Science and Space - New Discoveries, Research, Studies And Breakthroughs

Curious about recent discoveries and breakthroughs related to space and science? Interested in the latest research findings in biology, physics, chemistry or the applied sciences or in astronomy and space exploration? Please visit us often to get the most interesting news and updates on the study of science and space.

Some of our more popular articles include:

10 Ig Nobel Prizes For 2012: Recognition Of Funny, Obscure Research

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Avoid Co-Worker Cooties With The Vioguard™ Self-Sanitizing Computer Keyboard

by Must Love Gadgets

I doubt the word 'cooties' was in Vioguard's application to the FDA for approval of the very first Self-Sanitizing Keyboard (The UVKB50), but when you consider all of the types of germs that congregate on and between the keys of communal computer keyboards, you'll definitely want to avoid them like the cooties. Hopefully, your company is willing to wait on line to order the hygienic keyboard....

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Scientists Hope Natural Herb Will Prove Effective Treatment For Alcoholism

by T Goodman

A tree that is native to China, the Hovenia dulcis, or Asian raisin tree, has been described to contain a hangover remedy since 659 AD. If you can fathom how long it's been in use, you may wonder why it's taken so long for modern research to study its potential as a treatment for alcohol addiction. Well, now a multi-disciplinary team from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) are actively studying its impact; first on rats....

Deep Brain Stimulation Tested On Bipolar Subjects Unresponsive To Other Treatments

by T Goodman

Deep brain stimulation, or DBS, is in its early experimental stages; this study, for example, had only 17 subjects. But when you cut into a person's skull and implant electrodes on either side of the brain while people are awake, it's probably not that easy to attract willing subjects. Nevertheless...

Polymer Shown To Rehabilitate Soil After A Wildfire

by Myra Per-Lee

Wildfires claim hundreds of thousands of farm acres yearly, causing famines and permanent devastation to the soil that produced the farmed crops. But a graduate student at Tel Aviv University (TAU), along with his supervising professors from TAU and the University of La Coruña in Spain, has identified an anionic polymer polyacrylamide (PAM) that seems to enable reforestation more rapidly and less expensively than current methods.

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Groundbreaking Research Supports Calorie Reduction As Key To Healthy Aging

by T Goodman

It has long been known that calorie restricted diets have positive impacts on better mental and physical health, but now a team of researchers at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart in Rome have discovered the molecule that is triggered by caloric restriction. CREB1 is the molecule and, once activated, it triggers another group of molecules linked to longevity - the sirtuins.

Genghis Khan's Genome Successfully Sequenced by Chinese Scientists

by China.new

Charlie Sheen may have Adonis DNA but when it comes to winning, Genghis Khan DNA conquers all! Chinese scientists have announced they've successfully sequenced the genome of one of the Great Khan's direct descendants, and they didn't need a fossilized mosquito to do it.

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Tap Water Is OK To Drink, But Watch What You Put Up Your Nose

by T Goodman

Neti-pot nose rinses have recently been reported to have caused the death of two persons in Louisiana. The pots, used by many to drain their sinuses during colds, flu, or allergy flare-ups, convey salt water through the nostrils....

Toshiba's 'Portable Gamma Camera' Takes Snapshots of Radiation Hotspots

by Steve Levenstein

Toshiba has developed a portable radiation-sensing camera that overlays color-coded radioactivity measurements over visual images. The camera is a refined version of a similar concept tested and proven at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Sensing Microneedles Developed For Continuous Monitoring Of Body Chemicals

by T Goodman

In the future, maybe not too distant, diabetics may be able to monitor their glucose levels continuously, rather than at one point in time, thanks to the researchers from North Carolina State University, Sandia National Laboratories, and the University of California, San Diego. These researchers have incorporated sensors into multiple microneedles, each less than a millimeter long, that may make today's glucose analyzers, the annoying skin prick tests, obsolete.

Surgeons Check Out Donor Lungs 'Ex Vivo' Prior To Transplant

by T Goodman

Surgeons at the New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia University performed the very first 'ex vivo' lung transplants yesterday, placing a deceased donor's lungs into a test dome for four hours to get the lungs in shape for their new human recipients. Organ testing procedures have been available prior to now, but none as sophisticated as the XVIVA Perfusion System employed in these particular transplant surgeries.