Health, Science & Technology News

Beetle-infested pine trees contribute to air pollution and haze in forests
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
The hordes of bark beetles that have bored their way through more than six billion trees in the western United States and British Columbia since the 1990s do more than kill stately pine, spruce and other trees.

Drug allergy discovery
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
A research team led by the University of Melbourne and Monash University, Australia, has discovered why people can develop life-threatening allergies after receiving treatment for conditions such as epilepsy and AIDS.

Exotic particles, chilled and trapped, form giant matter wave
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
Physicists have trapped and cooled exotic particles called excitons so effectively that they condensed and cohered to form a giant matter wave, a signature of a state called a Bose-Einstein condensate. A first for subatomic particles, rather than whole atoms, the feat will facilitate study of the physical properties of excitons, which exist only fleetingly yet offer promising applications as diverse as efficient solar energy and ultrafast computing.

No new neurons in the human olfactory bulb
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
Research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that the human olfactory bulb - a structure in the brain that processes sensory input from the nose - differs from that of other mammals in that no new neurons are formed in this area after birth. The discovery, which is published in the scientific journal Neuron, is based on the age-determination of the cells using the carbon-14 method, and might explain why the human sense of smell is normally much worse than that of other animals.

Deep sea animals stowaway on submarines and reach new territory
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
Marine scientists studying life around deep-sea vents have discovered that some hardy species can survive the extreme change in pressure that occurs when a research submersible rises to the surface. The team's findings, published in Conservation Biology, reveal how a species can be inadvertently carried by submersibles to new areas, with potentially damaging effects on marine ecosystems.

In Brazil number of hip fractures expected to increase 32 percent by 2050
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
A new Audit report on fragility fractures, issued today by the International Osteoporosis Foundation, predicts that Brazil will experience an explosion in the number of fragility fractures due to osteoporosis in the coming decades. While today there are an estimated 121,700 annual hip fractures, these numbers are predicted to increase by 16 percent in 2020, and by 32 percent in 2050.

Food, water safety provide new challenges for today's sensors
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
Sensors that work flawlessly in laboratory settings may stumble when it comes to performing in real-world conditions, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Dramatic increase in fragility fractures expected in Latin America
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
The International Osteoporosis Foundation, in cooperation with medical and patient societies from throughout Latin America, has today published a landmark report which compiles osteoporosis-related data on 14 countries and the region as a whole. The report shows that fragility fractures due to osteoporosis are predicted to more than double in some countries in the coming decades.

Distress of child war and sex abuse victims halved by new trauma intervention
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
A new psychological intervention has been shown to more than halve the trauma experienced by child victims of war, rape and sexual abuse.

Feeling strong emotions makes peoples' brains 'tick together'
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
Experiencing strong emotions synchronizes brain activity across individuals, research team at Aalto University and Turku PET Centre in Finland has revealed.