Tech

URBANA – A University of Illinois study has demonstrated that agronomic practices can greatly increase the cancer-preventive phytochemicals in broccoli and tomatoes.

"We enriched preharvest broccoli with different bioactive components, then assessed the levels of cancer-fighting enzymes in rats that ate powders made from these crops," said Elizabeth Jeffery, a U of I professor of food science and human nutrition.

As athletes strive for perfection, sports scientists need to exploit every technological advance to help them achieve that goal. Researchers in New Zealand have now developed a new type of wearable impact sensor based that can provide much needed information about the stresses and strains on limbs for rugby players, high jumpers, and runners.

If you thought that the quality of the child care your toddler got wouldn't matter when he or she was a teenager, think again. A new longitudinal study of more than 1,300 children has found that it does matter, more than a decade after the children have transitioned from child care to elementary school.

The study, the first to document long-term effects of routine, nonrelative care in a large sample of children from economically diverse families, extends the findings of previous research on the topic.

Teens who were in high-quality child care settings as young children scored slightly higher on measures of academic and cognitive achievement and were slightly less likely to report acting-out behaviors than peers who were in lower-quality child care arrangements during their early years, according to the latest analysis of a long-running study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Houston, Texas – May 14, 2010 – Scientists studying the environmental impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans have revealed the ecological impact and human health risks from exposure to chemical contaminants. The findings, published in a special issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, demonstrate how Hurricane Katrina caused significant ecological damage by altering coastal chemistry and habitat.

Researchers at Durham University have drawn up new maps to show the competing claims of Argentina and the UK for resources in the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans.

The publication of the maps follows the discovery of oil south of the Falkland Islands by a British company, Rockhopper Exploration, and a series of historical arguments about sovereignty and the rights to resources in the South Atlantic.

DURHAM, N.C. -- By using medications packaged just like fast-food ketchup, HIV-positive mothers in developing countries can more easily provide protection to newborn babies born at home.

Although tobacco use is widely understood to be one of the leading causes of oral cancer, research on the prevention of tobacco-related oral cancer in experimental animals has traditionally been limited to examining the impact of synthetic carcinogens manufactured especially for cancer research, rather than on observing the effects of carcinogens that occur in tobacco smoke.

Athens, Ga. – Using nanotechnology and a patented signal enhancing technique developed at the University of Georgia, UGA researchers have discovered a rapid, sensitive and cost-effective method to detect and identify a number of rotavirus strains and genotypes in less than one minute with greater than 96 percent accuracy.

After ten years of effort, researchers reporting in the May 14th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, say they have found a way to coax embryonic stem cells as well as reprogrammed adult cells to develop into sensory cells that normally reside in the mammalian inner ear. Those mechanosensitive sensory hair cells are the linchpin of hearing and balance.

STANFORD, Calif. — Deep inside the ear, specialized cells called hair cells detect vibrations in the air and translate them into sound. Ten years ago, Stefan Heller, PhD, professor of otolaryngology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, came up with the idea that if you could create these cells in the laboratory from stem cells, it would go a long way toward helping scientists understand the molecular basis of hearing in order to develop better treatments for deafness.

Researchers from Columbia University, Arizona State University, the University of Michigan and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created and programmed robots the size of single molecule that can move independently across a nano-scale track. This development, outlined in the May 13 edition of the journal Nature, marks an important advancement in the nascent fields of molecular computing and robotics, and could someday lead to molecular robots that can fix individual cells or assemble nanotechnology products.

While the U.S. and other world leaders consider options for offsetting carbon emissions, it is important to take into account the role forests play in the global carbon cycle, say scientists in a paper published in the spring edition of Issues in Ecology. Currently, the carbon stored in forests and harvested wood products offsets 12-19 percent of U.S. fossil fuel emissions—growth primarily the result of recovery from the large scale harvesting that occurred around 100 years ago.

The very latest laser technology combined with old fashioned pedal power is being used to provide a unique insight into the layout of Nottingham's sandstone caves — where the city's renowned medieval ale was brewed and, where legend has it, the country's most famous outlaw Robin Hood was imprisoned.

The Nottingham Caves Survey, being carried out by archaeologists from Trent & Peak Archaeology at The University of Nottingham, has already produced extraordinary, three dimensional, fly through, colour animation of caves that have been hidden from view for centuries.