Researchers from Imperial College in London, England, isolated the receptor in the lungs that triggers the immune overreaction to flu. With the receptor identified, a therapy can be developed that will bind to the receptor, preventing the deadly immune response. Also, by targeting a receptor in humans rather than a particular strain of flu, therapies …
An ambitious plan to sequence 100 genes in 1,000 healthy old people could shed light on genetic variations that insulate some people from the ailments of aging, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, allowing them to live a healthy life into their eighties and beyond. Rather than focusing on genetic variations that increase risk for …
The microbial energy solution for biofuels and solar power The Biodesign team, in their Nature Review Microbiology perspective article, outlines the prospects for bioenergy. They believe the future of microbial bioenergy is brightened by recent advancements in genome technologies and other molecular-biology techniques. One species of bacteria, the human gut bacterium E. coli, has become …
The big news out of Iraq is that Lara Logan, the chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News, tells The Washington Post she is pregnant, and the father is a married federal contractor whom she met while stationed in Iraq. H/T instapundit The one thing that I would note is that the comment thread is …
The blood test requires a 10 milliliter blood sample — just two teaspoons. It takes about eight hours to send the blood across the 80,000 tiny columns so a specially designed antibody glue can latch onto passing cancer cells. It was used to detect cancer in 27 people and helped to track the progress of …
Self assembly of the nanostructure of platinum has been performed on a bulk scale. They used the new method to create a platinum structure with uniform hexagonal pores on the order of 10 nm across (a nanometer is the width of three silicon atoms). Platinum is, so far, the best available catalyst for fuel cells, …
Following up on Iraq Oil status Oil production and output holding steady at higher levels that started in May. Iraq will produce up to 2.9 million bpd by the end of 2008, Hussein al-Shahristani Iraqi Oil Minister 2.9 million bpd would be an increase of about 400,000 bpd from levels at the end of May, …
The first new oil refinery in the United States in thirty years is one step closer. Union County residents voted 58 percent to 42 percent Tuesday to endorse the rezoning of almost 3,300 acres of pristine farm land north of Elk Point for the oil refinery. Texas-based Hyperion Resources requested the rezoning for the $10 …
Nantero partnered with SVTC Technologies to offer the first eight-inch nanotube thin-film development foundry. SVTC uses Nantero’s process to prototype commercial CMOS carbon nanotube designs for fabless chip houses. Nantero has developed a “CMOS-friendly” proprietary CNT process that it will install at SVTC’s two state-of-the-art development fabs, in San Jose, Calif., and Austin, Texas. Together, …
February’s sale of oil and natural gas drilling rights in Saskatchewan have smashed the record for single-sale revenues, bringing in a whopping $197 million in bonus bids, more than double the previous record of $85 milllion set in 1994. The overall Bakken oil play is across North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Manitoba and Saskatchwan. It …
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have begun to develop the hardware for deploying a 1 gigawatt space based solar power system by 2030. These we will small lab tests. JAXA, which plans to have a Space Solar Power System (SSPS) up and running by 2030, envisions a system consisting of giant solar collectors in geostationary …