SciTech Daily

March 27, 2012

Runaway Planets at 30 Million MPH

It’s hard to imagine planets that zip around at 30 million mph, but it was only a few years ago that astronomers found a “flying star” and now new research confirms that these runaway planets could be the fastest objects in our galaxy. Seven years ago, astronomers boggled when they found the first runaway star [...]

March 27, 2012

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Obese Children with Genetic Variants Susceptible to Fatty Liver Disease

While conducting a study on liver disease in children, researchers from the Yale School of Medicine found that a common genetic variant was associated with increased triglycerides, very low-density lipoproteins levels, and fatty liver disease. Obese youths with particular genetic variants may be more prone to fatty liver disease, a leading cause of chronic liver [...]

March 27, 2012

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Black Band Disease Puts Great Barrier Reef at Risk

coral in the Great Barrier Reef is strongly affected by the Black Band Disease

The Great Barrier Reef is under attack by a disease and new data shows that the Black Band Disease can migrate at a rate fast enough to kill entire coral colonies and put the population size of many coral species at risk for drastically decline. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology along [...]

March 27, 2012

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Gold Nanorods Shaped as Starfruit Deliver Impressive Results

Starfruit is lending its shape to newly synthesized gold nanorods, whose particles have been found to return signals 25 times stronger than similar nanorods with smooth surfaces. The design may lead to better detection of very low concentrations of DNA or cancer biomarkers. They look like fruit, and indeed the nanoscale stars of new research [...]

March 27, 2012

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NOD2 Pathway Helps Activate T Cells

Dendritic cell in a tuberculoid leprosy lesion

Researchers now have a better understanding of how dendritic cells address specific types of infections. By using a protein called NOD2, the scientists were able to identify a potent infection-fighting pathway with dendritic cells, which is important in fighting disease. UCLA researchers have pinpointed a new mechanism that potently activates T cells, the group of [...]

March 27, 2012

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First 3-D Interaction Images of Vitamin B12 During Methyltransfer

Vitamin B12 interacts with much larger molecules during the reaction known as methyltransfer

A newly published report documents the first full 3-D images of B12 interacting with other molecules during the reaction known as methyltransfer. This reaction is vital for human cells and bacteria cells that consume carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. You see it listed on the side of your cereal box and your multivitamin bottle. It’s [...]

March 27, 2012

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NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Spacecraft Adjusts Trajectory, Tests Instruments

NASA scientists successfully completed the second of six planned trajectory correction maneuvers and confirmed the health of science instruments onboard Curiosity this week. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is continuing on its way to Mars and should reach the halfway point on April 1, 2012. PASADENA, California — NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, halfway to [...]

March 27, 2012

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3-D Solar Towers, The future of Photovoltaics?

As efforts continue to improve green technology and the performance of solar photovoltaic cells, a team of MIT scientists have developed a new space saving design. By building cubes or solar towers that rise upward in three-dimensional configurations, the team has shown power output ranging from double to more than 20 times that of fixed [...]

March 26, 2012

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BP Oil Spill Could be Responsible for the Death of Gulf Dolphins

According to new data from 2011 NOAA tests, bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico are underweight, anemic, have low blood sugar and/or some symptoms of liver and lung disease. The research is part of the process for studying the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Bottlenose dolphins in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, are showing [...]

March 26, 2012

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Curious Findings from Early Stages of Planet Formation

young brown dwarf star with its dusty disk

While using infrared spectra from the Spitzer Space Telescope to analyze the dust in several young brown dwarf disks, scientists discovered that the cold outer regions of such disks often contained grains crystalline in structure and not amorphous. Small dust particles in a disk of gas around a young star, according to current models, gradually [...]

March 26, 2012

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DSRS Triples Microbial Production of Diesel Fuel

By introducing the dynamic sensor-regulator system into a strain of E. coli bacteria engineered at JBEI to produce diesel fuel directly from glucose, researchers developed a new technique that has shown a threefold increase in the microbial production of biodiesel from glucose. Significant boosts in the microbial production of clean, green and renewable biodiesel fuel [...]

March 26, 2012

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Antimagnet Cloak Hides Objects from Static Magnetic Fields

Researchers in the journal Science have reported that they can now create a cloak that hides objects from static magnetic fields. There are a multitude of different applications, but some might subvert airport security. The team was led by Alvaro Sanchez at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain, working together with experimental scientists at [...]