Erythrocyte G protein as a novel target for malarial chemotherapy

Erythrocyte G protein as a novel target for malarial chemotherapy

   Kasturi Haldar and colleagues from Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, investigated a protein in red blood cells (erythrocyte guanine nucleotide regulatory protein Gs) as a novel antimalarial target.

The mathematics of cloaking

The mathematics of cloaking

   The theorists who first created the mathematics that describe the behavior of the recently announced "invisibility cloak" have revealed a new analysis that may extend the current cloak's powers, enabling it to hide even actively radiating objects like a flashlight or cell phone.

Alternative materials for radioactive materials containment

Alternative materials for radioactive materials containment

   Nuclear operations have left behind a wide variety of radioactive waste that needs long-term containment and safe disposal. Novel and tailored materials for the containment of these waste streams will be explored in this conference, especially that of high-level waste, over a geological time scale, and high activity waste over several decades till the activity of fission products is diminished to an acceptable level.

Fluidization -- XII

Fluidization -- XII

   Fluidization is important in both fundamental research and broad industrial applications. Current understanding of the complex fluid-particle two- and three-phase flow patterns, coupled with heat and mass transfer and chemical reactions, is still insufficient for practitioners to reliably design and scale up commercial fluidized bed reactors. This conference seeks to stimulate exchange of ideas from researchers all over the world in order to develop generic tools and theories for applications.

Damp New Year's Day on tap for Northeast (weather.com)

Damp New Year's Day on tap for Northeast
(weather.com)


   weather.com -

Divers seal broken Gulf oil pipeline (AP)

Divers seal broken Gulf oil pipeline
(AP)


   AP - Divers sealed a broken oil pipeline Sunday after about 44,500 gallons leaked into the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard said.

Green Chemical Reactor Engineering -- XI

Green Chemical Reactor Engineering -- XI

   Green Chemical Reactor Engineering, will showcase the conception, development and implementation of novel, environmentally friendly technologies. Chemical reactor engineers will be pivotal in the discovery and implementation of new environmentally acceptable products and processes, safety strategies and policies, computer modeling for process control and process simulation. It is anticipated that key areas of discussion will include: research on catalysis, energy and the environment, and the recycling of products and processes.

New Orleans begins 2007 still in Katrina recovery (Reuters)

New Orleans begins 2007 still in Katrina recovery
(Reuters)


   

Reuters - In New Orleans, 2007 begins much
the same way 2006 did, with large swaths of the city still
wrecked and abandoned after Hurricane Katrina, and local
officials promising that better days lie just ahead.

Safety experts ill-equipped to handle nanotechnology in workplace

Safety experts ill-equipped to handle nanotechnology in workplace

   In a new article, "Nanotechnology and Safety," published by Cleanroom Technology, the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies Chief Science Advisor Andrew Maynard urges the need for a strategic plan and more resources for risk research to ensure safe nano-workplaces today and in the future.

Technique quickly identifies bacteria for food safety, health care and homeland security

Technique quickly identifies bacteria for food safety, health care and homeland security

   Researchers at Purdue University have used a new technique to rapidly detect and precisely identify bacteria, including dangerous E. coli, without time-consuming treatments usually required.

A transplant in time

A transplant in time

   In hemophilia, a mutated gene prevents the production of a blood-clotting protein. Treatments for hemophilia and other genetic diseases may consist of risky blood transfusions or expensive enzyme replacement therapy. But what if the body could be induced to begin producing these proteins by transplanting healthy tissue with the abilities that are lacking? The Weizmann Institute's Immunology Department showed how such a transplant might be made feasible.

Understanding the Arctic -- NSF-funded expeditions cover new ground in climate science

Understanding the Arctic -- NSF-funded expeditions cover new ground in climate science

   The effects of climate change appear in the Arctic before becoming apparent in other regions, but scientists know little about the Arctic sea floor. An international NSF-funded collaboration is exploring the ongoing effects of climate change in the Arctic.

Joining forces

Joining forces

   The "resistance movement" founded by bacteria to combat antibiotics may be losing ground. By combining key properties of two different types of weapons used by the innate defense systems of organisms, a team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science has managed to design a more powerful weapon, hoping that this will provide a basis for novel and more effective antibiotics.

Snow continues in parts of Plains (weather.com)

Snow continues in parts of Plains
(weather.com)


   weather.com -

Dust to gust

Dust to gust

   More than half of the dust needed for fertilizing the Brazilian rainforest is supplied by a valley in northern Chad, according to an international research team headed by Dr. Ilan Koren of the Institute's Environmental Sciences and Energy Research Department. In a study published recently in Environmental Research Letters, the scientists have explained how the Bodélé valley's unique features might be responsible for making it such a major dust provider.

New treatments prevent brain injury hours after stroke in rats

New treatments prevent brain injury hours after stroke in rats

   Two novel treatments -- a basic compound found in every cell in the body and an extract of green tea -- may prevent brain damage caused from stroke, according to two studies in rats led by a researcher at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

Animal sacrifices maim 1,400 in Turkey (AP)

Animal sacrifices maim 1,400 in Turkey
(AP)


   AP - Over a thousand Turks spent the first day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha in emergency wards on Sunday after stabbing themselves or suffering other injuries while sacrificing startled animals.

The Nation's Weather (AP)

The Nation's Weather
(AP)


   

AP - Forecasters predicted stormy weather would sweep through the Plains toward the Great Lakes on Sunday, with heavy rain in the Mississippi Valley and snow in the upper Midwest.

Scientists Say Alaskas Augustine Volcano Showing Signs Of Erupting

Scientists Say Alaskas Augustine Volcano Showing Signs Of Erupting

   Hundreds of miniature earthquakes along with a sulfurous steam plume and a new swath of ash on Alaskas Augustine Volcano have scientists looking for a possible eruption of the volcano within the next few months. Alaskas Volcano Observatory has been monitoring the uninhabited volcanic island more closely since bumping its status up to code yellow from green on Nov. 29. The volcano last erupted in 1986, when ash from a 7-mile-high column drifted over Anchorage and kept flights out of the skies over Cook Inlet.

Cloning Pioneer to Withdraw Stem Cell Paper Because Samples Were Faked

Cloning Pioneer to Withdraw Stem Cell Paper Because Samples Were Faked

   South Korean professor and cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-suk has asked that his highly acclaimed research paper on stem cell research be removed from publication after it was learned that most of the stem cells produced for the paper were faked. Allegedly, Hwang had pressured a former (unnamed) scientist at his lab to fake data to make it look like there were 11 stem cell colonies when in fact there were only two or three. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, has now called for caution regarding the reports on Hwangs work.

Judge Bans Teaching Intelligent Design in Dover PA

Judge Bans Teaching Intelligent Design in Dover PA

   A federal judge ruled that Intelligent Design cannot be taught in Dover Pa. Dover was the site of former battle over intelligent design and Evolution, wherein the local schoolboard added Intelligent Design to its Science Standards.

Chinese Benzene Spill Will Reach Khabarovsk Thursday Morning.

Chinese Benzene Spill Will Reach Khabarovsk Thursday Morning.

   The Benzene toxic spill from the Chinese chemical plant will reach the Russian city of Khabarovsk, home to 600.000 people, Thursday morning. Russian officials have taken measures, such as limiting the amount of river water used, and building a damn in one of the branches of the Amur river.

Tropical Storm Zeta Forms

Tropical Storm Zeta Forms

   Tropical Storm Zeta has formed in the eastern Atlantic a month after the official end of hurricane season, leaving forecasters scratching their heads in wonder.

Pony Up...Cloning Hits the Horse Industry

Pony Up...Cloning Hits the Horse Industry

   In February the first of 19 cloned foals will be delivered at Royal Vista Southwest horse ranch in Purcell, Oklahoma. Cloned from high-profile performance horses the foals will bring $150,000 each. Genetic manipulation is forbidden by the Jockey Club, which is the regulatory body for registered thoroughbreds, and there are no provisions for registering cloned horses in the American Quarter Horse Association, but a vote is before the American Paint Horse Association that could allow future registration of cloned paints.

Earth to Mars in 3 hours possible?

Earth to Mars in 3 hours possible?

   New Scientist magazine have an article noting a new theory that may allow the creation of engines able to power a spacecraft to Mars in 3 hours and to the next solar system in 80 days.

Major Winter Storm Central; Wet in the East (weather.com)

Major Winter Storm Central; Wet in the East
(weather.com)


   weather.com -

Microchip Security Hand Implants Now Available

Microchip Security Hand Implants Now Available

   Microchip implants have been available for our pets for years. This technology is now available as a key to your front door or for computer passwords. Amal Graafstra, a 29-year-old entrepreneur based in Vancouver, Canada now has these implants that he received from a surgeon in Los Angeles, CA. The Implants are smaller than a grain of rice and can last for up to 100 years.

Bird Flu Alert: Europe on the brink?

Bird Flu Alert: Europe on the brink?

   In Turkey, the number of identified H5N1 human infections ballooned over the weekend to more than 50 cases, renewing concerns that the virus is about to spread widely into Europe. In the span of just a week, three Turkish children have reportedly died from the virus. The majority of the remaining suspected infections also involve children.

Genetically Modified Foods: Unborn Babies at Risk?

Genetically Modified Foods: Unborn Babies at Risk?

   New research, slated for publication by a leading scientist at the Russian Academy of Sciences, finds that women who eat genetically modified foods during pregnancy may be placing their unborn children at significant risk. The research joins a litany of recent studies that suggest consumption of genetically modified foods might be more dangerous than previously thought. Despite these, and other similar findings, US Government support for genetically modified foods remains strong.

FDA OK may spark 'clone-free' labels (AP)

FDA OK may spark 'clone-free' labels
(AP)


   

AP - Meat and milk from cloned animals may not appear in supermarkets for years despite being deemed by the government as safe to eat. But don't be surprised if "clone-free" labels appear sooner.

Oil investigation targets Interior official: NYT (Reuters)

Oil investigation targets Interior official: NYT
(Reuters)


   Reuters - The Justice Department is
investigating whether the director of a multibillion-dollar
oil-trading program at the Interior Department has been paid as
a consultant for oil companies hoping for contracts, The New
York Times reported on Saturday.

Statues offer clues to Greek isle's past (AP)

Statues offer clues to Greek isle's past
(AP)


   

AP - Unlike its larger, postcard-perfect neighbors in the Aegean Sea, Keros is a tiny rocky dump inhabited by a single goatherd. But the barren islet was of major importance to the mysterious Cycladic people, a sophisticated pre-Greek civilization with no written language that flourished 4,500 years ago and produced strikingly modern-looking artwork.

Ancient Insects Used Advanced Camouflage (LiveScience.com)

Ancient Insects Used Advanced Camouflage
(LiveScience.com)


   LiveScience.com - A fossil of
a leaf-imitating insect from 47 million years ago bears a striking resemblance
to the mimickers of today.

Atlanta's giant pandas are picky eaters (AP)

Atlanta's giant pandas are picky eaters
(AP)


   

AP - If you think kids are picky, try feeding a giant panda. It takes four full-time bamboo hunters at Zoo Atlanta to satisfy the palates of the zoo's panda pair, Lun Lun and Yang Yang. And they are not always successful.

Remembering President Ford's Space Legacy (SPACE.com)

Remembering President Ford's Space Legacy
(SPACE.com)


   SPACE.com - He was only
in the White House for 895 days but during that time he witnessed the first joint
space mission between the United States and the Soviet Union, saw his nation
land the first spacecraft on Mars and was there for the rollout of
the first space shuttle. He may not have made major contributions to space policy as
the President but earlier in his career as a member of the House of Representatives, he helped create NASA.

Crippling winter storm still howling! (weather.com)

Crippling winter storm still howling!
(weather.com)


   weather.com -