From 2005 to 2008, the level of funding for biomedical research in the United States appears to have decreased by 2 percent, a new study shows.
The same review also found that the rate of increase in funding has slowed since 2005.
An analysis of data showed that funding of biomedical research by federal, state and local government, and private and industry sources increased from $75.5 billion in 2003 to $101.1 billion in 2007, an inflation-adjusted increase of 14 percent.
Science & Technology
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The rare annular solar eclipse was visible across much of Africa and Asia. During the 7 minutes 15 seconds annularity, the moon passes directly in front of the sun, leaving a spectacular ring of fire. The whole eclipse took 4 hours, 11:05 a.m. until 03.05 p.m.
The rare annular solar eclipse was visible across much of Africa and Asia. During the 7 minutes 15 seconds annularity, the moon passes directly in front of the sun, leaving a spectacular ring of fire. The whole eclipse took 4 hours, 11:05 a.m. until 03.05 p.m.
Thousands of people in Africa and Asia have viewed an eclipse as the moon crossed the sun's path blocking everything but a narrow, blazing rim of light.
The path of the eclipse began in Africa - passing through Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Somalia before crossing the Indian Ocean, where it reached its peak, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration website.
The path then continued into Asia where the eclipse could be seen in the Maldives, southern India, parts of Sri Lanka, Burma and China.
Clouds obscured the partial solar eclipse in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, disappointing residents who were up early to catch a glimpse.
"This is the first time we've seen a feature like this in the magnetic field of any star other than the sun," said William Peterson of the University of Iowa.
The stellar pair, called Algol, includes a star about three times more massive than the sun along with a less-massive companion. The two lie about 93 light-years away from Earth. They have been known since ancient times as "The Demon Star" because they appear as one object that blinks on and off - a phenomenon caused when one star passes in front of the other.
Within the binary, the smaller star orbits the larger at a distance of 5.8 million miles, only about 6 percent of the distance between Earth and the sun.
© NASA/IBEX/Heerikhuisen et al.
A comparison between the observation of the IBEX "ribbon" (left) and a Heerikhuisen et al. simulation of what the ribbon should look like considering an interstellar magnetic field (right).
A comparison between the observation of the IBEX "ribbon" (left) and a Heerikhuisen et al. simulation of what the ribbon should look like considering an interstellar magnetic field (right).
Last year, NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) made a discovery so profound that scientists had a hard time describing what they were seeing. A vast ribbon located in the outermost reaches of the solar system had been spotted, a structure that had never been seen before. Now scientists believe the shape might be created by a huge reflection caused by particles bouncing off a galactic magnetic field.
IBEX isn't an ordinary space telescope and this mystery ribbon isn't emitting any light; the ribbon is in fact the source of very energetic neutral particles that are raining down on us after travelling over 100 AU (approximately 9 billion miles).
IBEX is designed to detect fast moving particles called energetic neutral atoms (or ENAs for short) created at the absolute boundary of our solar system known as the "heliopause." This boundary separates the bubble-like heliosphere (which contains the sun, planets and solar wind) and interstellar space (i.e. the space between the stars).
© NIST
Just because the Y chromosome, which determines gender, is evolving at a speedy rate it doesn't necessarily mean men themselves are more evolved.
Just because the Y chromosome, which determines gender, is evolving at a speedy rate it doesn't necessarily mean men themselves are more evolved.
Women may think of men as primitive, but new research indicates that the Y chromosome -- the thing that makes a man male -- is evolving far faster than the rest of the human genetic code.
A new study comparing the Y chromosomes from humans and chimpanzees, our nearest living relatives, show that they are about 30 percent different. That is far greater than the 2 percent difference between the rest of the human genetic code and that of the chimp's, according to a study appearing online Wednesday in the journal Nature.
These changes occurred in the last 6 million years or so, relatively recently when it comes to evolution.
"The Y chromosome appears to be the most rapidly evolving of the human chromosomes," said study co-author Dr. David Page, director of the prestigious Whitehead Institute in Cambridge and a professor of biology at MIT. "It's an almost ongoing churning of gene reconstruction. It's like a house that's constantly being rebuilt."
The alignment of the planets, and especially that of Jupiter and Saturn, control the climate on Earth.
So explained Rhodes Fairbridge of Columbia University, a giant in science over much of the last century whose accomplishments are perhaps unsurpassed for their breadth, depth, and volume. This one man authored or co-authored 100 scientific books and more than 1,000 scientific papers, he edited the Benchmarks in Geology series (more than 90 volumes in print) and was general editor of the Encyclopaedias of the Earth Sciences. He edited eight major encyclopedias of specialized scientific papers in the atmospheric sciences and astrogeology; geomorphology; geochemistry and the earth sciences; geology, sedimentology, paleontology, oceanography and, not least, climatology.
So explained Rhodes Fairbridge of Columbia University, a giant in science over much of the last century whose accomplishments are perhaps unsurpassed for their breadth, depth, and volume. This one man authored or co-authored 100 scientific books and more than 1,000 scientific papers, he edited the Benchmarks in Geology series (more than 90 volumes in print) and was general editor of the Encyclopaedias of the Earth Sciences. He edited eight major encyclopedias of specialized scientific papers in the atmospheric sciences and astrogeology; geomorphology; geochemistry and the earth sciences; geology, sedimentology, paleontology, oceanography and, not least, climatology.
© Wellcome Images
Sound receivers: a hair cell of the inner ear
Sound receivers: a hair cell of the inner ear
"These findings may provide the first step toward regenerating spiral ganglion neurons, the nerve cells that send sound representations to the brain," said Alain Dabdoub, PhD, co-investigator and assistant professor of surgery with the division of otolaryngology at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. "This has significant implications for advances in cochlear implant technology and biological treatments for hearing loss."
In the cochlea, auditory neurons transmit sound vibrations conveyed by hair cells. These vibrations are then converted to nerve impulses that communicate with the brain. If the neurons are lost or damaged, hearing loss occurs. Existing therapies for hearing loss are based on either increasing hair cell stimulation with hearing aids or introducing an electronic substitute for the hair cells with cochlear implants. In either case, the presence of functional spiral ganglion neurons is required for a successful outcome.
© Preservation Virginia
A conservator digitally isolated inscriptions (right) on the 17th-century Jamestown tablet (left).
A conservator digitally isolated inscriptions (right) on the 17th-century Jamestown tablet (left).
Digitally enhanced images of the slate are helping to isolate inscriptions and illuminate fine details on the slate - the first with extensive inscriptions discovered at any early American colonial site, said William Kelso, director of research and interpretation at the 17th-century Historic Jamestowne site (Jamestown map).
© Unknown
More than 90 stones, which archeologists describe as city pillars, were found in Phiavath village, Sisattanak district, during excavations for the new building.
Experts believe the use of these stone monuments first began in the north of Laos. This latest discovery has inspired them to dig deeper into their history.
Director General of the National Heritage Department of the Ministry of Information, Mr Thongsa Sayavongkhamdy, said they have identified engravings on the stones which they believe will provide valuable information about their origin and purpose.
© Toshi Nishimura/UCLA
This three frame animation of THEMIS/ASI images shows auroras colliding on Feb. 29, 2008.
This three frame animation of THEMIS/ASI images shows auroras colliding on Feb. 29, 2008.
"Our jaws dropped when we saw the movies for the first time," said space scientist Larry Lyons of the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), a member of the team that made the discovery. "These outbursts are telling us something very fundamental about the nature of auroras."
The collisions occur on such a vast scale that isolated observers on Earth -- with limited fields of view -- had never noticed them before. It took a network of sensitive cameras spread across thousands of miles to get the big picture.
NASA and the Canadian Space Agency created such a network for THEMIS, short for "Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms." THEMIS consists of five identical probes launched in 2006 to solve a long-standing mystery: Why do auroras occasionally erupt in an explosion of light called a substorm?
Twenty all-sky imagers (ASIs) were deployed across the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic to photograph auroras from below while the spacecraft sampled charged particles and electromagnetic fields from above. Together, the on-ground cameras and spacecraft would see the action from both sides and be able to piece together cause and effect -- or so researchers hoped. It seems to have worked.
