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. Researchers have long known that some repetitive DNA sequences can make human chromosomes "fragile," i.e. appearing constricted or even broken during cell divisions. Scientists at Tufts University have found that one such DNA repeat not only stalls the cell's replication process but also thwarts the cell's capacity to repair and restart it. The researchers focused on this CGG repeat because it is associated with hereditary neurological disorders such as fragile X syndrome and FRAXE mental impairment. http://www.physorg.com/news150905205.html Biology Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:06:45 EST news150905205 Higher-than-normal levels of insulin place postmenopausal women at increased risk of breast cancer, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University report. Their findings, published in the January 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggest that interventions that target insulin and its signaling pathways may decrease breast cancer risk in these women. http://www.physorg.com/news150781398.html Medicine & Health Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:43:18 EST news150781398 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using two simultaneous light-based probing techniques at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, a team of researchers has illuminated important details about a class of enzymes involved in everything from photosynthesis to the regulation of biological clocks. http://www.physorg.com/news150781208.html Chemistry Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:40:08 EST news150781208 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory used inelastic neutron scattering to show that superconductivity in a new family of iron arsenide superconductors cannot be explained by conventional theories. http://www.physorg.com/news150729937.html Physics Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:25:37 EST news150729937 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA and the National Science Foundation have successfully launched and demonstrated a newly designed super pressure balloon prototype that may enable a new era of high-altitude scientific research. The super-pressure balloon ultimately will carry large scientific experiments to the brink of space for 100 days or more. http://www.physorg.com/news150728447.html Space & Earth Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:00:47 EST news150728447 (PhysOrg.com) -- A naturally occurring DNA repair system that normally protects cells from damage can cause retinal degeneration and blindness when overstimulated, according to a new study by MIT researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news150727857.html Medicine & Health Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:50:57 EST news150727857 When you have 400 earthquakes on top of one of the largest supervolcanoes on Earth, people pay attention. http://www.physorg.com/news150573539.html Space & Earth Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:58:59 EST news150573539 Scientists have identified mutations in a gene that predict a high likelihood of relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Although the researchers caution that further research is needed to determine how changes in the gene, called IKZF1 or IKAROS, lead to leukemia relapse, the findings are likely to provide the basis for future diagnostic tests to assess the risk of treatment failure. By using a molecular test to identify this genetic marker in ALL patients, physicians should be better able to assign patients to appropriate therapies. http://www.physorg.com/news150571442.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:24:02 EST news150571442 (PhysOrg.com) -- New tires allow race cars to take tight turns at high speeds. Hind wings give moths and butterflies similar advantages: They are not necessary for basic flight but help these creatures take tight turns to evade predators. http://www.physorg.com/news150566255.html Biology Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:57:35 EST news150566255 (PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers may have solved a cosmic chicken-and-egg problem -- the question of which formed first in the early Universe -- galaxies or the supermassive black holes seen at their cores. http://www.physorg.com/news150486022.html Space & Earth Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:40:22 EST news150486022 Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have successfully stopped and then reaccelerated a stable ion through a newly constructed charge-breeder, bringing the CAlifornium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) Project closer to completion. http://www.physorg.com/news150485701.html Physics Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:35:01 EST news150485701 Economists use leading indicators - the drivers of economic performance - to take the temperature of the economy and predict the future. http://www.physorg.com/news150397537.html Space & Earth Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:05:37 EST news150397537 Digitalis-based drugs like digoxin have been used for centuries to treat patients with irregular heart rhythms and heart failure and are still in use today. In the Dec. 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine now report that this same class of drugs may hold new promise as a treatment for cancer. This finding emerged through a search for existing drugs that might slow or stop cancer progression. http://www.physorg.com/news150389159.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:45:59 EST news150389159 Just days after the first retinal cell gets infected with the common cytomegalovirus, contiguous cells start committing suicide and researchers believe their death may provide clues to better treatment of this potentially blinding infection. http://www.physorg.com/news150374176.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:36:16 EST news150374176 Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington have worked with the Wallace Collection to analyse the contents of Viking swords - and the results shed new light on trade routes in the middle ages. http://www.physorg.com/news150373962.html Physics Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:32:42 EST news150373962 In Chad, the ivory poachers have upgraded to automatic weapons. Having bolstered the population at this "last stand for elephants" in central Africa, the Wildlife Conservation Society estimated recently that the numbers had dropped again, from 3,500 to 1,000. http://www.physorg.com/news150295738.html Biology Sun, 04 Jan 2009 12:48:58 EST news150295738 Women who took beta carotene or vitamin C or E or a combination of the supplements had a similar risk of cancer as women who did not take the supplements, according to data from a randomized controlled trial in the December 30 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://www.physorg.com/news149924804.html Medicine & Health Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:46:44 EST news149924804 (PhysOrg.com) -- When researchers look inside human cancer cells for the whereabouts of an important tumor-suppressor, they often catch the protein playing hooky, lolling around in cellular broth instead of muscling its way out to the cells' membranes and foiling cancer growth. http://www.physorg.com/news149924576.html Medicine & Health Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:42:56 EST news149924576 Researchers have discovered that grazing animals such as deer and rabbits are actually helping to spread plant disease - quadrupling its prevalence in some cases - and encouraging an invasion of annual grasses that threaten more than 20 million acres of native grasslands in California. http://www.physorg.com/news149793826.html Biology Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:23:46 EST news149793826 By mixing and matching a contemporary flu virus with the "Spanish flu" - a virus that killed between 20 and 50 million people 90 years ago in history's most devastating outbreak of infectious disease - researchers have identified a set of three genes that helped underpin the extraordinary virulence of the 1918 virus. http://www.physorg.com/news149793752.html Biology Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:22:32 EST news149793752 Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified a common gene variant that appears to influence people's risk of developing high blood pressure, according to the results of a study being published online Dec. 29, 2008 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). http://www.physorg.com/news149793600.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:20:00 EST news149793600 New research by a Rice University psychologist clearly identifies the parts of the brain involved in the process of choosing appropriate words during speech. http://www.physorg.com/news149344989.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:43:09 EST news149344989 In the comics, the Phantom is a masked crimefighter who protected the innocent from pirates, hijackers and other evildoers. While not as dashing or exciting as its costumed namesake, this electromagnetic phantom -- a carbon and polymer mixture that simulates the human body -- is being readied by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for its upcoming role as a different kind of protector. The NIST phantom serves as a mannequin in a standardized performance test for walk-through metal detectors or WTMDs such as those used at airports. http://www.physorg.com/news149276153.html Physics Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:35:53 EST news149276153 (PhysOrg.com) -- Given the sheer number of potential applications for carbon nanotubes, experts in the field of nanotechnology are developing effective ways to mass produce intricate nanoscale structures for electronics, sensing, energy and biomedical applications in a timely, cost-effective manner with a high level of accuracy. http://www.physorg.com/news149258907.html Nanotechnology Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:48:27 EST news149258907 The overall condition of the nation's coastal waters has improved slightly, based on a recently released environmental assessment. The National Coastal Condition Report III (NCCRIII) is the third in a series of environmental assessments of U.S. coastal and Great Lakes waters. http://www.physorg.com/news148662847.html Space & Earth Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:14:07 EST news148662847 The economic cost of death due to cancer is high in the United States, regardless of whether researchers estimate the economic impact in lost work productivity or in a more global measure using the value of one year of life, according to two studies published online December 9 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://www.physorg.com/news148067483.html Medicine & Health Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:51:23 EST news148067483 Hispanics often do not visit undeveloped natural areas like national forests because of a lack of information about recreation opportunities, according to a recent Forest Service report. http://www.physorg.com/news148046321.html Space & Earth Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:58:41 EST news148046321 A possible UK-led Moon mission involving 'penetrator' darts that would impact into the Moon's surface will be the focus of a technical study to ascertain its feasibility, the British National Space Centre (BNSC) announced today. http://www.physorg.com/news147706358.html Space & Earth Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:32:38 EST news147706358 Although naturally occurring smallpox was eradicated in 1977, there is concern that bioterrorists might obtain smallpox from a laboratory and release it into the population. Under such circumstances, the supply of smallpox vaccine may be insufficient for universal administration. In a study published in the December 2008 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers found that lifetime protection is obtained from just one vaccination, even when that vaccination occurred as much as 88 years ago. They conclude that in the event of a smallpox bioterrorist attack, vaccinia smallpox vaccine should be used first on individuals who have not been vaccinated previously. http://www.physorg.com/news147337295.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:01:35 EST news147337295 A new national screening strategy in Denmark has halved the number of infants born with Down's syndrome and increased the number of infants diagnosed before birth by 30%, according to a study published on bmj.com today. http://www.physorg.com/news147081337.html Medicine & Health Fri, 28 Nov 2008 07:55:37 EST news147081337