The search for life on other planets could soon extend to solar systems that are very different from our own, according to a new study by an Ohio State University astronomer and his colleagues.

In fact, finding a terrestrial planet in such a solar system would offer unique scientific opportunities to test evolution, said Andrew Gould, professor of astronomy here. In a recent issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters, he and his coauthors calculated that NASA’s upcoming Space Interferome

A bold paper which has highly impressed some of the world´s top physicists and been published in the August issue of Foundations of Physics Letters, seems set to change the way we think about the nature of time and its relationship to motion and classical and quantum mechanics. Much to the science world´s astonishment, the work also appears to provide solutions to Zeno of Elea´s famous motion paradoxes, almost 2500 years after they were originally conceived by the ancient Greek philosopher. In doi

New Evidence That Inflammation For Cystic Fibrosis May Be Present Before Patients Show Respiratory Manifestations.

A new study also provides additional evidence that the persistent and excessive inflammation in the lungs of CF patients involves a failure of the mechanisms that control the inflammatory response.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is one of the most frequent lethal chromosomal hereditary disorders in Caucasian populations and occurs in approximately one in every 3,500 birt

A new study offers direction for those examining the illnesses of those working or living near large electrical facilities.

Exposure to light has been proven to inhibit the normal secretion of melatonin from the light-sensitive pineal gland. But light is only one part of the electromagnetic spectrum, occupying a wavelength between 730 and 400 nm. Because light is the only visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, other wavelengths may also inhibit melatonin secretion, includ

ESF wishes to introduce this Syllabus to help create a culture of scientifically knowledgeable physicians: physicians who, in view of the EU Clinical Trial Directive, would be able to critically evaluate study proposals, to conduct studies according to Good Clinical Practice (GCP), and to conclude and report valid data as rapid and safe as possible. The way to achieve this is through education and training, and ESF is now setting the scientific aim for this.

With the new countries entering t

Healthy older people living with a partner feel they have the highest quality of life, whilst those in residential homes are likely to report the poorest, according to new research funded by the Economic & Social Research Council as part of its Growing Older Programme.

A three-year-long study of residents aged between 65 and 98 in the London Borough of Wandsworth was carried out by a team led by Professor Graham Beaumont and Dr Pamela Kenealy of the University of Surrey Roehampton and the R

Wearing your necktie tight might look smart, but it could increase the risk of developing the serious eye disease glaucoma, reveals a study in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

The researchers tested the internal blood pressure (intraocular pressure) of one eye in each of 20 healthy men and 20 male patients with glaucoma. They did this when participants wore an open shirt collar, three minutes after donning a tight necktie, and three minutes after loosening their ties. The healthy

People with heart failure and normal cholesterol may benefit from cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins, researchers report in today’s rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

“This is the first prospective study to show that statins have beneficial effects in heart failure in the absence of coronary artery disease or high blood cholesterol,” says senior author James K. Liao, M.D., director of vascular medicine research at Brigham & Women&

There are likely to have been over 92,500 fewer cancer deaths than expected in the European Union in the year 2000, according to research published today[1] (Tuesday 29 July) in Annals of Oncology – and at least part of the credit will be due to the Europe Against Cancer Programme.

Experts had calculated that EU cancer deaths would rise from just over 850,000 in 1985 to over 1.03 million in 2000 due to demographic reasons, but the new research shows that when final statistics are ava

Scientists at Harvard Medical School have cleared up some of the mystery surrounding a key structure in the developing brain that helps form the visual circuits. Their findings, which appear in the July 25 issue of Science, could provide new insight into early brain defects that are linked to conditions like cerebral palsy and learning disabilities.

During development, nerve cells in the eye send messages to the thalamus, a region located deep within the brain. The thalamus then passe

A new study by gene therapy scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may lead to an effective long-term treatment for preventing seizures associated with a common form of epilepsy. The study appears this week in the Internet edition of the journal Nature Medicine and will appear in the Aug. 1 print edition of the journal. The research provides an important foundation for the development of new gene therapies to treat focal seizure disorders, the authors said.

As the name

A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has found genetic differences in a sampling of a species of hot spring-loving microbes from around the world.

The findings, published by the journal Science, at the Science Express website, challenges the prevailing theory of microbial biodiversity.

It is well accepted in evolutionary science that species of animals and plants are more closely related when they are geographically near each other. When

As an eyewitness sits on the stand in a courtroom recalling details of an incident, how much of what he or she remembers actually happened?

False memories are a common occurrence in the courtroom and in everyday life, and have long been considered by psychologists as a side effect of efforts to boost memory. New research from Tufts University has answered the question of how to increase memory, without also increasing corresponding false memories.

“The better we understand

The bereaved family and friends of cancer patients who die by euthanasia have less grief symptoms and post-traumatic stress reactions than the bereaved of comparable cancer patients who die a natural death, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.

Researchers from the Netherlands assessed 189 bereaved family members and close friends of terminally ill cancer patients who died by euthanasia and 316 bereaved family members and close friends of comparable cancer patients who died a natural dea

Researchers from Imperial College London and Charing Cross Hospital have discovered a way to help musicians improve their musical performances by an average of up to 17 per cent, equivalent to an improvement of one grade or class of honours.

The research published in this months edition of Neuroreport, shows that using a process known as neurofeedback, students at London’s Royal College of Music were able to improve their performance across a number of areas including their music

Leading public-health scientists highlight in a study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET how confronting major risk factors that lead to poor health could have a substantial effect in reducing premature deaths and morbidity globally-especially in the poorest areas of the world. This preventive approach would also reduce the prevailing health inequalities that exist between the world’s richest and poorest nations.

Majid Ezzati from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA, Christophe