20,000 leagues under the sea

Article Abstract:

Researchers from New York's Amerian Museum of Natural History and Seattle's University of Washington have extracted volcanic chimneys from the ocean for closer examination. The chimneys have come from the Juan de Fuca Ridge 200 miles off the coast of N America, and a mile and a half under the ocean. They are formed when hot volcanic material erupts into the sea and then cools. The ecosystem can be studied more easily with a complete chimney, and this includes microbes that could come from under the floor of the sea.

Biology, Geology, North America, Volcanological research, Marine biology

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Mind vs matter

Article Abstract:

MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine, Philadelphia, is the location of research which could help amputees to control limbs through thoughts alone. Amputees retain nerve cells which controlled limbs that they have lost. Rats were observed when performing a task to obtain water, and brain activity measurements showed that they thought about tasks prior to acting. This thought generated activity in the brain which could be used to trigger a robot arm which supplied water to the rats.

Reports, Brain research, Amputees

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Straining belief

Article Abstract:

Mad cow disease can be caused by proteins which have become misshapen, and misshapen prion proteins gather in the brain, which becomes damaged, causing death. The different strains of the disease may be related to different shapes that prions take. A test for the disease examines the shape of the prions, and has been developed by Jiri Safar. There is uncertainty as to how healthy proteins are affected, and why one protein can faithfully replicate a shape.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Prions, Prions (Proteins)

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