Without silicon there would be no computer industry since most computer chips consist of this semiconductor material. The same is true for solar cells: They too are predominantly silicon-based. The monocrystals are cut in round slices approximately one millimeter thick, which experts call wafers. Their surfaces must be as smooth as glass; irregularities may only be a few nanometers wide, i.e. less...

Scientists have identified unique cells within the adult tendon that have stem-cell characteristics -- including the ability to proliferate and self-renew. The research team was able to isolate these cells and regenerate tendon-like tissue in the animal mode.

During the last Ice Age, the ice dammed enormous lakes in Russia. The drainage system was reversed several times and the rivers flowed southwards. A group of geologists is now investigating what took place when the ice melted and the lakes released huge volumes of fresh water into the Arctic Ocean. "The ice-dammed lakes in Russia were larger than the largest lakes we know today," according to...

By guiding an enzyme down a new evolutionary pathway, researchers have created a new form of an enzyme capable of producing a range of potential new therapeutic agents with anti-cancer and antibiotic properties. They describes a novel enzyme capable of changing the chemical properties of a variety of existing drugs and small molecules to make new agents to treat cancer and fight infection.

The intensifying impact of human activities is visibly altering the planet, requiring ever more frequent redrawing of the Earth’s features themselves.

Future reduction of sea ice in the Arctic could result in a loss of 2/3 of the world's polar bear population within 50 years according to a series of studies just released by the U.S. Geological Survey. Polar bears depend on sea ice as a platform to hunt seals, their primary food. But sea ice is decreasing throughout their Arctic range due to climate change. Models used by the USGS team project a...

A new CDC report shows the largest one-year increase in youth suicide rate in 15 years. Suicide rates for 10-19 year-old females and 15-19 year-old males increased significantly in 2004 in the United States. An increase in the suicide rates for three gender-age groups accounts for the increase in the overall suicide rate, the report said. Rates rose for 10- to-14-year-old females, 15...

AFP - Typhoon Fitow moved out to the Sea of Okhotsk Saturday after cutting across Japan, leaving at least two dead and 82 others injured in torrential rains and violent winds, officials...

Reuters - Two giant pandas were welcomed like heads of state when they arrived in Spain from China on Saturday to begin a new life in an air-conditioned pagoda and custom-built gardens at Madrid...

AP - Subtropical Storm Gabrielle moved toward the East Coast, where a tropical storm warning was in effect for North Carolina's shoreline early...

Supercomputers keep growing ever faster, racing along at the blazing speed of nearly one petaflops -- 10 to the fifteenth, or one thousand trillion calculations per second -- equivalent to around 250 thousand of today's laptops. In contrast, the experience of a computational scientist can be anything but fast -- waiting hours or days in a queue for a job to run and yield precious results needed...

AP - Day after day, Chauncey Moran leaves his backwoods cabin, packs his pickup with gear and embarks on a scientific mission: checking the health of the Yellow Dog...

Asia-Pacific leaders meeting in Sydney unveil an agreement on climate change, but no commitments.

Shrinking polar ice caps will cause at least two-thirds of the world’s polar bears to disappear by 2050, government scientists reported on Friday.

AP - Pacific Rim leaders agreed Saturday to tackle global warming by improving energy use and managing forests better, as thousands of demonstrators rallied to demand the governments do more and act...

AP - Two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be killed off by 2050 — and the entire population gone from Alaska — because of thinning sea ice from global warming in the Arctic, government scientists forecast...

AP - The owners of a nursing home where 35 patients died after Hurricane Katrina were acquitted Friday of negligent homicide and cruelty charges for not evacuating the facility as the storm approached. The jury took about four hours to acquit Sal and Mabel Mangano, the husband-and-wife owners of St. Rita's Nursing Home in St. Bernard Parish, just outside of New...

When it comes to boosting antioxidant intake, recent research indicates there's little benefit from taking diet supplements. A better way, according to a report in the September issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter, is eating a diet rich in antioxidant-containing foods. Antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, carotene, lycopene, lutein and many other substances may play a role in helping to prevent...

Human remains yield secrets. Researchers are now probing the secrets of 'bog mummies' some dating back 2000 years, preserved from the Iron Age with amazing detail in peat bogs of Europe. Bog mummies have particularly interesting stories to tell. Physical anthropologists draw conclusions from the eerily preserved hair, leathery skin and other features that emerge from the bogs.

Migraines are more than a bad headache. As nearly 30 million Americans can attest, the throbbing pain of a migraine can be debilitating, lasting from a few hours to several days. The condition can be aggravated by light, sounds, odors, exercise, even routine physical activities. Nausea, with or without vomiting, may occur. Fortunately, treatment helps most people who have migraines.

A nanotechnology developed by a University at Buffalo professor has enabled researchers to identify a molecular signature common to both familial and sporadic cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. It is the first time that a common molecular signature has been found in patients with both familial and sporadic cases, where no other family members have the disease,...

Some Americans used shotguns, while others made do with opera glasses.

AP - Federal and state wildlife officials said Friday they are investigating the killing of a grizzly bear in north-central Idaho, where the last confirmed sighting of the species was in 1946.

Rabies could be eradicated from the world within a decade, according to Edinburgh University experts.