Atacama rover helps NASA learn to search for life on Mars
A dedicated team of scientists is spending the next four weeks in northern Chile's Atacama Desert. They are studying the scarce life that exists there and, in the process, helping NASA learn more about how primitive life forms could exist on Mars.... ...The NASA-funded researchers are studying the Atacama Desert, described as the most arid region on Earth, to understand the desert as a habitat t...NASA satellites detect 'glow' of plankton in black waters
For the first time, scientists may now detect a phytoplankton bloom in its early stages by looking at its red "glow" under sunlight, due to the unique data from two NASA satellites. According to a study conducted in the Gulf of Mexico, this phenomenon can forewarn fishermen and swimmers about developing cases of red tides that occur within plumes of dark-colored runoff from river and wetlands, so...Workforce achievements celebrated at NASA Marshall Center Awards ceremony
Today, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., recognized its workforce for outstanding achievements and contributions to America's space program. ... ...William Readdy, NASA associate administrator for the Office of Space Flight in Washington, joined Marshall Center Director David King at Marshall's annual NASA Honor Awards ceremony to salute more than 240 employees for special...NAS requests nominations for outstanding scientists
The presents several awards to recognize outstanding achievements in science. ...... Fields of presentation in 2005 include: ...... Chemistry, cosmology, solar physics/solar-terrestrial relationships, astrophysics, materials science, geophysics, aeronautical engineering, microbiology, psychology, the industrial application of science, and the application of science to the public welfare. .........NASA scientists get global fix on food, wood & fiber use
NASA scientists working with the World Wildlife Fund and ...others have measured how much of Earth's plant life humans ...need for food, fiber, wood and fuel. The study identifies ...human impact on ecosystems.... ...Satellite measurements were fed into computer models to ...calculate the annual net primary production (NPP) of plant ...growth on land. NASA developed models were used to e...NASA data shows hurricanes help plants bloom in 'ocean deserts'
Whenever a hurricane races across the Atlantic Ocean, chances are phytoplankton will bloom behind it. According to a new study using NASA satellite data, these phytoplankton blooms may also affect the Earth's climate and carbon cycle. ... ...Dr. Steven Babin, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University in Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Maryland studied 13 North Atlantic hurricanes between 1998 a...NASA researchers customize 'lab-on-a-chip' technology
With a microscope and computer monitor, researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., watch fluorescent bacteria flow through tiny, fluid highways on a dime-sized lab on a chip. ... ...Lab-on-a-chip technology allows chemical and biological processes -- previously conducted on large pieces of laboratory equipment -- to be performed on a small glass plate with fluid chan...Kinase backgrounder: Iressa discovery part of major kinase project at Dana-Farber
Many times in military history, a sudden attack by a small, fast-moving force has broken an impasse and helped turn the tide against an entrenched foe. In such situations, timing is everything....... Dana-Farber researchers, sensing an opening in the cancer battle, are mounting a quick thrust to flush out suspected molecular cancer triggers in tumor cells. Drug companies can then select specific...Govindarajan Dhanasekaran wins 2004 Sarber Award from American Society for Microbiology
WASHINGTON, DC--APRIL 23, 2004--Govindarajan Dhanasekaran, B.V.Sc., of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maryland, College Park, will receive the 2004 Raymond W. Sarber Award from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). Two Sarber Awards are presented each year to microbiology students at the undergraduate and predoctoral levels to recognize researc...NASA-inspired technology may help preserve women's future fertility after cancer treatment
PITTSBURGH, April 29 Using technology borrowed from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), scientists at the University of Pittsburgh's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine have taken the first steps toward successfully preserving ovarian tissue from rats and mice in culture, including immature egg follicles, according to a study in the current issue of the journal Tiss...National Academies advisory: NAS Annual Meeting April 17-20
The National Academy of Sciences will hold its 141st annual meeting, at which new Academy members will be elected. ELECTION RESULTS will be available on April 20 at noon EDT on the Web at . Reporters can register in advance to receive the list of new members via e-mail. ...... The meeting also will feature the NAS president's annual address to members, an award ceremony, and symposia. These e...Examining cardiac performance of tunas at the cellular level
February 4, 2004 BETHESDA, MD Are all tunas alike? It is true that they are all swift, powerful swimmers that benefit from high metabolic rates - and that in order to support these rates, they have evolved into a state of high heart rates. Consider the skipjack tuna, which has been clocked at a heart rate of over 200 beats-per-minute. But is the cardiac stamina of the cold water (endothermic)...From neighborhoods to globe, NASA looks at land
Satellites and computers are getting so good, that now they can help study human activity on scales as local as ones own neighborhood, and may answer questions concerning how local conditions affect global processes, like water and energy cycles. ... ...NASA's Land Information System (LIS) uses computer models to predict impacts that cities and other local land surfaces might have on regional and...NASA scientists discover spring thaw makes a difference
Using a suite of microwave remote sensing instruments aboard satellites, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., and the University of Montana, Missoula, have observed a recent trend of earlier thawing across the northern high latitudes.... ...This regional thawing trend, advancing almost one day a year since 1988, has the potential to alter the cycle of...atmosp...NASA learning to monitor coral reef health from the sky
Coral reef health may be accurately estimated from sensors on airplanes and satellites in the future, according to a NASA scientist who is the principal investigator in a collaborative project to develop a method to remotely sense coral health.... ...Sometimes called the "bellwether of the seas," coral reefs can give first indications of marine ecosystem health. "Scientists can use coral health...New NASA facility will help protect space crews from radiation
Imagine a human spacecraft crew voyaging through space. A satellite sends a warning; energetic particles are being accelerated from the sun's corona, sending dangerous radiation toward their spacecraft, but the crew isn't worried. Long before their journey, researchers on Earth conducted experiments to accurately measure the hazards of space radiation and developed new materials and countermeasur...Nasal contribution to breathing with exercise: The effect of race and gender
(Bethesda, MD) The mode of breathing -- via the mouth (oral) or the nose (nasal) -- is an important determinant of a deposited dose of inhaled particles and gases to the lungs. The nose can act as an effective filter to prevent penetration of particles and gases to the lower respiratory tract. Gases that are very water soluble or reactive (such as ozone) can be extracted in the nose by as much...Findings offer further understanding about growth and development in young male gymnasts
(September 10, 2003) - Bethesda, MD -- Intense training has been found to delay the onset of puberty in females by altering normal hormonal development. This has led to delayed pubertal onset, delayed age at first menarche and failure to develop mature skeletal structure. In males, despite evidence that physical activity can also result in hormonal changes, there have been few studies that exami...State of Amazonas safeguards world's richest biodiversity with six new protected areas
Durban, South Africa Sept. 10, 2003 The state government of Amazonas, Brazil announced today the creation of six new protected areas covering 3.8 million hectares of the world's most biodiversity-rich territory. The new areas cover a region the size of Belgium or Costa Rica and bring the state's overall protected area coverage to more than 40 percent.... ...Amazona's Secretary of Sustainable De...MicroRNAs - Tiny molecules shape up plants
This release is also available in ............Since the DNA double helix was discovered 50 years ago, biologists have focused on the role of DNA in controlling gene activity. Only recently have scientists begun to appreciate the importance of microRNAs in keeping gene activity in check, a discovery that was hailed as the breakthrough of 2002 by magazine (Small RNAs make big splash, Vol. 298, p...'MicroRNAs' control plant shape and structure
CORVALLIS, Ore. - New discoveries about tiny genetic components called microRNAs explain why plant leaves are flat. ... The study may be a first step, researchers say, in revolutionizing our understanding of how plants control their morphology, or shape. A plant's ability to grow structures with a specific shape is critical to its normal function of capturing energy from the sun and p...NASA announces space radiation research grants
NASA has selected 28 researchers to conduct ground-based research in space radiation biology and space radiation shielding materials....... Sponsored by NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR), this research will use the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (SRL) and the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron at the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, N.Y....Indiana University to become NASA base for space biology studies
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Bloomington will soon be the headquarters of one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's new Astrobiology Institute "lead teams," which are research institutes working on projects related to the search for life beyond Earth.... ...Based at IU and involving 18 scientists from eight research institutions, the new Indiana-Princeton-Tennessee Ast...NASA biotechnology activities enhancing quality of life
What do an anthrax-killing device, soybeans in space, artificial bone replacement materials, light-emitting diodes for wound healing, a new medicine to treat bone loss, a water bottle that filters out bacteria, a perfume, and advanced techniques for pharmaceutical drug design have in common?... ...These technologies and others have or are being developed by more than 150 companies that are partne...ESA providing Kyoto estimates of French Guianas tropical forests
Like all the so-called "Annex I" signatories to the Kyoto Protocol, France is required to measure and reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions. But France is also the only such country possessing tropical forests, most of which are in French Guiana. ...Tropical forests represent a vast store of carbon, while their deforestation represents a significant source of anthropogenic (man-made) green...Carnegie Mellon, NASA to develop robot illustrating how to seek life on distant planets
PITTSBURGH--A team of Carnegie Mellon University and NASA scientists will travel to the Atacama Desert in northern Chile in April to conduct research that will help them develop and deploy a robot and instruments that may someday enable other robots to find life on Mars. ...The researchers will be using the Atacama, described as the most arid region on Earth, as a Martian analog.... ...The group...UCLA and NASA partner to form new institute for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration
UCLA and NASA have partnered to combine the latest advances in biology and engineering at the Institute for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration (CMISE), which officially opens on Monday, Feb. 10. CMISE will meld the molecular world with aerospace technology to create minuscule monitoring systems, or a "lab on a chip," that could make research safer and more efficient on earth and in space. ......UCLA...Carnegie Mellon University receives NASA award to develop probes to detect life on Mars
PITTSBURGH--Carnegie Mellon University scientist Professor Alan Waggoner has received a three-year $900,000 award from NASA to develop fluorescent-dye-based systems to be used in remote operations to detect life on Mars and in other hostile or distant environments. ... As part of the grant, Waggoner's team will develop new fluorescent dyes that bind to the common building blocks of life DNA, lip...Tiny RNAs-'biological equivalent of dark matter'-wins prestigious AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize
The discovery of micro-sized RNA molecules (miRNAs)-a breakthrough described as "the biological equivalent of dark matter, all around us but almost escaping detection"-earned the coveted 2001-2002 AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize....... Three journal reports, published in the 26 October 2001 issue of Science, were named to receive the Prize, the oldest award conferred by the American Association for...New CU-NASA research belies previous idea that Mars was once warm, wet planet
A new study led by University of Colorado at Boulder researchers indicates Mars has been primarily a cold, dry planet following its formation some 4 billion years ago, making the possibility of the evolution of life there challenging at best.... ...Led by CU-Boulder doctoral candidate Teresa Segura and her adviser, Professor Owen B. Toon, the team used Mars photos and computer models to show that...Pennsylvania's West Nile Virus surveillance system gets an assist from NASA data
Recently, NASA has contributed weather and climate data to assist Pennsylvania state agencies in their response to the incidence of West Nile Virus throughout the Keystone state. ... ...Multiple state agencies in Pennsylvania are working with NASA, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, and other federal agencies in an environmental and public health alliance that is focusing on re...NASA researchers developing tools to help track and predict West Nile Virus
... ......that may one day allow public health officials to better...track and predict the spread of West Nile Virus. NASA's goal...is to provide people on the front lines of public health with...innovative technologies, data and a unique vantage point from...space through satellites, all tailored into useful tools and...databases for streamlining efforts to combat the disease.... ......NASA's Pu...UNC, other universities will help NASA develop space-age materials
CHAPEL HILL -- Imagine materials used in spacecraft and other applications that could repair themselves similarly to the way cuts heal on a sugar maple tree or a skateboarder's knobby knees, except more quickly. Or change shape somewhat without the great weight that hydraulic systems add. ...Science fiction? So far yes, but scientists and officials at the National Aeronautics and Space Administra...NASA turns to universities for research in space-age materials
NASA has selected a consortium of research institutions to develop new generations of materials that could revolutionize civil aviation and space travel. The award will establish an Institute for Biologically Inspired Materials to investigate and design materials that simulate repair mechanisms used by biological organisms to heal wounds. ... ...The institute consists of Princeton University, th...DNAs oscillating double helix hinders electrical conduction
DNA has an oscillating double-helix structure. This oscillating means that the DNA molecules conduct electricity much less well than was previously thought. Ultrafast cameras were one of the devices the researchers from Amsterdam used to demonstrate this....... It turns out the DNA does not have a rigid regular structure as stated in textbooks. In reality the double helix of DNA forms a very dyna...Researchers at MIT and Rice University have discovered that microRNAs, an emerging class of non-protein gene regulators thus far only identified in animals, also exist in plants. By extending the known phylogenetic range of miRNAs to plants, this work points to an ancient evolutionary origin for microRNAs. The report is published in the July 1 issue of the scientific journal Genes & Development.....Media invited to watch NASA Materials Science Conference on national webcast next week
...Scientists will gather in Huntsville, Ala., beginning Tuesday, June 25, to discuss hot topics in their field -- from materials for advanced spaceships to biomaterials used in medicine. ...... But you dont have to be in Huntsville to catch up on the latest materials science news....... News media are invited to learn about existing and future research by attending the conference or watching a...Nasal antibiotic ointment reduces infection risk after surgery
In what may be the largest clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of antimicrobial agents in preventing surgical wound and hospital-based infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, scientists at the University of Iowa and Johns Hopkins found that an antibiotic ointment, called mupirocin (moo-PIE-roe-sin), smeared inside the nose cut infection rates in half or better....... "Our results car...The MAP kinase pathway in coxsackievirus infections
Heritable biochemical idiosyncrasies are thought to help explain the variable outcome when individuals in the outbred human population are exposed to pathogens. However, even in relatively tractable mouse models, there are surprisingly few clear examples of biochemical differences that can account for the characteristic sensitivity of some inbred strains to specific viruses. The coxsackievirus st...NATO picks promising pollution solution at NASAs Marshall Center for pilot study program
A project to treat groundwater and soil contamination at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has attracted international attention and been added to a pilot program sponsored by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)....... The NATO Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society has picked one of the Marshall Centers in-situ remediation projects as one of just four worl...