Virtually hairless, venerably wrinkled and very nearly blind, naked mole-rats — those homely rodents from underground Africa — remind some zoo-goers of little old men.

The resemblance is more than coincidence. They really are really old males — and females, too — biologists report in an article scheduled for November publication in the Journal of Zoology (Vol. 258, Part 3). Many naked mole-rats ( Heterocephalus glaber ) in laboratory colonies in the United States and South A

Study, which shows microscopic plants keep planet warm, offers new considerations for iron fertilization efforts in the oceans

The ecological importance of phytoplankton, microscopic plants that free-float through the world’s oceans, is well known. Among their key roles, the one-celled organisms are the major source of sustenance for animal life in the seas.

Now, in a new study conducted by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California,

New data examines effect of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on survival in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

The findings of a retrospective database study examining the effect of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on survival in COPD patients1 were presented today at the American College of Chest Physicians CHEST 2002 Annual Conference in San Diego.

The investigators identified male and female patients, ages 40 and older, who were enrolled in the Lovelace

Aspirin may reduce ovarian cancer growth, a laboratory study by the USF College of Medicine has shown.

The study, published in the October issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, demonstrated that aspirin inhibited ovarian tumor cell growth by as much as 68 percent. The higher the dosage of aspirin added to the culture of ovarian cancer cells, the more growth inhibition was observed.

The researchers also found that combining aspirin with a monoclonal antibody specific for th

Drug users with access to controversial syringe-exchange programs are up to six times less likely to put themselves at risk of HIV infection, according to a new UC Davis study published in the November issue of Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

“While programs to control the spread of HIV by providing clean needles to drug users remain controversial in California and around the country, this study clearly shows that syringe-exchange programs save lives — and save society mil

Scientists and engineers build the transistors that run televisions, radios and similar electronic devices based on the moving electric charges of electrons. But the electron also has another key property: a magnetic “spin” that scientists believe could be exploited to develop faster, smaller and more efficient devices.

The first step is to determine the magnetic properties of materials that could be used to create futuristic nanoscale devices, a task that has escaped scientists until now.