Scientists are working to change the social habits of living cells — an innovation that could bring about cleaner and greener fuel and help fight diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
- Article Source

Men who work long hours or in high stress jobs are more likely to smoke, according to a new study. The study finds that men who work more than 50 hours a week are over twice as likely to smoke as their counterparts working regular full-time hours. These men double their risk yet again, if they have jobs which are demanding and over which they have low levels of control.
- Article Source

Research has shed new light on why long term drug users find it hard to say no, despite dire consequences to their health. A study into the frontal cortex, the key region of the brain involved in decision making, has shown that drug users have to place much greater demand on the brain to control impulses.
- Article Source

Mental health researchers have succeeded in halving the number of relapses experienced by people with bipolar disorder which strikes two in 100 Australians, accounts for 12 percent of suicides each year and costs the country at least $1.5 billion annually.
- Article Source

Engineers have developed a medical diagnosis system that would allow people to be inexpensively screened for a variety of medical problems. The device will address the issue of affordable health care in China, where health care costs are major contributors to poverty. Although China’s health care system is in a state of reform, lack of health insurance, especially in rural areas, prevent many Chinese people from seeking medical care.
- Article Source

Scientists are researching new ways of harnessing the sun’s rays which could eventually make it cheaper for people to use solar energy to power their homes.
- Article Source

Engineers at the University of California, San Diego have constructed the highest-resolution computer display in the world — with a screen resolution up to 220 million pixels. The system located at the UCSD division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) is also linked via optical fiber to Calit2’s building at UC Irvine, which boasts the previous record holder. The combination — known as the Highly Interactive Parallelized Display Space (HIPerSpace) — can deliver real-time rendered graphics simultaneously across 420 million pixels to audiences in Irvine and San Diego.
- Article Source

It is now possible to analyze large tissue samples for signs of malaria with much greater detail and accuracy. To do this, scientists used technology which enables imaging of much larger tissue samples at a very high resolution, in this case tissue infected with malaria. Using their new patented method and the Macroscope, the researchers measured tell-tale changes in the polarization of light reflecting off a sample of infected tissue.
- Article Source

Researchers have developed a rapid new sorting technique for sperm using a laser trap that can separate stronger, faster sperm from slower sperm. Faster sperm are more likely to successfully fertilize an egg, so the technique could improve the chances of conception via in vitro fertilization by ensuring that only the fastest, strongest sperm are used. The technique could find wide application in animal husbandry and human fertility treatments. Since X sperm generally are heavier and swim slower, while Y sperm are lighter and swim faster, it is also possible to use this new technique to separate sperm carrying the gene for a female child from sperm carrying the gene for a male child to assist with gender selection.
- Article Source

Airline pilots will have more advance warning of potentially hazardous atmospheric conditions ¡V such as icing ¡V using a new near-infrared Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system. The system, now in a prototype testing phase, will also provide better images in foggy, rainy or extremely hazy conditions, making it easier for pilots to take off and land in those conditions, thereby potentially reducing flight delays.
- Article Source