Tech

Crystal meth (methamphetamine) is a highly addictive drug that seduces victims by increasing self-esteem and sexual pleasure, and inducing euphoria. But once hooked, addicts find the habit hard to break. Barbara Sorg from Washington State University, USA, explains that amphetamines enhance memory. 'In addiction we talk about the "drug memory" as a "pathological memory". It is so potent as to not be easily forgotten,' she explains.

The first head to head study of the two H1N1 vaccines used in the UK during the recent pandemic finds that the adjuvanted split virus vaccine induced higher immune response rates in young children, but was associated with more reactions than the whole virus vaccine.

These data provide important information to guide immunisation policy in an influenza pandemic, say the researchers.

Many disease-causing microbes carry pumps that expel antibiotics, making the bugs hard to kill with standard drugs.

Ironically, these same pumps could be the bugs' Achilles heel.

University of California, Berkeley, scientists have found that the molecular pumps in Listeria bacteria, and perhaps in other pathogens, also expel small signaling molecules that stimulate a strong immune response in the cells they infect. A robust immune response, involving mobilization of killer cells and a host of other defenses, is needed to kill bad microbes before they can do damage

Students driving an electric supercar will tonight try to be the first to drive an all-electric vehicle around the M25 twice on one battery charge, in the lead up to the team's attempt to cross the Americas in July this year and break a world record.

The Racing Green Endurance (RGE) team, from Imperial College London, aim to drive two laps around the M25 in their specially modified electric Radical SRZERO supercar. This would break the current record held by a team in a Tesla electric car, which did one lap around the M25 on one battery charge.

CHICAGO –In 1989 a 29-year-old Michael Schrader had it all: steady job, a wife, and two wonderful children—daughter Courtney and son Cameron. He couldn't envision wanting more—that is, more children. Taking steps to keep his nuclear family intact, he underwent vasectomy— a procedure so routine he was back on the golf course the next afternoon. Divorce later frayed this family portrait, but in the years that followed Schrader would ultimately revisit the issue of having children with his soon to be second wife Liz.

Demonstrating that chemistry sometimes can inform history, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Colorado College and Mount Saint Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Md., have shown that sensitive nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques can be used to determine the elemental composition of ancient coins, even coins that generally have been considered too corroded for such methods*.

GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA engineers have begun building hardware for a new Landsat satellite instrument that helps monitor water consumption — an important capability in the U.S. West where precipitation is sparse and water rights are allocated — now that they have passed an independent review of the instrument's design and integration and testing methods.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have made an important fundamental advance in robotics, in work that should lead toward robots that not only can walk and run effectively, but use little energy in the process.

CORAL GABLES, FL (May 26, 2010)--A team of researchers at the University of Miami (UM) has developed a computer model for finding and projecting in time sunken oil masses on the bottom of bays, after an oil spill. The unique model can be used in oil spill planning, response, and recovery applications.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. — Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a new, more accurate method of calculating the change in greenhouse gas emissions that results from changes in land use.

The new approach, described in the journal Global Change Biology, takes into account many factors not included in previous methods, the researchers report.

CHICAGO -- Aggressive treatment of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma has dramatically increased survival in the small group of patients who chose to undergo it, say physicians at Mayo Clinic. Their findings will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, to be held June 4-8 in Chicago.

'This is sad news considering Denmark has always been praised as the benchmark in Europe in terms of access and availability of treatment for patients seeking ART' said Dr. Søren Ziebe from the University Hospital in Copenhagen, Executive Committee Member of ESHRE and the SIG coordinator of all SIGs at ESHRE.

Denmark until now provided reimbursement for assisted reproduction treatments (ART) with up to three treatment trials for married and unmarried couples, singles and homosexuals.

The first new projections of future aircraft emissions in 10 years predicts that carbon dioxide and other gases from air traffic will become a significant source of global warming as they double or triple by 2050. The study is in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.