Although it is expected that populations of many organisms will move away from the equator and toward the poles to stay cool during global warming, researchers have found that the intertidal zone does not exactly fit this pattern. A study published in this week’s Science Magazine indicates that there may be “hot spots” at northern shoreline sites within the next three to five years. This is partly due to the timing of the tides.

“Because they are assumed to live very close to their thermal

Researchers have discovered that a molecule best known for its anti-microbial properties also has the ability to activate key cells in the immune response. This newly discovered function, reported in the Nov. 1, 2002, issue of Science*, suggests the molecule, a peptide called ß-defensin 2, may be useful in the development of more effective cancer vaccines. Scientists have found that ß-defensin 2 initiates a chain of events leading to the growth and multiplication of T cells, components of the immune

Everyone knows that if you eat a plate of beans or a bowl of bran cereal, you’re likely to get full pretty quickly. UC Davis nutrition researchers now have a better idea why.

A UC Davis study, published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, indicates that increased fiber content in a meal boosts feelings of fullness in women and increases levels of a certain hormone associated with satiety.

Previous research has shown that the hormone cholecystokinin is rele

When you look at a picture, your brain has to put together lines, patterns and shapes to make a meaningful scene. New research by neuroscientists at the University of California, Davis and the University of Minnesota shows that higher regions of the brain can quickly recognize patterns and shapes and tell lower areas of the brain to stop processing the information. The finding confirms predictions from computer models and helps explain how the human brain makes sense of what the eyes see.

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Just as matter can be converted into energy, so too can energy become matter. That’s what five-dozen Jefferson Lab researchers were counting on for an experiment in Hall A

Albert Einstein figured it out by 1905, as he was formulating his special theory of relativity: while you can’t exactly get something from nothing, you can come close. His famous formula, E=MC 2 , works both ways. Just as matter can be converted into energy, so too can energy become matter.

That’s

Models of Larch budmoth outbreaks in the European Alps may eventually show scientists how to model a variety of disease and insect eruptions that rely on a combination of enemy, host and spatial movement to decimate populations, according to a team of ecologists.

“We use theoretical models to help understand the spatial component in these outbreaks and to predict how spatial spread occurs,” says Dr. Ottar N. Bjornstad, assistant professor of entomology and biology at Penn State. “With local