hot in Biological News

Evolution: Crabs go deep to avoid hot water

Researchers from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, have drawn together 200 years' worth of oceanographic knowledge to investigate the distribution of a notorious deep-sea giant the king crab. The results, published this week in the Journal of Biogeography , reveal temperature as a ...

Study finds link between hot flashes and lower bone density in women

FINDINGS: UCLA researchers and colleagues analyzed data for 2,213 women between the ages of 42 and 52 who participated in the bone sub-study of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation to determine whether women with vasomotor symptoms (VMS) which include hot flashes and night sweats had l...

Getting into hot water

An analysis of the engineering and economics for a solar water-heating system shows it to have a payback period of just two years, according to researchers in India. They report, in the International Journal of Global Energy Issues , on the success of the 1000-liter system operating at a universi...

Freezing kidney cancer: Hot treatment should be new gold standard for destroying small tumors

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (March 9, 2009)Freezing kidney tumorsusing a safe minimally invasive interventional radiology treatment that kills the cancer 100 percent effectively without surgeryshould be the gold standard or first treatment option for all individuals with tumors that are 4 centimeters in siz...

Plants are political hot potatoes

A group of leading UK scientists and social scientists led by the ESRC Genomics Forum, based at the University of Edinburgh, calls for joined-up thinking on the emerging politics of plants. Green is the new gold. The world is waking up to the potential of plants from food to fuel, industrial f...

New model predicts hot spots for mercury in fish

Mercury levels in fish are prompting widespread consumption advisories and uncertainty among consumers over which species are safe to eat. Now researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a model that will help scientists and regulators around the country predict which areas are l...

Pictures of hot fudge sundaes arouse: Understanding emotions improves our food choices

Menus and advertising affect our emotions, and if we understand those emotions, we make better food choices, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research . Authors Blair Kidwell, David M. Hardesty, and Terry L. Childers (all University of Kentucky) examined the "emotional intel...

New method identifies meth hot spots

CORVALLIS, Ore. A researcher at Oregon State University has used a new method of combining multiple sources of data to identify counties in Oregon with high numbers of methamphetamine-related problems per capita, giving officials a new tool in fighting the illegal drug. The study, presented to...

Remote technology sees through ice, snow and hot air to monitor power plants

On Aug. 14, 2003, the power grid failure that left the northeastern United States in darkness surprised a country unaccustomed to interrupted electricity. Expectations of a plentiful energy supply in the United States contrast dramatically to the situation in some developing countries that lim...

Summer heat too hot for you? What is comfortable?

Extreme heat or cold is not only uncomfortable, it can be deadlycausing proteins to unravel and malfunction. For many years now, scientists have understood the molecular mechanisms that enable animals to sense dangerous temperatures; such as extremely high temperatures that directly trigger he...

Mustard -- hot stuff for natural pest control

Researchers, growers and Industry specialists from 22 countries are sharing the latest research into the use of Brassica species, such as mustard, radish, or rapeseed, to manage soil-borne pests and weeds a technique known as biofumigation. " Brassica plants naturally release compounds that ...

Research suggests parts of UK could be too hot for wine making by 2080

Increasing summer temperatures could mean some parts of southern England are too hot to grow vines for making wine by 2080, according to a new book launched today (26 May 2008). The author, Emeritus Professor Richard Selley from Imperial College London, claims that if average summer temperatur...

Research suggests parts of UK could be too hot for wine-making by 2080

Increasing summer temperatures could mean some parts of southern England are too hot to grow vines for making wine by 2080, according to a new book launched today (26 May 2008). The author, Emeritus Professor Richard Selley from Imperial College London, claims that if average summer temperatur...

Too hot to handle! Scientists identify heat sensing regulator

Neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins are a step closer to understanding pain sensitivity - specifically why its variable instead of constant - having identified a gene that regulates a heat-activated molecular sensor. Their description of the function of a membrane protein called Pirt appears in t...

Fuel cells help make noisy, hot generators a thing of the past

Two core technologies developed at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - a fuel desulfurization system and a fuel reforming system - were instrumental in the demonstration of an electric power system operating on JP-8, a fuel commonly used in military operations. P...

'Hellish' hot springs yield greenhouse gas-eating bug

A new species of bacteria discovered living in one of the most extreme environments on Earth could yield a tool in the fight against global warming. In a paper published today in the prestigious science journal Nature, U of C biology professor Peter Dunfield and colleagues describe the methane-e...

Yellowstone viruses 'jump' between hot pools

A population study of microbes in Yellowstone National Park hot pools suggests viruses might be buoyed by steam to distant pools. The result, to be published online next week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help to answer some fundamental questions about how microbes,...

Are there rearrangement hot spots in the human genome?

The debate over the validity of genomic rearrangement hotspots has its most recent addition in a new theory put forth by researchers at the University of California San Diego. The study, published on November 9 in PLoS Computational Biology, holds that there are indeed rearrangement hotspots in t...

Living fossils have hot sex

University of Utah scientists discovered a strange method of reproduction in primitive plants named cycads: The plants heat up and emit a toxic odor to drive pollen-covered insects out of male cycad cones, and then use a milder odor to draw the bugs into female cones so the plants are pollinated....

Hydrothermal vents: Hot spots of microbial diversity

MBL, WOODS HOLE, MAThousands of new kinds of marine microbes have been discovered at two deep-sea hydrothermal vents off the Oregon coast by scientists at the MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) and University of Washingtons Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean. Their findings, pub...

Icy calculations on a hot topic

University of Utah mathematicians have arrived at a new understanding of how salt-saturated ocean water flows through sea ice a discovery that promises to improve forecasts of how global warming will affect polar icepacks. In the current issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, mat...

New research reveals why chili peppers are hot

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Despite the popularity of spicy cuisine among Homo sapiens, the hotness in chili peppers has always been something of an evolutionary mystery. A plant creates fruit in order to entice animals to eat and disperse its seeds, so it doesn't make sense for that fruit to be pain...

Researchers hot on the trail of brain cell degeneration

A research team headed by Academy Research Fellow Michael Courtney has identified a new molecular pathway in neurons. The pathway is a factor in the degeneration of brain cells, which in turn plays an important role in neurological conditions and diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and ...

Gold nanoparticles prove to be hot stuff

Gold nanoparticles are highly efficient and sensitive "handles" for biological molecules being manipulated and tracked by lasers, but they also can heat up fast--by tens of degrees in just a few nanoseconds--which could either damage the molecules or help study them, according to scientists at JILA...

From hot springs to rice farms, scientists reveal new insights into the secret lives of archaea

In the world of microbes, as in politics, some groups just can't seem to shake the label ''extremist.'' So it is with archaea (ar-KEY-uh), a collection of bacteria-like microorganisms whose unique genetics and chemical structure separate them from all other living things. For years, biologists ha...

Rising ocean temperatures, pollution have oysters in hot water

Oysters exposed to high water temperatures and a common heavy metal are unable to obtain sufficient oxygen and convert it to cellular energy, according to a new study presented at The American Physiological Society conference, Comparative Physiology 2006. The study showed how cadmium, a heavy me...

Microcapsules like it hot and salty

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces have presented a new method with which to precisely control the permeability of microcapsules using the salt content and the temperature of the solution. In order to accomplish this, the researchers developed a theoretical model whic...

Large dinosaurs were extremely hot in their day, UF study finds

If you think dinosaurs are hot today, just think back to about 110 million years ago when they really ran hot and heavy. One of the larger animals, a behemoth called Sauroposeidon proteles, weighed close to 120,000 pounds as an adult. Now, a new study led by the University of Florida suggests it...

Medieval diaries aid scientists ascertain increase in hot spots due to global warming

The temperature of the northern hemisphere has increased over a larger area in the last century than at any time in the past millennium a report published in Science reveals this week. The study finds that the number of 'hot spots' has increased dramatically in the Northern Hemisphere in the las...

Pillows - a hot bed of fungal spores

Researchers at The University of Manchester funded by the Fungal Research Trust have discovered millions of fungal spores right under our noses - in our pillows. Aspergillus fumigatus, the species most commonly found in the pillows, is most likely to cause disease; and the resulting condition...

ComCam Selected by ePortation on New Maritime Domain Awareness Project

...erwater submersibles (ROVs), used in ship tracking on rivers and extreme remote thermal video and control applications deployed in some of the world's hot spots. A number of statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. A safe-harbor provision may not be applicable to...

International conference on CO2 sequestration processes

...rchers from a half-dozen other nations. A optional Sept. 9-11 field trip will explore natural sites related to carbon and climate, including glaciers, hot springs, flood plains and lava flows. This project is a partnership of Columbia University's Earth Institute; Reykjavik Energy; University of Iceland;...

Tires made from trees -- better, cheaper, more fuel efficient

... products would have comparable traction on cold or wet pavement, be just as strong, and provide even higher fuel efficiency than traditional tires in hot weather. "We were surprised at how favorable the results were for the use of this material," said Kaichang Li, an associate professor of wood scien...

Slotted buses keep passengers cool

... A simple redesign of public buses used in hot and dry climates could make passengers more comfortable without the need to use extra fuel running air conditioning, according to a study published in...

Virus-resistant grapevines

...ood wine needs to ripen. But it's a long way to the barrel. Even before the harvest, the grapevines have to overcome all kinds of obstacles. Extremely hot or rainy periods can destroy entire crops, not to mention the wide variety of pests that can appear on the scene. Bugs such as the vine louse or the r...

Domestication of Capsicum annuum chile pepper provides insights into crop origin and evolution

...e American Journal of Botany explores the domestication of chiles. These hot peppers, found in everything from hot chocolate to salsa, have long played an important role in the diets of Meso...

Trans fats hinder multiple steps in blood flow regulation pathways

...ribute to both of these causes of heart disease, Kummerow said. Trans fats are made through hydrogenation, which involves bubbling hydrogen through hot vegetable oil, changing the arrangement of double bonds in the essential fatty acids in the oil and "saturating" the "unsaturated" carbon chain with h...

New journal on advanced glass research to debut

...lishing this new journal together," said Jon Walsmley, vice president and managing director, professional publications, of Wiley-Blackwell. "This is a hot subject-area with significant potential. It is typical of ACerS to be looking to build for the future and it is a privilege to be a part of ACerS exci...

Stanford scientists find heat-tolerant coral reefs that may resist climate change

...nservation International and the Bio-X program at Stanford. "The most exciting thing was discovering live, healthy corals on reefs already as hot as the ocean is likely to get 100 years from now," said Palumbi, director of Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station. "How do they do that?" Corals in p...

Protein identified as critical to insulating the body's wiring could also become treatment target

... quick messages such as telling legs to walk need a lot of insulation. Sensory nerves such as those on the fingertips that prompt retraction from a hot stovetop need less. "In any given nerve, some axons are wrapped heavily by myelin," Dr. Mei says. "It's based on nerve function. For example, if ...