Posts Tagged ‘Africa’
Blood parasite’s genetic code cracked
U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — Scientists have sequenced the genome of a parasite responsible for one of the most socioeconomically devastating diseases in the world. Continue…
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 11:28 - 0 Comments
Health & Medicine - Dec 13, 2011 12:37 - 0 Comments
Night lights pinpoint disease outbreaks
PRINCETON (US) — Researchers are using satellite images of nighttime lights to keep tabs on disease hotspots in developing nations. (more…)
Society & Culture - Dec 5, 2011 10:36 - 0 Comments
HIV unknowns nudge Malawians to want kids
PENN STATE (US) — People in Malawi who are uncertain about their HIV status are more eager to start families than those who are certain one way or the other, a new study shows. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 2, 2011 10:20 - 0 Comments
Battle of the biomes: Savannas vs. forests
PRINCETON (US) —Large stretches of South American and African forest and savanna could begin to encroach on each other due to factors such as climate change and land use—much to the detriment of the people and animals that rely on them. (more…)
Science & Technology - Sep 29, 2011 11:36 - 0 Comments
In wet times, zebra help cattle bulk up
UC DAVIS (US) — African ranchers often prefer to keep wild grazers like zebra off the grasslands, but new research shows that in rainy seasons, grazing by wild animals may actually help cattle put on weight. (more…)
Science & Technology - Sep 16, 2011 12:36 - 3 Comments
In dry times, ‘loner’ elephants buddy up
STANFORD (US) —When resources are scarce, some male bull elephants band together into a social group with a clearly defined hierarchy, much the way females do, a new study shows. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 8, 2011 13:04 - 0 Comments
S. Africa birthplace of modern humans
STANFORD (US) — Bushmen from southern Africa are most likely the source population from which all other African populations evolved, according to a large study of genetic variation. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Dec 1, 2010 12:07 - 1 Comment
Why AIDS doesn’t make headlines
U. LEEDS (UK) — Media coverage of HIV/AIDS has fallen by more than 70 percent in developed countries over the last 20 years, particularly in French- and U.S.-based newspapers. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Nov 29, 2010 12:13 - 0 Comments
Killer virus protein chews up RNA
EMORY (US) — Using X-rays, researchers have identified the structure of a key protein from Lassa virus, which infects 100,000 to 300,000 people every year in West Africa—and kills 5,000. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Nov 12, 2010 13:14 - 0 Comments
Drug kills parasitic worm at its source
MICHIGAN STATE (US) — Scientists have unlocked how an anti-parasitic drug kills worms brought on by diseases like river blindness and elephantitis. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Sep 24, 2010 8:56 - 0 Comments
Gorilla source of deadly malaria strain
WASHINGTON U.-ST. LOUIS (US) — Gorillas are the origin of the world’s deadliest form of human malaria, according to an investigation by an international team of anthropologists. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Sep 9, 2010 11:39 - 0 Comments
Helping African farmers help themselves
CORNELL (US)—Two efforts led by researchers at Cornell University aim to improve soil health and advance plant breeding on small farms in Africa to lessen food insecurity, hunger, and poverty. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Aug 6, 2010 10:07 - 0 Comments
Growing exploitation of East Africa forests
U. LEEDS (UK)—Waves of deforestation like ripples in a pond have advanced 120 kilometers across East Africa in the past 14 years, according to new research. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jul 22, 2010 11:14 - 3 Comments
A dash of cyanide with those beans?
WASHINGTON U.-ST. LOUIS (US)—Lima beans won’t kill you, but they are one of many plants that naturally contain some level of the deadly poison cyanide. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Jul 12, 2010 13:22 - 0 Comments
Intervene now to slow nascent AIDS epidemic
CORNELL (US)—With the exceptions of Djibouti, Somalia and Southern Sudan, HIV transmission in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is among the lowest worldwide. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Jun 9, 2010 15:57 - 0 Comments
Pre-humans in Africa evolved to beat the heat
JOHNS HOPKINS (US)—In the Turkana Basin of Kenya the average daily temperature has reached the mid-90s or higher, year-round, for the past 4 million years, which may explain in part why pre-humans learned to walk upright, lost the fur that covered the bodies of their predecessors, and became able to sweat more. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Jun 2, 2010 17:11 - 0 Comments
Target platelets to fight cerebral malaria
U. ROCHESTER (US)— New research in the fight against cerebral malaria is focusing on platelets—known for their role in blood clotting—as playing an important role in stimulating the immune system and turning on molecules that increase inflammation. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Jun 1, 2010 16:06 - 0 Comments
Forget the forest. Prehumans lived in savannas
JOHNS HOPKINS (US)—Prehumans in East Africa 4.4 million years ago lived among grassy, tree-studded plains, not in the forests, according to a new study. (more…)
Earth & Environment - May 21, 2010 10:21 - 1 Comment
Warming threatens one of world’s oldest lakes
BROWN (US)—Geologists have documented that Lake Tanganyika in east Africa—the second oldest and the second-deepest lake in the world—has experienced unprecedented warming in the last century. (more…)
