A super-hard material that is tough enough to scratch diamond could be made cheaply and easily, a new study suggests. The material is made from the metal rhenium and the element boron and resembles both a metal and a crystal in structure
German scientists at the University of Ulm have identified a natural ingredient of human blood that prevents the HIV-1 virus from from infecting immune cells and multiplying. The molecule, which they call virus-inhibitory peptide (VIRIP), promises new types of effective treatment for HIV in the future
The active compound in marijuana, THC, can slow the growth of lung tumours and reduce the spread of the cancer in mice, a preliminary study reveals. Human lung cancer tumours grew less than half as fast in mice that received moderate doses of the compound, the researchers reveal. They hope that drugs mimicking the apparent anti-cancer effects of tetrahydrocanabinol (THC) could one day help treat patients. The team strongly discourage people from self-medicating by smoking marijuana, noting that doing so could potentially encourage tumour growth
An inquiry into one of Canada’s leading pathologists has revealed he was responsible for wrongful diagnoses, which resulted in a number of innocent people going to jail. The investigation looked at 45 cases where Dr Charles Smith had determined children had been murdered. They found that in at least 20 cases the children had in fact not been murdered. One man spent 12 years in prison after Dr Smith said he had raped and killed his niece, but the girl had not been raped and was not murdered
Magnetic deflector shields
could one day guard astronauts against dangerous space radiation, if experiments now underway pay off
Irish rocker and Live Aid founder Bob Geldof is to team up with the BBC on a project to digitally catalogue all known human existence. The London-based public service broadcaster, its commercial arm BBC Worldwide and Geldof’s Ten Alps media group are to collaborate on the Dictionary of Man. In a statement, the BBC says the scale and ambition of the anthropological project, which will have an accompanying television series The Human Planet, will be unprecedented
. It would use every available medium to create the largest ever living record
of films, photographs, anthropological histories, philosophies, theologies, economies, language, art as well as people’s personal stories
Tiny smart
devices that can be borne on the wind like dust particles could be carried in space probes to explore other planets, UK engineers say. The devices would consist of a computer chip covered by a plastic sheath that can change shape when a voltage is applied, enabling it to be steered
The Tokyo Institute of Technology has announced a process for creating an inexpensive, nearly transparent, electrically conductive alumina cement. The conductivity is comparable to metal, and the transparency should be adequate for use in display panels. The process relies upon commonplace and inexpensive metals compared to the rare metals such as iridium currently used in display panels
Ecuador’s famous Galapagos Islands could be off-limits for tourists after the country’s President declared them at risk and in the midst of an environmental crisis. Most famous for inspiring Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, the Galapagos Islands attract thousand of visitors annually, making them Ecuador’s top tourist destination. But introduced species, illegal fishing and a rapidly growing human population have placed pressure on the archipelago. President Rafael Correa has promised to urgently address the threats. Signing an emergency decree to prevent further harm to the islands, he has left open the possibility of suspending tourism permits temporarily
A claim by South Korean scientists to have created the first cloned wolves is being investigated by officials at the team’s university. The team is led by a former colleague of disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk. The wolf cloning team is suspected of using erroneous data to inflate their claims of having created two cloned wolves, a university statement said. Lee Byeong-chun, a veterinary professor, announced last month that his team had succeeded in cloning the two wolves, named Snuwolf and Snuwolffy. The wolf clones were both born in October 2005.
Scottish scientists have developed a computer the size of a matchstick head, thousands of which can be sprayed onto patients to give a comprehensive analysis of their condition
Researchers from the Nanomaterials Research Centre at Massey University in New Zealand have developed synthetic dyes that can be used to generate electricity at one tenth of the cost of current silicon-based solar panels. These photosynthesis-like compounds work in low-light conditions and can be cheaply incorporated into window-panes and building materials, thereby turning them into generators of electricity
The day when you can charge your cell phone or iPod just by going for a stroll around the block could be a step closer, thanks to a nano-generator. About a year ago, Zhong Lin Wang of Georgia Tech in the US discovered that, when he disturbed zinc oxide nanowires, they gave off a tiny electrical current, a phenomenon called piezoelectricity. At the time, he had to use the tip of an atomic force microscope — a $250,000 instrument — to create about one-billionth of a watt of power. Not exactly energy efficiency. But with his latest experiment, Wang has improved his design at least a thousand-fold
Despite the huge variation in body size and shape, Great Danes and Chihuahuas are both members of the same species: Canis lupus familiaris. Now, a new study conducted by an international team of scientists led by researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has identified the gene responsible for this great range of dog sizes. The answer, it seems involve a number of different versions of the gene that encodes for insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1). The gene, IGF1, was identified following genetic analysis that began with screening 463 Portuguese water dogs, a breed that has a lot of diversity in size
Scientists have developed a way of converting one blood group into another. The technique potentially enables blood from groups A, B and AB to be converted into group O negative, which can be safely transplanted into any patient. The method, which makes use of newly discovered enzymes, may help relieve shortages of blood for transfusions
Pulp mill protesters have waved placards and screamed no pulp mill
at a rally in Launceston’s Albert Hall. Police say about 3,000 people attended the rally. The protesters called on federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull to reject Gunns Limited’s plans for a pulp mill at Bell Bay in northern Tasmania
IBM is soon to launch a multimedia browser to make audio and video content accessible to people with vision impairments. Codenamed the Accessibility Browser — or A-Browser — the software was created by a blind employee in Japan. The A-Browser will give blind and partially-sighted people the same control over multimedia content that sighted people have using a mouse. IBM says it will be available later this year and hopes it will be free
Thirty years ago, Luke Skywalker beheld something that scientists are just now realizing is likely quite common in the universe: double sunsets. Astronomers have long known that binary star systems are common. And models suggested that planets could form in these systems, even though there’s a double-tug of gravity on the material that would have to form a planet. Observations from NASA’s Spitzer telescope, show that binary systems are just as likely to be surrounded by planet-forming debris disks are are lone stars
Europe’s biggest drug company has announced it is taking the first steps towards marketing a vaccine in Africa from which it never expects to make money. GlaxoSmithKline says it has begun filing documents with the regulatory authorities concerning its meningitis vaccine called Globorix
Ever feel as though you’re being followed? As if someone is behind you, shadowing your every move? It might be your shadow person
, created by unusual activity in a specific brain region, a new study shows. The paper, published in the British journal Nature, describes the case of a 22-year-old woman with no history of psychiatric problems who was being evaluated for treatment of epilepsy. When a region of her brain called the left temporoparietal junction was electrically stimulated, the woman described encounters with a shadow person
who mimicked her bodily movements — via Warren Ellis
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