Science Blog

In a changing climate, erratic rainfall poses growing threat to rural poor, new report says

bjs — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 01:06:24 +0000

STOCKHOLM (6 September 2010) -- Against a backdrop of extreme weather wreaking havoc around the world, a new report warns that increasingly erratic rainfall related to climate change will pose a...

‘Jailbreak’ bacteria can trigger heart disease

bjs — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:15:49 +0000

Plaque-causing bacteria can jailbreak from the mouth into the bloodstream and increase your risk of heart attack says a scientist at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in...

Backstabbing bacteria: A new treatment for infection?

bjs — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:15:47 +0000

Selfish bacterial cells that act in their own interests and do not cooperate with their infection-causing colleagues can actually reduce the severity of infection. The selfish behaviour of these...

Talented bacteria make food poisoning unpredictable

bjs — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:15:46 +0000

While we are often exposed to bacteria in our food which could cause food poisoning, we don't always become ill - why should this be so? Professor Colin Hill who is presenting his work at the Society...

Fears of a decline in bee pollination confirmed

bjs — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:15:43 +0000

TORONTO, ON - Widespread reports of a decline in the population of bees and other flower-visiting animals have aroused fear and speculation that pollination is also likely on the decline. A recent...

MIT researchers create new self-assembling photovoltaic technology that repairs itself

bjs — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:51:52 +0000

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Plants are good at doing what scientists and engineers have been struggling to do for decades: converting sunlight into stored energy, and doing so reliably day after day, year...

‘Slow light’ on a chip holds promise for optical communications

bjs — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:51:50 +0000

SANTA CRUZ, CA--A tiny optical device built into a silicon chip has achieved the slowest light propagation on a chip to date, reducing the speed of light by a factor of 1,200 in a study reported in...

DNA fingerprinting pioneer discovers role of key genetic catalyst for human diversity

bjs — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:51:49 +0000

One of the key drivers of human evolution and diversity, accounting for changes that occur between different generations of people, is explained by new research published today (Sept 5) by...

Biologists find way to reduce stem cell loss during cancer treatment

bjs — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:51:47 +0000

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that a gene critical for programmed cell death is also important in the loss of adult stem cells, a finding that could help to...

What Is Best in Life? – Conan the Bacterium Reveals Its Recipe for Survival

bjs — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 02:47:34 +0000

The discovery of long-sought chemical antioxidants in the world’s toughest microbe is reported in a breakthrough study titled “Small-Molecule Antioxidant Proteome-Shields in Deinococcus radiodurans.”...