Nurses in Africa know when to start antiretroviral treatment

Nurses and clinical officers (non-physician clinicians, NPCs) are capable of determining when a person should receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Human Resources for Health suggest that this should ease the strain on overstretched doctors in sub-Saharan Africa and thereby help increase access to antiretroviral therapy, particularly in rural areas.
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Ex-top NASA official guilty of ethics violations (AP) ((send by free-web-host.me user))

AP - A former top NASA official was found guilty Thursday of breaking ethics laws by helping a consulting client get nearly $10 million of the space agency's funds.
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Emergency physician judgment on chest pain patients syncs with their outcomes

Emergency physicians should trust their judgment when evaluating patients who report with chest pain symptoms, said a group of researchers led by Abhinav Chandra, M.D., at Duke University Medical Center.
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Plastics that convert light to electricity could have a big impact

Researchers the world over are striving to develop organic solar cells that can be produced easily and inexpensively as thin films that could be widely used to generate electricity.

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IODP introduces technology to support deepwater crustal drilling

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), in collaboration with industry partner AGR Drilling Services, has engineered an ultra-deepwater drilling technology for use by IODP drilling vessels in scientific research. Originally developed for shallow-water oil and gas exploration, the "riserless mud recovery" technology (RMRâ„¢) holds great promise for scientists striving to reach the long-held goal of Project Mohole in the 1950s: drilling all the way through ocean crust into the Earth's mantle; a frontier not yet explored today. Drilled cores from the mantle could provide scientists with answers to questions about the structure, composition, mineralogy, and in situ physical properties of oceanic crust and the geological nature of the seismic Moho.

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Experts debate swine flu mutation

NEWS ANALYSIS: The recent outbreak of swine flu at an Australian piggery has raised questions over whether this will cause the virus to mutate and become more deadly.
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Analysis: 2007 legal opinion is a threat to imperiled species

If the federal government implements a 2007 legal interpretation of the Endangered Species Act, the likely result will be a reduction in the number of species listed for protection, scientists ...
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Doctors in Cuba Start Over in the U.S.

For some, it’s better to be a nurse in the U.S. than to be a doctor in Cuba.


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Observatory: Garlic for a Healthy Heart? Go Fresh, Study Says

A study suggests that for certain elements of cardiac health, fresh-crushed garlic is better than processed.


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Study reveals mounting evidence of fish oil's heart health benefits

There is mounting evidence that omega-3 fatty acids from fish or fish oil supplements not only help prevent cardiovascular diseases in healthy individuals, but also reduce the incidence of cardiac events and mortality in patients with existing heart disease. A new study, published in the August 11, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, extensively reviews data from a broad range of studies in tens of thousands of patients and sets forth suggested daily targets for omega-3 consumption.
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Heart disease patients with previous blockages more likely to die

Heart disease patients with previous atherosclerosis (fat deposits in the walls of the arteries) are more likely to die in the hospital and less likely to be treated with recommended therapies, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
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Scientists Speculate on Earth's Last Day

Welcome to the last day on Earth. Humanity's descendants have long since died or fled, oceans have long since vaporized, and the life-giving sun has ballooned into a swollen giant filling the sky.
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Higher carbon dioxide may give pines competitive edge

Pine trees grown for 12 years in air one-and-a-half times richer in carbon dioxide than today's levels produced twice as many seeds of at least as good a quality as those growing under normal conditions, a Duke University-led research team reported Monday (Aug. 3) at a national ecology conference.
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Google CEO leaves Apple board as companies compete

(AP) -- Google CEO Eric Schmidt is resigning from Apple's board of directors as the Internet search leader increasingly develops products that compete with Apple's core businesses, including ...
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Researchers effectively treat tumors with use of nanotubes

By injecting man-made, microscopic tubes into tumors and heating them with a quick, 30-second zap of a laser, scientists have discovered a way to effectively kill kidney tumors in nearly 80 percent of mice. Researchers say that the finding suggests a potential future cancer treatment for humans.
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Self-healing surfaces

Human skin is a phenomenon â€" small scratches and cuts heal quickly, leaving no trace of a scar after just a few days. It's a different matter with materials, such as metals â€" if the electroplated layer protecting the metals from corrosion is scratched, rust protection is lost. Engineers are working on transferring the self-healing effect of skin to materials. The idea behind this is to introduce evenly distributed fluid-filled capsules into the electroplated layer â€" rather like raisins in a cake. If the layer is damaged, the pellets at the point of damage burst, the fluid runs out and 'repairs' the scratch. Until now, these plans have failed due to the size of the capsules â€" at 10 to 15 micrometers they were too large for the electroplated layer, which is around 20 micrometers thick. The capsules altered the mechanical properties of the layer.

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NASA's CloudSat captures a sideways look at fading Lana

NASA satellites do some really cool things, like take a sideways look at a slice of a tropical depression. That's what CloudSat did with Lana in the Central Pacific.

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eBay threatens to pull the plug on Skype

eBay is developing software it might use to continue running the online telecommunications service Skype if it cannot resolve a legal dispute with a separate company run by the service's founders.
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Military-Civilian Terror Prison Considered

The Obama administration may create a courtroom-within-a-prison complex somewhere inside the United States to house the hundreds of suspected terrorists currently held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, top officials say.
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Sage grouse unlikely focus of Wyoming wind wars (Reuters)

CARBON, Wyoming, Aug. 3, 2009 (Reuters) -- They used to mine coal in the abandoned town of Carbon. Now this patch of southern Wyoming is a battleground in the debate over what many hope will be the clean energy source of the future: wind power. ... > read full story

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Variation in prostate stem cell antigen gene raises bladder cancer risk

Researchers have pinpointed a specific gene variation that causes increased risk of urinary bladder cancer, according to a scientific team led by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
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King salmon vanishing in Alaska, smokehouses empty

(AP) -- Yukon River smokehouses should be filled this summer with oil-rich strips of king salmon - long used by Alaska Natives as a high-energy food to get through the long Alaska winters. But they're mostly empty.
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Man dies from plague in China, 11 others infected

(AP) -- Thousands of people have been placed under quarantine in a town in northwest China after a man died of pneumonic plague and 11 others were confirmed infected with the deadly lung infection, health authorities said.
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Fake Bomb Snarls Air Travel for Some

Authorities say a main terminal of LaGuardia Airport in New York City has been evacuated and a police bomb squad has arrested a man and is searching his bag.
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Exploited Earth: Prix Pictet photography prize 2009

The Prix Pictet is an international photography award for remarkable images that focus on environmental sustainability. See the shortlisted entries here.


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Astronauts return from space to sushi overload (AP)

AP - Koichi Wakata was still getting used to gravity, though it wasn't going to stop him from diving into a deluge of sushi.

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Why social networks like their privacy policies private

Even networking sites with user-friendly policies take care not to remind members about privacy – user psychology may explain why
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Orbiting gas station could refuel lunar missions

Forget huge, expensive rockets: a plan being examined by the US government would allow smaller, cheaper rockets to fly to the moon and beyond
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Measuring the Speed of Light in Composite Materials

(PhysOrg.com) -- Although the speed of light is constant in a vacuum, light slows down a small amount when traveling through other materials. While it's relatively easy to measure the speed of light in mediums made of one material, it's much more difficult to track light's speed through composite materials. Now, a new technique can determine the speed of light in composite materials by varying the pressure of light.
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Mutation responsible for cystic fibrosis also involved in muscle atrophy

Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) usually experience significant muscle loss, a symptom traditionally considered to be a secondary complication of the devastating genetic disease. However, a recent study by Dr. Basil Petrof reverses the equation: his results show that muscle atrophy and weakness may be a primary symptom caused by the effects of CFTR gene mutations on the muscle itself. Dr. Petrof's findings will be published on July 31 in Public Library of Science -- Genetics.
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Family planning a major environmental impact

Some people who are serious about wanting to reduce their "carbon footprint" on the Earth have one choice available to them that may yield a large long-term benefit â€" have one less child.

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Astronauts return from space to sushi overload (AP)

AP - Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts returned to Earth on Friday, completing a long but successful construction job that boosted the size and power of the international space station.

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Video Gamers Hooked for Life (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - Video gamers are gamers for life, analysts say. And that's no surprise to the industry that peddles the games and the hardware, which grew last year as the rest of the economy went south.

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National Ignition Facility Contains World's Most Powerful Laser

The world's most powerful laser that took $5 billion and a decade recently debuted with a special dedicated at the Livermore National Laboratory in California. The laser is housed inside a football field sized building called the National Ignition Facility. The AP says the laser was designed to help ensure the reliability of the nation's aging nuclear weapons but it could also be used one day to create a more efficient energy source. In 2010, NIF will focus the intense energy of 192 giant laser beams on a BB-sized target filled with hydrogen fuel - fusing, or igniting, the hydrogen atoms' nuclei in the world's first controlled thermonuclear reaction. You can read how the NIF works here.



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Monkeys in Thailand Teach Babies to Floss

Mother monkeys in Thailand are apparently teaching their infants how to clean their teeth by flossing with human hair. The monkeys must have read about the health benefits of flossing. Take a look:



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Algebra adds value to mathematical biology education

As mathematics continues to become an increasingly important component in undergraduate biology programs, a more comprehensive understanding of the use of algebraic models is needed by the next ...
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Enigma of the 23-year-old baby

In 1678 French surgeon Pierre Dionis discovered a leathery, fetus-like object in a "cabinet of curiosity" – could it have been the result of a two-decade pregnancy?
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Fertile Crescent 'will disappear this century'

Diverting water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to supply agriculture, alongside a warming climate, means the once-bountiful region is becoming desert
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Clingy Martian dust guilty as charged

Experiments on Earth reveal the culprit behind Mars's especially sticky dust – which might help scientists devise ways to combat the problematic powder
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Phantom menace to dark matter theory

A subtle anomaly in the orbit of the planets in our solar system could prove a controversial idea that goes beyond Einstein
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Smart machines: What's the worst that could happen?

Everything from human-mimicking viruses to machines that self-replicate are being considered by an elite panel of AI scientists as they debate the potential risks of artificial intelligence
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