Astrobiologist to hunt small game in Siberia
... other icy bodies of the solar system." Despiteits harsh environment, Siberia is a natural resource that has been barelyexplored. Hoover, Gilichinsky, and other scientists count the permafrost - soil thatremains frozen year-round - to be one of those resources. Hoover said threetypes of life-forms are foun...Head trauma damages DNA repair mechanism
...wing injury, with devastatingeffects. As a result, harsh biochemicals called oxygen free radicals punch holesin the cell membrane, and intracellular proteases called calpains attack thecell's internal skeleton, both of which cause the cell to collapse. Immediatelyafter trauma, various drugs are given to st...Antibiotics-resistant bacteria
...ystalline organization whenbacteria are exposed to harsh conditions. They further revealed that this highlyordered structure is formed by the mediation of a protein called Dps whichstrongly binds to DNA. The Dps protein, initially characterized by the group ofProf. Roberto Kolter at Harvard Medical School ......lation of pollen grains - are not preserved in the harsh outbackenvironment. A report in the May 14 issue of Science, describing a novel approach toreconstructing paleovegetation, presents the first continuous vegetation recordfrom the Australian interior extending back 65,000 years. This, in turn, serves......g at both extreme-loving and adaptable microbes in harsh environmentallocations, the researchers hope to gain further insight into how far theenvironmental envelope can be pushed to still sustain life. This may help usdetermine whether life can remain viable after long exposure to the harshgalactic conditi...New Biochemical Technology Ready To Retrieve, Purify Heaviest Crude Oil
...can withstandthe extreme temperature, pressure and harsh conditions of oil wells whilechemically and physically altering crude oil. The biocatalysts are based on bacterial strains that have been isolated andpatented by Brookhaven. The strains - called extremophiles because of theirability to thrive in ex...A Mother's Love? New UD Theory Explains Why Good Insect Moms Risk Death To Save Their Only Children
...rce or overly abundant, or when the environment is harsh or crawling withpredators, Wilson predicted, increased competition for resources may trigger theevolution of parental care. Tallamy contends, however, that Wilson's theory is too broad. "According toWilson, if you have very rich food resources, like ...Growing Up On Their Own: Smart Plastics Organize Themselves Into Useful Optical Devices
...fferent light conditions -- perhaps lighter in the harsh glare of sunlight and darker under incandescent light. Another potential application: a super-efficient, plastic laser that could produce intense light with a fraction of the energy now required. Currently, though, many scientists are...Clemson Fire Ant Research Uses Biological Approach
...tomologist Clyde Gorsuch. "Fireants are having as harsh an impact on the environment as anything man could do. They dominate many native plants and animals and cause the natural plant andanimal systems to break down." The ants also have a major economic impact. Throughout the southernstates, dama...UCSF Finding Offers Insight Into Way Genes Regulate Aging And Life Span
... in whichlarvae do not feed, are able to withstand harsh environmental conditions andlive a long time. What the researchers have now discovered is that if the level of daf-2 activityis lowered in just a small group of cells, the life span of the whole animal isextended. "Somehow," said Kenyon, "this small ...Life In Antarctic Ice May Compare To Mars
...ient, and growing. They're able to livethrough the harsh freeze-thaw cycle of the seasons, fix nitrogen and releaseoxygen as they make carbohydrates from water and carbon dioxide." "They have their own little world there we knew nothing about." The nutritional requirements of these life for...Invasive Weeds Pose Major Threat To American Landscape
...dition, aggressive non-native species often deal a harsh blow to rare species-- about two-thirds of all endangered species are threatened by non-nativespecies, the report said. As the native plant species decline, the animals thatdepend on them for food and habitat may also be jeopardized. The book wa...Biologists Get First Look At DNA-Protein Binding Structure In An Archaeon
...teins attach to DNA to stabilize and protect it in harsh environments. "The DNA has to store the genomic information, so the shape of its surface is variable," said Howard H. Robinson, a cell and structural biologist at theUniversity of Illinois. "We've discovered that protein and DNA bind together in a m...Jefferson Scientists Develop Botulism Vaccine
...When someone ingests the toxin, it survives the harsh conditions of the gastrointestinal (GI) system and moves into the general circulation. It is eventually delivered to the central nervous system and causes paralysis. The researchers have created a novel form of the toxin that retain...New Materials Remove Corrosive Gas In Coal-Gasification Process
...istance to chemical and physical degradationin the harsh coal-gas environment. Carbon adsorbs large quantities of hydrogensulfide, and can be used as an active support for metals -- such as copperand zinc -- which can enhance the adsorption process. And, carbon is inexpensive." In their recent study, Cal ...Limits Of Life On Earth: Are They The Key To Life On Other Planets?
...ative. "These environments may be analogous to the harsh conditions that exist now, or have existed, on earth and other planets. The study of microbial life forms and the extreme environments they inhabit can provide new insights into how these organisms adapted to diverse environments, and shed light on ...Roadsides Benefit From Waste, UF Researchers Say
... turned to organic wastes. "The roadside is a very harsh condition in which to grow turf," Miller said. "The organic 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...Two Parasitic Wasps Show Promise For Controlling Pest Flies
...ctive andunimportant in the Midwest, where we have harsh summers and cold winters. It has been said that we never could release enough to be effective,"Weinzierl said. "However, it may be that endius is a potentialbiological control agent that we should be concentrating on. That couldbe from the fact t...Better Peroxidase Improves Disease Diagnosis
...in the beans. "Peroxidase replaces a lot of really harsh chemicals," says Alex Pokora, vice president for technology for Enzymol, a worldwide leader in developing peroxidase technology. "It's a cleaner technology, and it's cost effective." Manufacturers became interested in soybean peroxidase because the s......we lost a lot of moose during the especially long, harsh winter of '95 - '96," says Barnard, "but no one anticipated that losses would be this dramatic. After completing field work on the island in March of 1996, biologists estimated that there were 1,000 to 1,200 moose within the park. By then, surviving ...