Researchers report that rapamycin, a compound first discovered in soil of Easter Island, extended the expected lifespan of middle-aged mice by 28 percent to 38 percent. In human terms, this would be greater than the predicted increase in extra years of life if cancer and heart disease were both cured and prevented.
UC Irvine cosmologists have found two supernovae farther away than any previously detected by using a new technique that could help find other dying stars at the edge of the universe.
Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history is filled with several turning points but one of the biggest is the Cambrian explosion of life, roughly 540 million years ago, when complex, multi-cellular life burst out all over the planet. Now, researchers believe they have found the trigger for the Cambrian explosion.
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Self-assembling and self-organizing systems are the Holy Grails of nanotechnology, but nature has been producing such systems for millions of years. A team of scientists has taken a unique look at how thousands of bacterial membrane proteins are able to assemble into clusters that direct cell movement to select chemicals in their environment. Their results [...]
Compound found in soil extends life span of mice
Low-ranking wives have more daughters in some Rwandan societies
Just about any road with a loose surface — sand or gravel or snow — develops ripples that make driving a very shaky experience. Physicists have recreated this “washboard” phenomenon in the lab with surprising results: ripples appear even when the springy suspension of the car and the rolling shape of the wheel are eliminated. [...]
Continue reading about Physics Of Bumpy Roads: What Makes Roads Ripple Like A Washboard?
Healthy young mice treated with erythropoietin show lasting improved performance in learning and other higher brain functions. Researchers tested the cognitive effects of the growth factor, finding that it improved the sequential learning and memory components of a complex long-term cognitive task.
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Viruses can cost winegrowers an entire harvest. If they infest the grapevines, even pesticides are often no use. What’s more, these chemicals are harmful to the environment. Researchers are growing plants that produce antibodies against the viruses and are thus immune.
Survivors of childhood cancer run particular risks when pregnant and should be closely monitored, say researchers. Although such women may have conceived spontaneously and considered themselves to be perfectly healthy, their deliveries should always take place in a hospital, experts urge.