EurekAlert! - Breaking NewsThe premier online source for science news since 1996. A service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.SOHO discovers its 1,500th comet- June 27, 2008 The ESANASA SOHO spacecraft has just discovered its 1,500th comet, making it more successful than all other comet discoverers throughout history put together. Not bad for a spacecraft that was designed as a solar physics mission.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/esa-sdi062708.php To branch or not to branch- June 27, 2008 Dr. Erik Vollbrecht and his colleagues, Xiang Yang, Brandi Sigmon, Erica Unger-Wallace, and Zhuying Li, have studied mutations of some of the genes related to ear formation, among them, RAMOSA 1-3, which helped to transform the tiny teosinte ear with only 5-12 kernels into the large, massive corn cob we eat today.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/asop-tbo062308.php Ancient oak trees help reduce global warming- June 27, 2008 The battle to reduce carbon emissions is at the heart of many eco-friendly efforts, and researchers from the University of Missouri have discovered that nature has been lending a hand. Researchers at the Missouri Tree Ring Laboratory in the Department of Forestry discovered that trees submerged in freshwater aquatic systems store carbon for thousands of years, a significantly longer period of time than trees that fall in a forest, thus keeping carbon out of the atmosphere.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uom-aot062708.php ESA satellite assesses damage of Norway's largest fire- June 27, 2008 Following the extremely hot weather conditions hitting Europe, Norway experienced its biggest forest fire in the last half century earlier this month. Envisat satellite images were used in the fire's aftermath to get an overview of the damaged area for authorities and insurance companies.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/esa-esa062708.php First pharmaceutical drug to improve survival amongst patients with advanced hepatocarcinoma- June 27, 2008 International research involving the University Hospital of the University of Navarra, together with other hospitals in Spain, has shown that Sorafenib, an orally administered pharmaceutical medicine, results in patients with primary hepatocarcinomas to live 40 percent more on average compared to those not taking the drug.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/ef-fpd062708.php NIST releases preview of much-anticipated online mathematics reference- June 26, 2008 NIST has released a five-chapter preview of the much-anticipated online Digital Library of Mathematical Functions. In development for over a decade, the DLMF is designed to be a modern successor to a 1964 reference work that is the most widely distributed NIST publication and one of the most cited works in the mathematical literature.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/nios-nrp062608.php Pregnancy may help protect against bladder cancer- June 26, 2008 Pregnancy seems to confer some protection against bladder cancer in mice, scientists have found. Female mice that had never become pregnant had approximately 15 times as much cancer in their bladders as their counterparts that had become pregnant, according to new findings by investigators at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Their work appears online as a rapid communication in the journal Urology.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uorm-pmh062508.php Standards set for energy-conserving LED lighting- June 26, 2008 Scientists at NIST, in cooperation with national standards organizations, have taken the lead in developing the first two standards for solid-state lighting in the United Stateshttp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/nios-ssf062608.php Higher temperatures helped new strain of West Nile virus spread- June 26, 2008 Higher temperatures helped a new strain of West Nile virus invade and spread across North America. Researchers found that the new strain is more efficiently transmitted than the older strain, and the advantage of the new strain increases with higher temperatures.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uoc--hth062508.php In 'novel playground,' metals are formed into porous nanostructures- June 26, 2008 Cornell researchers have developed a method to self-assemble metals into complex nanostructures. Applications include making more efficient and cheaper catalysts for fuel cells and industrial processes and creating microstructured surfaces to make new types of conductors that would carry more information across microchips than conventional wires do.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/cuc-ip062608.php |