Current Science News and Events
The following is a collection of the latest news available on the world wide web. These links will lead you to sites outside of Visionlearning.
Current feeds as of 11/7/09 11:00am EST include the following.
- New York Times
- BBC
- Science Daily News
- Science Magazine News Summaries
- Science Magazine This Week in Science
BBC Science
Leaders 'likely' to go to summit
At least 40 world leaders are likely to attend December's UN climate summit in a bid to secure a new global treaty.
Studies 'overstate species risks'
Some large-scale studies appear to overestimate the threats of climate change on biodiversity, a study suggests.
Minister 'backs adviser autonomy'
The government will produce guidelines on the independence of its scientific advisers, Science Minister Lord Drayson says.
Horse genome unlocked by science
The genome of a domestic horse has been successfully sequenced by an international team of researchers.
Scientists urge respect on advice
Senior academics call on the UK government to respect the independence and freedom of its scientific advisers.
Babies 'cry in mother's tongue'
German researchers say babies begin to pick up the nuances of their parents' accents while still in the womb.
Science Daily News
1930s Drug Slows Tumor Growth: Gonorrhea Medication Might Help Fight Cancer
Drugs sometimes have beneficial side effects. A glaucoma treatment causes luscious eyelashes. A blood pressure drug also aids those with a rare genetic disease. The newest surprise discovered by researchers is a gonorrhea medication that might help battle cancer.
New Computer Simulator Helps Design Military Strategies Based On Ants' Movements
Researchers in Spain have designed a system for the mobility of military troops within a battlefield following the mechanisms used by ant colonies to move. The scientists have used settings of Panzer General, a commercial war video game, for the development of this software.
New Way To Attack Inflammation In Graves' Eye Disease
A small group of patients with severe Graves' eye disease experienced rapid improvement of their symptoms -- and improved vision -- following treatment with the drug rituximab. Inflammation around their eyes and damage to the optic nerve were significantly reduced. The same patients had not previously responded to steroids, a common treatment for Graves' eye disease.
Magnetic Nanoparticles To Simultaneously Diagnose, Monitor And Treat
The future for magentic nanoparticles (mNPs) appears bright With the design of "theranostic" molecules. Magentic nanoparticles could play a crucial role in developing one-stop tools to simultaneously diagnose, monitor and treat a wide range of common diseases and injuries.
New Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic Offers Noninvasive Treatment For Major Depression
Rush University Medical Center has opened the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic to offer patients suffering from major depression a safe, effective, non-drug treatment. TMS therapy is the first FDA-approved, non-invasive antidepressant device-based treatment clinically proven for treatment of depression. Psychiatrists at Rush University Medical Center were among the first to test the technique and Dr. Philip Janicak, professor of psychiatry and lead investigator at Rush for the clinical trials of TMS, helped to develop this therapy.
Science Magazine News Summaries
[News of the Week] U.S. Science Policy: Peer Review Not Popular at Homeland Security
An analysis of the Department of Homeland Security's $1 billion science and technology directorate has found that very little of its basic science research budget was awarded using peer review.
Author: Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
[News of the Week] Stem Cells: CIRM Awards Seek to Move Cell Therapies to the Clinic
Five years after it launched, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) last week awarded its first disease-oriented grants—$230 million to 14 teams—intended to speed stem cell therapies to patients.
Author: Jocelyn Kaiser
[News of the Week] Privacy: Court Orders Stanford Expert to Surrender Manuscript
A Stanford University professor is fighting to keep his unpublished book manuscript out of the hands of tobacco company R.J. Reynolds, which subpoenaed it after he testified as an expert witness for smokers who are suing the company.
Author: Sam Kean
[News of the Week] ScienceNOW.org: From Science's Online Daily News Site
ScienceNOW this week reported on fellatio among fruit bats, the death toll from a pair of man-eating lions, a primordial nuclear age, and the definition of p-value, among other stories.
[News of the Week] Swine Flu Pandemic: Developing Countries to Get Some H1N1 Vaccine—But When?
The World Health Organization has promised to supply developing countries with H1N1 vaccine donated by manufacturers and rich countries. But it has secured only about 200 million doses for 95 countries that together are home to a third of the world's population.
Author: Martin Enserink
Science Magazine This Week in Science
Cluster Electronics and Catalysis
Many practical catalysts consist of small metal clusters on oxide supports, and the activity of these clusters usually varies with their size. In order to sort out some of the … [Read more]
Although modern computational chemistry can often match or even exceed experimental accuracy in modeling gas phase reactions, the surface-bound processes involved in most practical catalysis pose a substantially greater challenge … [Read more]
The motion and distribution of galaxies and clusters of galaxies within the universe suggest that there is far more matter than can be seen directly through telescopes. Alternatively, perhaps our … [Read more]
The cycling of essential nutrients in terrestrial ecosystems has been altered by human activities. Elser et al. (p. 835) report a comparative analysis of lakes in Norway, Sweden, and in … [Read more]
Quantum mechanical entanglement is at the heart of quantum information processing. In the future, practical systems will contain a network of quantum components, possibly operating at different frequencies. Coelho et … [Read more]
