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New genes tied to lifespan extension in yeast have been identified by researchers from UC Davis and Harvard Medical School. Drastically reducing calorie intake, or caloric restriction, is known to extend the lifespan of species including yeast, worms and rodents. Previous research linked a gene called Sir2 with lifespan extension due to caloric restriction, but worms and yeast that lack Sir2 also live longer when put on a tough diet, showing that some other genes must be at work.

Molecular electronics is the ultimate miniaturization of electronics. In this area of research, scientists have been studying the movement of electrons through individual molecules in an effort to understand how they might control and use the process in new technologies. Computers and thousands of other devices could become vastly faster, smaller and more reliable than conventional transistor-based (wire-based) electronics.

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Two of NASA’s Great Observatories, the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes, have teamed up to “weigh” the stars in several distant galaxies. One of these galaxies, among the most distant ever seen, appears to be unusually massive and mature for its place in the young universe.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study assessing chromium picolinate supplementation in 113 people with atypical depression found that a subset of patients who reported the highest levels of carbohydrate cravings demonstrated significantly greater reductions than the placebo group on four items on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D-29): carbohydrate craving, appetite increase, increased eating, and diurnal variation of feeling (mood variation throughout the day).

Investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported this month in the Journal of Virology that compounds secreted by frog skin are potent blockers of HIV infection. The findings could lead to topical treatments for preventing HIV transmission, and they reinforce the value of preserving the Earth’s biodiversity.

The fight against aging has received a scientific boost thanks to an innovative study done in part by a University of Alberta spin-off company–research that dispels a hard-held belief about the natural ingredient, beta glucan. The study, published in the current issue of International Journal of Cosmetic Science, is the first to show that oat beta glucan can penetrate the skin despite years of doctors and scientists believing that the large molecule was too big.

Researchers studying the evolution of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the brain have found that the body’s own defenses may cause HIV-related dementia. Publishing in the Sept. 2005 issue of the Journal of Virology, the researchers show that HIV in the temporal lobe mutates at a rate 100 times faster than in other parts of the body, triggering white blood cells to continually swarm to attack the infection. The associated overcrowding and inflammation appear to cause the dementia.

Placing shredded tires on top of — rather than in — landfills can save money and benefit the environment, researchers from the University of Illinois say. Shredding tires into chips roughly 4 inches by 6 inches, they report, offers a simple and cost-effective way of providing drainage for modern landfills, remediating older landfills, and disposing of mountains of scrap tires.

A monoclonal antibody that can effectively treat mice infected with West Nile virus has an intriguing secret: Contrary to scientists’ expectations, it does not block the virus’s ability to attach to host cells. Instead, the antibody somehow stops the infectious process at a later point.

By altering a molecule called Stat1, which is involved in cellular immune signaling, scientists have succeeded in making the molecule more responsive and thus more efficient. This old protein with a new twist may eventually be used to improve the body’s defense against infection.

your event with pr newswire is terrific and timely, here’s another your readers may find interesting: Is the “science writing” profession endangered or evolving? That is the debate Johns Hopkins University’s M.A. in Writing Program and the D.C. Science Writers Association will present at a daylong symposium on Saturday, October 1, 2005 at Johns Hopkins University’s Washington, DC Center.

New satellite records monitored by a national team of collaborators show a four-year pattern of extremely low summer sea-ice coverage in the Arctic that continued in September 2005, which may be the result of warming temperatures and earlier spring melting.

Hair loss in women or female pattern baldness can have devastating psychological effects on sufferers, two Monash University researchers have found. But a new group therapy program Halo (short for hair loss) developed by lecturer in Behavioural Studies Dr Francesca Collins and Monash honorary research associate Ms Sebastiana Biondo, has achieved positive outcomes in dealing with the psychological effects of hair loss.

Physicists who work with a concept called string theory envision our universe as an eerie place with at least nine spatial dimensions, six of them hidden from us, perhaps curled up in some way so they are undetectable. The big question is why we experience the universe in only three spatial dimensions instead of four, or six, or nine.

Lakes and wetlands in the Kenai Peninsula of south-central Alaska are drying at a significant rate. The shift seems to be driven by climate change, and could endanger waterfowl habitats and hasten the spread of wildfires.

A virologist has isolated a highly contagious equine flu virus that is spreading a sometimes-fatal respiratory flu among dogs, and is responsible for a major dog-flu outbreak in New York state. There is no evidence that the virus could infect people. According to a new paper, this is the first time an equine flu virus has been found to jump species.

Researchers have found that the loss of body mass over time appears to be strongly linked to older adults’ risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and the greater the loss, the greater the chance of a person developing the disease.

If science is the objective pursuit of truth, why is science writing so controversial? How can reporters cover specialized research for a general audience? And how should technically minded journalists approach heated political disputes? These questions and more will be debated at the Los Angeles Press Club Oct. 5, in a panel discussion on “The Politics of Science Journalism.” Participants will include Los Angeles Times science writer K.C. Cole, author of Mind Over Matter: Conversations With the Cosmos; Skeptics Society Director Dr. Michael Shermer, author of Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown; and Reason magazine science correspondent Ron Bailey, author of Liberation Biology: The Scientific and Moral Defense of the Biotech Revolution. The 90-minute event, co-sponsored by Science Blog ( http://www.scienceblog.com ) and PR Newswire, begins at 7:30, and is preceded by a one-hour reception.

A team of scientists including Marcello Canuto, assistant professor of anthropology at Yale, has found incontrovertible proof of Site Q, a long-speculated Mayan city, during a mission to the northwest Peten region of Guatemala. The proof–an in-situ panel carved with over 140 hieroglyphs that fill in the missing 30 year history–was found near a little known ancient city called La Corona.