Working together at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, medical physicists and clinicians have developed a new procedure that treats spinal tumors and relieves patient discomfort faster that current treatments. Called intensity-modulated spinal radiosurgery, this technique pinpoints a tumor’s location to deliver a powerful dose of radiation that avoids healthy areas of the spinal cord, kidneys, and lungs. This research was presented last month at the annual meeting of the American Association for Ph

An international team of scientists has discovered a hormone that can significantly decrease the appetite, reducing the amount of food eaten in a day by a third.

The research, published today in Nature, shows how scientists from Imperial College London, with assistance from Oregon Health and Sciences University, USA, and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Australia, discovered the novel action of hormone PYY3-36.

PYY3-36 is normally released from the gastro-intestinal tract a

You`d be forgiven for thinking that an American predicted anti-matter. Or that it only existed in Star Trek. In fact, it was Paul Dirac, a Bristol born physicist, who predicted the stuff that propels starships in science fiction movies and who has also influenced much of our modern day technology, for example, computers. Today, 8 August is the centenary of Dirac`s birth. The Institute of Physics celebrates Dirac`s life and legacy in 2002, with six Manga (japanese cartoon-style) posters.

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Complex physical learning may help children overcome some mental disabilities that result from prenatal alcohol consumption by their mothers, say researchers whose experiments led to increased wiring in the brains of young rats.

In their study, infant rats were exposed to alcohol during a period of brain development (especially in the cerebellum) that is similar to that of the human third trimester of pregnancy. In adulthood, the rats improved their learning skills during a 20-day regimen o

The world AIDS conference last month offered a large dose of grim news about the disease and its precursor, HIV.

But a new university study suggests that there is at least one glimmer of hope.

In a recent article in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, researchers report that social activism in groups such as ACT UP may have a positive effect on the way people with AIDS and HIV cope with their medical and psychological problems.

The research team found that i

How Economic Changes Affect Disease

“Plop!” You drop one in the pot of boiling coconut milk. The delicate aroma of wings and fur rise into the air. While not everyone’s ideal food choice, the Chamorro people of Guam regard the flying fox – a type of bat that can grow up to a four foot wingspan – as a delicacy. Mostly consumed by men, the entire animal, including the fur and all the insides, are eaten during social gatherings and certain important events. Women sometimes eat the