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168,137 articles from ScienceDaily

Solving The Period Problem: Researchers Develop Sanitary Pads From Local, Organic Materials

For most women, their "time of the month" is seen as a hindrance to daily life. In impoverished and developing countries, however, monthly periods are a major cause for concern. The lack of affordable, quality sanitary pads results in females missing up to 50 days of school annually -- thereby compromising their educational and professional potential. Researchers are helping to combat the problem...

Nobel In Physics: Creators Of Optical Fiber Communication And CCD Image Sensor

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2009 with one half to Charles K. Kao, Standard Telecommunication Laboratories, Harlow, UK, and Chinese University of Hong Kong "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication", and the other half jointly to Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, Bell...

Arctic Sea Ice Recovers Slightly In 2009, Remains On Downward Trend

Despite a slight recovery in summer Arctic sea ice in 2009 from record-setting low years in 2007 and 2008, the sea ice extent remains significantly below previous years and remains on a trend leading toward ice-free Arctic summers, according to the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data...

Are You At Risk For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

If you are experiencing pain in your arms, based on individual risk factors, there may be an increased likelihood you are suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. According to researchers, certain factors can play a role in your prevalence to developing this painful syndrome.

Come On In: Nuclear Barrier Less Restrictive Than Expected In New Cells

When it comes to the two basic types of cells, prokaryotes and eukaryotes, compartmentalization is everything. Prokaryotes are evolutionarily ancient cells that only have a membrane surrounding their outer boundary, while the more complex eukaryotes have an outer membrane and membrane bound compartments within the cell. Perhaps most notable is the double layered membrane that surrounds the...

Could Antioxidants Make Us More, Not Less, Prone To Diabetes? Study Says Yes

We've all heard about the damage that reactive oxygen species -- aka free radicals -- can do to our bodies and the sales pitches for antioxidant vitamins, skin creams or "superfoods" that can stop them. In fact, there is considerable scientific evidence that chronic ROS production within cells can contribute to human diseases, including insulin resistance and type 2...

Do Dust Particles Curb Climate Change?

A knowledge gap exists in the area of climate research: for decades, scientists have been asking themselves whether, and to what extent man-made aerosols, that is, dust particles suspended in the atmosphere, enlarge the cloud cover and thus curb climate warming. Research has made little or no progress on this issue. Two scientists report that the interaction between aerosols, clouds and...

Eating Licorice In Pregnancy May Affect A Child's IQ And Behavior

Expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of licorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child's intelligence and behavior, a study has shown. A study of 8-year-old children whose mothers ate large amounts of licorice when pregnant found they did not perform as well as other youngsters in cognitive...

Fight Diabetic Non-Healing Wounds Lying Down

More than 18-million people in the United States, or 6.3% of the population, have diabetes. Unfortunately, when someone becomes diabetic, chronic non-healing wounds often develop, most often in the legs and feet. These wounds can be uncomfortable and even life-threatening. There are many types of treatments. One of the most painless and successful is hyperbaric oxygen therapy...

How Soy Reduces Diabetes Risk

Nutrition scientists have identified the molecular pathway that allows foods rich in soy bioactive compounds called isoflavones to lower diabetes and heart disease risk. Eating soy foods has been shown to lower cholesterol, decrease blood glucose levels and improve glucose tolerance in people with...

Just A Yoctosecond: Shortest Flashes From Ultra-hot Matter

High-energy heavy ion collisions can be a source of light flashes of a few yoctoseconds duration (a septillionth of a second, 10^-24 s) -- the time that light needs to traverse an atomic nucleus. This is shown in calculations of the light emission of so-called quark-gluon plasmas, which are created in such collisions for extremely short periods of time. Under certain conditions, double flashes are...

Major Discovery Opens Door To Leishmania Treatment

Leishmania is a deadly parasitic disease that affects over 12 million people worldwide, with 2 million new cases reported every year. Until recently, scientists were unsure exactly how the parasite survives inside human cells. That mystery has now been solved according to a new study that lead to the development of the first prophylactic...

MicroRNA Drives Cells' Adaptation To Low-oxygen Living

Researchers have fresh insight into an evolutionarily ancient way that cells cope when oxygen levels decline. In studies of cells taken from the lining of human pulmonary arteries, they show that a microRNA -- a tiny bit of RNA that regulates the activity of particular genes and thus the availability of certain proteins -- allows cells to shift their metabolic gears, in a process known as the...

New Chemo Cocktail Blocks Breast Cancer Like A Strong Fence

A new chemotherapy cocktail cuts the spread of breast cancer by half and is the first drug to attack metastasizing breast cancer. The disease becomes fatal when it travels outside the mammary ducts, enters the bloodstream and spreads to the bones, liver or brain. Currently, there are only drugs that try to stem the uncontrolled division of cancer cells within the...

New Method Predicts Dropping Out Of University

Researchers in Spain are creating a statistical model to calculate the probability of university students dropping out and to help in the drawing up of strategic plans to reduce the number of students who give up their studies.