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The new high-accuracy terrestrial localisation systems are suitable for applications as diverse as tracking workers in emergency situations to following cyclists racing around a track.

CSIRO has signed a $1 million collaboration to develop the technology for emergency purposes in conjunction with Emergency Management Australia (EMA), Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency and the National Security Science and Technology Branch within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – July 31, 2008 – A multicenter U.S. registry study examining the treatment of Barrett's esophagus (BE) with high-grade dysplasia (HGD) showed that in 92 patients treated with endoscopic circumferential ablation who had at least one follow-up biopsy session, 90.2 percent were free of HGD at an average of one-year follow-up. This registry is the first to report on the use of circumferential ablation for BE HGD.

Auckland, New Zealand - Kiwifruit lovers can look forward to new, novel forms of their favourite fruit thanks to the release this week of crucial genetic data which fruit breeders say will help them naturally breed new varieties with increased health properties and exciting colours and flavours.

Researchers at New Zealand-based fruit science company HortResearch and listed New Zealand biotech company Genesis Research and Development Corporation Limited announced today that they would complete the public release of the world's most extensive collection of kiwifruit DNA sequences.

"Smart" contact lenses that measure pressure within the eye and dispense medication accordingly could be made possible using a new material developed by biomedical engineers at UC Davis.

Tingrui Pan, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and postdoctoral researcher Hailin Cong started with a material called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). They developed a method for placing powdered silver on the PDMS in a precise pattern, to create conductive wires. The silver also has antimicrobial properties.

A parasitic plant that sucks water and nutrients from its plant host also taps into its communications traffic, a new report finds. The research could lead to new ways to combat parasites that attack crop plants.

Professor Neelima Sinha and colleagues at the UC Davis Section of Plant Biology studied dodder vines growing on tomato plants in the lab. They found that RNA molecules from the host could be found in the dodder up to a foot (30 cm) from the point where the parasite had plumbed itself into the host.

An important advance in understanding how the electrons in some materials become superconducting has been made by researchers from UC Davis, the Los Alamos National Laboratory and UC Irvine. The work, published July 31 in the journal Nature, could lead to a deeper understanding of superconductivity and to new materials that are superconducting at higher temperatures.

PHILADELPHIA –- Physicists at the University of Pennsylvania have characterized an aspect of graphene film behavior by measuring the way it conducts electricity on a substrate. This milestone advances the potential application of graphene, the ultra-thin, single-atom thick carbon sheets that conduct electricity faster and more efficiently than silicon, the current material of choice for transistor fabrication.

PASADENA, Calif.--Organisms ranging from humans to plants to the lowliest bacterium use molecules to communicate. Some chemicals trigger the various stages of an organism's development, and still others are used to attract members of the opposite sex. Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have now found a rare kind of signaling molecule in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans that serves a dual purpose, working as both a population-control mechanism and a sexual attractant.

Lovastatin, a drug used to lower cholesterol and help prevent cardiovascular disease, has been shown to improve bone healing in an animal model of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). The research, reported today in the open access journal BMC Medicine, will be of great interest to NF1 patients and their physicians.

Among patients receiving dialysis for chronic kidney disease (CKD), high levels of alkaline phosphatase—a routinely measured laboratory marker of bone disease—may signal an increased risk of death, reports a study in the November Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

PORTLAND, Ore. – A strain of mice with the natural ability to repair damaged cartilage may one day lead to significant improvements in treatment of human knee, shoulder and hip injuries.

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered males from a strain of mice called MRL/MpJ have the innate ability to repair their own knee cartilage. "We think there is something special about these mice," said Jamie Fitzgerald, Ph.D., assistant professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation in the OHSU School of Medicine. "They have the ability to regenerate cartilage."

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Women who experience migraine with aura appear to be at an increased risk of heart disease and stroke if they have a certain gene, according to a study published in the July 30, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Hundreds of insect species spend much of their time underwater, where food may be more plentiful. MIT mathematicians have now figured out exactly how those insects breathe underwater.

By virtue of their rough, water-repellent coat, when submerged these insects trap a thin layer of air on their bodies. These bubbles not only serve as a finite oxygen store, but also allow the insects to absorb oxygen from the surrounding water.

As 600,000 visitors and athletes gear up to travel to China for the 2008 Olympic Games, travelers should be most concerned about respiratory illnesses and dog bites, according to report by an Emory University travelers' health expert, her colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and around the globe.

Rosemont, Ill – July 30, 2008 – A recent study published in the journal Bone found that higher intakes of calcium, such as those recommended by the USDA, may significantly improve bone health in children.