COLUMBUS, Ohio — According to a new study, smoking causes the body to turn against its own helpful bacteria, leaving smokers more vulnerable to disease.
Despite the daily disturbance of brushing and flossing, the mouth of a healthy person contains a stable ecosystem of healthy bacteria. New research shows that the mouth of a smoker is a much more chaotic, diverse ecosystem—and is much more susceptible to invasion by harmful bacteria. (more…)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new approach to motion capture technology is offering fresh insights into tennis injuries – and orthopedic injuries in general.
Researchers studied three types of tennis serves, and identified one in particular, called a “kick” serve, which creates the highest potential for shoulder injury. (more…)
SAN FRANCISCO – An unusually hot melting season in 2010 accelerated ice loss in southern Greenland by 100 billion tons – and large portions of the island’s bedrock rose an additional quarter of an inch in response.
That’s the finding from a network of nearly 50 GPS stations planted along the Greenland coast to measure the bedrock’s natural response to the ever-diminishing weight of ice above it.
Every year as the Greenland Ice Sheet melts, the rocky coast rises, explained Michael Bevis, Ohio Eminent Scholar in Geodynamics and professor in the School of Earth Sciences at Ohio State University. Some GPS stations around Greenland routinely detect uplift of 15 mm (0.59 inches) or more, year after year. But a temperature spike in 2010 lifted the bedrock a detectably higher amount over a short five-month period – as high as 20 mm (0.79 inches) in some locations. (more…)
SAN FRANCISCO – A planet made of diamonds may sound lovely, but you wouldn’t want to live there.
A new study suggests that some stars in the Milky Way could harbor “carbon super-Earths” – giant terrestrial planets that contain up to 50 percent diamond.
But if they exist, those planets are likely devoid of life as we know it. (more…)
PASADENA, Calif. – NASA and Ohio State University researchers have discovered the major tsunami generated by the March 2011 Tohoku-Oki quake centered off northeastern Japan was a long-hypothesized “merging tsunami.” The tsunami doubled in intensity over rugged ocean ridges, amplifying its destructive power at landfall.
Data from NASA and European radar satellites captured at least two wave fronts that day. The fronts merged to form a single, double-high wave far out at sea. This wave was capable of traveling long distances without losing power. Ocean ridges and undersea mountain chains pushed the waves together along certain directions from the tsunami’s origin.(more…)
*Bacterial cells have gene mutations that allow them to ‘stick’ to the devices*
New research suggests that some patients develop a potentially deadly blood infection from their implanted cardiac devices because bacterial cells in their bodies have gene mutations that allow them to stick to the devices.
Geoscientists were the major contributors to the finding.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the study results online this week. (more…)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the first time, researchers have found a way to inject a precise dose of a gene therapy agent directly into a single living cell without a needle.
The technique uses electricity to “shoot” bits of therapeutic biomolecules through a tiny channel and into a cell in a fraction of a second.
L. James Lee and his colleagues at Ohio State University describe the technique in the online edition of the journal Nature Nanotechnology, where they report successfully inserting specific doses of an anti-cancer gene into individual leukemia cells to kill them. (more…)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study reveals how the delay computer users sometimes experience when making video calls over the internet can actually help communication in some circumstances, even though it is frustrating in many others.
Researchers found that when two strangers first talked about an emotionally charged topic over a video connection with a one-second delay, they actually reported less frustration than did those who talked with no delay. (more…)
