Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered a new process by which HIV damages the immune system. They demonstrated that the portion of lymph nodes called the T cell zone is significantly damaged by chronic inflammation, which causes fibrosis. This is important because the T cell zone is where a significant portion of the human immune response occurs. The finding of accumulation of scar tissue in this portion of the lymph node may explain why aggressive anti-retroviral therapy (ART) do

A new study at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston helps explain why practice makes perfect. Baylor researchers found that neurons in the visual cortex, the part of the brain responsible for vision, were more active when study monkeys anticipated the occurrence of predictable events. The results of the study were published in the Oct. 10 issue of Nature. “We really don’t have a great understanding of what changes in the brain when we practice things,” said Dr. Geoffrey M. Ghose, first author o

A process developed at Ohio State University for shaping metal parts using magnetism has reached a new milestone — one that may cut manufacturing costs and help preserve the environment.

The process could also expand manufacturers’ choice of available metals, and enable the use of aluminum parts in lighter, fuel-efficient automobiles.

Glenn S. Daehn, professor of materials science and engineering, and his colleagues pioneered hybrid electromagnetic metal forming in 1999, while col

High Level Group for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell

Thank you Madam Vice President, and thank you again, (Ladies and) gentlemen for your attention.

Madam de Palacio has presented to you our concerns in the European Union over Global climate change, energy security and transport. We are committed to achieving sustainable development.

We re-stated our commitment in Johannesburg and are embarking on a comprehensive range of measures. This includes research on the most promisi

An international team of astronomers today report the discovery of a huge distorted disk of cold dust surrounding Fomalhaut – one of the brightest stars in the sky. The most likely cause of the distortion is the gravitational influence of a Saturn-like planet at a large distance from the star tugging on the disk. This provides some of the strongest evidence so far that Solar Systems similar in size, or even bigger than our own, are likely to exist.

One hundred planets are already known to e

A remote control sensing device is being developed to detect defects in sewer walls.

Using both ultrasound and laser light, digital information on the condition of the sewer walls is fed back to a computer which can be programmed to spot problems.

The research is being carried out by a team in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at King’s College London, led by Dr Kaspar Althoefer and Professor Lakmal Seneviratne. Funding is from the Swindon based Engineering and Physical Sci