Is it true that microbes cleaned up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? Can bacteria really "eat" oil, and if so, how? To help clear up the confusion the American Academy of Microbiology has brought together the nation's leading experts to consider and answer some of the most frequently asked questions regarding microbes and oil spills. "Long before the Gulf oil spill microbes evolved the ability to degrade the complex hydrocarbon mixture we call petroleum. They were already present in the Gulf of Mexico and ready to attack the oil when the spill occurred," says Ronald ...

Tel Aviv — Discovered by archaeologists in 1952, a 28-foot-high stone tower discovered on the edge of the town of Jericho has puzzled scientists ever since. Now, eleven centuries after it was built, Tel Aviv University archaeologists at the ancient site Tel Jericho are revealing new facts about the world's first "skyscraper." Recent computer-based research by doctoral student Roy Liran and Dr. Ran Barkai of Tel Aviv University's Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities sheds light on ...

Tampa, Fla. (Feb. 17, 2011) – Two studies published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (19:12) investigate frontiers of islet cell transplantation for treating diabetes. Researchers in Milan, Italy re-examine the role of bone marrow stem cells in diabetic therapy and islet cell regeneration and Canadian researchers offer improved strategies for optimizing pancreatic islet culture in vitro. Both studies are in the current issue of Cell Transplantation, freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/. New perspectives on role of bone ...

Legal systems are necessary in any functioning society. Centuries ago, people realized that the only way to maintain a peaceful community was to develop a firm set of rules—laws—to punish transgressors. As laws have continued to evolve in societies around the world, psychological scientists have begun to investigate the psychological basis of many aspects of legal systems. A new special issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, presents the current state of research on psychology and law. Many lawyers ...

Athens, Ga. – New University of Georgia research has found that a statin drug that is often known by the brand-name Lipitor may help prevent blindness in people with diabetes. In a study using diabetic rats, lead author Azza El-Remessy, assistant professor in the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy, and her colleagues found that statins prevent free radicals in the retina from killing nerves important to maintaining vision. The results of the study are published in the March edition of the journal Diabetologia. "The exciting part is that there are now treatment ...

Let algae do the dirty work. Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology are developing biodiesel from microalgae grown in wastewater. The project is doubly "green" because algae consume nitrates and phosphates and reduce bacteria and toxins in the water. The end result: clean wastewater and stock for a promising biofuel. The purified wastewater can be channeled back into receiving bodies of water at treatment plants, while the biodiesel can fuel buses, construction vehicles and farm equipment. Algae could replace diesel's telltale black puffs of exhaust with cleaner ...

The effect of a high-fat meal on blood vessel walls can vary among individuals depending on factors such as their waist size and triglyceride levels, suggests new research at UC Davis. The new research reinforces the link between belly fat, inflammation and thickening of the arterial linings that can lead to heart disease and strokes. Triglycerides are types of fat molecules, commonly associated with "bad cholesterol," known to increase risk of inflammation of the endothelium, the layer of cells that lines arteries. "The new study shows that eating a common fast food ...

When a team of scientists drilling near an Icelandic volcano hit magma in 2009, they had to abandon their planned experiments on geothermal energy. But the mishap could point the way to an alternative source of geothermal power. "Because we drilled into magma, this borehole could now be a really high-quality geothermal well," said Peter Schiffmann, professor of geology at UC Davis and a member of the research team along with fellow UC Davis geology professor Robert Zierenberg and UC Davis graduate student Naomi Marks. The project was led by Wilfred Elders, a geology professor ...

What NIST-led innovation is estimated to have saved U.S. industry $6.1 billion over the past 20 years? Well, probably several, but, perhaps surprisingly, a new economics study* points to the development of "role-based access control," a computer-security technology fostered and championed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the 1990s. Role-based access control (RBAC) is the idea of establishing standard levels of access—"permissions"— to the various computing resources and networks of an organization that are tailored to specific employee roles, ...

A researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has invented a method of making high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cables that are thinner and more flexible than demonstration HTS cables now installed in the electric power grid while carrying the same or more current. The compact cables could be used in the electric grid as well as scientific and medical equipment and may enable HTS power transmission for military applications. Described in a paper just published online,* the new method involves winding multiple HTS-coated conductors** around ...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - In the ten years since the human genetic code was mapped, expectations among scientists, health care industry, policy makers, and the public have remained high concerning the promise of genomics research for improving health. But a new commentary by four internationally prominent genetic medicine and bioethics experts cautions against the dangers of inflated expectations – an unsustainable genomic bubble – and it offers ways to avoid it while still realizing "the true – and considerable – promise of the genomic revolution." "This commentary is ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — How does a scientist fuel his enthusiasm for chemistry after 60 years? By discovering a new energy source, of course. This week, SiGNa Chemistry Inc. unveiled its new hydrogen cartridges, which provide energy to fuel cells designed to recharge cell phones, laptops and GPS units. The green power source is geared toward outdoor enthusiasts as well as residents of the Third World, where electricity in homes is considered a luxury. "SiGNa has created an inherently-safe solution to produce electric power, resulting in an eco-friendly and cost-effective ...

Asthma may have a surprising relationship with the composition of the species of bacteria that inhabit bronchial airways, a finding that could suggest new treatment or even potential cures for the common inflammatory disease, according to a new UCSF-led study. Using new detection methods, researchers learned that the diversity of microbes inside the respiratory tract is far vaster than previously suspected – creating a complex and inter-connected microbial neighborhood that appears to be associated with asthma, and akin to what has also been found in inflammatory bowel ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- America's largest general science conference will be the setting next week for seven presentations on how zebrafish changed the classroom in Rochester. Those presenting at the conference in Washington, D.C., include researchers from Mayo Clinic and Winona State University, educators from the Rochester school system, and several students. "We started out trying to improve how science was taught. That led to adding curriculum beyond science, and resulted in improvement in testing and grade outcomes, and now to the experience of reporting all of it at ...

CHICAGO – A rinsing technique with betadine that costs just a little over one dollar per patient may significantly reduce the infection rate following total knee and hip joint replacement surgery according to a study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center. The study, presented at the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons 2011 Annual Meeting, found that a three minute diluted betadine lavage combined with painting of the skin with a 10% betadine solution prior to surgical closure nearly eliminated early deep post-operative infection. Deep periprosthetic ...

Washington (February 17) — Three leading Canadian language and speech experts will take centre stage in discussions on the latest developments in speech research at this year's annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C. (February 17-21). Ellen Bialystok of York University has been a driving force in revealing the unique window that bilingualism opens on brain function. Her research disproves earlier claims of cognitive deficits among bilingual children, discovering, instead, that bilingual children and adults have distinct ...

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Clinical Affairs and Quality Committee has developed a guideline for the use of radiation therapy in treating bone metastases. The guideline will be published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology•Biology•Physics, an official journal of ASTRO. Bone metastases are caused when a malignant tumor spreads to the bone. They can lead to debilitating effects including pain, fractures and paralysis due to spinal cord compression. The care of these patients requires collaboration between several types of cancer treatment ...

Close to the globe, Earth's magnetic field wraps around the planet like a gigantic spherical web, curving in to touch Earth at the poles. But this isn't true as you get further from the planet. As you move to the high altitudes where satellites fly, nothing about that field is so simple. Instead, the large region enclosed by Earth's magnetic field, known as the magnetosphere, looks like a long, sideways jellyfish with its round bulb facing the sun and a long tail extending away from the sun. In the center of that magnetic tail lies the plasma sheet. Here, strange things ...

Now a remnant low pressure area, former Tropical Storm Carlos continues to move southwest inland over Australia's Northern Territory and dump heavy amounts of rainfall. NASA's Aqua satellite saw some of the high thunderstorms within Carlos over land and extending north into the Timor Sea. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite measures cloud-top, sea surface and land temperatures. Those are important factors in determining the strength and power of a tropical cyclone. Sea surface temperatures need to be at least as warm 26.6 ...

Infrared satellite data from NASA's Aqua satellite reveal that Tropical Storm Dianne is getting organized off the coast of Western Australia today. NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) infrared imagery suggests that Dianne's center of circulation is consolidating and getting organized. There are bands of thunderstorms wrapping into the center of the storm, indicating strengthening is occurring. The AIRS instrument flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The AIRS infrared image of Tropical Storm Dianne from Feb. 17 at 06:05 UTC (1:05 a.m. EST) showed a large area of ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Most people know that exercise is important to maintain and improve health; however, sedentary lifestyles and obesity rates are at all-time highs and have become major national issues. In a new study, University of Missouri researchers found that healthy adults who received interventions focused on behavior-changing strategies significantly increased their physical activity levels. Conversely, interventions based on cognitive approaches, which try to change knowledge and attitudes, did not improve physical activity. "The focus needs to shift from increasing ...

NASA satellite data indicates that Bingiza is still maintaining tropical storm intensity and carrying heavy rainfall over the Mozambique Channel as it prepares for its second landfall in Madagascar. Deadly Tropical Cyclone Bingiza, which crossed over northern Madagascar three days ago, has continued to affect Madagascar while moving along Madagascar's west coast. Bingiza had weakened from a powerful category 3 tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 100 kts (~115 mph/185 kmh) to tropical storm force winds of about 35 kts (~40 mph/65 kmh) when the Tropical Rainfall Measuring ...

Neurons are complicated, but the basic functional concept is that synapses transmit electrical signals to the dendrites and cell body (input), and axons carry signals away (output). In one of many surprise findings, Northwestern University scientists have discovered that axons can operate in reverse: they can send signals to the cell body, too. It also turns out axons can talk to each other. Before sending signals in reverse, axons can perform their own neural computations without any involvement from the cell body or dendrites. This is contrary to typical neuronal communication ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The psychological effects of the BP oil spill, the largest recorded environmental disaster in human history, extend far beyond people living around the areas of the Gulf of Mexico that were directly impacted by the spill, a new study finds. Writing in the online edition of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, a publication of the National Institutes of Health, the researchers reported that even in areas that did not have oil exposure, people still experienced elevated levels of anxiety and depression and reduced ability to show resilience ...

St. Louis, MO, February 18, 2011 – Cancer survivors die of non-cancer-related causes at much higher rates than the general public. In 2008, the U.S. economic burden of cancer totaled over $228 billion but only 41% of these costs involved direct cancer care. The majority of expenses were attributed to increased morbidity, lost productivity, and premature mortality. A commentary published in the March 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association examines the current evidence supporting nutrition recommendations for preventing cancer recurrence and managing ...