British Scientists 'Seek And Destroy' Cancer Cells Using Iron Nanoparticles

Photo: The 'nano magnets' wipe out the cancer cells without harming the surrounding tissue

From The Daily Mail:

A revolutionary technique that uses injections of iron nanoparticles to seek out and destroy cancer cells has been developed by British scientists.

The tiny particles are designed to roam through the body's blood vessels in search of tumour cells.

Once they have latched on to their targets, the magnets can be heated from outside the body using a magnetic field - wiping out the cancer cells without harming the surrounding tissue.

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What's Inside A Cup Of Coffee?

Photo: Tim Morris

From Wired Science:

Caffeine
This is why the world produces more than 16 billion pounds of coffee beans per year. It's actually an alkaloid plant toxin (like nicotine and cocaine), a bug killer that stimulates us by blocking neuroreceptors for the sleep chemical adenosine. The result: you, awake.

Water
Hot H2O is a super solvent, leaching flavors and oils out of the coffee bean. A good cup of joe is 98.75 percent water and 1.25 percent soluble plant matter. Caffeine is a diuretic, so coffee newbies pee out the water quickly; java junkies build up resistance.

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Vital Embryo Research Driven Out Of Britain

Professor Justin St John, who has left the UK for Australia (left); Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, of the MRC, which turned down one licence-holder (right). REX

From The Independent:

Scientists abandon plan to develop stem cells after funding dries up.

All research involving the controversial creation of animal-human "hybrid" embryos has been refused funding in Britain and one of the three scientists licensed to carry out the work has left the UK for a job in Australia.

Every one of the three projects to develop embryonic stem cells from cloned embryos created by fusing human cells with animal eggs has now been abandoned, after publicly-funded research councils refused to back the studies aimed at developing new treatments for incurable illnesses ranging from heart disease to Parkinson's.

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Private Space Technology Powers Up

Photo: Rocket science: Franklin Chang Diaz (top) is a former NASA astronaut and founder of Ad Astra Rocket Company. The company has developed a prototype plasma rocket, the VX-200 (bottom), that recently achieved 201 kilowatts of power.
Credit: José Díaz, La Nación (top); Ad Astra Rocket Company (bottom)

From Technology Review:

Former astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz says the private sector can help NASA, and reckons he has the rocket to prove it.

In the coming weeks the Obama administration will decide the future of U.S. human spaceflight. A summary report by the committee tasked with reviewing NASA's current plans and providing recommendations suggests utilizing the commercial sector for unmanned, and perhaps manned, missions as a way to reduce government costs. Franklin Chang Diaz, a former NASA astronaut and founder and president of Ad Astra Rocket Company, agrees.

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Our Changing View Of The Moon

The first drawing of the Moon through a telescope, dated July 26, 1609, by Thomas Harriot. This crude but historic sketch roughly delineates the terminator, the line that marks the boundary between day and night on the lunar surface. The original image is a little more than 15 cm across. The dark patches correspond to Mare Crisium (at the top), Mare Tranquilitatis and Mare Foecunditatis. © Lord Egremont

From MSNBC:

The moon, so bright and large in the sky compared to other celestial objects, has captured the attention of humans at least since the dawn of consciousness. Over these eras, mankind's view of the moon has evolved, from the more mystical image of it as a god, to the thought it was covered in seas and vegetation. Most recently, it's been viewed as a dry and dusty wasteland.

Recent findings of water on the lunar surface could spur yet another shift in the way we see our orbiting companion.

The moon appears in early art thousands of years ago, showing that early man was as enthralled by its eerie glow as later philosophers and scientists.

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Gene Controlling Number Of Brain Cells Pinpointed

A new study suggests that a single gene, called GSK-3, controls the signals that determine how many neurons actually end up composing the brain. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of North Carolina School of Medicine)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Oct. 5, 2009) — In populating the growing brain, neural stem cells must strike a delicate balance between two key processes – proliferation, in which the cells multiply to provide plenty of starting materials – and differentiation, in which those materials evolve into functioning neurons.

If the stem cells proliferate too much, they could grow out of control and produce a tumor. If they proliferate too little, there may not be enough cells to become the billions of neurons of the brain. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have now found that this critical balance rests in large part on a single gene, called GSK-3.

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For Women, Sex And Happiness Go Hand-In-Hand

From Live Science:

Women who are sexually satisfied are also happier, no matter their age, a new study suggests. It's not clear which causes the other, however.

You might be thinking, "Duh, better sex makes for a better mood." But in science, thinking something is true doesn't make it so. "A lot of the things we make assumptions about have never been documented," said study researcher Susan Davis of the Women's Health Program at Monash University, Australia.

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Water Lust: Why All The Excitement When H2O Is Found In Space?

ELIXIR OF LIFE: Finding evidence of water in the solar system and beyond is an important signpost for the presence of life. Liquid water is a solvent, a medium and a catalyst for certain types of proteins, and essential to biological processes. © ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

From Scientific American:

Mars, Europa, interstellar nebulae, and now even the moon all seem to be getting wetter with every observation. But what is it about this simple hydrogen-oxygen combo that makes it the sine qua non of finding extraterrestrial life?

When NASA announced last month the finding of water ice in several impact craters on Mars, and either water or hydroxyl widely dispersed on the moon's surface, the solar system became a little more familiar because it seemed a tad more hospitable to life as we know it on Earth.

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Mammoth Black Holes Push Universe To Its Doom

Speaking of black holes, what could be stranger?
Beyond a black hole's gravitational border -- or event horizon -- neither matter nor light can escape. Astrophysicists think dying stars about three to 20 times the mass of the sun can form these strange objects. At the center of galaxies, black holes about 10,000 to 18 billion times heavier than the sun are thought to exist, enlarged by gobbling up gas, dust, stars and small black holes.
What about mid-sized types? Perhaps surprisingly, evidence is both scarce and questionable for their existence.
Caption: Conception of a black hole pulling gas off of a nearby star. Credit: ESA/NASA

From New Scientist:

THE mammoth black holes at the centre of most galaxies may be pushing the universe closer to its final fade-out. And it is all down to the raging disorder within those dark powerhouses.

Disorder is measured by a quantity called entropy, something which has been on the rise ever since the big bang. Chas Egan and Charles Lineweaver of the Australian National University in Canberra used the latest astrophysical data to calculate the total entropy of everything in the universe, from gas to gravitons. It turns out that supermassive black holes are by far the biggest contributors to the universe's entropy. Entropy reflects the number of possible arrangements of matter and energy in an object. The number of different configurations of matter a black hole could contain is staggering because its internal state is completely mysterious.

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Unexpectedly, Cosmic Ray Intensity In Space Reaches Highest Level In 50 Years

Heliosphere Bubble The sun's weakening magnetic bubbles lets more cosmic rays
in to threaten space missions NASA

From Popular Science:

High cosmic ray levels may threaten future human missions to Mars.

Grab those tin foil hats, because NASA says that galactic cosmic rays have reached a record high for the space age.

A NASA probe found that cosmic ray intensities in 2009 had increased by almost 20 percent beyond anything seen in the past 50 years. Such cosmic rays arise from distant supernova explosions and consist mostly of protons and heavier subatomic particles -- just one cosmic ray could disable unlucky satellites or threaten astronauts in space.

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U.S. Trio Wins Medicine Nobel For Ageing Research

The statue of Alfred Nobel at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Photo AFP

From Reuters:

STOCKHOLM, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Three Americans were awarded the Nobel prize for medicine on Monday for the discovery of a built-in protection device in chromosomes, a finding that sheds light on ageing and may help in the fight against cancer.

Australian-born Elizabeth Blackburn, British-born Jack Szostak and Carol Greider won the prize of 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.42 million), Sweden's Karolinska Institute said.

The institute said the three had "solved a major problem in biology", namely how chromosomes were copied completely during cell division and protected against degradation.

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More News On This Years Nobel Prize For Medicine

Excerpts from 2009 Nobel medicine prize -- AP
US trio win Nobel Medicine Prize for research on ageing -- AFP
Sharon Begley Predicts The Nobel Prize Laureates: Blackburn, Greider and Szostak Win For Telomeres Research -- Newsweek
Nobel Prize: Why Immortality Is a Bad Thing -- Wall Street Journal
Americans Win Nobel Medicine Prize For Insights Into Aging, Cancer -- NPR
U.S. trio wins medicine Nobel for ageing research -- Reuters
‘Immortality Enzyme’ Wins Three Americans Nobel Prize -- Bloomberg
Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to U.S. trio -- CBC
FACTBOX: Winners of the Nobel prize for Medicine -- Reuters
Recent winners of the Nobel Prize in medicine -- AP

Why Women Dominate Social Networking

From CNET:

Should you be one of those who believe that men are neanderthal, socially awkward hairy animals while women are socially aware, smoothly sensitive beings, then I have some statistics that might increase your estimation of your own superior judgment.

According to research by Brian Solis, sourcing his data from Google's Ad Planner, the majority of functioning beings on almost all social networking sites are women.

Published on Information Is Beautiful, the numbers might create an encouraging belief that if social networking is the future, then the future is female.

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Making Tsunamis

The terrible Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 was just the latest and greatest mega-wave to wash over the planet. It taught us a lot, however, though we have lots more to learn. Photo credit: NASA

From Discovery:

There are several ways to make the Earth's most deadly waves. We count the ways, explore the history and the science of tsunami making.

• Timeline: History's Worst Tsunamis
  The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 was one of the worst in history, but not the first time monster waves attacked. Humanity has a long and sad history of losing to tsunamis.
• Video: Evidence Links Asteroid to New York Tsunami
  Did an asteroid once roar through what's today one of the most densely populated place in the United States? Discovery's Jorge Ribas reports on the latest evidence and modeling.
• Slide Show: Top Six Ways to Make a Tsunami
  Larry O'Hanlon counts them off. Be happy if you are only exposed to one or two of these tsunami makers. Keep in mind: Almost no one is entirely free of the tsunami threat.

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Robot Fish Could Prevent Crashes

From The BBC:

Robots that mimic the behaviour of fish have been developed by Japanese car firm Nissan, who believe the technique can be used in crash avoidance systems.

The tiny robots, called Eporo, can move in a fleet without bumping into their travelling companions.

It is the second time the firm has looked to the animal kingdom for inspiration for its designs.

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Mitochondrial Death Channels

Figure 1. A 53-year-old patient experiencing sporadic discomfort undergoes a coronary angiogram. The results are ominous. Severe stenosis (narrowing) is visible in the pinched regions (top middle), indicating the buildup of fatty deposits within the artery. If a wandering clot blocks the pinhole opening of a nearly clogged vessel, a heart attack ensues. With bloodflow blocked, cardiac cells downstream are starved for oxygen, leading to drastic metabolic changes as the cells struggle to survive. The most important changes affect mitochondria, the powerhouses of cell metabolism. The inset shows mitochondria (orange) arrayed among cardiac muscle fibrils (blue), where they are positioned to supply a steady stream of ATP to contracting muscle. Under oxidative stress, the mitochondria can also release potent effectors that lead directly to apoptosis—cell suicide. The trigger for the opening of the so-called mitochondrial death channels is, ironically, the return of oxygen to starved tissue during reperfusion. Learning to control the activities of the death channels could vastly improve the outlook for heart attack victims.

Top image by Zephyr/Photo Researchers, Inc.; bottom image by Steve Gschmeissner/Photo Researchers, Inc.

From American Scientist:

In heart attacks, cells die if they aren’t perfused with fresh oxygen—and kill themselves if they are. Understanding cell suicide may greatly improve outcomes.

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in North America and Europe. More than 12 million people in the United States have coronary artery disease, and more than 7 million have had a myocardial infarction (heart attack). Chronic stable angina (chest pain) is the initial manifestation of coronary artery disease in approximately half of all presenting patients, and about 16.5 million Americans (more than 5 percent) currently have stable angina.

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Ancient Earth's Magnetic Field Was Structured Like Today's Two-pole Model

The well-exposed layering of basalt flows in formations near Lake Superior is aiding scientific understanding of the geomagnetic field in ancient times. Nicholas Swanson-Hysell, a Princeton graduate student, examines the details of the top of a lava flow. (Credit: Photo by Catherine Rose)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Oct. 3, 2009) — Princeton University scientists have shown that, in ancient times, the Earth's magnetic field was structured like the two-pole model of today, suggesting that the methods geoscientists use to reconstruct the geography of early land masses on the globe are accurate. The findings may lead to a better understanding of historical continental movement, which relates to changes in climate.

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Exercisers Drink More Alcohol

Live Science:

Here’s a question for your buddies at the next golf outing or bowling league night: Are we more active because we drink more or do we drink more because we’re more active? Recent research showed that there is a correlation between the two, but could not offer a solid reason.

Either way, another study claims the combination of moderate alcohol use and exercise will help our hearts more than just choosing one over the other.

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The Fashion Of The Future

If you want to know what the hot looks will be a decade further on,
don't ask a designer: talk to a scientist.

From The Telegraph:

As the dust settles after London Fashion Week, scientists and designers are working on the fashion of the future, says Raymond Oliver.

As London recovers from the glamour and glitz of its 25th annual Fashion Week, the haute couture caravan moves on from Milan to Paris. By the end of the trip, we should have some idea of the trends that will be making their way from catwalk to high street in the early months of 2010. But if you want to know what the hot looks will be a decade further on, don't ask a designer – talk to a scientist.

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A Whole New World: The Amazing Map Based On Population That Shows Britain Is Still A Big Player

(Click Image to Enlarge)
New world view: China and India are the big players in this population
based map as opposed to land mass

From The Daily Mail:

It is a world away from the world we know. But this is how the countries of the world look if maps are based on population size rather than land mass.

Academics came up with the startling images after throwing away 500 years of conventional cartography. The result was this very different global landscape.

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India's Thirst Is Making Us All Wet

From New Scientist:

ONE nation's thirst for groundwater is having an impact on global sea levels. Satellite measurements show that northern India is sucking some 54 trillion litres of water out of the ground every year. This is threatening a major water crisis and adding to global sea level rise.

Virendra Tiwari from the National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad, India, and colleagues used gravity data from the GRACE satellite to monitor the loss of continental mass around the world since 2002. Regions where water is being removed from the ground have less mass and therefore exert a smaller gravitational pull on the satellite.

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