They may not be on most people's list of most attractive species, but bats definitely have animal magnetism. Researchers have discovered that bats use a magnetic substance in their body called magnetite as an "internal compass" to help them navigate. Researchers studied the directions in which different groups of big brown bats flew after they were given different magnetic pulses and released 20 km north of their home roost.
The mothers of some autistic children may have made antibodies against their fetuses' brain tissue during pregnancy that crossed the placenta and caused changes that led to autism, suggests new research in the Journal of Neuroimmunology.
An innovation called Carbon Hero may help reduce global warming by making people more aware of their carbon footprint. The device uses satellite navigation technology to track journeys. With Carbon Hero, to see the effect a journey is having on the environment you just need to look at your mobile phone. The feedback loop is almost immediate.
An experimental, combination vaccine against ebola and Marburg viruses using virus-like particles provides complete protection against infection in monkeys. Traditionally vaccines against viral diseases have consisted of whole viruses, either the one that causes the disease in a weakened or dead state (like the polio vaccine) or a genetically similar virus that does not usually cause disease but elicits a protective immune response. The problem with this approach is there is the risk, however small, of viral reactivation and infection.
Vivid colors, flowing silk ribbons and glittering bits of mirrors -- the Vikings dressed with considerably more panache than we previously thought. The men were especially vain, and the women dressed provocatively, but with the advent of Christianity, fashions changed, according to a Swedish archaeologist.
The explosion at a sugar refinery in Georgia earlier this month that killed nine workers underscores the need for tougher industrial safety standards regarding production of combustible dust, according to a new article.
Hormones produced by the heart eliminated human pancreatic cancer in more than three-quarters of the mice treated with the hormones and eliminated human breast cancer in two-thirds of the mice. The treatment has not yet been tried in humans, but clinical trials are in the planning stages.
Researchers in California report development of an anti-cancer 'warhead' that targets the acidic signature of tumor cells in much the same way that heat-seeking missiles seek and destroy military targets that emit heat. These acid-seeking substances are not toxic to healthy cells, and represent a new class of potentially safer, more effective anti-cancer drugs, they say.
The corn genome has be sequenced. It is hoped that this basic research will lead to the development of crops that can withstand global climate change, add nutritional value to grain, sequester more atmospheric carbon in agricultural soils, or boost yields so crops can meet growing demands for food, feed, fiber and fuel. The genome of corn is very similar to the genomes of rice, wheat, sorghum, prairie grasses and turf grasses. Therefore, the draft of the corn genome should be able to help researchers improve the other cereals and grasses.
The view into the inner world of living cells just got a little brighter and more colorful. A powerful new research tool, when used with other labeling technologies, allows simultaneous visualization of two or more different proteins as well as the ability to distinguish young and old copies of a protein within one living cell.
Scientists of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment have announced that they have set the world's best constraints on the properties of dark matter candidates. WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles, are leading candidates for the building blocks of dark matter, which accounts for 85 percent of the entire mass of the universe. Hundreds of billions of WIMPs may have passed through your body as you read these sentences.
A novel class of hybrid materials made from metals and organic compounds is changing the face of solid state chemistry and materials science just 10 years after its discovery, with applications already in safe storage of highly inflammable gases such as hydrogen and methane.
Researchers have demonstrated that living human nerve cells can be engineered into a network that could one day be used for transplants to repair damaged to the nervous system. They obtained human dorsal root ganglia neurons to engineer into transplantable nervous tissue.
Skin color is one of the most visible indicators that helps distinguish human appearance, and a new study provides more detail as to how one protein helps produce this wide palette. In 2005 researchers identified a gene called SLC24A5 as a key determinant of skin color. Scientists now confirm that the protein product of this gene (NCKX5) is an ion exchanger; it exchanges sodium for calcium across a membrane, regulated by potassium.
