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Today's Science News
Energy released from a virus during infection measured
Researchers has directly measured the energy associated with the expulsion of viral DNA, a pivotal discovery toward fully understanding the physical mechanisms that control viral infection and designing drugs to interfere with the process.Virus pulls bait and switch on vectors
A common plant virus lures aphids to infected plants by making the plants more attractive, but when the insects taste the plant, they quickly leave for tastier, healthier ones. In the process, the insects rapidly transmit the disease.Neuron connections seen in 3-D
A team of researchers has managed to obtain 3D images of the vesicles and filaments involved in communication between neurons. The method is based on a novel technique in electron microscopy.
Pharmacology
Antiviral that fights multitude of viruses
One potential weapon against viruses is a small-molecule broad spectrum antiviral that will fight a host of viruses by attacking them through some feature common to an entire class of viruses.New vaccine effective in preventing TB
Investigators have reported results of a clinical trial showing that a new vaccine against tuberculosis, Mycobacterium vaccae (MV), is effective in preventing tuberculosis in people with HIV infection.Fighting deadly staph infections
Researchers have found that two antibiotics working together might be more effective in fighting pathogenic bacteria than either drug on its own.
Nanotechnology
Leap in quantum computing
A major hurdle in the ambitious quest to design and construct a radically new kind of quantum computer has been finding a way to manipulate the single electrons that very likely will constitute the new machines' processing components or "qubits."Magnetism's role in superconductors
Neutron scattering experiments give strong evidence that, if superconductivity is related to a material's magnetic properties, the same mechanisms are behind copper-based high-temperature superconductors and the newly discovered iron-based superconductors.Harnessing the Divas of the Nanoworld
Boron nitride nanotubes are the divas of the nanoworld. In possession of alluring properties, they are also notoriously temperamental compared to their carbon-based cousins.
Environment
Carbonate veins reveal chemistry of ancient seawater
Researchers describe a novel method for reconstructing past ocean chemistry using calcium carbonate veins that precipitate from seawater-derived fluids in rocks beneath the seafloor.Renewable oil companies
The entry of oil companies into the realm of renewable energy could present major obstacles for the development of a sustainable economy that is not based on carbon resources.Storm runoff contaminated with household pesticides
Pyrethroids, among the most widely-used home pesticides, are winding up in California rivers at levels toxic to some stream-dwellers, possibly endangering the food supply of fish and other aquatic animals.
Biotechnology
HPV vaccines may reduce a wide range of genital diseases
High-coverage human papillomavirus vaccinations among adolescents and young women may result in a rapid reduction of genital warts, cervical cell abnormalities, and diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, researchers report.Brain diseases linked by toxic form of neural protein
For the first time, researchers have found that three different degenerative brain disorders are linked by a toxic form of the same protein.Key to early stages of viral infection
Scientists have identified a molecule that defines which cells are destined to become memory T cells just a few days after a viral infection begins.
Genetics
Technique make stem cells pluripotent with ease
Tiny circles of DNA are the key to a new and easier way to transform stem cells from human fat into induced pluripotent stem cells for use in regenerative medicine.Gene linked to biological ageing in humans
Scientists announced today they have identified for the first time definitive variants associated with biological ageing in humans.Ability to navigate may be linked to genes
Research tells us that human adults, toddlers, rats, chicks and even fish routinely and automatically accomplish this kind of reorientation by mentally visualising the geometry of their surroundings and figuring out where they are in space.