Science News

Scientists have demonstrated the first ever working 'invisibility cloak. The team of researchers from Duke University, USA, worked with Professor Sir John Pendry of Imperial College London to create a prototype 'cloak' based on a new design theory proposed by the same team earlier this year.

Combining data from years of laboratory work with the power of bioinformatics, researchers have created a map that helps explain how the brain generates the assortment of specialized proteins it needs to process information.

Relativity and Quantum theories have been the two most successful scientific theories of modern times. However, attempts to unify them have been unsuccessful. This may be due to the fact that they have been built on different foundations. Relativity is based on a space-time metric, which does not have the attributes of momentum and position while Quantum Theory is based primarily on the spatial geometry of momentum and position.

In the largest review of "broken heart syndrome" patients ever conducted, Mayo Clinic researchers studied 100 patients and found symptoms recurred in 1 out of 10 patients over a four-year period,

The tiniest wires that link neurons to one another probably serve a critical role in the brain's computational function. New data about how these wires, or dendritic spines, modulate their electrical properties and receive incoming signals is giving scientists a more complete view of their knack for acting as efficient mathematical calculators.

Scientists have proven theoretically a novel way to build a simulator that can recreate the way atoms and particles behave in a quantum system, says research published today.

A new technique for inserting large genes or collections of genes into precise locations on the chromosome may enable researchers to overcome some of the challenges they face in trying to pin down a gene's function. The researchers said their tool, which they call P[acman], is now available to researchers who can use the method to help them understand the function of genes in basic biology or disease.

Being able to fully understand and control these laser pulses represents an important step towards using them to track and manipulate electrons in leading-edge research at the sub-atomic level.

Sex is a boon to evolution; it allows genetic material from parents to recombine, giving rise to a unique new genome. But how did sex itself evolve? Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have found clues to one part of this complex question.

Mobile DNA, which inserts foreign genes into target cells, is a powerful force in the march of evolution and the spread of disease. Working with the lambda virus and E. coli bacteria, Brown University biologists have solved the structure of a six-protein complex.

“The lesson from Gleevec for cancer treatment is simple: if you understand what’s driving the growth of the cancer and develop a specific drug to target that cause, you can obtain remarkable results.” Brian J. Druker

Scientists of the CDF collaboration at the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory announced January 8, 2007 the world's most precise measurement by a single experiment of the mass of the W boson, the carrier of the weak nuclear force and a key parameter of the Standard Model of particles and forces.

In the cellular milieu, a protein is only as good as the tags it wears. If a protein is flashing a specific type of tag, it is marked for destruction, whereas another tag might signal a green-light for cell division.

Researchers led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar Peter St George-Hyslop have identified a new genetic risk factor associated with the most common form of Alzheimer's disease. The research implicates a gene called SORL1 in late-onset Alzheimer's, which usually strikes after age 65.

Using powerful computers to model the intricate dance of atoms and molecules, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have revealed the mechanism behind an important biological reaction.

For decades, scientists have taken issue with “string theory”—a theory of the universe which contends that the fundamental forces and matter of nature can be reduced to tiny one-dimensional filaments called strings—because it does not make predictions that can be tested.

In a promising new study, scientists have shown that silicon - the stuff of computer chips, glass and pottery - may have extraordinary therapeutic value for treating human disease.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have developed two strategies to reactivate the p53 gene in mice, causing blood, bone and liver tumors to self destruct. The p53 protein is called the “guardian of the genome” because it triggers the suicide of cells with damaged DNA.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Yanbin Li, professor of biological engineering in the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, has developed a portable biosensor for in-field, rapid screening of avian influenza virus.

Speed is a primary concern in pneumonic plague, which kills in three to four days and potentially could be used in a terrorist attack. The bacterium that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, is vulnerable to antibiotics, but by the time an unusual infection becomes evident, Yersinia often has gained an unbeatable upper hand.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute describe an approach that has the potential to automatically determine acceptable radiation plans in a matter of minutes, without compromising the quality of treatment.

Healthy and viable mice that survive until adulthood have, for the first time, been cloned from adult stem cells. Scientists from Rockefeller University, including Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Elaine Fuchs, used cells called keratinocyte stem cells, which represent a new model system for cloning. Keratinocytes come from the skin, making them a particularly attractive stem cell source because of their ready accessibility. One day, they could be used to tailor therapies, as well as to better understand and treat diseases.

A team of University of Maryland scientists and area high school students have made a discovery that will help better direct drug therapies to their molecular targets.

As reported in the June 13 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE , the researchers, led by Jonathan Dinman, assistant professor of cell biology and molecular genetics at the University of Maryland, have found the difference between two closely related components in the messenger RNA (mRNA) - near-cognate and non-cognate codons - terms that have long been used, but not understood.