During the second century B.C., a mummy-maker took a scroll of poetry and used it as stuffing for a corpse. The roll of papyrus remained hidden inside the mummy’s chest cavity until its rediscovery in the early 1990s. Today, what was once treated like trash survives as the oldest surviving example of a Greek poetry book, as well as an important source of information about the past.

To glean as many clues from this ancient scroll as possible, the University of Cincinnati Department of Class

Non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) may help predict heart problems in people who have heart disease, according to a report in today’s Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol has long been the goal of medications and other cholesterol-lowering treatments. But researchers are finding that other lipoproteins appear to be involved in developing heart disease. These include some very low-density lipop

Advances in detection devices and methods of analysis have allowed seismologists to identify virtually all events that might be nuclear explosions of possible military significance under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), according to Prof. Lynn R. Sykes of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Writing in the 29 October issue of Eos, published by the American Geophysical Union, Sykes analyzes 72 questionable events since 1960.

Verification was a major issue in

A company spun out from the UK’s University of Manchester has become the first in the world to produce and ship multi-gram quantities of quantum dots – and has launched a unique ‘Free Evaluation Samples’ program throughout the EU and UK.

Using a patented process, Nanoco Ltd is not only able to ship its standard ‘NanoDots’ in production-level quantities to meet growing market demand, but can easily configure NanoDots to meet custom performance specifications – previously a long process of t

A cheap, harmless chemical and sunlight could provide an environmentally friendly way of destroying micro-pollutants in the environment.

UK researchers are developing a new type of reactor to destroy persistent contaminants such as pesticides and pharmaceutical residues.

The technology, which breaks down the polluting molecules into carbon dioxide and water, could provide a breakthrough for a sustainable way of cleaning up fresh water supplies and industrial wastewater.

Th

People who find it hard to lose all the weight they want or that their doctors recommend should take heart, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientist says. New research suggests that losing even modest amounts of weight can pay off in better health.

The study showed for the first time that shedding excess pounds decreases activity of a key enzyme known to play a central role in high blood pressure, said Dr. Joyce Harp, associate professor of nutrition and medicine at the UNC s