Darwin's famous finches and Venter's marine microbes
...gy ( www.plos.org ). The authors are plying the rapidly emerging trade of metagenomics (also known as environmental genomics) that seeks to examine genomic snapshots taken directly from the environment. "Metagenomics allows us to sample the 99 percent of all bacteria that wont grow in the lab," explain...Disease opened door to invading species in California
...n though they appeared to be inferior competitors, rapidly displaced native perennial grasses in California and also parts of the Pacific Northwest. "The complete change in grassland ecosystems brought with it more damaging fire regimes, shorter grazing seasons, and altered water and carbon cycles" said Er...Microscopic sea creatures provide foundation for gas sensors and other devices
...tery size, you could store more power, use it more rapidly or recharge the battery faster by using such structures as electrodes." In testing, the researchers showed that the silicon they produced was photoluminescent meaning it glows when illuminated by certain wavelengths of light. That shows the fabri...Press conferences at the year's largest physics meeting
... explain why the pace of evolution has accelerated rapidly since the first billion years of life on Earth. Da...air of session U2) will present an overview of the rapidly evolving field of quantum information. Anton Zeilinger of the University of Vienna will present res...Researchers find suntan's 'master regulator'
... also occur in human skin. They showed that p53 is rapidly induced in virtually every keratinocyte of human skin samples within an hour of UV exposure, followed by the induction of MSH and a transcription factor that governs the production of pigment by melanocytes. The findings led the researchers to cons...MIT particles pave way for new bedside diagnostics
... brighter when more of the target is present. To rapidly "read" the particles, the researchers designed a custom "flow cytometer" using a microfluidic device and standard microscope. In this flow-through system, the oblong, disk-like shape of the particles ensures that they are precisely aligned for accura...Leicester researcher to lead global team tackling carbon 'time-bomb'
... the surface peat oxidises and loses stored carbon rapidly to the atmosphere. This results in progressive subsidence of the peat surface, leading to flooding, and contributes to climate change. The CARBOPEAT project will play a critical role in bringing this information to a wider audience by providing su...Scientists uncover link between ocean's chemical processes and microscopic floating plants
...n water, were measured. "In the atmosphere, DMS is rapidly oxidized to sulfur dioxide, which can form sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere," said Wingenter. These aerosols can act as nuclei for cloud formation. Increased cloudiness could block sunlight, thereby cooling Earth. "Therefore, additional DMS product...Major gene study uncovers secrets of leukemia
...cells, called B or T lymphocytes, instead multiply rapidly and overwhelm the normal blood cells the body needs to survive. The St. Jude team used microarrays, postage-stamp-sized chips that contain DNA fragments, which allowed researchers to investigate more than 350,000 markers called single nucleotide p...Farmed salmon could become an invasive species in forest streams
...salmon in the 1960s, the industry has continued to rapidly grow worldwide. It has expanded to such a degree that prices for farmed salmon have plummeted and, there is concern that farmed fish may become the next invasive species. "Farmed fish escaping from marine net pens might become an invasive species ......bulk crystals. These one-atom thick materials have rapidly become one of the most provocative topics in physics. However, it had remained doubtful whether such materials could exist without the support of a substratum. Now, the research team headed by Dr. Jannik Meyer have produced such free-hanging membra...UN, industry, others partner to create world standards for e-scrap recycling, harvesting components
...tals (in monitors and other devices). Studies show rapidly increasing concentrations of these heavy metals in humans; in sufficient dosages, they can cause neuro-developmental disorders and possibly cancer. Waste of valuable resources that could be efficiently recovered for a new product life-cycle. I...Gene sequencing advance will aid in biomass-to-biofuels conversion
...p Wisconsin assume a position of leadership in the rapidly growing biofuels economy."...Light-activated compound silences nerves, may one day help epileptics
...ke they were involved in a seizure, with the cells rapidly and repeatedly firing. When they added the new dru...ted the compound's effects on tadpoles. "Tadpoles rapidly take up drugs through their skin, so they're frequently used to test potential anesthetics," Menneri...Largest physics meeting of the year, in Denver
...ential of performing ultra-fast database searches, rapidly cracking secret encrypted codes, and greatly improving molecular-level simulations for designing drugs and other new materials. In session N2, researchers will describe quantum-computer designs based on a newer approach, the use of superconducting el...Tundra disappearing at rapid rate
...ack," the same process that is associated with the rapidly decaying Arctic ice cap. "These results are very relevant to the current debate surrounding climate change because they provide real evidence that vegetation change will be quite considerable in response to future warming, potentially transforming...2-step process filters evolution of genes of human and chimpanzee
...urvive rigorous negative selection and then spread rapidly throughout a population. They estimated "the proportion of adaptive changes between human and chimpanzee to be 10.4 to 12.8 percent," similar to previous estimates using entirely different approaches. When they multiplied that result times curre...Third annual Templeton-Cambridge Fellowships awarded to 10 noted journalists
... that advance public awareness of this complex and rapidly evolving field of inquiry. The extraordinary intellectual and cultural setting at Cambridge, they add, will provide fellows with an opportunity to meet with colleagues for critical discussion and have access to prominent experts in the field. "The...Studies force new view on biology of flavonoids
...of what does get absorbed into the blood stream is rapidly metabolized in the intestines and liver and excreted from the body. By contrast, vitamin C is absorbed 100 percent by the body up to a certain level. And vitamin C accumulates in cells where it is 1,000 to 3,000 times more active as an antioxidant th...... epileptic fit occurs, the nerve cells "fire" very rapidly and fiercely. In this event so many impulses run through the axons that large quantities of glutamate are released all at once. "In these concentrations the neurotransmitter damages the insulating cells," says Dietrich. "It's the dosage that makes it...