16485636
submission
GarryFre writes:
Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center have found a new therapeutic target that can potentially lead to a new way to prevent the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The target called neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase) is a protein that when activated, can cause a chain of reactions in the cell leading to neuronal death and memory loss. Already a substance has been found that shows some promise in halting the progression of the disease.
16250670
submission
GarryFre writes:
It has been said that Fusion is 50 years away for quite decades but now work has actually been started ...
Digging has begun in the south of France on the planned site for the world's first Fusion Reactor. A tokomak is a torus shaped magnetic confinement device which is necessary to withstand the temperatures associated with fusion that are so high, solid materials can't hold them. As such, the building represents the future core of ITER. (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor).
It will be interesting to see if it takes 50 years to build it.
16129338
submission
GarryFre writes:
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Someday, the secrets of fireflies or glowing sea plankton could save an American soldier in battle, a Navy SEAL on a dive or a military pilot landing after a mission.
That's the hope behind a growing field of military-sponsored research into bioluminescence, a phenomenon that's under the microscope in laboratories around the country.
This phenomenon is noteworthy because this produces light without wasting energy because it does not generate any heat.
A possible military use of bio-luminescence would be creating biodegradable landing zone markers that helicopters can spot even as wind from their rotors kicks up dirt.
Soldiers have used bio-luminescent creatures in battle for centuries, including Japanese troops who smeared one creature's dried remains on their wet hands to help them read maps and compasses during World War II.
But bioluminescence can be a foe, too, especially for the Navy if its vessels or divers are amid the microorganisms that glow when disturbed.
