Older Adults Not More Distractible, Research Shows

Despite previous research suggesting that older adults are more distractible, new research shows they are no more distractible than younger adults when asked to focus their attention on their sense of sight or sound, or when asked to switch their attention from one sense to the other.

Seismic Hazard: Stateline Fault System Is Major Component Of Eastern California Shear Zone

The 200-km (125 miles)-long Stateline fault system is a right-lateral strike-slip fault zone with clear Late Quaternary surface ruptures extending along the California-Nevada state line, from Primm, Nevada area along Interstate 15 to the Amargosa Valley.

Hidden Details of Earth’s Atmosphere Revealed By Orbiting Spacecraft

Watching the stars set from the surface of the Earth may be a romantic pastime but when a spacecraft does it from orbit, it can reveal hidden details about a planet’s atmosphere.

The technique is known as stellar occultation. Jean-Loup Bertaux, Service d’Aeronomie du CNRS, France was the first to suggest its use on an ESA mission. It works by watching stars from space, while they drop behind the atmosphere of a planet under investigation, before disappearing from view below the planet’s horizon.

Parrotfish Critical To Coral Reefs: Permanent Damage Likely Unless Urgent Action Taken, Scientists Warn

Coral reefs could be damaged beyond repair, unless we change the way we manage the marine environment. New research by the Universities of Exeter and California Davis, published November 1, 2007 in Nature, shows how damaged Caribbean reefs will continue to decline over the next 50 years.

Coral reefs conjure up images of rich, colourful ecosystems yet an increasing number of reefs are becoming unhealthy and overrun by seaweed. The research team wanted to test whether reefs that are overgrown with algae could return to good health if the original causes of the problem, such as fishing or pollution, were addressed.

Molecular Medical Research Points To Treatment Of Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy is the second most prevalent genetic cause of infant death in the UK, after cystic fibrosis.

Studies show that between 1:50 and 1:34 of the population are carriers of the disease, and that it affects in the region of 1:10,000 children born in the UK. In the USA, 1:40 are carriers and 1:6,000 children are affected by the disease.

Epilepsy Genes May Cancel Each Other

Inheriting two genetic mutations that can individually cause epilepsy might actually be “seizure-protective,” said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

“In the genetics of the brain, two wrongs can make a right,” said Dr. Jeffrey L. Noebels, professor of neurology, neuroscience and molecular and human genetics at BCM. “We believe these findings have great significance to clinicians as we move toward relying upon genes to predict neurological disease.”

World’s Most Complex Silicon Phased-array Chip Developed

UC San Diego electrical engineers have developed the world’s most complex “phased array” — or radio frequency integrated circuit. This DARPA-funded advance is expected to find its way into U.S. defense satellite communication and radar systems. In addition, the innovations in this chip design will likely spill over into commercial applications, such as automotive satellite systems for direct broadcast TV, and new methods for high speed wireless data transfer.

Multiple Fluorescent Proteins Blend In Fantastic Images Of Neurons

By activating multiple fluorescent proteins in neurons, neuroscientists at Harvard University are imaging the brain and nervous system as never before, rendering their cells in a riotous spray of colors dubbed a “Brainbow.”

Brainbow allows researchers to tag neurons with roughly 90 distinct colors, a huge leap over the mere handful of shades possible with current fluorescent labeling. By permitting visual resolution of individual brightly colored neurons, this increase should greatly help scientists in charting the circuitry of the brain and nervous system.

New Magnet Design Sheds Light On Nanotechnology And Semiconductor Research

Engineers at Florida State University’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have successfully tested a groundbreaking new magnet design that could literally shed new light on nanoscience and semiconductor research.

When the magnet — called the Split Florida Helix — is operational in 2010, researchers will have the ability to direct and scatter laser light at a sample not only down the bore, or center, of the magnet, but also from four ports on the sides of the magnet, while still reaching fields above 25 tesla. By comparison, the highest-field split magnet in the world attains 18 tesla. “Tesla” is a measurement of the strength of a magnetic field; 1 tesla is equal to 20,000 times the Earth’s magnetic field.

Tuberculosis Breaches Borders, But Not Public Health

Immigrants from countries with high rates of tuberculosis who move to countries of low TB incidence do not pose a public health threat to native citizens, according to researchers in Norway, who analyzed the incidence and genetic origins of all known cases of TB in the country between 1993 and 2005.