PhD student Rüdiger Lang has developed a method to obtain information about water vapour from satellite data not specifically measuring this. The research is part of a project from the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMOLF), the Space Research Organisation Netherlands (SRON) and the Free University of Amsterdam.

Water vapour has a greenhouse effect three times stronger than that of carbon dioxide. Therefore a good picture as to the presence, distribution and influence of wate

Microbiologists from the University of Nijmegen have discovered that a methane-forming archaeabacterium sometimes deliberately allows hydrogen ions to leak out of its cell. At high hydrogen concentrations in particular, the cell membrane works as a sort of pressure valve. The waste of energy seems to be of vital importance for the microorganism.

The researchers examined how a bacterium adapts to changing circumstances. The study focussed on the behaviour of the relatively simple methane prod

A headache is often regarded as an excuse for not having sexual intercourse, but neurologists in Germany have been conducting a trial to investigate the true nature of this condition. They found that men in their early 20s are more likely to get a sexual headache, delegates at the European Federation of Neurological Societies congress were told today (28 October).

Sexual headache occurs in up to one percent of the population who suffer from it at least once in their life. It is not caused b

Communication within the immune system

A familial form of severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) is caused by anomalies of an enzyme called ZAP-70. If ZAP-70 is lacking or does not work, the T-cells, which play a key role in the mechanisms of immune defense, are no longer functional. Affected children therefore catch infections as soon as they are exposed to pathogenic microorganisms. The only treatment at present is bone marrow transplantation.

INSERM research scientists

Caterpillar study shows order in the complexity of tropical biodiversity

One of the world’s largest and highest-quality set of observations on live tropical insects and their host plants has led researchers to reinterpret the structure of tropical insect communities. The team of scientists who collaborated on this analysis includes Scott Miller of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Yves Basset of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Vojtech Novotny

A new generation of realistic models of the human body could give radiation scientists and medical workers a better view of how exposure to radiation affects different internal organs. These so-called “voxel phantoms” offer a new way to reveal the effects of radioactive particles that have been ingested or breathed in or otherwise entered the body. (The word “voxel” means volume element and is the three-dimensional equivalent of pixel).

Maria Zankl of the Institute of Radiation Protection in