In. Protein that destroys HIV discovered. Loyola University researchers have identified the key components of a protein called TRIM5a that destroys HIV in rhesus monkeys. The finding could lead to new TRIM5a-based treatments that would knock out HIV in humans, said senior researcher Edward M. Campbell, PhD, of Loyola University Health System. Campbell and colleagues report their findings in an article featured on the cover of the Sept. 15, 2010 issue of the journal Virology, now available online. In 2004, other researchers reported that TRIM5a protects rhesus monkeys from HIV. The TRIM5a protein first latches on to a HIV virus, then other TRIM5a proteins gang up and destroy the virus. Humans also have TRIM5a, but while the human version of TRIM5a protects against some viruses, it does not protect against HIV.
Researchers hope to turn TRIM5a into an effective therapeutic agent. TRIM5a consists of nearly 500 amino acid subunits. More info: Loyola University Health System news. NASA Radar Finds Ice Deposits at Moon's North Pole. NASA Radar Finds Ice Deposits at Moon's North Pole Additional evidence of water activity on moon View a Larger version of the CPR Map of the North Pole of the Moon (1.4MB). Mini-SAR map of the Circular Polarization Ratio (CPR) of the north pole of the Moon. Fresh, “normal” craters (red circles) show high values of CPR inside and outside their rims. This is consistent with the distribution of rocks and ejected blocks around fresh impact features, indicating that the high CPR here is surface scattering. Using data from a NASA radar that flew aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists have detected ice deposits near the moon's north pole. The Mini-SAR has imaged many of the permanently shadowed regions that exist at both poles of the Moons.
Mini-SAR is a lightweight (less than 10 kg) imaging radar. Main L, 14 km diameter, 81.4° N, 22° E View a Larger version of the fresh crater CPR (537KB). Numerous craters near the poles of the Moon have interiors that are in permanent sun shadow. 'Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists. 20 May 2010Last updated at 23:51 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News The synthetic cell looks identical to the 'wild type' Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA. The researchers constructed a bacterium's "genetic software" and transplanted it into a host cell. The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species "dictated" by the synthetic DNA. The advance, published in Science, has been hailed as a scientific landmark, but critics say there are dangers posed by synthetic organisms. Some also suggest that the potential benefits of the technology have been over-stated.
But the researchers hope eventually to design bacterial cells that will produce medicines and fuels and even absorb greenhouse gases. The team was led by Dr Craig Venter of the J Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) in Maryland and California. Craig Venter defends the synthetic living cell The researchers copied an existing bacterial genome. Scratched glasses give perfect vision for any eyesight - tech - 04 October 2010.
DITCH those bifocals. You might soon wearing spectacles whose lenses allow you to see clearly regardless of how long or short-sighted you are. With age, the lenses in our eyes often lose the ability to change shape enough to focus light from near objects onto the retina - a condition called presbyopia. This leaves people who were already short-sighted unable to focus on either near or distant objects. Bifocals offer a solution by having two lenses in the same frame, but users must get used to tilting their head up or down to switch focus. Zeev Zalevsky at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, has developed a technique to turn a standard lens into one that perfectly focuses light from anything between 33 centimetres away and the horizon.
It involves engraving the surface of a standard lens with a grid of 25 near-circular structures each 2 millimetres across ... Academics fight rise of creationism at universities | World news. A growing number of science students on British campuses and in sixth form colleges are challenging the theory of evolution and arguing that Darwin was wrong. Some are being failed in university exams because they quote sayings from the Bible or Qur'an as scientific fact and at one sixth form college in London most biology students are now thought to be creationists. Earlier this month Muslim medical students in London distributed leaflets that dismissed Darwin's theories as false. Evangelical Christian students are also increasingly vocal in challenging the notion of evolution. In the United States there is growing pressure to teach creationism or "intelligent design" in science classes, despite legal rulings against it. "There is an insidious and growing problem," said Professor Jones, of University College London.
The leaflets are produced by the Al-Nasr Trust, a Slough-based charity set up in 1992 with the aim of improving the understanding of Islam. Backstory. Autism - Once more, no link found between vaccine preservative and autism. Cell Phone Holdouts Are Right: Buy a Phone, Become a Baby by Lenore Skenazy on Creators. Whoopee for the iPhone, the latest version of the device that has made us a nation of blabbing babies: the cell. Not that I could live without mine. Still, I found a surprising number of cell phone holdouts who somehow manage to get by without the dropped calls, post-work work and daily conversation that goes: "Hang on just a sec. Can you make that coffee light, no sugar? I AM listening to you.
You say you're getting a div — No sugar! Wait. Holdouts will have none of this. "If I were to get one, pretty soon I wouldn't be able to live without one," said holdout Henry Stimpson, neatly nailing the biggest problem with cell phones: the way they turn previously independent individuals into the great unweaned. "Typical incident," Stimpson said: "I went to a ballgame with a bunch of my friends and afterwards all the other guys in the car were whipping out their phones and calling their wives. Kid — I'm not there . Young adults fare no better. Grow up! And that iPhone looks pretty cool. Alphabet Energy has plans to turn wasted energy into electricity - Tucson Technology. Alphabet Energy has plans to convert wasted heat given off by mechanical and electrical sources into electricity using a technology developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The process uses thermoelectric semiconductors to harness the heat given off from pipes and exhaust flues. If this process was implemented in every U.S. home it would provide 4.2 quadrillion BTUs of energy that would have otherwise been wasted. According to HPAC Engineering that would be equivalent to the electricity used by all commercial buildings in 2004. Alphabet Energy believes that this has the potential to offset up to 500 million metric tonnes of carbon each year.
Traditionally it costs around $20 a watt to convert waste into energy, Alphabet Energy says they can do it for $1 a watt.