http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- While studying how the heart is formed, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine serendipitously found a novel cellular source of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common type of abnormal heart beat. http://www.physorg.com/news176408803.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:50:04 EST news176408803 (PhysOrg.com) -- The skin's pigment cells can be formed from completely different cells than has hitherto been thought, a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet shows. The results, which are published in the journal Cell, also mean the discovery of a new kind of stem cell. http://www.physorg.com/news174912004.html Biology Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:40:44 EST news174912004 The source and mechanisms underlying the abnormal heart beats that initiate atrial fibrillation (Afib), the most common type of abnormal heart beat, have not been well determined. However, a group of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, has now identified a population of cells that are like pigment producing cells in the skin (melanocytes) in the atria of the heart and pulmonary veins of mice and humans and uncovered evidence in mice that these cells contribute to Afib. http://www.physorg.com/news174591496.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:00:01 EST news174591496 The Australian research published this week in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Medicinal Chemistry describes a new radiopharmaceutical tracer that promises to give clearer pictures of melanoma and could lead to improved disease treatment. http://www.physorg.com/news174064438.html Chemistry Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:50:01 EST news174064438 Known for their wide variety of vibrant plumage, birds have evolved various chemical and physical mechanisms to produce these beautiful colors over millions of years. A team of paleontologists and ornithologists led by Yale University has now discovered evidence of vivid iridescent colors in feather fossils more than 40 million years old. http://www.physorg.com/news170494542.html Other Sciences Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:36:09 EST news170494542 Higher concentrations of melanin -- the color pigment in skin and hair -- may be placing darker pigmented smokers at increased susceptibility to nicotine dependence and tobacco-related carcinogens than lighter skinned smokers, according to scientists. http://www.physorg.com/news161026957.html Medicine & Health Fri, 08 May 2009 18:43:08 EST news161026957 Scientists from Japan today reported development of what could be the world's first "green" hair bleach, an environmentally friendly preparation for lightening the color of hair on the head and other parts of the body without the unwanted effects of the bleaches used by millions of people each year. http://www.physorg.com/news157133329.html Chemistry Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:09:27 EST news157133329 Wash away your gray? Maybe. A team of European scientists have finally solved a mystery that has perplexed humans throughout the ages: why we turn gray. Despite the notion that gray hair is a sign of wisdom, these researchers show in a research report published online in The FASEB Journal that wisdom has nothing to do with it. Going gray is caused by a massive build up of hydrogen peroxide due to wear and tear of our hair follicles. The peroxide winds up blocking the normal synthesis of melanin, our hair's natural pigment. http://www.physorg.com/news154616292.html Biology Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:58:44 EST news154616292 A two-year study conducted by researchers at George Mason University, INOVA Fairfax Hospital and the National Cancer Institute may open the door to new therapies for combating chronic diseases associated with obesity, a condition that affected more than 33 percent of American adults in 2005-06 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.physorg.com/news145211890.html Medicine & Health Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:38:10 EST news145211890 Some animal species have developed conspicuous traits produced by melanin pigments (for instance, dark manes in lions, black stripes in some birds and fishes). These traits are used as signals during contests for resources and/or contribute to increase the mating opportunities. http://www.physorg.com/news142254887.html Other Sciences Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:14:47 EST news142254887 The traces of organic material found in fossil feathers are remnants of pigments that once gave birds their color, according to Yale scientists whose paper in Biology Letters opens up the potential to depict the original coloration of fossilized birds and their ancestors, the dinosaurs. http://www.physorg.com/news134797908.html Biology Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:51:48 EST news134797908