Posts Tagged ‘California Institute of Technology’
Science & Technology - Jul 22, 2010 14:49 - 0 Comments
Changing lake depths on Saturn’s Titan
CALTECH (US)—For the first time, scientists have found compelling evidence of lake-level changes on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, that are very similar to the rise and fall of Earth lake levels. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jul 21, 2010 10:13 - 1 Comment
Quasar magnifies far-off galaxy
CALTECH (US)—Astronomers have discovered the first known case of a distant galaxy being magnified by a quasar acting as a gravitational lens. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jul 7, 2010 11:32 - 1 Comment
What separates the cells from the T cells?
CALTECH (US)—When does a cell decide its particular identity? In the case of T cells—immune system cells that help destroy invading pathogens—the answer is when the cells begin expressing a particular gene, according to a new study. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Jul 2, 2010 10:29 - 3 Comments
How moms-to-be tame their immune systems
CALTECH (US)—The concept of pregnancy makes no sense—at least not from an immunological point of view. A fetus is made of cells and tissues that are biologically distinct from its mother—precisely what the immune system is meant to search out and destroy. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Jun 21, 2010 23:23 - 0 Comments
Flood forms canyon in 3 days
CALTECH (US)—In the summer of 2002, a week of heavy rains in Central Texas caused Canyon Lake to flood over its spillway and down the Guadalupe River Valley. The waters excavated a 2.2-kilometer-long, 7-meter-deep canyon in the bedrock in just three days, new analysis shows. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jun 14, 2010 11:01 - 0 Comments
First look deep inside infant solar systems
U. ARIZONA (US)—Astronomers have observed in unprecedented detail the processes giving rise to stars and planets in nascent solar systems. (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 4, 2010 9:49 - 3 Comments
Why H1N1 developed a resistance to Tamiflu
CALTECH (US)—Biologists have pinpointed molecular changes that helped allow the global spread of resistance to the antiviral medication Tamiflu (oseltamivir) among strains of the seasonal H1N1 flu virus. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jun 2, 2010 12:17 - 1 Comment
Distinct strategies help brain take action
CALTECH (US)—The process of learning requires the sophisticated ability to constantly update our expectations of future rewards so we may make accurate predictions about those rewards in the face of a changing environment. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 27, 2010 14:09 - 0 Comments
Mysteries of Martian ice cap solved
TEXAS-AUSTIN (US)—Scientists have reconstructed the formation of two curious features in the northern ice cap of Mars—a chasm larger than the Grand Canyon and a series of spiral troughs—solving a pair of mysteries dating back four decades—while also finding new evidence of climate change on Mars. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 25, 2010 10:31 - 0 Comments
Team takes temperature of extinct vertebrates
CALTECH (US)—Was Tyrannosaurus rex cold-blooded? Did birds regulate their body temperatures before or after they began to grow feathers? Through analysis of rare isotopes in the bones, teeth, and eggshells of large extinct vertebrates, a research team has taken a critical step toward answering such questions. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 24, 2010 11:38 - 0 Comments
Genes regulate overeating in flies
CALTECH (US)—Biologists have identified two genes that appear to regulate meal sizes and frequency in fruit flies. Both genes have mammalian counterparts that seem to play a similar role in food intake. (more…)
Earth & Environment - May 18, 2010 12:30 - 5 Comments
Wind farm design inspired by school of fish
CALTECH (US)—In current wind farms, all of the turbines rotate in the same direction. But while studying the vortices left behind by fish swimming in a school, fluid-dynamics expert John Dabiri noticed that some vortices rotated clockwise, while others rotated counter-clockwise. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 13, 2010 13:09 - 0 Comments
‘Spider’ molecules behave like nanorobots
CALTECH/ U. MICHIGAN (US)—Researchers have programmed an autonomous molecular “robot” made out of DNA to start, move, turn, and stop while following a DNA track. The work is a step toward developing molecular-scale medical devices that can reposition or even rebuild themselves to accomplish different tasks. (more…)
Earth & Environment - May 7, 2010 10:44 - 0 Comments
Aseismic creep may lower earthquake hazard
CALTECH (US)—Using data from GPS stations, researchers analyzed plate slippage following the magnitude 8.0 earthquake that struck in Central Peru in August 2007, killing more than 500 people. What the team discovered ran contrary to long-held assumptions about plate movement in the area—and suggests a model for predicting earthquake patterns. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Apr 28, 2010 22:13 - 2 Comments
Belly bacteria are talking. Your body listening?
CALTECH (US)—We are not alone—even in our own bodies. The human gut is home to 100 trillion bacteria, which, for millions of years, have co-evolved along with our digestive and immune systems. Some can be harmful, some beneficial, and—according to new research—other microbes may be perched somewhere in between. (more…)
Society & Culture - Apr 26, 2010 17:04 - 0 Comments
Strong preference for girls in U.S. adoptions
CALTECH (US)—Parents pursuing adoption within the United States have strong preferences regarding the types of babies they will apply for, tending to choose non-African-American girls. (more…)
Science & Technology - Apr 26, 2010 10:57 - 0 Comments
Metamaterial could boost solar cell efficiency
CALTECH (US)—Scientists have engineered a type of artificial optical material with a 3-D structure that allows it to bend light—approaching from nearly any angle—in the “wrong” direction from what normally would be expected. (more…)
