Posted: December 9th, 2011 | Author: M.Aaron Silverman | Filed under: mcsixtyfive | Tags: Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease Laboratory, Alzheimer's Disease, Alzheimer's Vaccine, Associate Professor Lars Ittner, Cankler Science News, MAPT, Microtubule Associated Protein Tau, Science News, Sydney University, Tau Proteins | Comments Off
Researchers have had success with a vaccine that could ultimately slow down advanced Alzheimer’s disease in humans. The team from Sydney University have published – PLoS ONE – details of a study which shows the vaccine slows one type of dementia by stopping neuro-fibre tangling. Associate Professor Lars Ittner from Sydney University – Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease Laboratory says the study was conducted on mice that were already developing the condition. Ittner said it was the first time researchers had proved a vaccine that targeted the tau protien in mice that had already developed the disease. Ittner says that their approach was different, until now most research has targeted the tau protiens in younger animals, prior to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. ”What we attempted to do was to work with older mice with a lot of damage. Because in people, by the time they realise their symptoms are Alzheimer’s disease, a lot of damage has already been done.” said Ittner. The researchers say their novel approach worked, producing some of the most improved results so far recorded in mice with advanced dementia. M★S READ MORE
Posted: December 6th, 2011 | Author: Michael Courtenay | Filed under: mcsixtyfive | Tags: Applied Science, astronomy, Cankler, Kepler, Kepler 22b, Kepler Mission, NASA, Science News, SETI | Comments Off
Astronomers with NASA’s Kepler mission have confirmed the existence of an Earth-like planet in a “habitable zone” around a star not unlike our own. The planet, Kepler 22-b, lies about 600 light years away, about two-and-a-half times the size of Earth, with a temperature of about 22 degrees Celsius, allowing liquid water to exist on the surface. Its year is about 290 days long. This is the first time the Kepler mission has detected a potentially habitable world orbiting a Sun-like star, scientists reported in findings to be published in The Astrophysical Journal. Scientists admit they do not yet know if Kepler 22-b is made mostly of rock, gas or liquid. M★C READ MORE
Posted: November 25th, 2011 | Author: M.Aaron Silverman | Filed under: mcsixtyfive | Tags: Climate Change, CO2, Engineered Life, Global Warming, Last Glacial Maximum, Macquarie University, Oregon State University, Science, Science News, Science of Green | Comments Off
High levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may have less of an impact on the rate of global warming than previously feared, a new study suggests. Associate Professor Schmittner notes that many previous studies only looked at periods spanning from 1850 to today, thus not taking into account a fully integrated palaeoclimate data on a global scale. The authors of the study stress that global warming is real and that increases in atmospheric CO2, which has doubled from pre-industrial standards, will have multiple serious impacts. But more severe estimates that predict temperatures could rise up to an average of 10 degrees Celsius are unlikely, the researchers report in the journal Science. The new study suggests temperatures will rise on average 2.3 degrees under the same conditions. Scientists have long struggled to quantify climate sensitivity, or how the Earth will respond to projected increases in carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas M★S READ MORE
Posted: November 25th, 2011 | Author: M.Aaron Silverman | Filed under: mcsixtyfive | Tags: Climate Change, CO2, Engineered Life, Global Warming, Last Glacial Maximum, Macquarie University, Oregon State University, Science, Science News, Science of Green | Comments Off
High levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may have less of an impact on the rate of global warming than previously feared, a new study suggests. Associate Professor Schmittner notes that many previous studies only looked at periods spanning from 1850 to today, thus not taking into account a fully integrated palaeoclimate data on a global scale. The authors of the study stress that global warming is real and that increases in atmospheric CO2, which has doubled from pre-industrial standards, will have multiple serious impacts. But more severe estimates that predict temperatures could rise up to an average of 10 degrees Celsius are unlikely, the researchers report in the journal Science. The new study suggests temperatures will rise on average 2.3 degrees under the same conditions. Scientists have long struggled to quantify climate sensitivity, or how the Earth will respond to projected increases in carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas M★S READ MORE
Posted: November 23rd, 2011 | Author: M.Aaron Silverman | Filed under: mcsixtyfive | Tags: Favorite New Thought, International Space Station, ISS, Mike Fossum, NASA, Russian Soyuz Capsule, Satoshi Furukawa, Science News, Sergei Volkov, Solar Stars, Video, YouTube | Comments Off
Three astronauts have landed safely in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule after a stay of over five months aboard the International Space Station. American Mike Fossum, Japan’s Satoshi Furukawa and Russia’s Sergei Volkov touched down outside the remote settlement of Arkalyk just before sunrise on Tuesday after undocking from the ISS earlier in the day. It was during their stay on the ISS that a Russian unmanned Progress supply ship carrying supplies for the station crashed into Siberia in August, forcing a rethink of the timetable for manned spaceflight. The three astronauts had spent 167 days in space – slightly more than the 161-day mission envisaged as the return was delayed by almost a week due to the Progress mishap. Russian State television pictures showed the astronauts extracted from the capsule apparently in good health.The Soyuz capsule landed on its side rather than its bottom after its descent to Earth with a parachute, mission control said, but such a landing was not unusual M★S READ MORE + CHECK THE VIDEO
Posted: November 23rd, 2011 | Author: M.Aaron Silverman | Filed under: mcsixtyfive | Tags: Favorite New Thought, International Space Station, ISS, Mike Fossum, NASA, Russian Soyuz Capsule, Satoshi Furukawa, Science News, Sergei Volkov, Solar Stars, Video, YouTube | Comments Off
Three astronauts have landed safely in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule after a stay of over five months aboard the International Space Station. American Mike Fossum, Japan’s Satoshi Furukawa and Russia’s Sergei Volkov touched down outside the remote settlement of Arkalyk just before sunrise on Tuesday after undocking from the ISS earlier in the day. It was during their stay on the ISS that a Russian unmanned Progress supply ship carrying supplies for the station crashed into Siberia in August, forcing a rethink of the timetable for manned spaceflight. The three astronauts had spent 167 days in space – slightly more than the 161-day mission envisaged as the return was delayed by almost a week due to the Progress mishap. Russian State television pictures showed the astronauts extracted from the capsule apparently in good health.The Soyuz capsule landed on its side rather than its bottom after its descent to Earth with a parachute, mission control said, but such a landing was not unusual M★S READ MORE + CHECK THE VIDEO
