Birmingham Science News Examiner

Date rape drug GHB is a naturally occurring brain chemical

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:45:05 -0700

4-hydroxybutyrate (4-HB) - a.k.a. gamma hydroxybutyrate or GHB - is a derivative of a brain neurotransmitter that exists in very small amounts in people. GHB taken orally (the key difference) is the infamous "date rape drug"The accumulation...

Animals paralyzed by light - an end to warfare

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:34:20 -0700

AP Photo/David GuttenfelderIn the November 18, 2009, on line Journal of the American Chemical Society, Neil Branda and other Canadian scientists reported the development of an "on-off" switch that paralyzes animals when exposed to ultraviol...

Media has significant role in drug deaths

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:19:02 -0700

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007758.g002Opioid-related news media reports and poisoning mortality, 1999 - 2005, United States.Researchers from four prestigious universities have reported a very high level of correlationbetween opiod drug deaths and news...

Musical taste may be genetic

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:42:06 -0700

London(UK) 11/19/09 Nokia research of twins reveals musical taste a product of nature and nurture,"nature's influence is strongest on appreciation of pop, classical and hip-hop music - indicating some people may be born to love Michael Jackson, ...

Robot video - way cool

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:44:49 -0700

http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_petman.html

This robot was developed by Boston Dynamics to test chemical protective clothing for the United States Army.

The robot has a range of motion that is astounding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67CUudkjEG4

Electron orbital measurement now a reality

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:29:45 -0700

Peter Puschnig Photoelectric effect representationDr. Peter Puschnig of the Chair of Atomistic Modelling and Design of Materials at the University of Leoben (Austria), announced the development of a new method of measuring electron density using the ...

Drug abuse reports and statistics - see what it is like in your state

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:31:15 -0700

Washington DC11/16/09Press release from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).New Reports Highlight Important Gender Differences in Substance Use and Mental Health forAdolescents in Each State and the District of Colu...

Umbilical cord stem cells can accelerate disease

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:53:41 -0700

Researchers at the University of Granada and the University of Leon have demonstrated that transplantation of stem cells (human mononuclear cells isolated from umbilical cord blood) accelerated cirrhosis in rats with cirrhosis. This demonstrates t...

America Recycles Day - November 15, 2009

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:27:51 -0700

The United States recycles about 33 percent of its waste today. http://www.americarecyclesday.org/its-working.aspx Recycle everything you can. This site has a list of what can be recycled. http://www.americarecyclesday.org/diy-event-a...

Babies learning ability affected by eating fish

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:25:40 -0700

Eating oily fish and canned fish during pregnancy can result in a delay in childrens cognition, memory and verbal abilities according to research from the University of Granada published November 13, 2009, in the scientific journals Environmental ...

Video of the sun

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:07:59 -0700

From the SUNRISE balloon-borne telescope, a collaborative project between the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau and partners in Germany, Spain and the USA. [1] Video: surface of the Sun in close up (5 MB) ...

Heart of the Milky Way photos from NASA

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:43:43 -0700

Credit: NASA, ESA, SSC, CXC, and STScIThese photos were released by NASA on November 10, 2009, in commemoration of Galileo's first look at the stars and to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy.The first photo is a composite of the three belo...

Babies have accents when they are born

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:35:47 -0700

Babies learn the pattern of their mother's native language during the third trimester of pregnancy. The sense of hearing is very well developed in the third trimester. After the baby is born they begin speaking with an accent. Even their first noises...

Virus adds to global warming puzzle

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:15:39 -0700

Kay Bidle, Rutgers assistant professor of marine science in the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, and Benjamin Van Mooy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have discovered an unknown lipid in the virus that has been attacking ...

New Clean Air Act data from EPA -see how your state did

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:35:24 -0700

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new information on EPA and state enforcement of hazardous waste and air regulations. In addition, the EPA posted data that allows the public, for the first time, to compare toxic releases wit...

New search privacy protocol foils Google

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:26:41 -0700

Jordi Castellà-Roca, Alexandre Viejo, and Jordi Herrera-Joancomartí from three Catalan universities (the Rovira i Virgili University, the Autónoma of Barcelona and the Oberta of Catalonia) reported the development of a new sys...

Drug inhibits H1N1 growth

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:10:14 -0700

Researchers in the United States and China published a study of DAS181 (Fludase™) on November 6, 2009, that demonstrates the elimination of H1N1 growth in lung tissue. The elimination of growth occurs in forty-eight hours. The drug is effective...

M83, the Southern Pinwheel galaxy

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:36:00 -0700

Wow coolNASA and ESAThanks to NASA and the ESA we get pictures like this.Credit for Hubble image: NASA, ESA, R. O'Connell (University of Virginia), B. Whitmore (Space Telescope Science Institute), M. Dopita (Australian National University), and the W...

Marijuana helps post traumatic stress disorder and does not cause schizophrenia

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:02:29 -0700

Dr. Irit Akirav published a study carried out by her research student Eti Ganon-Elazar at the Learning and Memory Lab in the University of Haifas Department of Psychology in the Journal of Neuroscience that shows cannabinoids (psychoactive chem...

Zeolite database

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:44:15 -0700

Chemistry and engineering professors at Rice University have developed a zeolite database through computational analysis. Zeolites are basically a molecular sieve that allow molecules of a certain size to pass through and retain molecules l...