoctoral fellow at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, began the study at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK and completed it earlier this year at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Researchers from Finland's National Institute for Health and Welfare, the University of ...

Australian researchers are embarking on a study of mums in the United Kingdom to discover if "guilt-tripping women" into breastfeeding is effective in persuading them to opt for breast over bottle. Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a recognised leader in breastfeeding research and has already undertaken a study in Australia and the US. Lead researcher Joy Parkinson, from QUT's School of Advertising Marketing and Public Relations, said women were often made to feel guilty for not breastfeeding their children when in fact a more supportive approach might be ...

Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) are launching a groundbreaking new project to investigate the benefits of broccoli in the fight against osteoarthritis. Initial laboratory research at UEA has found that a compound in broccoli called sulforaphane blocks the enzymes that cause joint destruction in osteoarthritis – the most common form of arthritis. Broccoli has previously been associated with reduced cancer risk but this is the first major study into its effects on joint health. With funding from both Arthritis Research UK and the Diet and Health ...

The support provided for women with secondary breast cancer is inadequate and urgent steps are needed to provide better services for patients with this progressive incurable disease, which kills half a million women worldwide every year. Those are the key recommendations to emerge from a trio of papers in the September issue of the European Journal of Cancer Care. Fifty-seven per cent of breast care nurses who took part in a UK survey for Breast Cancer Care told researchers that they felt there was inadequate provision for women whose cancer has spread to other organs, ...

Adults with congenital heart disease are more likely to suffer heart-focused anxiety – a fear of heart-related symptoms and sensations – if their parents were overprotective during their childhood and adolescence. Dr. Lephuong Ong from Orion Health Services in Vancouver, and colleagues from University Health Network and York University in Toronto, Canada, suggest that health care professionals could encourage greater independence for adolescents and adults with congenital heart disease to improve their psychosocial adjustment. Dr. Ong's work1 is published online in Springer's ...

Animals react to infections in a number of ways. Among the first is the production of cell factors such as interferons and IL-1beta. Interferons have several functions, including activating a series of intracellular signals such as Tyk2 (Tyrosine kinase 2), while IL-1beta is important for the induction of inflammation, which helps directly to protect the body against attack. However, inflammation must be kept tightly in check as it may also harm the body. Cells control IL-1beta activity in a number of ways, regulating not only the amount of messenger RNA (mRNA) that encodes ...

A new approach to evaluating a person's risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, high blood pressure, or heart failure is reported this month in the International Journal of Data Mining, Modelling and Management. The technique uses fuzzy logic to teach a neural network computer program to analyze patient data and spot correlations that can be translated into a risk factor for an individual. Khanna Nehemiah of the Anna University Chennai, India, and colleagues have developed a medical diagnostic system for predicting the severity of cardiovascular disease based on combining ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers at Purdue University have developed a facility aimed at learning precisely how coal and biomass are broken down in reactors called gasifiers as part of a project to strengthen the scientific foundations of the synthetic fuel economy. "A major focus is to be able to produce a significant quantity of synthetic fuel for the U.S. air transportation system and to reduce our dependence on petroleum oil for transportation," said Jay Gore, the Reilly University Chair Professor of Combustion Engineering at Purdue. The research is part of work ...

Montreal September 15, 2010 – The human quest for longer life may be one step closer, thanks to research from Concordia University. Published in the journal Aging, a new study is the first to identify the role of a bile acid, called lithocholic acid (LCA), in extending the lifespan of normally aging yeast. The findings may have significant implications for human longevity and health, as yeast share some common elements with people. "Although we found that LCA greatly extends yeast longevity, yeast do not synthesize this or any other bile acid found in mammals," says ...

AUSTIN, Texas—The development of new organic batteries—lightweight energy storage devices that work without the need for toxic heavy metals—has a brighter future now that chemists have discovered a new way to pass electrons back and forth between two molecules. The research is also a necessary step toward creating artificial photosynthesis, where fuel could be generated directly from the sun, much as plants do. University of Texas at Austin chemists Christopher Bielawski and Jonathan Sessler led the research, which was published in Science. When molecules meet, they ...

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their partners have announced the preliminary release of the sequenced genome of the cacao tree, an achievement that will help sustain the supply of high-quality cocoa to the $17 billion U.S. chocolate industry and protect the livelihoods of small farmers around the world by speeding up development, through traditional breeding techniques, of trees better equipped to resist the droughts, diseases and pests that threaten this vital agricultural crop. The effort is the result of a partnership between USDA's Agricultural ...

Want to know how a Japanese person is feeling? Pay attention to the tone of his voice, not his face. That's what other Japanese people would do, anyway. A new study examines how Dutch and Japanese people assess others' emotions and finds that Dutch people pay attention to the facial expression more than Japanese people do. "As humans are social animals, it's important for humans to understand the emotional state of other people to maintain good relationships," says Akihiro Tanaka of Waseda Institute for Advanced Study in Japan. "When a man is smiling, probably he is happy, ...

Scientists at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) in San Antonio have found a gene that causes high levels of bad cholesterol to accumulate in the blood as a result of a high-cholesterol diet. Researchers studied a strain of laboratory opossums developed at SFBR that has normal blood levels of "bad" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol when fed a standard low-cholesterol diet, but extremely elevated levels of LDL cholesterol when fed a high-cholesterol diet. These high-responding opossums are used to identify the genes and the underlying mechanisms ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A first draft of the cacao genome is complete, a consortium of academic, governmental, and industry scientists announced today. Indiana University Bloomington scientists performed much of the sequencing work, which is described and detailed at http://www.cacaogenomedb.org/, the official website of the Cacao Genome Database project. Despite being led and funded by a private company, Mars Inc., Cacao Genome Database scientists say one of their chief concerns has been making sure the Theobroma cacao genome data was published for all to see -- especially ...