Submarines should have improved ability to detect undersea explosive mines thanks to advancement of a type of sonar that uses a relatively small antenna to mimic a much larger one. The technology bounces sound waves off of the sea floor, one small patch at a time. Onboard processors then combine these individual glimpses to create a larger image of the area surveyed.
Scientists have developed and tested a new imaging technique that reveals the atomic structure of thin films with extremely high resolution. For the first time, the technique has shown very precisely how the atoms of the first layers of a film rearrange under the action of the substrate on which the film is grown. Thin films are currently used in technologies including electronic chips, coatings, and magnetic recording heads. To improve the properties of these materials and create even thinner structures ? such as smaller electronic chips ? scientists are now trying to understand how the films interact with the substrate on which they are grown.
A dietary supplement in the form of a cheap, fortified, orange-flavored drink can reduce Third World deficiencies in micronutrients such as iron, iodine and vitamin A, a Cornell University physician and international nutritionist reports. The supplement, he says, eases the so-called “hidden hunger” that plagues more than 2 billion people worldwide and particularly affects pregnant and nursing mothers and young children.
Researchers have transformed a relatively common material, lithium iron phosphate, into one with potential for the next generation of rechargeable batteries in electric cars and other devices. Among other advantages, the material could make such batteries cheaper and safer.
Researchers have developed the world’s first animal model for mature human B-cell lymphomas, a discovery that may lead to the uncovering of the genetic mutations that cause these types of cancer. Mature B-cell type lymphomas account for about 85 percent of all lymphomas, and include both Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas.
In an embryo, certain genes must turn on to, for example, tell cells to develop into a limb. But just as importantly, the genes must then turn off, or go silent, to prevent abrnomral growth. How the genes do that gets some new light in research released out of North Carolina.
Physicians have identified what they say is a promising new treatment for epilepsy that reduces the number of seizures while helping patients lead more productive lives.
The study is the first to show that an antiepileptic drug typically used in combination with other drugs, might be successful as a standalone. That’s important; single-drug therapies are often more successful because patients find it easier to stay on the course of treatment compared to therapies involving multiple drugs.
To remain young at heart, eat less. That’s the message drawn from new research out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where a team of scientists studied middle-aged mice that were put on a calorie-restricted diet. What they found were signs of a remarkable uptick in heart health in old age. “It looks like caloric restriction just retarded the whole aging process in the heart,” said one of the researchers. The new study provides evidence that — even starting in middle age — cutting calories can confer significant health benefits for the heart and extend its working life. It does so, according to the team’s results, by exerting influence on the genetic program that governs heart cells.
Today, even the best cancer treatments kill about as many healthy cells as they do cancer cells. But a St. Louis researcher has begun to lay the conceptual and experimental groundwork for a new strategy for chemotherapy — one that turns existing drugs into medicinal “smart bombs.” The approach is essentially a sophisticated drug releasing system, one that can recognize and use cancerous DNA sequences as triggering mechanisms for the drugs that fight them.
Michigan researchers say they’ve found that shooting the bull with friends has measurable benefits for the brain, keeping it sharp in later life. “Most advice for preserving and enhancing mental function emphasizes intellectual activities such as reading, doing crossword puzzles, and learning how to use a computer,” says the lead researcher. “But my research suggests that just getting together and chatting with friends and family may also be effective.”
Duke University chemists say they’ve come up with a way to grow carbon nanotubes — a.k.a. Buckytubes — that vary in size far less than those produced previously. The technique could help with the development of nanostructures with electronic properties reliable enough to use in molecular-sized circuits.
Until now, astronomers haven’t been able to offer a full explanation for why the Milky Way and other galaxies produce new stars at a relative snail’s pace. While they have known for decades that high turbulence keeps huge clouds of hydrogen gas from condensing into stars, they haven’t identified all the causes of the galactic perturbations. In a coming report researchers in San Diego say they have discovered that a well-known, but overlooked source of heating?regular outbursts of ultraviolet radiation from clusters of very large, bright stars?may play a significant role in keeping the Milky Way’s gas continually stirred up.
Researchers in Britain have developed a drug they say could revolutionize the effectiveness of radiation on cancer. Radiotherapy is used to destroy cancer cells by zapping their DNA, thus disrupting their ability to function and reproduce. But like other cells in the body, cancer cells have a sort of DNA repair kit that can minimize these effects. The new drug disables the DNA repair process and allows radiotherapy to target tumors with “deadly accuracy.”