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Public Expects The Impossible From Science

A new public opinion poll from MORI shows that over 60% of British adults expect the impossible from science.

The MORI poll, commissioned to mark the opening of the new Science Media Centre, shows that 71% of the public look to scientists to give an ‘agreed view’ about science issues and 61% expect science to provide 100% guarantees about the safety of medicines. Yet most scientists insist that science cannot and should not deliver either.

Dr Mark Peplow, Science Information Officer

Study supports triple combination therapy for HIV

New evidence in this week’s BMJ supports the use of up to three antiviral drugs (triple therapy) to treat people with HIV.

Researchers in Birmingham reviewed 54 trials involving over 20,000 patients with HIV infection who had not already received antiviral therapy.

Combinations of up to three drugs were consistently and significantly more effective, but there was inadequate evidence on the effectiveness of quadruple or higher combinations. There was also marked variation, mainly acc

Allergens and viruses act together to worsen asthma

Common allergens (such as dust mite and grass pollen) and viruses may act together to exacerbate asthma, concludes a study in this week’s BMJ.

Sixty patients (aged 17 to 50) admitted to hospital over a year with acute asthma were matched with two controls: patients with stable asthma and patients admitted to hospital with non-respiratory diseases (inpatient controls). Skin tests for dust mite, cat, dog, and grass allergens were performed on all patients.

A significantly higher propo

Hormone drug linked to increased prevalence of male genital disorder

Results of a Dutch study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET highlight how a male genital disorder could be more common among boys born to mothers who were prenatally exposed to a synthetic hormone withdrawn in the late 1970s.

The drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) was previously prescribed to prevent spontaneous abortion and preterm delivery. DES was withdrawn in the 1970s when it became clear that it was associated with vaginal cancer and fertility disorders in women who were exposed to the drug

Vitamin supplementation could slow arteriosclerosis in heart-transplant patients

A US randomised trial in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggests that vitamin C and E supplementation could be of clinical benefit in delaying the onset of arteriosclerosis in the first year after heart transplantation.

Around 70% of patients develop arteriosclerosis within three years after heart transplantation, which is thought to be associated with oxidant stress. James Fang and colleagues from Brigham and Women`s Hospital, Boston, USA, proposed that treatment with antioxidant vitamins

Hair-sized lens helps look in blood vessels

A tiny measurement system that incorporates a lens as thick as two human hairs has been developed by researchers to investigate the force exerted on the wall of an artery as blood whooshes past. In a research paper published today in the Institute of Physics publication Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Dr Rob Keynton and colleagues at the University of Louisville, Kentucky and Michigan Technological University, USA describe how they have designed and made an integrated miniature acous

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Physics and Astronomy

Organic matter on Mars was formed from atmospheric formaldehyde

Although Mars is currently a cold, dry planet, geological evidence suggests that liquid water existed there around 3 to 4 billion years ago. Where there is water, there is usually…

Mysteries of the bizarre ‘pseudogap’ in quantum physics finally untangled

A new paper unravels the mysteries of a bizarre physical state known as the pseudogap, which has close ties to the sought-after state called high-temperature superconductivity, in which electrical resistance…

Quantum researchers cause controlled ‘wobble’ in the nucleus of a single atom

Researchers from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands have been able to initiate a controlled movement in the very heart of an atom. They caused the atomic nucleus to…

Life Sciences and Chemistry

Scientists find new epigenetic switch

5-formylcytosine activates genes in the embryonic development of vertebrates. The team of Professor Christof Niehrs at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz, Germany, has discovered that a DNA…

Scientists create leader cells with light

Research led by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) has studied the migratory movement of groups of cells using light control. In processes such as embryonic development, wound healing…

‘Supercharging’ T cells with mitochondria enhances their antitumor activity

Brigham researchers develop strategy to improve immunotherapy by helping T cells penetrate and kill tumor cells. Fighting cancer is exhausting for T cells. Hostile tumor microenvironments can drain their mitochondrial…

Materials Sciences

New organic thermoelectric device

… that can harvest energy at room temperature. Researchers have succeeded in developing a framework for organic thermoelectric power generation from ambient temperature and without a temperature gradient. Researchers have…

Second life of lithium-ion batteries could take us to space

The global use of lithium-ion batteries has doubled in just the past four years, generating alarming amounts of battery waste containing many hazardous substances. The need for effective recycling methods…

New discovery aims to improve the design of microelectronic devices

A new study led by researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities is providing new insights into how next-generation electronics, including memory components in computers, breakdown or degrade over…

Information Technology

Hexagonal electrohydraulic modules

… shape-shift into versatile robots. Scientists at MPI-IS have developed electrically driven robotic components, called HEXEL modules, which can snap together into high-speed reconfigurable robots. Magnets embedded along the outside…

Ion-Trap Quantum Computer for Novel Research and Development

The AQT quantum computer, featuring 20 qubits based on trapped-ion technology, is now operational at LRZ’s Quantum Integration Centre (QIC), making it the first of its kind in a computing…

AI against corrosion

The CHAI joint project aims to optimize corrosion management in ports and waterways. The federal state of Schleswig-Holstein is funding the CHAI research project with a total of 900,000 euros….