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Light Detecting Enzyme in the Eye Discovered

The main enzyme responsible for converting light to flows of energy for the brain has been detected for the first time, using high-resolution X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. UW biochemist Clemens Heikaus, and Rutgers research associate Sergio E. Martinez are responsible for this discover...

8 October 2008
05:56 GMT

Fireball Impact Generates Light Show

This was the first time in history that astronomers were able to detect and to predict a meteor impact before it actually happened. In the past, scientists were limited to witnessing various celestial bodies being burnt and disintegrated in the upper layers of the atmosphere, due to intense friction. But on Monday, d...

8 October 2008
05:13 GMT

Some Comatose Patients Can Feel Pain

Belgian doctors discovered that some comatose patients develop the same "pain matrix" in the brain as healthy individuals do when subjected to pain stimuli. This gives further justification to medics administering painkillers to patients previously believed to have had no functioning pain receptors. Caregivers have b...

8 October 2008
03:57 GMT

Metal Eating Worms Could Help Reduce Pollution

Some three new metal-eating worm species were found in landfills in the United Kingdom, thriving under layers of heavy metal rich deposits. Scientists say they appear to have developed a "taste" for heavy metals, such as lead, zinc, arsenic, and copper, which they digest and then excrete into nature in a slightly dif...

8 October 2008
02:09 GMT

Unicellular Approach to Cancer Devised

Cancer researchers studying the pathology of the disease in its early stages made a potentially groundbreaking discovery. They found out that tiny anomalies at a cellular level could be the triggering event for the formation of cancerous cells. Such irregularities usually occur before cells mutate, which is the leadi...

7 October 2008
10:55 GMT

Cell "Motors" Discovered

The intricate processes behind cellular moving capabilities have been thoroughly uncovered for the first time by a team of biologists from Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). The find could be a major breakthrough in several fields of medicine, ranging from developmental biology to ...

7 October 2008
08:00 GMT

Dinosaur Inspires Modern Air Drone

American scientists entered a very daring enterprise. They want to create a replica of the famous pterodactyl, for use in military applications. The idea is not only to create a viable flying reconnaissance drone, but also to equip it with the ability to walk, to morph its wing shape and to sail the oceans. Furthermo...

6 October 2008
10:33 GMT

New Chip for Measuring Wind on Mars Developed

Next year will see the first time a silicon chip is ever used in a space program. NASA's planned mission to Mars, scheduled for liftoff in the fall of 2009, is meant to relay back more detailed information about the soil of the planet, the atmospheric process currently present and the geological makeup of severa...

6 October 2008
08:39 GMT

Bacteria Prove Pre-Cognitive Abilities

It now looks like bacteria have a natural ability to somehow "foresee" the future, in relation to their habitat and living conditions. Experiments on cultures of Escherichia coli (E. coli) showed that no matter the influences they are subjected to, bacteria still manage to adapt over short periods of time. In fact, s...

6 October 2008
07:09 GMT

Bacterial Stress Response May Determine How They Adapt to Changes

Apparently bacteria cells have the natural ability to determine when the conditions around them become too dangerous for their existence and to adapt accordingly. While this has been a widely known fact about them, scientists weren't able to understand the exact nature of the complicated process involved in chan...

6 October 2008
05:25 GMT

New Possible Source for Crohn's Disease Found

A new gene has been linked to the appearance and development of Crohn's disease, an illness that affects around 500,000 people in North America each year. The gene, dubbed Atg16L1, increases the chances of the carrier developing the disease considerably, but it is not a direct cause. In fact, more than 30 areas ...

6 October 2008
03:38 GMT

Physical Exercises Are Not Underrated

The lack of physical exercises in the severely obese has been linked to an overall degradation of the quality of their life, new studies show. Apparently, those who reported less than one hour of physical activity per week are more likely to experience symptoms like shortness of breath, irregular heart beats and the ...

6 October 2008
02:51 GMT

Don't Skip Work Too Often, They Might Think You Died

English researchers have discovered that employees who take prolonged leaves of absence for more than one time in three years or so are more prone to dying prematurely on account of diseases than others. They analyzed more than 6,400 work records from 1985 to 1988, and then associated them with the subjects' dea...

4 October 2008
07:14 GMT

New Way to Lose Weight Discovered

Contrary to popular belief, decreasing the rate at which the human metabolism burns fats could actually increase fats consumption overall. Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center studied several mice for an extended period of time, in an attempt to find out what happens when dedicated genes responsibl...

4 October 2008
04:03 GMT

Fluorescent Light Bulbs May Be Hazardous to Human Health

While everyone knows that new light bulbs save as much as 25 percent in electrical energy consumption and that they last about 10 times more than regular bulbs, not all realize the potential implications of switching from incandescent light to its fluorescent counterpart. Recent study results revealed by the Yale Uni...

3 October 2008
05:48 GMT

New Dinosaur Species Found in Canada

The 72.5 million-year-old fossils that were uncovered in Canada belonged to a herd of a previously unknown species of dinosaurs, which has been named Pachyrhinosaur lakustai, in the honor of professor Lakusta, who first excavated in Alberta during the '70s.  The name Pachyrhinosaur (thick-nosed) comes from ...

3 October 2008
04:17 GMT

Keep Clear: Nano-Particles Coming Through

Nano-particles can indeed breach our skin under certain conditions, including prolonged ultraviolet light exposure, new studies have showed. This happens because the proteins that normally make the human skin impenetrable to but a few outside chemicals loosen it, while cells grow after exposed to Sun light. Scientist...

2 October 2008
11:00 GMT

The Holodeck May Be Closer than We Think

Scientists Takayuki Iwamoto, Mari Tatezono, Takayuki Hoshi and Hiroyuki Shinoda, at the University of Tokyo, have managed to develop a way to drastically improve performances of those working with 3D graphic objects. The team has created a simulator of sorts, a device that, when completed, will allow users to handle ...

2 October 2008
06:08 GMT

Uric Acid Presence in the Blood Caused by New Genes

Two new genes, along with a suspected third, are believed to have a significant influence in the formation of gout in humans. According to the latest research, the presence of all three genes in an adult body increases the risk of developing gout by more than 40 times. In other words, they have a tremendous negative ...

1 October 2008
11:29 GMT

Scientists Prefer Games Consoles

It seems that scientists are not only interested in researches that prove how bad video games are for your body, mind and soul. Some of them actually appreciate the video consoles (OK, not the games) and start using their power to conduct very important scientific researches. Yes, I said "important", not those resear...

18 February 2008
06:33 GMT




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