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Saturday October 30, 2010
The Spice of Life:
Turmeric Could Prevent Liver Damage
by Simon Magus
Curcumin, a compound found in turmeric, holds promise in preventing or treating liver damage from an advanced form of a condition known as fatty liver disease.
As well as giving flavour to curry, turmeric has been used by the Chinese to make traditional medicines for thousands of years.
Researchers hope that curcumin could be the key to treating an increasingly common kind of fatty liver disease called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 12:32 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Thursday October 28, 2010
A Snowball's Chance:
Ice-Covered Earth Facilitated Rise of Life on Earth
by Sir Thomas More
Scientists have found new evidence linking 'Snowball Earth' glacial events to the rise of early animals.
The controversial Snowball Earth hypothesis posits that 750 to 580 million years ago, the Earth was covered from pole to pole by a thick sheet of ice lasting for millions of years.
The researchers argue that the oceans in the aftermath of these events were rich in phosphorus, a nutrient that controls the abundance of life in the oceans.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Sunday October 24, 2010
Sting in the Tail:
Scorpion Venom Could Reduce Heart Bypass Failures
by Simon Magus
A toxin found in the venom of the Central American bark scorpion (Centruroides margaritatus) could hold the key to reducing heart bypass failures.
Margatoxin is at least 100 times more potent at preventing neointimal hyperplasia -- the most common cause of bypass graft failure -- than any other known compound.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 10:12 AM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Saturday October 23, 2010
Love is the Drug:
The Science of Falling in Love
by Sir Thomas More
A new meta-analysis study, 'The Neuroimaging of Love', reveals falling in love can elicit not only the same euphoric feeling as using cocaine.
Researchers also found that falling in love only takes about a fifth of a second.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 05:23 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Sunday October 17, 2010
Push & Pull:
Correcting Sensory Eye Dominance
by Sir Thomas More
Researchers appear to have found a better way to correct sensory eye dominance, a condition in which an imbalance between the eyes compromises fine depth perception.
The key is a push-pull training method in which the weak eye is made to work while vision in the strong eye is actively suppressed.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 11:38 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Sunday October 17, 2010
Spin When You're Winning:
Graphene Yields Electron Spin Computing Breakthrough
by Simon Magus
Physicists at the University of California, Riverside have taken an important step forward in developing a 'spin computer' by successfully achieving 'tunnelling spin injection' into graphene.
Spin computers, when developed, would utilise the electron's spin state to store and process vast amounts of information while using less energy, generating less heat, and performing much faster than conventional computers in use today.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 11:23 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Tuesday October 05, 2010
Russian Nobels:
Graphene Pioneers Win Nobel Prize
by Simon Magus
Two Russian-born scientists based in Manchester have been awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize for physics.
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester conducted experiments with graphene, a form of carbon just one atom thick.
One hundred times stronger than steel, graphene is both the thinnest and toughest material known to science.
It is hoped that graphene could revolutionise practical science in many fields from quantum physics to consumer electronics.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 03:18 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Sunday October 03, 2010
The Heat is On:
Turning Waste Heat Into Power
by Sir Thomas More
What do a car engine, a power plant, a factory and a solar panel have in common? They all generate heat -- a lot of which is wasted.
Physicists have discovered a new way of harvesting waste heat and turning it into electrical power.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 06:23 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Sunday October 03, 2010
Stub It Out:
Call For Research Into Non-Addictive Cigarettes
by Simon Magus
After a major review of scientific literature, six leading tobacco research and policy experts have concluded that a nicotine reduction strategy should be an urgent research priority.
Reducing the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels could have a significant public health impact on prevention and smoking cessation.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 06:00 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry