Massive Transiting Planet With 31-hour Year Found Around Distant Star May 31, 2007
A team of astronomers with the Transatlantic Exoplanet Survey have announced the discovery of their third planet, TrES-3. TrES-3 was discovered in the constellation Hercules about 10 degrees west of Vega, the brightest star in the summer skies. It is an unusual planet because it orbits its parent star in just 31 hours.
Mercury's Link To Heart Disease Begins In Blood Vessel Walls
Heavy metals and other toxins have been linked to many human diseases, but determining exactly how they damage the body remains a mystery in many cases. New research focusing on a relatively obscure, misunderstood protein suggests mercury's link to heart disease can be traced to activation of this enzyme, which triggers a process leading to plaque buildup in blood vessel walls.
Five New Species Of Sea Slugs Discovered In The Tropical Eastern Pacific
The Tropical Eastern Pacific, a discrete biogeographic region that has an extremely high rate of endemism among its marine organisms, continues to yield a wealth of never-before-described marine animals to visiting scientists.
Early Action Key To Reducing Flu Death Toll
Nearly 40 years ago, MIT Professor Richard Larson spent a week sick in bed with the worst illness he'd ever had-the particularly virulent strain of flu that swept the globe in 1968. "That was the sickest I'd ever been," Larson recalled. "I really thought that was the end." It took him two or three months to recover fully from the illness. Now, many experts fear the world is on the brink of another deadly flu pandemic. And Larson wants to be sure that people are ready to deal with it.
In Search Of The Biological Significance Of Modular Structures In Protein Networks
Refuting previous studies, the authors show by computer simulation that modular structures can arise during network growth via a simple model of gene duplication, without a natural selection preference for modularity.
Psychologist Explains Teens' Risky Decision-making Behavior
Meg Gerrard will be the first to admit that unraveling the adolescent mind is not an easy thing. Like most parents, she's even asked her teen daughters, "What were you thinking?" after one of them was caught in a risky behavior. But now it's Gerrard — an Iowa State University psychology professor — who has tried to answer that question scientifically through analysis of research from the last 12 years on adolescent risk-taking.
Longstanding Astronomical Puzzle Solved
A team of astronomers has recalculated the explosion date of the famous Crab Nebula supernova and found excellent agreement between their measurements and the classic date of the 1054 A.D. appearance of a bright "guest star" seen in the constellation of Taurus the Bull.
Inherited Mutation For Leukemia Discovered
Researchers have discovered the first inherited gene mutation that increases a person's risk for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, one of the most common forms of the disease. The study shows that the inherited mutation greatly reduces the gene's protective activity. Furthermore, a second kind of change occurs later that turns the gene off altogether, leading to leukemia. This latter alteration is a chemical change that is not inherited.
Superconductor Discovery Solves 20-year-old Mystery
Scientists have made a major advance in superconductor research by "growing" the purest samples of superconductors to date. Superconductors are a class of materials that conduct electricity with no resistance. They are already used in MRI medical imaging scanners, levitating trains, and power lines.
Existence Of Muscle-building Stem Cells Points To Regenerative Therapies For Muscular Disease
A new report confirms the existence of some apparently uncommitted stem cells amongst cells responsible for generating the bulging biceps of body builders and the rippling abs of fitness buffs. The findings could lead to new muscle-regenerating therapies — including cell transplantation regimens and stem cell-replenishing drugs — for people with various muscle-wasting diseases, including muscular dystrophies.
| older posts »