science wire

Wake up call for koala protection
Koalas, small wallabies, bandicoots and other endangered animals could be 'traded' across Australia to prevent extinction, according to a wildlife expert at ANU.

Supercomputing set to boost region’s competitiveness
A £3.5 million supercomputing hub is set to power growth and innovation in the Midlands and London by opening up its vast number-crunching power to local firms.

’How-to’ video tutorials could boost hearing aid use, say researchers
PA 141/12 The main barriers to hearing aid use are being addressed by experts in Nottingham as part of an innovative research project. Hearing aids have the potential to transform the lives of those with permanent hearing loss, yet out of the three million people who have one, around 25 per cent — 750,000 people — choose not to wear their device.

Stem-cell-growing surface enables bone repair
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - University of Michigan researchers have proven that a special surface, free of biological contaminants, allows adult-derived stem cells to thrive and transform into multiple cell types. Their success brings stem cell therapies another step closer. To prove the cells' regenerative powers, bone cells grown on this surface were then transplanted into holes in the skulls of mice, producing four times as much new bone growth as in the mice without the extra bone cells.

The Search for the Earliest Signs of Alzheimer’s
For the past five years, volunteers from the City of Berkeley and surrounding areas have come to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to participate in an ongoing study that's changing what scientists know about Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers develop new genetic method to pinpoint individuals’ geographic origin
Understanding the genetic diversity within and between populations has important implications for studies of human disease and evolution.

Prevalence of kidney stones doubles in wake of obesity epidemic
The number of Americans suffering from kidney stones between 2007 and 2010 nearly doubled from 1994, according to a new study by researchers at UCLA and the RAND Corp. "While we expected the prevalence of kidney stones to increase, the size of the increase was surprising," said Charles D. Scales Jr., a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Clinical Scholar in the departments of urology and medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Nea Kameni volcano movement captured by Envisat
Archived data from the Envisat satellite show that the volcanic island of Santorini has recently displayed signs of unrest. Even after the end of its mission, Envisat information continues to be exploited for the long-term monitoring of volcanoes. Santorini is a picturesque Greek island in the south Aegean Sea and the most active volcanic centre in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc.

A wake-up call for manufacturing
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - U.S. factories produce about 75 percent of what the country consumes, but the right decisions by both business and political leaders could push that to 95 percent, say University of Michigan researchers.

Oil expertise centre to boost growth
The University has a central role in a new centre of North Sea oil expertise. The Centre for North Sea Enhanced Oil Recovery with (CENSEOR-CO2) will accelerate development of carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Marine biologist works with primary school to teach children about life under the waves
A local primary school has joined forces with a Plymouth University academic on a year-long project to teach children and their families all about plankton.

Lying in Wait for WIMPs
Although it's invisible, dark matter accounts for at least 80 percent of the matter in the universe.

Common diseases increase risk of cancer
A number of the most widespread chronic diseases in our society increase the risk of cancer. This is shown by a study of 20 000 Swedes that mapped patients’ illnesses up to ten years before their cancer diagnosis.

Economic power of self-employment felt countywide
University Park, Pa. - People in rural counties who work for themselves may add a boost to local economies, improving income and job growth, according to economists.

Social welfare cuts ultimately come with heavy price, researchers say
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.

New £3.5m supercomputing investment set to boost region’s competitiveness
A £3.5 million supercomputing hub is set to power growth and innovation in the Midlands and London by opening up its vast number-crunching power to local firms.

Patients to benefit from better advice on pain control
New guidance for doctors and other prescribers on the use of strong painkillers for patients with chronic or incurable disease has been welcomed by researchers at the University of Leeds.

HeadSmart campaign shows success within one year
PA 138/12 A campaign involving University of Nottingham experts that aims to reduce the time it takes doctors to diagnose a brain tumour in children and young people is showing positive results within the first year of its launch.

Engineers use plasmonics to create an invisible photodetector
A team of engineers at Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania has for the first time used "plasmonic cloaking" to create a device that can see without being seen – an invisible machine that detects light. It may not be intuitive, but a coating of reflective metal can actually make something less visible, engineers at Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania have shown.

Insect pollinators contribute $29 billion to U.S. farm income
Bees and other insects that pollinate plants in the United States have suffered in recent decades from mites, pesticides, pathogens, land development and habitat fragmentation. Nevertheless, production of insect-pollinated crops has mostly increased this century. Now, new research shows that insect pollinators' value to farmers may be hard to replace.

How ESA and industry will work together in the future

Hacking code of leaf vein architecture solves mysteries, allows predictions of past climate
UCLA life scientists have discovered new laws that determine the construction of leaf vein systems as leaves grow and evolve. These easy-to-apply mathematical rules can now be used to better predict the climates of the past using the fossil record. The research, published May 15 , has a range of fundamental implications for global ecology and allows researchers to estimate original leaf sizes from just a fragment of a leaf.

The Older We Get, The Less We Know (Cosmologically)
Cambridge, MA - The universe is a marvelously complex place, filled with galaxies and larger-scale structures that have evolved over its 13.7-billion-year history.

Tracking endangered elephants with satellite technology
A hundred years ago wild elephants on the Malay Peninsular could be counted in their thousands — now there are less than 1500.

Space and science meet online for youngsters
Space and science meet online for youngsters What happens when your experiment gets over 30 000 views online? Tomorrow's space explorers were awarded an out-of-this-world scientific exchange with astronauts on the International Space Station last Wednesday.

Savings where the rubber meets the road
Study shows that pavement deflection under vehicle tires makes for a continuous uphill drive that increases fuel consumption. A new study by civil engineers at MIT shows that using stiffer pavements on the nation's roads could reduce vehicle fuel consumption by as much as 3 percent - a savings that could add up to 273 million barrels of crude oil per year, or $15.6 billion at today's oil prices.

Project to examine 'Yeti' DNA
A new collaboration between Oxford University and the Lausanne Museum of Zoology will use the latest genetic techniques to investigate organic remains that some have claimed belong to the ‘Yeti' and other ‘lost' hominid species.

Not a one-way street: Evolution shapes environment of Connecticut lakes
Environmental change is the selective force that preserves adaptive traits in organisms and is a primary driver of evolution.

UC San Diego Superfund Research Program Receives $15 Million Grant Renewal
Among The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, has renewed funding for the Superfund Research Program (SRP) at the University of California, San Diego. Over the next five years, the $15 million grant will fund continued research on the molecular and genetic consequences of exposure to uncontrolled toxicants from Superfund and other hazardous waste sites.

The art of survival
A collection of artefacts made by prisoners from the Channel Islands in World War II has gone on display in Jersey to mark the 70th anniversary of the Channel Island deportations, with the help of a Cambridge researcher.

Researchers Detail Polling Place Effect
Given how much time and money American political parties spend in redistricting, they may want to consider how voters are assigned to particular polling locations. Two University of Pennsylvania professors maintain that where people vote could subconsciously influence how they vote. Jonah Berger , assistant professor of marketing in Penn's Wharton School, and Marc Meredith, assistant professor of political science in the School of Arts and Sciences, began researching the phenomenon while in grad school at Stanford University.

Sustainable Rail International, University of Minnesota Announce Coalition to Develop the World's Cleanest Passenger Locomotive
New steam engine has the potential to change both 'the rail industry and clean energy research Media Note: Images of the cosmetic work performed on the locomotive and historic images of the engine are available by contacting SRI.

Food fight or romantic dinner? Communication between couples is key to improving men’s diets
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Married men will eat their peas to keep the peace, but many aren't happy about it, and may even binge on unhealthy foods away from home.

Consciousness conference opens with free ’expo’ on mysteries of the mind
Consciousness conference opens with free 'expo' on mysteries of the mind An opportunity to explore fascinating aspects of human consciousness is on offer at a free one-day ‘expo' curated by University of Sussex scientists at Brighton's Corn Exchange on 30 June.

ANALYSIS: absentee Egyptian votes and this week’s Presidential elections
Solava Ibrahim, University of Manchester. She is a Research Fellow at the University's Brooks World Poverty Institute.

Clinical trial: More evidence that cancer drug treats macular degeneration
The second year of data from a nationwide, federally funded trial continues to show that the cancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab) is an effective and economical treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The Comparison of AMD Treatments Trials (CATT) study, published recently in the Journal of Ophthalmology, built on the one-year results that came out a year ago.

University of Leeds takes Gold at Chelsea Flower Show
The University of Leeds has scooped Gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show today (22 May) with its first exhibit at the prestigious event. The garden, designed by Martin Walker, brings to life research carried out by leading academics and shows how simple changes to urban gardens can make a positive contribution to the planet.

The University of Nottingham and Promethean Particles take lead on €10m nano-research project
The University of Nottingham and its spin-out business, Promethean Particles, have secured a major EU research project with an overall value of €9.7 million.

Green ’Pond Scum’ Holds Hope for Producing Edible Vaccine Against Malaria
Vaccine development among focuses of new Center for Food & Fuel for the 21st Century Most people know by now that algae are a promising source of biofuels that could supplement and eventually replace the world's declining reserves of oil. But UC San Diego biologists working on algal biofuels who joined forces with another team at the School of Medicine studying tropical diseases have discovered another use for algae.

Australia must help East Timor adapt to climate change
East Timor is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and Australia has a moral and historical obligation to help, a University of Melbourne study has found.

Government should widen laws to combat widespread labour abuse
The Government should act urgently to stop the widespread abuse of foreign workers, say crime experts at The University of Manchester.

Reconstruction of atmospheric lead concentrations in Russia since 1680
A research team from the Paul Scherrer Institute has reconstructed the concentration record of lead in the atmosphere in Russia since 1680. As no continuous atmospheric lead measurements had been made, the researchers are able to give the first outline of what the record could have been like. The results demonstrate a significant increase in the atmospheric lead concentrations since the 1930s and a significant reduction since the 1970s.

Investigative journalist adapts reportage on police torture scandal into a play
John Conroy isn't letting anyone off the hook.

UC San Diego Researchers in Florence Explore New Ways to Search for Lost Leonardo Mural
UC San Diego grad student David Vanoni uses an endoscopic probe on the wall behind which The Battle of Anghiari mural is believed to be hidden.

Planned Parenthood president speaks to Stanford on mobilizing for reproductive health in the 21st century
Cecile Richards explained the importance of looking to the next generation, the possibilities offered by new technologies and why Planned Parenthood is arguably stronger than ever.

A robot learns how to tidy up after you
Sooner than you think, we may have robots to tidy up our homes. Researchers in Cornell's Personal Robotics Lab have trained a robot to survey a room, identify all the objects, figure out where they belong and put them away.

Proba-2 catches solar eclipse
Europe missed Sunday's solar eclipse on the other side of the planet but ESA's space weather microsatellite Proba-2 passed repeatedly through the Moon's shadow.

Researchers develop way to strengthen proteins with polymers
Proteins are widely used as drugs - insulin for diabetics is the best known example - and as reagents in research laboratories, but they react poorly to fluctuations in temperature and are known to degrade in storage. Because of this instability, proteins must be shipped and stored at regulated temperatures, resulting in increased costs, and sometimes must be discarded because their "active" properties have been lost.

U-M biologist plays key role in effort to create first comprehensive tree of life
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Since Darwin, assembling an evolutionary tree that shows the relationships between all known species of life has been one of the grandest and most daunting challenges facing biologists.

With the people, for the people: applying mental health research
From campus to community, the worlds of mental health research and medical practice are being brought together by a collaboration involving researchers, health and social care providers, and the patients themselves. When you have liaised with the consumer very early on, you know that their question is your question and they're eager for your results." —Professor Peter Jones Imagine a 17-year-old man with a learning disability arriving in A&E with suspected appendicitis.

New growth charts for school age children launched
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have been working with a team from the University of Glasgow to produce a new set of growth charts.

State-of-the-art Large Animal Care at Penn Vet’s Moran Critical Care Center
The goal of a hospital it to make patients well, but hospital-acquired infections can result in just the opposite.

Unveiling of new £7million building for the Institute of Mental Health
PA 136/12 A £7 million building for the Institute of Mental Health will officially open its doors for the first time on The University of Nottingham's Jubilee Campus later this week.

Postcard: Dr Nicholas Beare in Malawi
Nicholas Beare, from the University's Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease , is photographed here at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Malawi, examining a child for signs of cerebral malaria in the back of the eyes.

Research highlights need for adequate support for postpartum psychosis patients
Women recovering from the rare and most severe form of postnatal illness known as postpartum psychosis (PP) must receive enough help after being discharged from psychiatric hospital if maternal suicide rates are to improve, according to researchers from the University of Birmingham. Postpartum psychosis is a severe and debilitating psychiatric illness which starts suddenly in the days following childbirth.

Educational games to train middle-schoolers’ attention, empathy
Two years ago, at a meeting on science and education, Richard Davidson challenged video game manufacturers to develop games that emphasize kindness and compassion instead of violence and aggression.

Images in new online archive mark 75th anniversary of child refugees coming to UK
Archives of material about child refugees evacuated to the UK to escape the Spanish Civil War 75 years ago have gone online at the University of Warwick, as part of the largest English-language digital collection on the conflict.

A necessity or a danger? Why we love and hate our credit cards
A new University of Sydney study has revealed the full extent of Australia's love-hate relationship with credit cards and those who use them.

Smart homes for older Australians
A new report by the University of Melbourne's Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES) has found smart technologies can support older people in their homes for longer.

Redefining our relationship with Indonesia
Australia's relationship with Indonesia has always been defined by our neighbour being poorer and weaker than us.

Toxic mercury, accumulating in the Arctic, springs from a hidden source
Harvard study finds circumpolar rivers most responsible for high levels of mercury in the Arctic The Lena River delta.

Building a unique wave test facility
A new wave tank being built at the University is to aid marine energy developers. The All-Waters Combined Current and Wave Test Facility, under construction at the University's King's Buildings campus, is expected to be completed in summer 2013.

Stopping cell migration may help block fibrosis and the spread of cancer
Discoveries by a Yale-led team of scientists could lead the way for development of new therapies for treating fibrosis and tumor metastasis. The researchers have both uncovered a signaling pathway that promotes cell migration in certain forms of pulmonary fibrosis, a deadly lung disease, and developed a drug treatment that may block the cancer cell migration.

Design Solutions Workshop emphasizes teamwork, process, and context
Students from across the University, and the community beyond, bring diverse expertise to a creative exercise Participants in the workshop offered definitions for the term "design," settling on

2011-12: The year in review
Highlights from a year of innovative teaching, breakthrough research, inventive student projects, and global impact SEAS alumna Joanne Chang '91, owner of Flour Bakery & Cafe, prepared the enormous cake for Harvard's 375th birthday party in October.

Newfound exoplanet may turn to dust
A planet's dust cloud may explain strange patterns of light from its star. Researchers at MIT, NASA and elsewhere have detected a possible planet, some 1,500 light years away, that appears to be evaporating under the blistering heat of its parent star. The scientists infer that a long tail of debris - much like the tail of a comet - is following the planet, and that this tail may tell the story of the planet's disintegration.

Researchers develop food aid decision-making tool
Shipping food to foreign countries may not always be the best response to food crises; sometimes sending cash or procuring goods locally is cheaper, faster and more effective.

Can Hollande live up to expectations?
As Francois Hollande takes up his seat as President of France, will he be able to live up to the huge expectations of those who voted for him or will his reputation for indecision be his undoing, asks Robert Tombs.

Is the Earth a cosmic feather-duster?
Scientists at the University of Leeds are looking to discover how dust particles in the solar system interact with the Earth's atmosphere. Currently, estimates of the Earth's intake of space dust vary from around five tonnes to as much as 300 tonnes every day. A €2.5 million international project, led by Professor John Plane from the University's School of Chemistry, will seek to address this discrepancy.

Bronze Age Facebook
Large clusters of rock art spanning thousands of years but located at the same site may hold key to detecting massive cultural changes in prehistoric hunter-gatherers of the north.

Comprehensive report documents impact of urologic diseases on American public
Urologic conditions like urinary tract infections, kidney stones, and prostate cancer are a major economic burden on Americans, resulting in health care costs of close to $40 billion annually, according to a newly released national report that charts the demographic and economic impact of urologic diseases in the U.S. Urologic Diseases in America (UDA), last published in 2007, has been revised and updated for 2012 and includes a wealth of new, detailed information on the utilization of resources and the costs associated with urologic diseases among men, women and children.

New Head of Department for Psychology at the IoP
The Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King's College London is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Richard Brown as the new Head of Department for Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry.

Probing Question: What is mindfulness?
Ancient wisdom tells us to "stop and smell the roses" and to "live for the moment." Given our busy lives, it's no surprise that this advice is often easier said than done.

McGill explores possible move for football team to Ontario league in 2013
McGill University has applied to play in the Ontario University Athletics football conference, which, if accepted, would move the Redmen from the Quebec league to Ontario by 2013, the team's 133rd season on the gridiron.

Intoxicating history
In tracing the modern history of Germany's policy on intoxicant and drug use, which favours therapy rather than punishment, Cambridge historian Victoria Harris highlights that criminalisation may not be the only route.

’Next Generation’ cancer treatment ready for clinical trials
A new class of anti-cancer drugs which control the growth and spread of cancers and do so with minimal side effects is being developed by researchers at the University of Sydney. "These new agents attack a fundamental characteristic of cancer cells while leaving normal cells alone," said Professor Des Richardson , from the Bosch Institute in Sydney Medical School.

ANU and Chamber come together on music
The Australian National University and the ACT and Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry are working together to ensure a strengthened future for the ANU School of Music and the ACT music community.

Quantum computer leap
The main technical difficulty in building a quantum computer could soon be the thing that makes it possible to build one, according to new research from The Australian National University. André Carvalho, from the ARC Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology and the Research School of Physics and Engineering, part of the ANU College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, worked with collaborators from Brazil and Spain to come up with a new proposal for quantum computers.

Professor Paul Young re-appointed as vice-president (research)
Professor Paul Young has been reappointed vice-president (research) for the University of Toronto.

Statins for the many?
Even people at low risk of heart problems would benefit from statins, cheap drugs that lower levels of ‘bad' cholesterol in the blood. That's the main finding of a giant collaborative study coordinated by Oxford's Clinical Trial Service Unit and the Health Economics Research Centre, and published in The Lancet today.

Encounters in medieval matrimony
Scholars from five different institutions, and both Christian and Muslim backgrounds, will gather in Cambridge tomorrow to look at medieval Islamic marriage and how it was viewed by contemporary Christian travellers and polemicists.

The End Of Honecker
A film about the downfall of the East German head of state, Erich Honecker, which includes an astonishing with his apparently unrepentant widow, will receive its UK premiere next week.

The Banana Theory: realising the carbon footprint of bananas
Exactly how bad are bananas? Or anything else? Inspired by Mike Berners-Lee's book How Bad Are Bananas? , The Banana Theory project demonstrates, using QR code technology and installation art, the difficulty we face when deciding how to change our lifestyle to become greener.

Scientists document fragile land-sea ecological chain
Intricate, often invisible chains of life are threatened with extinction around the world. A new study quantifies one of the longest such chains ever documented. Douglas McCauley and Paul DeSalles did not set out to discover one of the longest ecological interaction chains ever documented. But that's exactly what they and a team of researchers – all current or former Stanford students and faculty – did in a new study published in Scientific Reports .

Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium announces $7.5 million in grants to lower the cost of large-scale solar power
The university-industry consortium led by Stanford and UC-Berkeley aims to make utility-scale solar energy cost-competitive by 2020.

Stanford’s Eavan Boland defines what it means to be a ’woman poet’
Through poetry and prose, Stanford professor and acclaimed poet Eavan Boland shares how being a woman, wife and mother influenced her work.

Vilsack: Ag research and education key to prosperity, security
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Investment in agricultural research doesn't benefit just the 2 percent of the population involved in farming.

Herschel Space Observatory study reveals galaxy-packed filament
Finding provides unique opportunity to explore how galaxies and cosmic structure evolve A McGill-led research team using the Herschel Space Observatory has discovered a giant, galaxy-packed filament ablaze with billions of new stars. The filament connects two clusters of galaxies that, along with a third cluster, will smash together and give rise to one of the largest galaxy superclusters in the universe.

Study Documents Gender Pay Gap Among Stockbrokers
The excesses of Wall Street may be big news, but behind the headlines is another major story. When it comes to men and women stockbrokers, men take home bigger paychecks. New published research by Janice Madden , professor of regional science, sociology and real estate at the University of Pennsylvania , shows that female stockbrokers can earn as much as 20 percent less than their male counterparts.

Butterfly genome reveals a promiscuous past
An international collaborative study to map the genome of a South American butterfly has identified the secret behind its mimetic nature. These butterflies, in order to better survive in the wild, have taken successful survival techniques from other butterflies and have incorporated them into their own genetic code." —Dr Chris Jiggins of the University of Cambridge The genome sequence of the Postman butterfly, Heliconius melpomene, was used as a reference to study species that live together in the Peruvian Amazon.

Frugal innovation
Co-author of recently published book 'Jugaad Innovation', Professor Jaideep Prabhu argues that a frugal and flexible approach to innovation can generate breakthrough growth not only in the developing world but also in the West.

Technology convergence may widen the digital divide
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Technology is helping communication companies merge telephone, television and Internet services, but a push to deregulate may leave some customers on the wrong side of the digital divide during this convergence, according to a Penn State tele researcher.

Sainsbury Wellcome Centre: contractor appointed and building work begins
Building works for a new research centre at UCL will begin later this month, following the formal signing of contracts worth in excess of £70 million with Kier Construction.

Novartis NVA237 Phase III data showed rapid, sustained improvement in lung function and symptom relief over one year in COPD patients
GLOW2 study showed NVA237 superior to placebo and similar to open-label tiotropium in increasing lung function, improving COPD symptoms and reducing exacerbations , , Results demonstrated that once-daily NVA237 had rapid onset of action at first dose, sustained 24-hour bronchodilation, and was well tolerated over 52 weeks NVA237 submitted for EU approval under proposed brand name Seebri Breezhaler ; expect US fi

Vice-Chancellor unveils plans for Southeast Asian studies in Jakarta

Measuring and Managing Methane Emissions from Livestock
Efforts to reduce livestock methane emissions in Australia received a major boost with the launch of a new research cluster led by the University of Melbourne and drawing on expertise from five

Astronomy star to lead research school
One of Australia's foremost astronomers, Professor Matthew Colless, has today been announced as the new Director of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at The Australian National University.

Butterfly genome reveals a promiscuous past
An international collaborative study to map the genome of a South American butterfly has identified the secret behind its mimetic nature. The genome sequence of the Postman butterfly, Heliconius melpomene, was used as a reference to study species that live together in the Peruvian Amazon. Several of these share bright wing patterns in order to reinforce a warning signal that they are bad to eat - dissuading predators from attack.

Imaging Research Center Opens, Bringing New Level of Neuroscience Research to The University of Texas at Austin
AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin's Imaging Research Center (IRC) opened last week, ushering in a new set of research capacities for neuroscience and cancer research at the university.

Researchers map damaged connections in Phineas Gage’s brain
Poor Phineas Gage. In 1848, the supervisor for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Vermont was using a 13-pound, 3-foot-7-inch rod to pack blasting powder into a rock when he triggered an explosion that drove the rod through his left cheek and out of the top of his head.

Birmingham arcaeologist named as one of National Geographic’s emerging explorers for 2012
University of Birmingham archaeologist, Jeffrey Rose is among the 15 visionary, young trailblazers from around the world who have been named as the 2012 class of National Geographic Emerging Explorers.

In drug-approval race, U.S. FDA ahead of Canada, Europe
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally approves drug therapies faster and earlier than its counterparts in Canada and Europe, according to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers. The study counters perceptions that the drug approval process in the United States is especially slow.

UC San Diego Biologists Produce Potential Malarial Vaccine from Algae
Mosquitoes from the genus Anopheles transmit the protozoan that causes malaria. Credit: Wikimedia Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have succeeded in engineering algae to produce potential candidates for a vaccine that would prevent transmission of the parasite that causes malaria, an achievement that could pave the way for the development of an inexpensive way to protect billions of people from one of the world's most prevalent and debilitating diseases.

Inaugural personalized medicine symposium scheduled
The inaugural symposium of Penn State Hershey Institute for Personalized Medicine will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, June 8, at Penn State Hershey University Conference Center.

MAJORANA, the Search for the Most Elusive Neutrino of All
In a cavern almost a mile underground in the Black Hills, an experiment called the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR , 40 kilograms of pure germanium crystals enclosed in deep-freeze cryostat modules, will soon

Science Underground: Going to Great Depths
The word "campus" brings to mind neo-Gothic bell towers and green lawns, not tunnels and caverns almost a mile underground.

Media in mind: Degree show explores life from all points of view
Media in mind: Degree show explores life from all points of view The mysteries of the mind, the plight of migrant workers and the beautiful side of football are some of the inspirations behind this year's media degree show by final-year students at the University of Sussex.

Girl Child Marriages Decline In South Asia, But Only Among Youngest
Findings mixed in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh Each year, more than 10 million girls under the age of 18 marry, usually under force of local tradition and social custom. Almost half of these compulsory marriages occur in South Asia. A new study suggests that more than two decades of effort to eliminate the practice has produced mixed results.

Q&A: Professor David Plank on the budget and California’s K-12 education system
A new report by Stanford's nonpartisan research center, PACE, finds that the budget crisis crippled attempts to increase spending on students and snuffed out appetite for reform.

Gaydar automatic and more accurate for women’s faces, psychologists find
After seeing faces for less than a blink of an eye, college students have accuracy greater than mere chance in judging others' sexual orientation.

Archives from the pioneers of modern genetics brought together for the first time
The Bavarian Minister for Culture and Education and senior academics from the University of Glasgow and the University of Munich will be offering their views on national identity in a major conference that will take place at the University of Glasgow on Thursday 17 May 2012.

World-class imaging centre launched
Imanova, a new state-of-the-art imaging centre, was formally launched this week at a showcase event attended by Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities and Science, and representatives from the founding organisations.

Saving the planet, one microwave at a time
The vast majority of the millions of microwave ovens thrown away every year could be easily fixed and reused, according to University of Manchester research. Making simple repairs could save the UK could save millions of pounds by replacing fuses or plugs rather than throwing away perfectly reusable microwaves with brand new ones.

A new dimension to DNA and personalised medicine of the future
By investigating the existence of an unusual four-stranded structure of DNA in human cells, scientists have opened the door to novel cancer therapeutics and a new era for personalised medicine. We've come such a long way from thinking that we understand the genome - and it appeared that this structure could tell us something new." —Professor Shankar Balasubramanian When Watson and Crick discovered the double helix structure of DNA in 1953, they declared they had "found the secret of life".

Multi-million pound award to support first research centre dedicated to understanding the UK’s character and values
“An attitude of Gratitude creates blessings.” – Sir John Templeton The University of Birmingham has won a multi-million pound award to support the first UK centre dedicated to research into the Character , Values and Virtues that shape UK society .

University of Minnesota startup to treat challenging bacterial infection
Current treatments often compound problem, potentially making infection lethal MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (05/16/2012) —A live biological preparation developed by University of Minnesota

Smart Timber Monitor set to save industry millions
Researchers at the University of Melbourne are reporting the success of a remote monitoring device that can accurately measure decay and insect infestations in construction timber over vast dist

Oxford experts call for sugary drinks tax in the UK
Experts at Oxford University are calling for the introduction of taxes on sugary drinks as one measure that would encourage healthier diets and help tackle the obesity crisis in the UK.

Ariane 5’s second launch of 2012
Ariane 5's second launch of 2012 Early this morning, an Ariane 5 launcher lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two tele satellites, JCSAT-13 and Vinasat-2, into their planned transfer orbits.

Ancient sea reptile with gammy jaw suggests dinosaurs got arthritis too
Imagine having arthritis in your jaw bones... if they're over 2 metres long! A new study by scientists at the University of Bristol has found signs of a degenerative condition similar to human arthritis in the jaw of a pliosaur, an ancient sea reptile that lived 150 million years ago. Such a disease has never been described before in fossilised Jurassic reptiles.

’The Rocket Man’ greets the ’Rocket Men’
'The Rocket Man' greets the 'Rocket Men' Continuing the celebration of André Kuipers' music in space, British rock legend Sir Elton John sent a special message to ESA, André and the crew of the ISS on the 40th anniversary of his classic song 'Rocket Man'.

Researchers ID gene variants that speed progression of Parkinson’s disease
UCLA researchers may have found a key to determining which Parkinson's disease patients will experience a more rapid decline in motor function, sparking hopes for the development of new therapies and helping identify those who could benefit most from early intervention. In a study published May 15 in the peer-reviewed online journal PLoS ONE , the researchers found that Parkinson's sufferers who possess two specific variants of a gene known to be a risk factor for the disease had a significantly speedier progression toward motor decline than patients without these variants.

Law School Study Suggests Wrongful Execution of Texas Man
A fresh look at the evidence used to convict and justify the execution of Carlos DeLuna more than 20 years ago reveals that there is more to his story than meets the eye Has Texas executed an inno

Girls face ’sexting’ threat from peers
A report commissioned by the NSPCC, conducted in collaboration with King's College London, reveals the level that ‘sexting' has reached among teenagers, with schoolgirls facing increasing pressure to provide sexually explicit pictures of themselves, a threat that appears to come from friends and peers rather than strangers.

Renewable Energy Research to Focus on Africa
Reception and service at central level for international students after arrival at KTH.

How public should public records be? Increased availability sparks privacy concerns
Online technology has vastly increased citizens' access to public records such as political campaign contributions and real estate transactions.

What does Obama's support for same-sex marriage mean for his bid for a second term?
When US President Barack Obama declared his official support for same-sex marriage on May 9, the Twitterverse went into overdrive.

Publish and be damned? Sussex debates the bird flu research controversy
Publish and be damned? Sussex debates the bird flu research controversy Should scientists researching bird flu be censored? That's the question that will be put to a panel of distinguished international experts at a public debate organised by the Centre for Global Health Policy at the University of Sussex.

CERN: A needle in a million different haystacks
The task is comparable to looking for a needle in a million different haystacks. The tool is a computer programme that sifts out the interesting events in the proton collisions.

CERN: Basic research and business
Now researchers are to help business and industry to be competitive on the international market, in view of the comprehensive procurement for the construction of ESS.

CERN: The key to creation
From what were the first atoms created? Doctoral student Tuva Richert is taking part in the fascinating detective work – which sometimes requires both surgical instruments and a safety harness.

Stanford professor, IT specialist create interactive map of the Roman Empire
ORBIS, an interactive digital model of the ancient Roman transportation system, shows how the empire was shaped by economic constraints.

Wild blue yonder: Engineers tackle challenges of hypersonic flight
A multiyear collaboration among Stanford engineering departments uses some of the world's fastest supercomputers to model the complexities of hypersonic flight.

Minister launches public-private imaging centre
Adapted from a news release issued by Imanova Tuesday 15 May 2012 Imanova , a new state-of-the-art imaging centre co-owned by the Medical Research Council and three of London's leading univ

Why Omega-3 Oils Help at the Cellular Level
Findings suggest possibility of boosting their health benefit For the first time, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have peered inside a living mouse cell and mapped the processes that power the celebrated health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. More profoundly, they say their findings suggest it may be possible to manipulate these processes to short-circuit inflammation before it begins, or at least help to resolve inflammation before it becomes detrimental.

University of Leeds prepares to take ’bee-utiful’ garden to world’s most prestigious flower show
The University of Leeds will visit one of the world's most famous flower shows next week to show how simple changes can make a positive contribution to the planet.

Getting news from the Internet not as divisive as many assume
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Internet is changing the way people get their news, but there's little proof that it is fragmenting or polarizing the news audience the way many assume, says professor David Tewksbury , the head of the University of Illinois department of communication.

Maps of miscanthus genome offer insight into grass evolution
CHAMPAIGN, lll. - Miscanthus grasses are used in gardens, burned for heat and energy, and converted into liquid fuels. They also belong to a prominent grass family that includes corn, sorghum and sugarcane. Two new, independently produced chromosome maps of Miscanthus sinensis (an ornamental that likely is a parent of Miscanthus giganteus , a biofuels crop) are a first step toward sequencing the M. sinensis genome.

Finding an alternative to feeding fish fish
Scientists at the University are developing a new plant-based product that could replace fishmeal, reducing the need for farmers to feed fish to other fish at a time when more than 90% of EU waters are at risk from overfishing.

André Kuipers: world ambassador
André Kuipers: world ambassador Observing Earth from far above, ESA astronaut André Kuipers is acting as a world ambassador for the WWF, which issued its flagship publication the Living Planet Report today.

More Than 50 Research Fellowships Awarded by the Harry Ransom Center
AUSTIN, Texas — The Harry Ransom Center , a humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin, has awarded more than 50 research fellowships for 2012-13.

Ethical dilemmas and global health
Sociologists Sridhar Venkatapuram and David Stuckler discuss how tensions within society are slowing down the process of combating disease worldwide.

Strong wellness policies improve Connecticut school environments
Strong written school wellness policies lead to better food and more physical activity in schools, according to a study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

Reducing off-label use of antipsychotic medications may save money
HERSHEY, Pa. - Reducing the non-FDA-approved use of antipsychotic drugs may be a way to save money while having little effect on patient care, according to a Penn State College of Medicine study. Researchers say that 57.6 percent of patients prescribed antipsychotic medications in data from 2003 did not have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, the conditions for which the drugs were approved for use.

Fashion Show poised to inspire
Inspiration comes from the most unlikely of places in this year's Edinburgh College of Art Fashion Show.

Unsafe at any speed: Even for driving pros, distractions increase crash risk
The ringing cell phone you're reaching to answer. The text message that demands a reply now. The GPS you're trying to program as you're frantically rushing to your destination.

Chinese archaeology proves early East-West links
The vast but little known north-western Chinese region of Xinjiang has presented a University of Sydney archaeologist with exciting new evidence of early between China and the West. The findings of the Chinese-Australian collaborative team will be presented at East and West: Past and Future , an upcoming archaeological workshop examining early ties between the West, Xinjiang and Central Asia.

The elusive capacity of networks
Calculating the total capacity of a data network is a notoriously difficult problem, but information theorists are beginning to make some headway. In its early years, information theory - which grew out of a landmark 1948 paper by MIT alumnus and future professor Claude Shannon - was dominated by research on error-correcting codes : How do you encode information so as to guarantee its faithful transmission, even in the presence of the corrupting influences engineers call "noise"?

Towards sustainable fish farming
Scientists at the University are developing a new plant-based product that could replace fishmeal, reducing the need for farmers to feed fish to other fish at a time when more than 90% of EU waters are at risk from overfishing.

Beyond the High-Speed Hard Drive: Topological Insulators Open a Path to Room-Temperature Spintronics
Strange new materials experimentally identified just a few years ago are now driving research in condensed-matter physics around the world. First theorized and then discovered by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and their colleagues in other institutions, these "strong 3-D topological insulators" - TIs for short - are seemingly mundane semiconductors with startling properties.

Intelligent comic educating researchers of tomorrow
An interactive comic book, produced at the University of Glasgow, will become the latest global educational tool in the fight against malaria as it is launched live online.

Edible ’stop signs’ in food could help control overeating
Once you pop the top of a tube of potato chips, it can be hard to stop munching its contents. But Cornell researchers may have found a novel way to help: Add edible serving size markers that act as subconscious stop signs. As part of an experiment carried out on two groups of college students (98 students total) while they were watching video clips in class, researchers from Cornell's Food and Brand Lab served tubes of Lays Stackables, some of which contained chips dyed red.

Amateur astronomers boost ESA’s asteroid hunt
Amateur astronomers boost ESA's asteroid hunt A partnership with the UK's Faulkes Telescope Project promises to boost the Agency's space hazards research while helping students to discover potentially dangerous space rocks.

Nearly one-tenth of hemisphere’s mammals unlikely to outrun climate change
A safe haven could be out of reach for 9 percent of the Western Hemisphere's mammals, and as much as 40 percent in certain regions, because the animals just won't move swiftly enough to outpace climate change.

Penn-Developed Electronic Medical Record Tool Cuts Down on Unnecessary CT Scans in Emergency Room Patients with Abdominal Pain
A new electronic medical record tool that tallies patients' previous radiation exposure from CT scans helps reduce potentially unnecessary use of the tests among emergency room patients with abdomina

Sundown Syndrome-like Symptoms in Fruit Flies May be Due to High Dopamine Levels
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania researchers have discovered a mechanism involving the neurotransmitter dopamine that switches fruit fly behavior from being active during the day (diurnal) to nocturnal.

Brain Cancer vaccine
A brain cancer trial that uses a patient's tumour to develop their own personalised vaccine is being piloted for the first time in the UK.

Brain oscillations reveal our senses do not experience the world continuously
It has long been suspected that humans do not experience the world continuously, but rather in rapid snapshots. Now, researchers at the University of Glasgow have demonstrated this is indeed the case. Just as the body goes through a 24-hour sleep-wake cycle controlled by a circadian clock, brain function undergoes such cyclic activity – albeit at a much faster rate.

Becoming an expert: Stephen Hicks in Chile
Stephen Hicks is from Somerset, UK, and is studying a PhD in earthquake seismology and geodynamics at the University's School of Environmental Sciences.  He graduated from the University at undergradu

Benefit changes raise pressure on country life
Significant numbers of social tenants in rural areas may have to move away from their friends and communities because of changes to housing benefit criteria, a report reveals today.

Computer scientist Ryan Adams wins DARPA Young Faculty Award
$300,000 grant will support work on building new computational tools that exploit statistical inference Ryan Adams, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering

New centre for research into fostered and looked after children
The University of Oxford has announced the creation of a new centre to conduct research into how to improve outcomes for foster children and looked after children (in care) so they achieve more and have more fulfilling lives. The new centre called the Oxford University Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education is a collaboration between Oxford's Department of Education and the Core Assets Group, a major provider of children's services in the UK that will also financially support the centre.

Hydrogen is tomorrow’s biofuel’ say scientists
Researchers from the University of Birmingham are creating clean hydrogen from food waste paving the way for a bioenergy alternative for the future.

Cities must must adapt to our changing climate, say leaders
UK cities must take more urgent and integrated action to adapt to our changing climate, according to some of the region's leading businesses and public sector representatives.

Unhealthy diet and physical inactivity: understanding these silent killers
Population-based interventions for tackling unhealthy diet and physical inactivity could save millions of lives. An ambitious research programme is providing evidence for how best to deliver the goal. It might be that the biggest influences on the population's diet and activity won't just come from simply urging people to change.

Looks matter more than reputation when it comes to trusting people with our money
Our decisions to trust people with our money are based more on how they look then how they behave, according to new research from the University of Warwick. In a paper recently published in the PLoS One journal, researchers from Warwick Business School, the University College London and Dartmouth College, USA, carried out a series of experiments to see if people made decisions to trust others based on their faces.

Gambling not an addiction say University of Sydney researchers
Many people talk of problem gambling as an 'addiction' but work coming out of the University of Sydney's Gambling Treatment Clinic suggests that this may not be the case. "The idea of gambling addiction is widespread, but inaccurate," says the clinic's Education and Training Officer, Fadi Anjoul, who has treated problem gamblers for the past 15 years.

How Malaysia’s tiger economy lost its growl

A Range Tracker for Electric Cars
Reception and service at central level for international students after arrival at KTH.

Undocumented, young immigrants face obstacles, uncertain futures
Undocumented Latino youth who migrate to the United States face futures clouded by limited rights and the constant fear of deportation, according to a new report from the University of Chicago and the University of California, Irvine.

Farewell to the Sun
The crew of the French-Italian Concordia research base in the Antarctic saw their last rays of Sun for over four months last weekend.

Engineers and clinicians in digital interchange to master future healthcare
With an ageing population there is a pressing need to shift the focus from the treatment of long-term conditions to the prevention of illnesses and maintenance of healthy lifestyles, as well as increased self-management of conditions within the home.

Researchers Win Five 2012 DOE Early Career Awards
In the third year of the Early Career Research Program managed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, five researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) were on the list of 68 recipients from 47 institutions announced earlier this week.

Engineering Receives Grand Challenges Explorations Funding
UCL Engineering announced today that two members of staff will receive funding through Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that enables individuals worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent health and development challenges.

Cole Foundation injects $1 million to bolster pediatric leukemia research in Montreal
New grants and fellowships in pediatric leukemia research to be created at Université de Montréal, McGill University and INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier Thanks to the Cole Foundation, pediatric leukemia research has again this year received support to recruit some of the best and brightest researchers in the field.

Delivering better ways of preventing stillbirth
Despite recent dramatic reductions in cot death rates in the UK, and the development of sophisticated screening for Down's syndrome, preventing stillbirth is proving tougher to tackle. Now, a major study under way at Cambridge could change all that. " In the UK, one in every 200 women reaching their 24th week of pregnancy will have a stillborn baby.

Columbia Faculty Join Co-founder Brian Greene as Participants in the 2012 World Science Festival
The World Science Festival, cofounded by Brian Greene , professor of mathematics and physics, returns to New York City May 30 – June 3 offering a dynamic set of lectures and programs that bring cutting-edge science to a broader audience.

Meditation linked to better wellbeing and health, including mental health
The experience of 'mental silence' is linked with better health outcomes and greater wellbeing according to a University of Sydney study. The area of greatest difference was in mental health, where long-term meditators, with a minimum of two years of regular practice, were more than 10 percent better off than the general population.

Hospitals performing expensive heart procedures are more costly for all patients
Hospitals that perform expensive, invasive cardiovascular procedures on a disproportionate number of patients are more costly for all heart failure patients, including those treated with noninvasive methods, according to a new Yale study. Most heart failure patients are cared for without the use of invasive procedures like cardiac catheterization, notes the study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes; but the rates of invasive procedures used for heart failure patients vary across hospitals.

Feathers show their true colours
For millennia birds have been prized, even hunted, for their beautiful plumage but what makes their feathers so colourful?

Islamic scholars head to Beijing for “Cambridge in China” conference
A conference exploring Chinese perspectives of the Middle East and the Islamic world, at a time when China's interest in the region is growing, will take place in Beijing later this week.

Cygnus-X: the cool swan glowing in flight
Chaotic networks of dust and gas signpost the next generations of massive stars in this stunning new image of the Cygnus-X star-nursery captured by ESA's Herschel space observatory.

Concerns About Certified Juveniles in Texas County Jails Raised by LBJ School Report
AUSTIN, Texas — A new report on conditions facing juveniles being held in adult jails in Texas, released by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Au

You’re beautiful, Vesta
When UCLA's Christopher T. Russell looks at the images of the protoplanet Vesta produced by NASA's Dawn mission, he talks about beauty as much as he talks about science.

MBA alumnus shares his ‘Abundance’ of entrepreneurial experience at the Imperial Festival
By Tanya Gubbay Thursday 10 May 2012 While studying at Imperial College Business School, budding entrepreneur Karl Harder came up with the idea for Abundance , an investment company that enables

Medical researchers honoured with prestigious Fellowship
by Colin Smith Imperial researchers who are preventing brain injuries in newborn babies, fighting tuberculosis, improving the effectiveness of clinical trials and combating heart disease have been awarded prestigious Fellowships, it is announced today.

New twist on ancient math problem could improve medicine, microelectronics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - A hidden facet of a math problem that goes back to Sanskrit scrolls has just been exposed by nanotechnology researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Connecticut.

New £3.5m supercomputing investment set to boost region’s competitiveness
The University of Birmingham is one of four institutions leading on a £3.5 million supercomputing hub, which is set to power growth and innovation in the Midlands and London by opening up its vast number-crunching power to local firms.

UW-Madison researcher wins Klaus Biemann Medal
Josh Coon's work has weight. It's right there in the name: mass spectrometry. It's there in the results, too, enabling science by giving researchers an ever-sharper understanding of the molecules that make up living things. "It greatly broadens the scope of biological questions you can ask," Coon says.

Stockholders vote GOP regardless of market performance
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Americans who own stock tend to vote Republican even if they're losing money in the stock market under a GOP president, say University of Michigan researchers.

New book offers a roadmap for translational research
Translational research is often described as a bridge between academia and the outside world, connecting researchers, policymakers and community practitioners to improve human health and development.

Eating in the archives
Researchers at the University are inviting members of the public to join them at a free event investigating the history of what people used to eat and how they would prepare their food.  The ' Eat

Keeping up with the Joneses harms Britain’s bees
University of Leeds scientists take 'bee-friendly gardening' on the road as they prepare to exhibit at Chelsea Flower Show. A new study from the University of Leeds has revealed that poorer neighbourhoods are a bee paradise compared to richer suburban areas where the pressure to 'keep up with the Joneses' often means gardens have manicured lawns and rows of regimented bedding plants that usually don't have any bee-friendly nectar or pollen.

’Map of Life’ aims to show all living things on the planet
A Yale-led research team has opened to the public a demonstration version of its "Map of Life," an ambitious Web-based endeavor to depict how all living things on the planet, animals and plants alike, are distributed geographically. Built on a Google Maps platform, the debut version allows anyone with an Internet connection to map the known global distribution of almost all 30,000 species of terrestrial vertebrate animals, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and North American fresh water fish.

X-rays emitted from black holes sterilise galaxies
Astronomers at UCL, using ESA's Herschel Space Observatory, have shown that the number of stars that form during the early lives of galaxies may be controlled by the massive black holes at their hearts. All large galaxies have a massive black hole in the middle, each millions of times the mass of a single star.