Science

Looking To Nature For Antibiotic Inspirations

1:03pm April 12, 2013

Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacterial cells, employ an arsenal of chemical weapons. Microbiologist Vincent Fischetti of Rockefeller University describes using tricks learned from the phage in developing new antibiotics that may be effective even where others fail.

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Red Meat's Heart Risk Goes Beyond The Fat

1:03pm April 12, 2013

Reporting in Nature Medicine, researchers write that a chemical in red meat, L-carnitine, may up the risk of heart disease in people and mice--but only in frequent red-meat eaters. Study author Stanley Hazen of the Cleveland Clinic explains how diet changes the gut's bacterial flora, and how that can affect heart health.

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Thick jets of processed sewage arc out 30 to 40 feet from giant moving spreaders at Birmingham Farm in Kansas City, Mo.

Cities Turn Sewage Into 'Black Gold' For Local Farms

12:07pm April 12, 2013

by Frank Morris

Cities are finding beneficial and lucrative ways to dispose of solid waste, while also helping farmers. But a lot of sewage still ends up in landfills or being processed at big, industrial incinerators.

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Several fragments of this unusual rock were discovered last year in Morocco. It's been hailed as the first meteorite from the planet Mercury, but where it came from in the solar system isn't certain.

Science

Origin Of 'Mercury' Meteorite Still Puzzles Scientists

8:18am April 12, 2013

by Geoff Brumfiel

The rock found in Morocco was even weirder than it looked. The olive green chunk, speckled with white and brown, has chemical and physical properties similar to the planet Mercury. But some experts doubt that the 4.56-billion-year-old meteorite is from the planet closest to our sun.

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A technique for imaging the brain allowed researchers to distinguish between physical and emotional pain.

How Much Does It Hurt? Let's Scan Your Brain

3:16pm April 11, 2013

by Rob Stein

Researchers say they can measure how much pain someone is experiencing and even watch as prescription painkillers relieve it. The scanning technique could help doctors treat pain better, but the work is also fraught with questions about how the technology could interfere with the relationship between doctors and patients.

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Scientists hope a new genetically modified rat will help them find Alzheimer's drugs that work on humans.

Genetically Modified Rat Is Promising Model For Alzheimer's

7:34pm April 09, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

Drug companies have developed several Alzheimer's drugs that seemed to work in mice but did not help people with the disease. So scientists inserted human genes into rats in hopes of getting a better model for testing the drugs.

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More and more starving sea lions are being found stranded on California shores, and animal rehabilitation centers are at their maximum capacity. Experts say there are fewer fish for these mammals to feed on, but they don't know why.

Science

Starving Baby Sea Lions Flood Southern California Shores

9:14am April 09, 2013

by Gloria Hillard

More than 1,000 sick and dying sea lion pups have been found stranded since the beginning of the year, from Santa Barbara to San Diego. As scientists try to figure out why, one animal rescue worker says that in nearly three decades on the job, he's never seen anything like it.

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Spring Blooms, And So Do The Creepy Crawlies

7:49am April 09, 2013

Springtime means bug time. Michael Raupp, professor of entomology at the University of Maryland, has the story of a big brood of cicadas that is set to emerge up and down the East Coast. We can also expect the largest infestation of stink bugs this year. USDA entomologist Tracy Leskey talks about the bugs with guest host Jacki Lyden.

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A colored 3-D MRI scan of the brain's white matter pathways traces connections between cells in the cerebrum and the brainstem.

Obama's Plan To Explore The Brain: A 'Most Audacious' Project

2:35pm April 08, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

The White House is asking Congress for $100 million to develop new tools for "eavesdropping" on millions of cellular conversations, as individual neurons interact to form thoughts or create memories. The goal is more ambitious than the Human Genome Project, researchers say.

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If you know some mice that took This Is Spinal Tap too literally, they might want to know about an experiment to restore hearing with a failed Alzheimer's drug.

Alzheimer's Drug Dials Back Deafness In Mice

8:34am April 08, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

An experimental drug developed to fight Alzheimer's disease partially reversed hearing loss caused by exposure to extremely loud sounds, researchers say. The results apply only to mice, but scientists are encouraged by the fact that the medicine caused new hair cells to grow in the animals' inner ears.

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