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Computer Helps MSU Researchers Unravel Plants’ Secrets to Survival

By Guest PostSeptember 5, 2011Sciencecis regulatory elements, genes, plants, secrets to survival

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Recent research by Michigan State University scientists has shed more light on how plants are able to cope with extreme environments. (more…)

The Brittleness of Aging Bones – More than a Loss of Bone Mass

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2011Scienceadvanced light source, age related structural changes in human cortical bone, als, berkeley lab, biological aging, björn busse, bone strength and fracture toughness, bones, brittle, calcium, collagen molecules, concentric rings of lamellae plates, department of energy, doe, elizabeth zimmermann, eric schaible, fracturing, ha, holly barth, hrishikesh bale, human cortical or compact bone, hydroxyapatite, joel ager, lawrence berkeley national laboratory, loss of mass, macroscopic fracture testing, molecular level, nanocrystals, nanoscale, older bones fracturing, peter reichert, robert ritchie, simon tang, tamara alliston, uc, university of california, young human bone

*Berkeley Lab Researchers Show How Loss of Bone Quality Also a Major Factor*

It is a well-established fact that as we grow older our bones become more brittle and prone to fracturing. It is also well established that loss of mass is a major reason for older bones fracturing more readily than younger bones, hence medical treatments have focused on slowing down this loss. However, new research from scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) shows that at microscopic dimensions, the age-related loss of bone quality can be every bit as important as the loss of quantity in the susceptibility of bone to fracturing. (more…)

NASA Gives Public New Internet Tool to Explore the Solar System

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2011Scienceblaine baggett, Environment, eyes on the solar system, jim green, jupiter, kevin hussey, nasa data, planetary science division, solar system, spacecraft, virtual environment, Washington, web application

PASADENA, Calif. –– NASA is giving the public the power to journey through the solar system using a new interactive Web-based tool.

The “Eyes on the Solar System” interface combines video game technology and NASA data to create an environment for users to ride along with agency spacecraft and explore the cosmos. Screen graphics and information such as planet locations and spacecraft maneuvers use actual space mission data. (more…)

Innovation Served on a Napkin: How GTRI Moved a Simple Idea From Inspiration to Fabrication

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2011Science3 d cell, adrenaline, air-conditioning, bloo solar of west sacramento, boeing, boston in 2003, dna replicating process, georgia, georgia tech research institute, gtri, horizon, ip2biz, jack flicker, jud ready, kevlar, larry bawden, micro scale manhattan, microelectronics, nanotechnologies, napkin, octagonal, pcr, polymerase chain reaction, powerpoint presentation, prototypes, solar energy, xcor, yellow jacket flying club

A ground-breaking innovation, birthed in a sudden flash of insight, is the stuff of legend. Air conditioning, Kevlar, the DNA-replicating process known as PCR (polymerase chain reaction) — each was the product of a Eureka! moment. The list may soon be longer by one, thanks to a wandering mind and a napkin.

When Jud Ready attended an academic conference on materials science in Boston in 2003, he didn’t plan on coming home with the idea for a three-dimensional solar cell, but that’s what happened. (more…)

Aquarius Makes First Ocean Salt Measurements

By Guest PostSeptember 2, 2011Scienceaquarius instrument, ocean salt measurements, salinity, saltiness of earth

PASADENA, Calif. – NASA’s Aquarius instrument has successfully completed its commissioning phase and is now “tasting” the saltiness of Earth’s ocean surface, making measurements from its perch in near-polar orbit. (more…)

Mission Possible or Impossible? UA Space Systems Engineer Has the Answer

By Guest PostSeptember 2, 2011Sciencecarl hergenrother, complex factor, daniel wibben, delta v, extraterrestrial body, extraterrestrial exploration, gene giacomelli, hirise camera, interplanetary exploration, lunar greenhouse project, mdtop, mike cupples, mission design trajectory optimization program, moon express, murat kacira, NASA, osiris rex mission, red planet, roberto furfaro, space missions, space systems engineering laboratory, ssel, university of arizona

*Scientists have endless ideas for extraterrestrial exploration. Some are feasible, some not. In a two-part series, we look at how UA engineer Roberto Furfaro gives the red or green light to space missions. First, searching for Delta-V, the complex factor that makes a space mission viable.*

Our solar system is becoming a familiar backyard, thanks to the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, or LPL, a world leader in interplanetary exploration.

LPL’s Phoenix Mission to Mars scooped up the first evidence of water-ice on the Red Planet, and its HiRISE camera continues to beam stunning images of the Martian landscape back to Earth. (more…)

Discovery of Why Influenza B Virus Exclusively Infects Humans Opens Door for Drugs to Fight Seasonal Epidemics Caused by Virus

By Guest PostAugust 29, 2011Scienceaaron shatkin, avian influenza, brendan amer, cross species, flu pandemic of 1918, gaetano montelione, human cells, human defenses to infection, human protein, influenza a viruses, influenza b virus protein, influenza viruses, interferon stimulated gene 15 protein, isg15, li ching ma, ns1b protein, robert krug, rongjin guan, Rutgers University, seasonal influenza epidemics, strains, the university of texas at austin, viral infections, x ray crystallography

AUSTIN, Texas — The three-dimensional structure of a site on an influenza B virus protein that suppresses human defenses to infection has been determined by researchers at Rutgers University and The University of Texas at Austin.

The discovery could help scientists develop drugs to fight seasonal influenza epidemics caused by the common influenza B strain.

Their discovery also helps explain how influenza B is limited to humans, and why it cannot be as virulent as A strains that incorporate new genes from influenza viruses that infect other species. (more…)

Fossil Discovery Represents New Milestone in Early Mammal Evolution

By Guest PostAugust 26, 2011Nature, Scienceancestors of mammals, carnegie mammalogist, carnegie museum of natural history, China, chong xi yuan, chuck lydeard, dna based methods of dating evolution, earliest known fossil of eutherians, eomaia, eutherian mammals, evolutionary hypotheses, fossil, fossil record, genetic data, john wible, juramaia sinensis, jurassic, jurassic mother from china, kangaroos, mammal evolution, marsupials, metatherians, molecular clock, monotremes, national science foundation, northeast china fossil, nsf, paleontologist, placental mammals, platypus, qiang ji, qing jin meng, shrew like mammal, zhe xi luo

*Northeast China fossil provides new information about earliest ancestors of today’s mammals*

A well-preserved fossil discovered in northeast China provides new information about the earliest ancestors of most of today’s mammal species–the placental mammals. (more…)

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