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Putting the squeeze on fat cells
From fad diets to exercise programs, Americans continue to fight the battle of the bulge. Now they’ll have help from recent Tel Aviv University research that has developed a new method to look at how fat cells — which produce the fat in our bodies …
Catastrophic drought looms for capital city of Bolivia
Catastrophic drought is on the near-term horizon for the capital city of Bolivia, according to new research into the historical ecology of the Andes.
If temperatures rise more than 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius (3 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit) above those…
Electron billiards in nanoscale circuits
At the heart of the method is a so-called quantum point contact (QPC). This is a narrow conductive channel in a semiconductor circuit. The scientists created a 70-nanometer narrow channel, about as wide as the wavelength of electrons in the semicond…
Climate change may create tipping points for populations, not just species
As Earth’s climate warms, species are expected to shift their geographical ranges away from the equator or to higher elevations.
While scientists have documented such shifts for many plants and animals, the ranges of others seem stable.
W…
Progress toward treating infections by silencing microbes’ ‘smart phones’
So disease-causing bacteria in the body finally have multiplied to the point where their numbers are large enough to cause illness. What’s next? They get out their “smart phones” and whisper “Let’s roll!” That’s how an article in ACS’ monthly Chemic…
Drug holds promise to halt debilitating condition of diabetes
LAWRENCE — A drug developed at the University of Kansas has the potential to stop a debilitating condition of diabetes that often leads to pain in the extremities and even amputations, KU researchers have found.
The researchers recently publish…
Study may help predict extinction tipping point for species
Athens, Ga. — What if there were a way to predict when a species was about to become extinct — in time to do something about it?
Findings from a study by John M. Drake, associate professor in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, a…
Magnetism’s subatomic roots
The modern world — with its ubiquitous electronic devices and electrical power — can trace its lineage directly to the discovery, less than two centuries ago, of the link between electricity and magnetism. But while engineers have harnessed electr…