One of Saturn's rings does housecleaning, soaking up material gushing from the fountains on Saturn's tiny ice moon Enceladus, according to new observations from the Cassini spacecraft. This is the latest surprising phenomenon associated with the ice geysers of Enceladus to be discovered or confirmed by Cassini scientists. Earlier, the geysers were found to be responsible for the content of the E-ring. Next, the whole magnetic environment of Saturn was found to be weighed down by the material spewing from Enceladus, which becomes plasma -- a gas of electrically charged particles. Now, Cassini scientists confirm that the plasma, which creates a donut-shaped cloud around Saturn, is being snatched by Saturn's A-ring, which acts like a giant sponge where the plasma is absorbed.
One of the benefits of postindustrial life is that it is largely free of the fear of early mortality. However, a curious side-effect of this confidence seems to be a dramatic reduction in birthrates. Writing in the journal Science, an anthropology professor draws a clear correlation between increased life expectancy and lower fertility in cities.
People expect a lot from cotton. Consumers want durable, comfortable fabrics. Producers want easy-to-manufacture textiles. And growers want hardy, thriving plants. Plant geneticists have now bred new cotton lines with qualities to please growers, fabric manufacturers and consumers.
A new metabolic imaging instrument can accurately detect eye disease at a very early stage. Such a device would be vision-saving because many severe eye diseases do not exhibit early warning signals before they begin to diminish vision. The testing is noninvasive and takes less than 6 minutes to administer to a patient.
Scientists have set a new solar-to-grid system conversion efficiency record by achieving a 31.25 percent net efficiency rate. The old 1984 record of 29.4 percent was toppled Jan. 31 on SES's "Serial #3" solar dish Stirling system at Sandia's National Solar Thermal Test Facility. The solar dish generates electricity by focusing the sun’s rays onto a receiver, which transmits the heat energy to a Stirling engine. The engine is a sealed system filled with hydrogen. As the gas heats and cools, its pressure rises and falls. The change in pressure drives the pistons inside the engine, producing mechanical power, which in turn drives a generator and makes electricity.
Scientists have been making great strides in revving up the production of stem cells and their descendants. The raw materials are adult blood stem cells and embryonic stem cells. The end products are blood and heart cells -- lots of them. Enough mouse heart cells that they form beating tissue.
Chemists report a major advance in reducing heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions in Science. They have demonstrated that they can capture carbon dioxide -- which contributes to global warming, rising sea levels and increased acidity of oceans -- research which can lead to power plants efficiently capturing carbon dioxide without using toxic materials.
Researchers have discovered that many of the genetic variations that have enabled human populations to tolerate colder climates may also affect their susceptibility to metabolic syndrome, a cluster of related abnormalities such as obesity, elevated cholesterol levels, heart disease, and diabetes. More than 100 years ago, scientists noted that humans inhabiting colder regions were bulkier and had relatively shorter arms and legs. In the 1950s, researchers found correlations between colder climates and increased body mass index (BMI), a measure of body fat, based on height and weight. Now, in a new study scientists have found a strong correlation between climate and several of the genetic variations that appear to influence the risk of metabolic syndrome, consistent with the idea that these variants played a crucial role in adaptations to the cold.
A scientist at Northern Arizona University is in charge of the largest animal dung collection in the world, used for clues about animal evolution and extinction, Ice Age existence and climate change. Researcher Jim Mead admits it is a bizarre resource, but he is one of many around the globe who access dung for DNA information. Mead, a dung authority, continues to grow the collection with specimens from as far away as Siberia.
Jack rabbits living in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem have apparently hopped into oblivion. The study speculates that the disappearance of jack rabbits may be having region-wide impacts on a variety of other prey species and their predators. No one knows what caused the rabbits to disappear.
Although science is known for being a forward-looking field, researchers have found that they can often benefit from a glance over their shoulders. By combining an experimental AIDS vaccine with a long-neglected molecule called poly-IC, scientists discovered that they were able to significantly improve its effectiveness. Their new, bolstered vaccine not only stimulated the production of HIV-attacking immune cells in mice, but also allowed the rodents to maintain immunity over a significantly longer period of time. The immunity-directing dendritic cell has long been viewed as a potent resource for vaccine researchers: If they can direct a piece of a pathogen directly to the cell, it should be able to instruct other immune cells to react to the invader.
Anyone trying to build sandcastles on the beach will need some degree of skill and imagination, but not an instruction manual. The water content is actually relatively unimportant to the mechanical properties of the sand. This observation, which is borne out by precise measurements in the laboratory, puzzles researchers. Researcher have now achieve a high level of understanding of the complex structure of moist granules.
A single gene determines whether a whiff of androstadienone smells pleasant or foul, or like nothing at all. But researchers who last year discovered this genetic peculiarity were left wondering about its social implications. In an effort to find out, the team has now launched a series of new studies including one that explores a different link: whether women's perceptions of -- and sensitivity to -- androstadienone corresponds with their bodies' physiological responses to it.
A team of scientists has just left the country to explore a very strange lake in Antarctica; it is filled with, essentially, extra-strength laundry detergent. No, the researchers haven't spilled coffee on their lab coats. They are hunting for extremophiles -- tough little creatures that thrive in conditions too extreme for most other living things.
