Core Spins Faster Than Earth, Scientists Find
...pin axis, but becausethe inner core rotates just a bit faster than the planet as awhole, the "fast axis" through the core moves eastward.Over the years, it traces a circular path around the north poleand moves to different positions relative to the Earth's mantleand crust. This basic feature allowed the ...Genetic Trickery Offers New Way to Target HIV
...at the University of Rochester and UCLA have useda bit of duplicity to render human white blood cells resistant toHIV, using genetic engineering to fool the virus and disrupt itslife cycle. The novel strategy is described in the June 6 issueof the Journal of Biological Chemistry . "This turns the n...Couch Potatoes, Not French Fries, May Be To Blame For Obesity
...niversity, used state-by-state data to examine one bit of dogma in the war on weight -- that the nation's increasing fast food consumption is partly to blame for the widespread rise in adult obesity. He found that "states that have a lot of fast-food sales aren't the states that the Centers for Disease C...UW Smogmobile Offers Cleaner, Safer Alternative To Gas Or Electric Cars
...selling the idea," he said. "But this has become a bit of a holy grail for me because it's the right thing to do. This is a car that will work with the environment instead of against it."...Study: Device Prevents Epileptic Seizures, Doesn't Damage Hearts
...hing handy.He put his finger in her mouth, and she bit it off." An X-ray showing the man's finger in his wife's stomach confirmed hisstory. She was luckier than he was because if the finger had entered her lungs,she could have choked to death....Study Sheds Light On Behavior Of Middle-Age 'Undertaker' Bees
...s other bees,"Trumbo said. "They just do a little bit less of the other middle-agedtasks, like building the comb and storing food brought in by older foragers. They also remove debris, which fits in nicely with undertaking." Undertakers also develop slightly faster than other midde-aged bees,moving on ...Common Food Dye Can Cause Severe Allergic Reactions
...es of red, orange, pink and purple. Through a bit of medical detective work, U-M allergist James L. Baldwin, M.D., confirmed that cochineal extract triggered life-threatening anaphylactic shock in a patient after she ate a popsicle containing the colorant. A paper on the subject will be publish...Research Aims At Nation's First 'Smart' Ground Water Regulations
... five years you can let your imagination venture a bit more," Engel says. "A farmer's application computer might communicate with another computer to determine what's acceptable and what's not acceptable for that area and adjust the application rates without any direct human involvement. "A lot of the te...Biologist Experiments With His Own Front Yard
...outside the front door. And he pulls off this bit of enchantment with insects -- "bugs" to most of us. "The insects are the stars as far as I'm concerned," said Alcock. "Their lives are so rich and yetthey are so utterly ignored by most people. All these bizarre things are going on right unde...MIT's Mini Respirator Breathes Life Into Mutant Mice
...n if you could insert a tube into the trachea, any bit of moisturewould clog up the airways," Dr. Poon said. The MIT machine, which is patent pending, incorporates several novelfeatures. For example, the double pistons that drive the pressure fluctuationsin the chamber prevent the application of...Food Bacteria-Spice Survey Shows Why Some Cultures Like It Hot
...lain this. The study of Darwinian gastronomy is a bit of a stretch for an evolutionarybiologist like Sherman, who normally focuses his research on the role of naturalselection in animal social behavior and is best known for his studies of one ofnature's most social (and unusual-looking) creatures, the n...MSU Scientists Eavesdrop On Bacterial
...rom the bacteria themselves." But first, a bit about bacterial habits. Almost since the time of LouisPasteur, scientists have thought about and studied bacteria as individual cellsfloating freely through the bloodstream or in saliva or in a creek. But most bacteria don't live this plan...Poison-Eating Bugs Strike Gold
..." he says. "If we can fine-tune the process a bit more, it will make the water completely re-usable by mines that bioleach refractory ores prior to cyanide gold extraction. Quality water is scarce in WA's gold-producing regions - and any technology which allows us to recycle it will benefit both ...Horses Prefer Bridles That Have A Bit Missing
...more comfortable with abridle that does not need a bit and which significantly improves on otherbitless d... swallowexcess saliva, otherwise it may choke. The bit also interferes with breathing bychanging the angle of the head and neck. Normally a horse runs with...Scientists Discover New Players On The Gene-Activation Team
...or. "This research changes and complicates quite a bit our picture of howgene regulation at the level of transcription actually is orchestrated,"Workman comments. "It demonstrates that the process controlling gene expressionis very dynamic, very interactive, and very complicated."...The Best Molecular Snapshot Yet Of Cells Affected By Alzheimer's Disease
... inAlzheimer's Disease (LEAD) award. "That seems a bit unproductive,especially since there are both healthy and sick cells. It's hardto tell the differences between cells if you analyze themtogether." So Coleman set out to develop a new technique to examinebrain cells individually. Through work at C...Stroke Risk Increased In Patients With High Oxygen Use In Brain
... suddenly blood flow drops, the braincan extract a bit more oxygen. But if the brain is already using 60 or 70percent of the oxygen, and the blood flow drops, there is less of a buffer, andthe patient might be at higher risk for stroke," Powers explained. The current estimate is that 10 to 15 per...Birds Of A Feather: The Physics Of Flocks
...s new strategies for making therush-hour commute a bit more smooth. Journal Article: John Toner and Yuhai Tu, Flocks, Herds, and Schools: A quantitative theory offlocking, to appear in Physical Review E, October 1998. Contact: --John Toner, University of Oregon, 541-346-0979, jjt@darkwing.uoregon.e...Method May Be Key In Combating Diarrhea In Animals And Children
... way, the immune system would benefitfrom a little bit of infection."......theory," says Towler. "The hypothesis is a little bit on the fringe,but we have had some surprising results that support it." This research is part of an ongoing effort to establish the underlying basis ofdrug resistance mechanisms for HIV-1 led by Dr. John W. Erickson, Director ofthe SAIC/NCI Structur...