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Moonstruck primates: Owl monkeys need moonlight as much as a biological clock for nocturnal activity

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 23:36

An international collaboration led by a University of Pennsylvania anthropologist has shown that environmental factors, like temperature and light, play as much of a role in the activity of traditionally nocturnal monkeys as the circadian rhythm that regulates periods of sleep and wakefulness.

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Transition metal catalysts could be key to origin of life, scientists report

e! Science News Physics & Chemistry - 3. September 2010 - 22:16

One of the big, unsolved problems in explaining how life arose on Earth is a chicken-and-egg paradox: How could the basic biochemicals—such as amino acids and nucleotides—have arisen before the biological catalysts (proteins or ribozymes) existed to carry out their formation?

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Kategorien: Physik

NASA satellite and International Space Station catch Earl weakening

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 21:50

NASA satellites and the International Space Station are keeping eyes on Hurricane Earl as it heads for New England. Watches and Warnings are posted in the U.S. northeast.

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MIT moves toward greener chemistry

e! Science News Physics & Chemistry - 3. September 2010 - 18:51

Phosphorus, a mineral element found in rocks and bone, is a critical ingredient in fertilizers, pesticides, detergents and other industrial and household chemicals. Once phosphorus is mined from rocks, getting it into these products is hazardous and expensive, and chemists have been trying to streamline the process for decades.

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Kategorien: Physik

MIT moves toward greener chemistry

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 18:51

Phosphorus, a mineral element found in rocks and bone, is a critical ingredient in fertilizers, pesticides, detergents and other industrial and household chemicals. Once phosphorus is mined from rocks, getting it into these products is hazardous and expensive, and chemists have been trying to streamline the process for decades.

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Magnetism's subatomic roots

e! Science News Physics & Chemistry - 3. September 2010 - 18:15

The modern world -- with its ubiquitous electronic devices and electrical power -- can trace its lineage directly to the discovery, less than two centuries ago, of the link between electricity and magnetism. But while engineers have harnessed electromagnetic forces on a global scale, physicists still struggle to describe the dance between electrons that creates magnetic fields.

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Kategorien: Physik

Increase in Cambodia's vultures gives hope to imperiled scavengers

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 17:50

While vultures across Asia teeter on the brink of extinction, the vultures of Cambodia are increasing in number, providing a beacon of hope for these threatened scavengers, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other members of the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project.

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Queen's study exposes cognitive effects of Parkinson's disease

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 17:43

Researchers at Queen's University have found that people with Parkinson's disease can perform automated tasks better than people without the disease, but have significant difficulty switching from easy to hard tasks. The findings are a step towards understanding the aspects of the illness that affect the brain's ability to function on a cognitive level.

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Americans struggle with long-term weight loss

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 17:08

Only about one in every six Americans who have ever been overweight or obese loses weight and maintains that loss, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

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Rutgers-Camden professor engineers E. coli to produce biodiesel

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 16:43

One mention of E. coli conjures images of sickness and food poisoning, but the malevolent bacteria may also be the key to the future of renewable energy.

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First clinical trials successfully completed on potent new hepatitis C drug

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 15:51

The first clinical trials on a new investigational drug being developed to treat infections caused by Hepatitis C virus have been successfully completed.

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Tropical forests slashed for farmland

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 15:29

Global agricultural expansion cut a wide swath through tropical forests during the 1980s and 1990s. Over half a million square miles of new farmland – an area roughly the size of Alaska – was created in the developing world between 1980 and 2000, of which over 80 percent was carved out of tropical forests, according to Stanford researcher Holly Gibbs.

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UCLA chemists, engineers achieve world record with high-speed graphene transistors

e! Science News Physics & Chemistry - 3. September 2010 - 15:09

Graphene, a one-atom-thick layer of graphitic carbon, has great potential to make electronic devices such as radios, computers and phones faster and smaller. But its unique properties have also led to difficulties in integrating the material into such devices.

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Kategorien: Physik

UCLA chemists, engineers achieve world record with high-speed graphene transistors

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 15:09

Graphene, a one-atom-thick layer of graphitic carbon, has great potential to make electronic devices such as radios, computers and phones faster and smaller. But its unique properties have also led to difficulties in integrating the material into such devices.

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Hair provides proof of the link between chronic stress and heart attack

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 6:29

Researchers at The University of Western Ontario have provided the first direct evidence using a biological marker, to show chronic stress plays an important role in heart attacks. Stressors such as job, marital and financial problems have been linked to the increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease including heart attack. But there hasn't been a biological marker to measure chronic stress. Drs. Gideon Koren and Stan Van Uum developed a method to measure cortisol levels in hair providing an accurate assessment of stress levels in the months prior to an acute event such as a heart attack. The research is published on-line in the journal Stress.

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Kein versüßender Efffekt

wissenschaft.de (Bild der Wissenschaft) - 3. September 2010 - 1:30
Entgegen der bisherigen Annahme wirkt Zucker möglicherweise doch nicht schmerzlindernd bei Neugeborenen: Einer Studie Britischer Forscher zufolge hat er keine Auswirkungen auf die im Gehirn und im Rückenmark gemessene Schmerzaktivität bei Babys. Allerdings beeinflusst Zuckerwasser den Gesichtsausdruck der Kleinen – und das führte in der Vergangenheit fälschlicherweise zu der Annahme, die Kinder könnten keine Schmerzen mehr empfinden. Die gängige Praxis, sehr kleinen Kindern vor schmerzhaften Eingriffen Zuckerwasser zu geben, müsse daher dringend überdacht werden. ...

Wirkstoff gegen das Vergessen

wissenschaft.de (Bild der Wissenschaft) - 3. September 2010 - 1:30
US-Forscher sind auf einen zentralen Punkt bei der Entstehung von Alzheimer gestoßen: Sie haben ein Protein identifiziert, das entscheidend an der Bildung der auch als Plaques bezeichneten Eiweißverklumpungen beteiligt ist. Diese sind typisch für Alzheimer und scheinen eine wichtige Rolle beim Fortschreiten der Demenzerkrankung zu spielen. Die Ergebnisse sind besonders vielversprechend, da es bereits ein Medikament gibt, das das entdeckte Schlüsselprotein blockiert: Wie die Forscher schon in einer früheren Studie gezeigt haben, kann der Leukämie-Wirkstoff Imatinib dieses Protein gezielt unschädlich machen, ohne gesunden Zellen zu schaden. Um ihn gegen Alzheimer einsetzen zu können, müsste der Wirkstoff so verändert werden, das er auch das Gehirn erreicht. ...

Nette Nachbarn

wissenschaft.de (Bild der Wissenschaft) - 3. September 2010 - 1:30
Auch unter Bakterien gibt es einzelne selbstlose Wohltäter – und genau die helfen ganzen Gruppen von Mikroben, dem Angriff eines Antibiotikums zu widerstehen. Das haben US-Forscher bei der Untersuchung einer Kolonie von Escherichia-coli-Bakterien entdeckt, die sie mit täglich steigenden Mengen eines Antibiotikums traktierten. Überraschenderweise entwickelten nur ganz wenige Bakterien tatsächlich eine Resistenz gegen den Wirkstoff, beobachteten die Wissenschaftler. Trotzdem wurde die gesamte Kolonie stetig widerstandsfähiger gegenüber dem Medikament. Der Trick: Die resistenten Individuen produzierten einen Botenstoff, der ihren Artgenossen half, verschiedene Abwehrmechanismen gegen die tödliche Substanz zu aktivieren. Demnach entstehen resistente Bakterienkolonien völlig anders als bisher angenommen. ...

Das Autorad macht Diät

wissenschaft.de (Bild der Wissenschaft) - 3. September 2010 - 1:30
Wissenschaftler des Fraunhofer Instituts haben einen Protoypen einer besonders stabilen Felge entwickelt. Sie besteht aus faserverstärkten Kunststoffen, die aus Leichtbaumaterialien gefertigt wurden und ist besonders schadenstolerant. Die Forscher hoffen auf dieser Basis ein marktfähiges Rad entwickeln zu können. ...

Occurrence of increased kidney transplant listings in patients with prior non-kidney transplants

e! Science News Popular - 3. September 2010 - 0:08

Individuals who received a non-kidney organ transplant in the past may be more likely to be listed for a kidney transplant prior to initiation of dialysis (pre-emptive listing) than other candidates, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The results indicate that the growth in the numbers of this group of kidney transplant candidates adds to the list of organ allocation challenges.

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