A new species of giant carnivorous plant has been discovered in the highlands of the central Philippines.The pitcher plant is among the largest of all pitchers and is so big that it can catch rats as well as insects in its leafy trap. During…
Read Full ArticleDogs as intelligent as two-year-old children – Telegraph
They [Scientists] have compiled a list of the most intelligent and least intelligent breeds using information from obedience classes. Border collies and retrievers were rated among the most intelligent while hounds and terriers were the least bright. “The average dog is about as bright…
Read Full ArticleReawakening Retrocyclins: Ancestral Human Defensins Active Against HIV-1
Research published in PLoS Biology that demonstrates the reawakening of latent human cells’ ability to manufacture an HIV defense. A group of scientists led by Nitya Venkataraman began with the knowledge that Old World monkeys have a built-in immunity to HIV: a protein that…
Read Full ArticleBasics – Finally, the Spleen Gets Some Respect – NYTimes.com
Scientists have discovered that the spleen, long consigned to the B-list of abdominal organs and known as much for its metaphoric as its physiological value, plays a more important role in the body’s defense system than anyone suspected.Reporting in the current issue of the…
Read Full ArticleInjecting oxygen into cancerous tumours ‘improves chances of recovery’
Injecting oxygen into cancerous tumours significantly boosts the chances of recovery, a ground-breaking study has revealed. Scientists at Oxford University found slightly increasing the supply strengthened blood vessels in cancer cells, making chemotherapy more effective. Cells which are damaged and weak had a constricted…
Read Full ArticleTransparent aluminium is ‘new state of matter’
”What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before,’ said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University’s Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper. ‘Transparent aluminium is just the start. The physical properties of the matter…
Read Full ArticleTechnology Review: A Vaccine for Colon Cancer
A cancer vaccine with a twist is making headway in clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Rather than targeting a cancer-related virus–the way Gardasil targets human papillomavirus to prevent some cervical cancers–the new vaccine triggers the immune system to attack…
Read Full Article‘Repulsive’ Side To Light Force Could Control Nanodevices
A team of Yale University researchers has discovered a “repulsive” light force that can be used to control components on silicon microchips, meaning future nanodevices could be controlled by light rather than electricity. The attractive and repulsive light forces Tang’s team discovered are separate…
Read Full ArticleUQ researchers break the law – of physics – UQ News Online – The University of Queensland
Two UQ Science researchers have proved two famous physical laws that have been widely used for the past 25 years do not always work. Dr Tony Roberts and PhD student Christophe P. Haynes, from the School of Maths and Physics, showed the fractal-Einstein and…
Read Full ArticleHope for blindness cure with laser breakthrough | Science | The Observer
One of Britain’s leading eye experts has developed a technique to reverse the disabling effects of age-related macular degeneration AMD, which leaves many older people unable to read, drive or live independently, and eventually robs them of sight in one or both eyes. Professor…
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