Tuesday, 29 May 2012

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News


New effective treatment for tinnitus?

Posted: 28 May 2012 03:08 PM PDT

Scientists have demonstrated the effectiveness of a new tinnitus treatment. Tinnitus is the perception of a noxious disabling internal sound without an external source. Roughly fifteen percent of the population suffers from this disorder in varying degrees along with the associated concentration problems, sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression and extreme fatigue.

Edible stop signs? A few red chips in the stack cut snacking in half

Posted: 28 May 2012 03:00 PM PDT

Once you pop the top of a tube of potato chips, it can be hard to stop munching its contents. But researchers may have found a novel way to help: Add edible serving size markers that act as subconscious stop signs.

Engineered microvessels provide a 3-D test bed for human diseases

Posted: 28 May 2012 12:49 PM PDT

Bioengineers have developed the first structure to grow small human blood vessels, creating a 3-D test bed that offers a better way to study disease, test drugs and perhaps someday grow human tissues for transplant.

New stem cell technique promises abundance of key heart cells

Posted: 28 May 2012 12:49 PM PDT

Cardiomyocytes, the workhorse cells that make up the beating heart, can now be made cheaply and abundantly in the laboratory.

Method for building artificial tissue devised

Posted: 28 May 2012 12:48 PM PDT

Physicists have developed a method that models biological cell-to-cell adhesion that could also have industrial applications.

Groundwater depletion in semiarid regions of Texas and California threatens US food security

Posted: 28 May 2012 12:48 PM PDT

The US's food supply may be vulnerable to rapid groundwater depletion from irrigated agriculture, according to a new study. The study paints the highest resolution picture yet of how groundwater depletion varies across space and time in California's Central Valley and the High Plains of the central U.S.

People smile when they are frustrated, and the computer knows the difference

Posted: 28 May 2012 12:27 PM PDT

Do you smile when you're frustrated? Most people think they don't -- but they actually do, a new study has found. What's more, it turns out that computers programmed with the latest information from this research do a better job of differentiating smiles of delight and frustration than human observers do.

The Transit of Venus: June 5-6, 2012

Posted: 28 May 2012 09:24 AM PDT

Many astronomers and members of the public in Britain will be getting up early on the morning of June 6, so they can see (using precautions to avoid permanent eye damage) the final Transit of Venus of the 21st century. The Transit, when Venus passes directly between Earth and the Sun, was last seen in 2004 and will not happen again until the year 2117.

Orion clean room subs filters, fans for ceiling

Posted: 28 May 2012 07:51 AM PDT

Turns out a clean room doesn't necessarily need a roof, NASA is finding out as it tries out a design that could be assembled around the Orion spacecraft as it is prepared for launch in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The key to the concept, developed by Astrotech, is two 10-foot-high walls of filter-equipped fans positioned 30 feet apart to push and pull the air in one direction across the capsule, keeping particles from settling on the spacecraft's surface.

Hubble sees a spiral within a spiral

Posted: 28 May 2012 07:50 AM PDT

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a new image of the spiral galaxy known as ESO 498-G5. One interesting feature of this galaxy is that its spiral arms wind all the way into the center, so that ESO 498-G5's core looks like a bit like a miniature spiral galaxy. This sort of structure is in contrast to the elliptical star-filled centers (or bulges) of many other spiral galaxies, which instead appear as glowing masses.

Smallest possible five-ringed structure made: 'Olympicene' molecule built using clever synthetic organic chemistry

Posted: 28 May 2012 07:02 AM PDT

Scientists have created and imaged the smallest possible five-ringed structure -- about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. Dubbed 'olympicene', the single molecule was brought to life in a picture thanks to a combination of clever synthetic chemistry and state-of-the-art imaging techniques.

Explanation for friction: Origin of sliding friction between solid objects

Posted: 28 May 2012 07:02 AM PDT

Friction is a key phenomenon in applied physics, whose origin has been studied for centuries. Until now, it has been understood that mechanical wear-resistance and fluid lubrication affect friction, but the fundamental origin of sliding friction has been unknown. Scientists have now explained the origin of sliding friction between solid objects. According to his theory, the amount of friction depends on the surface energy of the materials in question.

Researchers have created glasses that indicate obstacles to patients with visual handicaps

Posted: 28 May 2012 07:02 AM PDT

People with moderate visual impairment, particularly those who have difficulty perceiving the full extent of their surroundings, could use the ingenious new device. "This device is aimed at people who would bump into everything that they fail to see because of their loss of visual field, caused by glaucoma, retinal pathologies, etc.", one of the researchers said.

Discovery promises unique medicine for treatment of chronic and diabetic wounds

Posted: 28 May 2012 07:02 AM PDT

A unique new medicine that can start and accelerate healing of diabetic and other chronic wounds is now being developed. After several years of successful experimental research, it is now ready for clinical testing.

CryoSat goes to sea

Posted: 28 May 2012 07:02 AM PDT

CryoSat was launched in 2010 to measure sea-ice thickness in the Arctic, but data from the Earth-observing satellite have also been exploited for other studies. High-resolution mapping of the topography of the ocean floor is now being added to the ice mission's repertoire. The main objective of the polar-orbiting CryoSat is to measure the thickness of polar sea ice and monitor changes in the ice sheets that blanket Greenland and Antarctica.

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