Pluto Mission Launched Toward New Horizons

The first mission to distant planet Pluto is under way after the successful launch today of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. New Horizons roared into the afternoon sky aboard a powerful Atlas V rocket at 2 p.m. EST. It separated from its solid-fuel kick motor 44 minutes, 53 seconds after launch, and mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., where the spacecraft was designed and built, received the first radio signals from New Horizons a little more than five minutes later.

Why chocolate is good for your heart

In a multifaceted study involving the Kuna Indians of Panama, an international team of scientists has pinpointed a chemical compound that is, in part, responsible, for the heart-healthy benefits of certain cocoas and some chocolate products. The researchers hope the findings will lead to new dietary or medicinal methods for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health.

Chris Mooney on the Dover ID ruling

In earlier blog entries, I wrote about Chris Mooney’s writings, especially his best-selling The Republican War on Science. I was waiting eagerly for his take on the ruling in the Dover School District Intelligent Design case. While revisiting his web site, I found it in an article called “Welcome to Science Court.”

Less risky treatment for depression, seizures

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, with the help of a team of Pittsburgh high school science teachers, have developed a wireless device that is implanted in the neck to fight depression and epileptic seizures. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration already has approved a wired version of the device, but that one carries risks and several undesirable side effects.

Mice with defective memory may hold clues to schizophrenia

By deleting a single gene in a small portion of the brains of mice, researchers have found that the animals were affected in a way resembling schizophrenia in humans. After the gene was removed, the animals, which had been trained to use external cues to look for chocolate treats buried in sand, couldn’t learn a similar task, the researchers report in a paper appearing in today’s issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

Material Reveals Unexpected, Intriguing Behavior

In electronics-based technologies, metal-oxide compounds known as “relaxor ferroelectrics” often make up key circuit components due to their unique electrical behavior. They are good insulators and can sustain large electric fields, making them excellent at storing electric charge. They can also turn a mechanical force, like squeezing, into electrical energy. Recently, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory investigated the poorly understood origin of these abilities — with surprising results.

Help NSF Write Its Next Strategic Plan

The National Science Foundation is asking for your input at the start of the process to draft the next NSF Strategic Plan. Feedback from the science and engineering community is very important and views from the community will be incorporated into the new plan.

Owl study finds link in brain between sight and sound

Imagine listening to someone talk and also hearing the buzz of the overhead lights, the hum of your computer and the muffled conversation down the hallway. To focus on the person speaking to you, your brain clearly can’t give equal weight to all incoming sensory information. It has to attend to what is important and ignore the rest. Two scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have taken a big step toward sorting out how the brain accomplishes this task. In the Jan. 19 issue of Nature, the researchers show that a mechanism for prioritizing information – previously reported only in primates – is also used by birds.