Researchers report in the January issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, published by Cell Press, the discovery of a genetic “switch” that drives the formation of a poorly understood type of muscle. Moreover, they found, animals whose muscles were full of the so-called IIX fibers were able to run farther and at higher work loads than normal mice could.
Massive quantities of data will soon begin flowing from the largest scientific instrument ever built into an international network of computer centers, including one operated jointly by the University of Chicago and Indiana University. The first phase of the Chicago-Indiana center, formally known as the MidWest Tier 2 Center, is now up and running, crunching test data in preparation for the real thing.
Although some Americans gain five to seven pounds with a diet of big meals and sweets between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, most people only gain a pound or two during the holidays, according to a UT Southwestern Medical Center registered dietitian.
Iowa State University researchers are developing front and rear attachments that allow a conventional combine to harvest corn stover (the stalks, cobs and leaves) as well as grain. The stover could be the source of plant fiber that feeds the next generation of ethanol plants.
New York city health officials are promising to be gentle when it comes to enforcing the first-in-the-nation ban on trans fats, which restaurants will have more than a year to rid from their food.
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Temperature Materials Laboratory are helping diesel engine and parts manufacturers develop technologies to meet tough new emissions regulations that go into effect in 2007.
Vistasp Karbhari, a professor of structural engineering at UC San Diego, has developed fiber-reinforced polymer composites as strong, lightweight materials for aerospace, automotive, civil and marine applications, so he thought, “If they work so well in highway bridges, why not dental bridges.”
Teenagers who take a daily multivitamin supplement have a healthier diet and lifestyle than those who don’t take vitamins, reports a study in the December Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
American Cancer Society said in new guidelines that maintaining healthy weight in cancer survivors is most essential task.
Thanks to a University of Houston scientist and his team’s research, the chemical element germanium is enjoying a rebound in popularity. Led by Arnold Guloy, a UH chemistry professor, and a team of researchers from UH and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, Germany, the findings are described in a paper titled “A Guest-free Germanium Clathrate” published in Nature magazine.