Couples who smoke around the time of conception could have a reduced chance of conceiving male offspring, suggest authors of a research letter in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

The male to female ratio of children has declined substantially over the past few decades. The reason for this reduction is not clear, but it has been suggested that chronic exposure to toxic environmental agents that predominantly affect males and the male reproductive system could lead to a lower male to female bi

Microbiologists from Wageningen have discovered a strange form of digestion in an exotic microorganism. The `Rushing fireball´, Latin name Pyrococcus furiosus , has reinvented the wheel for several steps of sugar digestion.

Pyrococcus furiosus , which was discovered 15 years ago on an Italian volcanic island, digests sugar somewhat differently from humans, animals, plants and bacteria. All organisms, convert glucose into pyruvate by means of a glycolysis. Pyrococcus furiosus

A European team of researchers has demonstrated that sediment is transported to the deep sea via canyons in the seabed. The sediment accumulates in the head of the submarine canyons. At the end of the canyons, mud avalanches disperse into the deep sea. Scientists from the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) presented their findings at an international congress held from 7 to 10 April 2002.

With bottom landers, onboard the ship R.V. Pelagia, the researchers explored the Nazaré Canyo

The mysterious spectral bands in the infrared of interstellar gas clouds in deep space originate from organic compounds. Research by the Nijmegen physicist Hans Piest confirms this. He has provided new experimental evidence for this almost 30-year-old problem in astronomy.

Each molecule has specific wavelengths at which it can either absorb or emit light. This forms the fingerprint of a substance. With this fingerprint, astronomers can demonstrate the presence of a substance in a distant sta

The intestines of mice which have been subjected to stress, overreact to certain nutritional substances. PhD biologist Annette van Kalkeren from the University of Amsterdam has investigated the relationship between stress and the occurrence of food allergies and various intestinal disorders.

The biologist investigated the reaction of pieces of mouse intestine to egg albumin, a substance found in eggs. Just like humans, mice can become allergic to the substance. However, mice only become alle

In the fall of 1997 a then unknown species of plankton, Parvilucifera infectans , was discovered in the Gullmar Fjord, on the west coast of Sweden. The organism is a parasite that infects and kills several species of toxic algae. Some of these toxic algae can generate extremely potent blooms at great cost to fisheries and the tourism industry around the world. Other species cause mussel toxins that cause major problems for mussel farmers in Sweden and elsewhere.

Fredrik Norén at Götebo