Heat-loving Microbe Repairs Its DNA With Light
...ium(pH=3) at about 80 degrees Celsius. Such severe conditions oftencause DNA and other cellular materials to decompose. So, Groganhas been looking at how this microbe managed to protect itself. "Since the precise structure of DNA is essential for life and reproduction, it would seem logical that the S. acido...Transgenic Rice Plants Resist Insects, Drought And Salt Damage
... and drought-resistant so that they grow in saline conditions and recover quickly from dry conditions. "These are capabilities that wild plants develop naturally over years of evolution, but we can't afford to wait for domestic rice varieties to evolve resistance to insect pests or drought," said Ray Wu, Cornel...Cornell Researchers Precisely Date Wood From Ancient Tomb In Turkey
... blocked the sun and caused cooler, wetter weather conditions worldwide. Rings from American bristlecone pine t...ge attributable to the eruption. But in the desert conditions of the Near East, Thera had the opposite effect: it spurred massive growth. Reduced exposure to su...Southern Pine Beetle Reaching Outbreak Levels In North Florida
...fective way to eradicate the beetle under outbreak conditions isto remove infested pines, an approach that requires the cooperation -- andunderstanding -- of an entire community. Using this approach during anoutbreak in Gainesville in 1994 saved thousands of trees in the urbanforest, minimized use of pesticides...New Software Provides Quick Analysis of ion-Channel Activity
...endous difference in drug design, particularly for conditions where ion channels are implicated. For example, in people who have some kinds of inherited neuromuscular diseases, an amino acid in the receptors for the neurotransmitter has been altered, he said. These alterations cause the ion channels either to...NCAR Scientist Models Earth's Climate and Vegetation Patterns At Last Glacial Peak
... southward as the Asian monsoon weakened and drier conditions prevailed across Africa and Southest Asia. Felzer checked his results against earlier LGM vegetation scenarios based on data from fossilized pollen retrieved from lake cores. His simulated vegetation matched up fairly well with these geological recon......ed pea-sized bits of sweet potato. That simulated conditions in Africa, where the chisel-toothed rodents dig miles of burrows in search of the small bulbs and tubers that sustain them. Tuber patches in mole-rats' natural habitat are widely and irregularly dispersed, explained Sherman. Naked mole-rats (Hete...Siblicide In Nature: Study Of Galapagos Seabird Finds Death Can Ensure Species Survival
...about 60 percent of their eggs, even under perfect conditions unlike other species, which hatch about 90 percent of their eggs. An "insurance egg" hypothesis that a second egg greatly increased the chances of reproductive success turned out to be on target. By laying two eggs, boobies decreased their risk o...Scientists Discover Smallest Frog
...n scientists restricted by that country's economic conditions typically have teamed with foreign colleagues to carry on their work. "The tropical forests in Cuba are even more fragile and more threatened than those in the Amazon of South America because they are so small, less than 10 percent of the island's l...Chemists Compute Answers To The Origin Of Gout
...hen, for the same process, mankind uses industrial conditions requiring massive amounts of energy and high pressures The characterisation of new chemical compounds to help detect cancer tumours...Erodible plastic microspheres could be effective oral drug delivery system
...tered orallybecause they are degraded by the harsh conditions of the intestinal tract. Potential applications of this drug delivery system--to replace therapeuticagents not taken orally today--exist in gene therapy and in the use ofvaccines; in treating AIDS, cancer and diabetes; and for delivering medication...Overweight Cats Risk Disease And Premature Death, Cornell Study Finds
...gin with. Cats eating some prescription diets for conditions other than weight are more likely to be overweight. That is because many prescription diets contain more calories in the same volume of food that the cat is accustomed to eating, Scarlett said. "Prescription diets tend to be caloric-dense, and if y...Scientists Trace Roots Of Protein That Keeps Antarctic Fish From Freezing
...tive pressureand an abrupt switch in environmental conditions adaptive molecularevolution. Demonstrations of this sort at the molecular level are rare andnoteworthy." Evolution of the antifreeze gene in the Antarctic fishes had a greatimpact on the ecology of the thermally isolated Antarctic Ocean that e...Hot 'Lanta: NASA, School Kids Team To Study How Trees Help Cities Keep Their Cool
... start no earlier than May 5, depending on weather conditions and aircraftavailability. Results will become available later in the fall. Even the kids will participate - they'll get CD-ROMs with copiesof the images taken over their schools....Scientists Use Magnetic Field As Alternative To Space-Based Zero Gravity
...itation of astronauts that occurs in theweightless conditions of space," said study director James M. Valles, anassociate professor of physics. "Because the embryos contain the samematerials, such as water and proteins, that comprise most biological systems,we think this form of levitation can reduce gravitatio...Everyday Technology Underlies First DNA Computer Logic Gates
...ter. In the meantime, he and Ray will explore the conditions that allow for the most accurate and efficient DNA computation. The building blocks of all today's computers, logic gates are tiny structures that convert the endless series of binary data coursing through every computer into a series of...Study Focuses On How Plants Help Toxic Pollutants Travel Around The World
... of this size will allow her to conductresearch in conditions that are very near to natural, with one fundamentaldifference -- the conditions can be controlled. In the field, the separateimportance of temperature, relative humidity and solar ...Oak Regeneration In Some Ohio Forests Is Failing, Researchers Find
...serious inareas high in light and low in moisture, conditions that are amiable to oakgrowth. But a study presented Aug. 14 at the annual meeting of the EcologicalSociety of America in Albuquerque, N.M., seems to contradict that theory. "It has been thought that, barring any major disturbance suc...Roadsides Benefit From Waste, UF Researchers Say
...rganic wastes add nutrients and hold water, making conditions more favorable for grass to grow." The compost has an added advantage over commercial fertilizer, said researcher Bob Black, in that it releases nitrogen slowly. With commercial fertilizer, there's a quick flush of growth after the initial applicatio...A New Biochemical Link Established Between Stress, Sex And Dominance
... is stacked with aquariums equipped to imitate the conditions of life in shallow pools of Lake Tanganyika, where this breed of cichlid fish originated. On the aquarium floor, a layer of gravel is piped with plastic tubing to deliver fish food from below in the wild, cichlids sift through gravel to eat th...