news 2012

It's not little green men, but it could be a step in that direction: astronomers, using data from the NASA Kepler Mission, have identified three Earthlike planets orbiting their own suns, all of which could be hospitable to life. The team of astronomers used the Cornell-built Near-Infrared Triple Spectrograph (TripleSpec) at California's Mount Palomar Observatory to measure the temperatures and metallicities of small stars called M dwarfs, first recorded by the NASA Kepler mission, which then led to observations of planets orbiting these stars.

Orangutans may be smarter than previously thought if a new study into the sophisticated way they build nests is any indication. Scientists at The University of Manchester spent a year observing and filming (video footage available) orangutans at a research facility in Indonesia and found they apparently possess complex knowledge of mechanical design and material properties.

A breakthrough using cutting-edge stem cell research could speed up the discovery of new treatments for motor neurone disease ( MND ). The international research team has created motor neurones using skin cells from a patient with an inherited form of MND . Role of protein Using patient stem cells to model MND in a dish offers untold possibilities for how we study the cause of this terrible disease as well as accelerating drug discovery by providing a cost-effective way to test many thousands of potential treatments.

A breakthrough using cutting-edge stem cell research could speed up the discovery of new treatments for motor neurone disease (MND). Researchers have discovered that key pathological events can be detected in motor neurones derived from MND patient skins cells that had been reprogrammed to become stem cells.

The quest for treatments for motor neurone disease, spinal cord injury and strokes could be helped by new research that shows how key cells are produced. University scientists have been able to manipulate the production of motor neurones - which control all muscle activity - in zebrafish. Zebrafish are important in helping scientists understand how motor neurones are produced, because unlike mammals, they are able to create new motor neurones as adults.

Under a microscope, a tiny droplet slides between two fine hairs like a roller coaster on a set of rails until — poof — it suddenly spreads along them, a droplet no more. That instant of change, like the popping of soap bubble, comes so suddenly that it seems almost magical. But describing it, and mapping out how droplets stretch into tiny columns, is a key to understanding how liquids affect fibrous materials from air filters to human hair.

Researchers have demonstrated a microscopic system in which light can be converted into a mechanical oscillation and back.

AUSTIN, TX — Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Chemical Engineering are the first to show that mechanical property changes in cells may be responsible for cancer progression - a discovery that could pave the way for new approaches to predict, treat and prevent cancer.