SciTech Daily

May 4, 2012

Secreted Peptide Dilp8 Essential to Insect Growth Rate

Two published studies from independent research groups show that Dilp8 is an essential part of normal insect development, slowing growth rate and allowing sufficient time for tissues to form the correct body size, proportions and symmetry. Two independent groups of researchers have identified a hormone that is responsible for keeping the growth and development of [...]

May 4, 2012

0 Comments

Southern Ocean Research Shows Decrease in Dense Antarctic Bottom Water

reduction in the amount of Antarctic Bottom Water found off the coast of Antarctica

The latest research from a team of scientists shows that the amount of dense Antarctic Bottom Water is roughly 40% of what it was when measured in 1970 and has become less saline. CSIRO researchers believe that the Southern Ocean is responding to climate changes and global warming in polar regions. Comparing detailed measurements taken [...]

May 4, 2012

0 Comments

Schumann Resonance Could Help Reveal the Solar System’s Origins

In 2011 researchers realized that they could use NASA’s Vector Electric Field Instrument aboard the Air Force’s Communications/Navigation Outage Forecast System satellite to detect Schumann Resonance and now they believe it can be used to study other planets in the solar system. Every second, lightning flashes some 50 times on Earth. Together these discharges coalesce [...]

May 4, 2012

1 Comment

Engineered Nanoparticles Deliver Antibiotics Directly to Bacteria

nanoparticles that deliver high doses of antibiotics directly to bacteria

If an effort to target bacteria that has become increasingly resistant to existing drugs, engineers specializing in nanomedicine and biomaterials have developed a nanoparticle that is designed to evade the immune system and target infection sites, unleash a focused antibiotic attack. Over the past several decades, scientists have faced challenges in developing new antibiotics even [...]

May 3, 2012

0 Comments

New Drug CD47 Could Potentially Shrink and Cure All Tumors

New research points that there could be a single drug that could shrink or cure all types of cancer, whether it’s breast, ovary, colon, bladder, brain, or liver. The treatment uses an antibody that blocks the ‘do not eat’ signal that’s usually displayed on tumor cells and coaxes the immune system to destroy cancer cells. [...]

May 3, 2012

0 Comments

Solid-State Laser for Military Applications Exceeds Initial Design Goals

Northrop Grumman Demonstrates Compact, Rugged Solid-State Laser

Northrop Grumman successfully tested their next-generation high-energy, solid-state laser in the company’s Redondo Beach laboratory. The laser burned through the critical components of a target drone, while operating at 13.3 kilowatts with a beam quality of 1.4. Redondo Beach, California — Northrop Grumman Corporation has test fired the first product in its next-generation FIRESTRIKE™ family [...]

May 3, 2012

0 Comments

Evolutionary History of Cypress Tree Reflects the Breakup of Pangaea

Cypress distribution reflects the breakup of Pangaea

New research from biologists at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich examines the evolutionary history of the cypress tree, finding that their origins can be traced back to the break-up of Pangea about 153 million years ago. In classical mythology, the cypress tree is associated with death, the underworld and eternity. Indeed, the family to which [...]

May 3, 2012

0 Comments

Hyperparasite Fungus Limits the Effects of ‘Zombie-Ant’ Fungus

parasite that fights the zombie-ant fungus

New research on a parasite that fights zombie-ant fungus, an infestations that takes over the brain and then ejects its spores out of the ant’s head, reveals how an ant colony is able to survive this infestation. While it is well known that ants protect themselves from fungi by grooming each other, research by scientists [...]

May 3, 2012

0 Comments

Physicists Predict Properties of Prime Numbers from Freezing Liquids

Freezing liquids to predict properties of numbers

Physicists from Queen Mary’s School of Mathematical Sciences, together with colleagues from Bristol University, discovered a pattern in frozen glasses that relates to prime numbers. By building models and developing theories, the team believes they have evidence for a connection between prime numbers and freezing in certain complex materials in Physics. The same freezing which [...]

May 3, 2012

1 Comment

Non-Experts Use Online Crowd-Sourcing to Diagnose Malaria

UCLA engineers have taken online crowd-sourcing a step further. By creating a crowd-sourced online gaming system in which players distinguish malaria-infected red blood cells from healthy ones by viewing digital images obtained from microscopes, UCLA researchers found that small groups of non-experts working together were able to diagnosis malaria-infected red blood cells much like a [...]

May 3, 2012

1 Comment

Black Hole Rips Apart a Helium Rich Star

gas from a tidally shredded star falling into a black hole

Data captured by NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the Pan-STARRS1 telescope show direct evidence of a supermassive black hole using its powerful gravitational forces to rip apart a helium rich star that resides in a galaxy roughly 2.7 billion light-years away. This marks the first time that astronomers have been able to identify a black [...]

May 3, 2012

4 Comments

View the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower from Halley’s Comet

Star gazing fans will get to enjoy the peek display of the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower from Halley’s Comet on the night of May 5 and into the morning of May 6. With ideal conditions, NASA is predicting meteor rates of about 40-60 meteors per hour. Each spring as Earth passes through the debris [...]