TreatCancer

An anti-cancer compound studied for treating blood cancers may also help in treating cancers of the head and neck, say researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The study involved a new class of chemotherapy agents known as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, which affect the availability of genes that are transcribed and translated into proteins. In many types of cancer, outof-control cell growth results from certain genes that are either too active or not active enough in producing proteins. HDAC inhibitors appear to combat cancer by restoring the normal expression of key regulatory genes that control cell growth and survival. The researchers focused on a particular HDAC inhibitor known as LBH589 that has already shown some success in clinical trials involving people with cancers of the blood.

Bad Breath

Bad breath is unpleasant and can be a major cause for embarrassment. And when it comes to dating, a majority of women admit that it’s their biggest worry, a new survey has revealed. The survey says eight out of 10 women in UK consider bad breath as a headache before a romantic encounter with a bloke. They found that 78% of women were more likely to fret about their teeth and breath before worrying what their partner thought about their clothes or appearance

Night Visiom

The night vision abilities of nocturnal animals such as mice is down to the unconventional way that DNA is packaged within the nuclei of specialised cells responsible for low-light vision, say Cambridge University researchers. The research shows that a special DNA architecture turns the rod cell nuclei into millions of tiny, light-collecting lenses. These lenses are stacked in columns which improve light transmission through the nocturnal retina and maintain vision, even at very dim light conditions.

X chromosome

Researchers have found nine new genes on the X-chromosome that, when knocked out, lead to learning disabilities. An international team of researchers, from more than 70 countries, studied almost all X chromosome genes in 208 families with learning disabilities and found approximately 1-2% of X chromosome genes, when knocked out, have no apparent effect on an individual’s ability to function in the ordinary world. Learning disability is significantly more common in males than in females and genetic causes have long been sought on the X chromosome: males have only one X chromosome and so a gene mutation on the X is more likely to have an effect in males than in females.

Jurassic Biggies

The Jurassic version of jumbo jets — huge flying creatures weighing hundreds of pounds is a mystery of dinosaur-era flight: How did something so big get off the ground? What people think of as flying dinosaurs but are technically giant reptiles didn't launch into the air like birds they leap into the air off all four legs, informed as from the university’s Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution. Only vampire bats do something like that. The flying creatures are called pterosaurs. They were a group of flying reptiles that could weigh more than 500 pounds and have bus-sized wingspans. Last year, researchers tried to figure out how they got off the ground by looking at the largest bird now flying, the albatross. They concluded that anything much bigger couldn't get off the ground the same way.

In birds, the hind legs were stronger than the front and in pterosaurs the front legs were several times stronger than the hind ones. It’s a lot like a leap frog; they kind of pitch forward at first, the legs kick off first, and then the arms take off. That allowed some of the giants to get into the air in less than a second. It is calculated that the 550-pound pterosaur, Hatzegopteryx thambema, launched at a speed of 42 miles per hour.

The Brain Power

A research in France has invented that when patients have both hands transplanted, their brains reestablished connections much more quickly with the left hand than the right. The report was written with just two patients, but both had been right-handed before losing their hands, and both followed a pattern of reconnection with their brain that was quicker for the left hand.

The study at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Lyon shows that even years after the loss of hands the brain can reorganize and rewire itself to recognize and connect to a replacement. More study is needed to determine why the brain reconnected more efficiently to the left hand in these patients.

India’s Probe In Moon

India has become the fourth country to enter the exclusive moon club. Chandrayaan the first unmanned satellite of India has been launched. During the flight the satellite’s video camera took pictures of the moon, the spectrometer began its analysis and the altitude meter did what is known as ranging. While approaching the moon, it slowed down slightly, and then spun. While spinning, its three instruments went into action.

When it was five km above the moon’s surface, the altimeter did the ranging of the moon. It would be worthwhile if there was a landing which would make India’s presence felt on the moon’s surface. It is believed that if this was done, India could always stake a claim to a portion of the moon. The MIP first transmitted its signal on its successful landing to the main orbiting craft, which in turn relayed it to Istrac. The whole process took less than 1.3 seconds. The Indian national flag is planted near the Shackleton crater.

Science At Its Best

Recent satellite observations have revealed the largest breach yet seen in the magnetic field that protects Earth from most of the Sun’s violent blasts, researchers reported. The discovery, made last summer by Themis — a fleet of five small NASA satellites, was reported by the experts on Tuesday. Scientists have long known that the Earth’s magnetic field, which guards against severe space weather, is similar to a drafty old house that sometimes lets in violent eruptions of charged particles from the Sun.

Such a breach can cause brilliant auroras or disrupt satellite and ground communications. Last summer, Themis calculated a layer of solar particles to be at least 4,000 miles thick in the outermost part of the Earth’s magnetosphere, the largest tear of the protective shield found so far. The Themis results could have bearing on how scientists predict the severity of solar storms and their effects on power grids, airline and military communications and satellite signals.

Discovery To The Core

Scientists have discovered more than 1,000 species in Southeast Asia’s Greater Mekong region in the past decade, including a spider as big as a dinner plate, the World Wildlife Fund said on Monday. A rat thought to have become extinct 11 million years ago and a cyanide-laced, shocking pink millipede were among creatures found in what the group called a biological treasure trove.

The species were all found in the rain forests and wetlands along the Mekong River, which flows through Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan. Discoveries of this scale were confined to the history books.These included the world’s largest huntsman spider, with a leg span of 30cm, and the startlingly coloured dragon millipede, which produces the deadly compound cyanide.

Dark Energy Stunts

The same mystery force that is speeding up the expansion of the universe is also stunting the growth of the objects inside it. After bulking up rapidly in the first 10 billion years of cosmic time, clusters of galaxies, the cloud like swarms that are the largest conglomerations of matter in the universe, have grown anemically or not at all during the last five billion years, like sullen teenagers who suddenly refuse to eat.

This result could be explained as arrested development of the universe. This stifling of growth is the unmistakable signature of an anti-gravitational force that astronomers have labeled dark energy. It was discovered 10 years ago by astronomers who were using exploding stars called supernovas as distance markers to chart the expansion of the universe. They found that instead of slowing down because of cosmic gravity, as common sense would suggest, the expansion of the universe was actually speeding up, with galaxies zooming apart faster and faster.

New Compound

A new type of imaging compound can light up spreading cancer cells and may offer a way to track the deadly spread of the disease, Japanese and US researchers reported. They used the new compound to monitor the spread of breast and ovarian cancer cells in living mice, using a tiny camera known as an endoscope.

These compounds may allow clinicians to monitor a patient’s response to cancer therapy by allowing them to visualize whether a drug hits its target and whether hitting the target leads to shrinkage of the tumor. The researchers made their imaging compound by linking a fluorescent compound to Herceptin, itself a genetically engineered antibody that homes in on cells with mutated estimated glomerular filtration rate.