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Alien abduction may be all in the mind

New research presented at the Science Museum's Dana Centre, supports what scientists have long argued: that people who report contact with aliens have a psychological profile that might make them more susceptible to false memories.

27 Oct 2005

Possible toxic damage from inhaled nanoparticles

A physicist and a medical researcher at the University of Leicester have received a grant of £100,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to look at possible toxic damage from inhaled nanoparticles used for a range of everyday purposes.

27 Oct 2005

Rate of weight gain, not the degree of fatness at any one time, which is the main predictor of future problems

Research published today indicates that the risk of heart disease in adulthood is more strongly related to how quickly children gain weight between the ages of two and eleven than their actual body weight at any particular age. Scientists believe this is linked to differences in insulin processing in later life.

27 Oct 2005

Needle free vasectomy

A new anesthetic technique for vasectomy that does not involve the use of needles has been shown to be safe and effective, according to a recent study presented by Dr. Marc Goldstein of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center's Department of Urology.

27 Oct 2005

Bouncing helicases possibly play a preventative role in keeping the genome intact

Researchers studying how proteins called helicases travel along strands of DNA have found that when the proteins hit an obstacle they snap back to where they began, repeating the process over and over, possibly playing a preventative role in keeping the genome intact.

27 Oct 2005

Scientists have identified the gene which explains why eggs fail to produce a zygote

Scientists have identified the gene responsible for controlling a first key step in the creation of new life, according to new research published in the journal Nature.

27 Oct 2005

Northwestern University move closer to new therapies for neurodegenerative disease

French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot first described amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 1869, but, nearly 140 years later, little is known about the cause of the devastating neurodegenerative disease, and there is no cure.

27 Oct 2005

Math Learning Disorder (LD) is common among school-age children

Results show that boys are more likely to have Math LD than girls. The research also indicates that although a child can have a Math LD and a reading LD, a substantial percentage of children have Math LD alone.

27 Oct 2005

Growth patterns before birth, after birth and into childhood reveal a risk of coronary heart disease later in life

The risk of developing coronary heart disease as an adult is more strongly related to childhood growth patterns than body weight at any particular point in development, according to a new study published in the Oct. 27 New England Journal of Medicine. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.

27 Oct 2005

Spire Corporation awarded grant to develop nanophase calcium phosphate coatings

Spire Corporation has announced that it has been awarded an SBIR Phase I grant for $156,878 from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health (NIH), to develop nanophase calcium phosphate coatings loaded with bone morphogenic proteins (BMPs).

27 Oct 2005

CSIRO's RNAi 'gene silencing' patents strengthened

The patent landscape for RNAi 'gene silencing' - including CSIRO's hairpin RNAi technology - has been significantly clarified following the resolution of several opposition and re-examination cases in Australia.

26 Oct 2005

Chiron initiates Phase I/II study of an investigational cell culture-derived influenza vaccine

Cell culture-derived influenza vaccine (commonly referred to as "flu cell culture" vaccine) represents the next generation of influenza vaccine, both for annual vaccine production and for long-term pandemic preparedness.

26 Oct 2005

Preventing bowel cancer in high risk families

Bowel cancer rates could be reduced by up to 80 per cent in people with a moderate family history of the disease by screening with colonoscopy, according to new research published in the British Medical Journal.

26 Oct 2005

Australia furthers fight against Avian Influenza in Vietnam

Australia will provide $3 million to Vietnam to help the country combat Avian Influenza and other infectious diseases, the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Bruce Billson, announced in Hanoi.

26 Oct 2005

Why some women turn from pussycats to tigers once a month!

At last there is evidence why some women turn from pussycats to tigers once a month!

26 Oct 2005

Australian obesity crisis

A new study by global market research firm, TNS, reinforces growing alarm among health and nutrition professionals that Australia is in the grips of rising levels of excess weight, risking future diabetes, heart disease and cancer epidemics and increasing mental illness in the community.

26 Oct 2005

Mechanisms of evolution may be associated with disease

By comparing the human genome with that of the chimpanzee, man's closest living relative, researchers have discovered that chunks of similar DNA that have been flipped in orientation and reinserted into chromosomes are hundreds of times more common in primates than previously thought.

26 Oct 2005

Kids with asthma may also be at risk for psychological problems such as depression

This study, recently published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, is one of the first to examine relationships among asthma, anxiety and depression, and several aspects of social functioning in urban children.

26 Oct 2005

Doctors call for urgent review of UK cancer initiative

Hospital doctors are calling for an urgent review of the UK Government’s two-week cancer wait, saying there’s no evidence that the initiative has had any impact on survival rates.

26 Oct 2005

Bird flu in Germany - Britain and Europe ban all bird imports

Following the discovery of signs of the bird flu virus in two dead migratory birds at a lake in Neuwied, Germany, a ban is shortly to be imposed on the import of all captive birds from around the world plus a ban on all bird fairs, exhibitions and shows, to protect Britain and Europe from the deadly avian flu virus.

26 Oct 2005