Scientists have identified a new species of gigantic theropod dinosaur, a close relative of T. rex, from fossil skull and jaw bones discovered in China.
According to findings published online (01 April 2011) in the scientific journal Cretaceous Research, the newly named dinosaur species "Zhuchengtyrannus magnus" probably measured about 11 metres long, stood about 4 metres tall, and weighed close to 6 tonnes.
Screening does not significantly reduce prostate cancer deaths, but the risk of overdetection and overtreatment is considerable, concludes a 20-year study published on bmj.com today.
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men worldwide. Screening is widely used in many countries, but remains controversial because experts can't agree whether the benefits outweigh the potential harms and costs of overdiagnosis and overtreatment of healthy men.
BOSTON--A section of the AIDS virus's protein envelope once considered an improbable target for a vaccine now appears to be one of the most promising, new research by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists indicates.
A specific genetic defect in one Chinese family shows that high blood pressure was inherited from the female parent, researchers report in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Middle-aged adults with diabetes are much more likely to develop age-related conditions than their counterparts who don't have diabetes, according to a new study by the University of Michigan Health System and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.
Adults between 51 and 70 with diabetes developed age-related ailments like cognitive impairment, incontinence, falls, dizziness, vision impairment and pain at a faster rate than those without diabetes, the study found. Results were published in the March issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
BOSTON—A report from the nation's leading cancer organizations shows rates of death in the United States from all cancers for men and women continued to decline between 2003 and 2007. The findings come from the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer.
Hamilton, ON (March 31, 2011) - Good-bye itching, watering eyes and sneezing. McMaster University researchers have developed a vaccine which successfully treats people with an allergy to cats.
Traditionally, frequent allergy shots have been considered the most effective way to bring relief – other than getting rid of the family pet -- for the eight to 10% of the population allergic to cats.
Optical microscopes offer limited resolution, while the more powerful electron microscopes require freezing samples before they can be magnified. But by using neutron diffraction, which does not require frozen subjects, the team not only observed the membrane more closely and in motion, but they also gained insight into the long-known phenomenon of the membrane growing thicker and stiffer in the presence of cholesterol.
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have for the first time used an apparatus that relies on the "noise" of jiggling electrons to make highly accurate measurements of the Boltzmann constant, an important value for many scientific calculations. The technique is simpler and more compact than other methods for measuring the constant and could advance international efforts to revamp the world's scientific measurement system.
Trace-explosives detectors (TEDs) are an increasingly common sight at airports and on loading docks, and emergency response personnel carry them to evaluate suspicious packages. A new test material developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in cooperation with ASTM International enables users of these products to evaluate their performance and reliability.
PITTSBURGH—Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Stanford University discovered that a supposedly inactive protein actually plays a crucial role in the ability of one the world's most prolific pathogens to cause disease, findings that suggest the possible role of similarly errant proteins in other diseases.
Populations of Fraser River sockeye salmon are so fine-tuned to their environment that any further environmental changes caused by climate change could lead to the disappearance of some populations, while others may be less affected, says a new study by University of British Columbia scientists.
Bats in North America are under a two-pronged attack but they are not the only victim – so is the U.S. economy. Gary McCracken, head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, analyzed the economic impact of the loss of bats in North America in agriculture and found it to be in the $3.7 to $53 billion a year range.
Conservationists may need to change their approach to protecting animals and plants from extinction if they are to successfully shield key species and habitats from the effects of global climate change, according to a new review in the journal Science.
Scientists and conservation organisations currently work out a species' extinction risk by determining how likely it is that climate change will make its habitat unsuitable. They then focus their efforts on protecting species whose location is threatened by changing temperature and rainfall.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Scientists from the United States and China have discovered the first intact fossil of a mature eudicot, a type of flowering plant whose membership includes buttercups, apple trees, maple trees, dandelions and proteas. The 125 million-year-old find, described in this week's Nature, reveals a remarkably developed species, leading the scientists to argue for an earlier origin of the eudicots -- and perhaps flowering plants in general.