When NASA launches its Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) – the agency’s fourth ‘Great Observatory’ – later this week, astronomers around the world will be looking forward to using one of the most powerful time machines ever built.

Among those anticipating the opportunity to look back billions of years to an era when the universe was in its youth are Professor Michael Rowan-Robinson (Imperial College London) and Dr. Sebastian Oliver (University of Sussex), who will be participating in

There has been some controversy in the media and within the scientific research community concerning whether Icelanders are genetically homogenous or heterogeneous relative to other European populations.

Following an article published in Annals of Human Genetics in January 2003 by E. Árnason, who concluded that Icelanders were one of the most heterogeneous populations in Europe, researchers from deCODE Genetics and the University of Oxford, have published an article in Annals of Human Geneti

Europe is going to the Moon for the first time! In just over two weeks the European Space Agency’s (ESA) lunar probe, SMART-1, begins its journey to the Moon. Due to be launched from Kourou in French Guiana on 3rd September (12.04 a.m. 4th September BST) SMART-1 will be powered only by an ion engine which Europe will be testing for the first time as the main spacecraft propulsion. Onboard will be D-CIXS, an X-ray spectrometer built by scientists in the UK, which will provide information on what the

The first attempt in the Russian Federation to utilize contemporary information technologies for efficient farm production management has been made. The decision-making support system for agricultural enterprises is being tested at a private agricultural farm in the Orenburg Province.

Information technologies, which formerly served solely space industry, can be employed to make agriculture more efficient. That has been done by the specialists of the GEOMIR Engineering Center in collaboratio

Study results show smallpox death toll may be lower than expected in the event of an outbreak and one vaccination may be as effective as many

Final results of a smallpox vaccine study conducted by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University show America’s preparedness for a smallpox outbreak may be greater than initially thought. The research shows 90 percent of those vaccinated 25 to 75 years ago maintain a substantial level of immunity. In addition, researchers concluded

A small subset of cells that tells the immune system whether to attack may be a future target for therapies to help patients fight tumors and keep transplanted organs, a Medical College of Georgia researcher says.

Dendritic cells roam the body, picking up invaders, such as a virus or cancer, then show their finds to the T-cells and tell them how to respond, says Dr. Andrew L. Mellor, molecular geneticist and immunologist and director of the MCG Immunotherapy Center.

Work published i