Russian and American scientists have discovered that the rising temperature of the world’s largest lake, located in frigid Siberia, shows that this region is responding strongly to global warming.
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Astronomers have predicted and confirmed the existence of a new type of variable star, with the help of the 2.1-meter Otto Struve Telescope at McDonald Observatory. Called a “pulsating carbon white dwarf,” this is the first new class of variable white dwarf star discovered in more than 25 years. Because the overwhelming majority of stars in the universe–including the sun–will end their lives as white dwarfs, studying the pulsations (i.e., variations in light output) of these newly discovered examples gives astronomers a window on an important end point in the lives of most stars.
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Fingerprints that used to escape detection could soon help point to the killer. Using a field portable system investigators at crime scenes will be able to detect latent prints on human skin. The system takes advantage of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-based agents to visualize latent prints.
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Computational Biologist have discovered how to significantly speed up critical steps in an automated method for analyzing cell cultures and other biological specimens. The new technique promises to enable higher accuracy analysis of the microscopic images produced by today’s high-throughput biological screening methods, such as the ones used in drug discovery, and to help decipher the complex structure of human tissues.
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In a “major step” toward a practical energy source for powering tomorrow’s nanomachines, researchers report developing a new generation of sub-microscopic nanomotors that are up to 10 times more powerful than existing motors. The tiny motors, made of platinum and gold nanowires, are supercharged with carbon nanotubes. Go Speed Racer, go!
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Most local TV newscasts feature news of car crashes, fires and other injury-causing events, but relatively few contain information on preventing such injuries, a new study finds. However, if a police or fire official is interviewed, prevention is much more likely to become part of the story — suggesting that more media training to help them deliver prevention messages could improve public awareness.
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Geologists call into question three decades of conventional wisdom regarding some of the physical processes that helped shape the Earth as we know it today. New research provides a direct challenge to the popular “late veneer hypothesis,” a theory which suggests that all of our water, as well as several so-called “iron-loving” elements, were added to the Earth late in its formation by impacts with icy comets, meteorites and other passing objects.
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Coronary heart disease mortality in younger women could be on the rise, according to new findings. High levels of smoking, increasing obesity and a lack of exercise could all be contributing to this disturbing trend, seen in women under the age of 50.
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More and more children with congenital heart disease are receiving implantable cardioverter-defibrillators to maintain proper heart rhythm. ICDs were first introduced for adults in the 1980s, but little is known about how well they work in children. Now, a report of the largest pediatric experience to date finds the devices to be life-saving, but also suggests that they tend to deliver more inappropriate shocks to children than to adults.
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The 2007 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey Mental Health and Well-Being Report revealed approximately seven percent report participating in a thrill-seeking activity called the “choking game,” approximately three percent reported a suicide attempt in the past year, and about one in ten students rate their mental health as poor, with females more likely to do so than males.
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