Channel 42
Science is the answer to everything.

Particulate pollution thought to be holding climate change in check by reflecting sunlight instead enhances warming when combined with airborne soot. An instrument that measures the chemical composition and optical properties of aerosols in real time has revealed that fresh soot quickly becomes coated with a spherical shell of other chemicals, such as sulfate and nitrate through light-driven chemical reactions. This lens-like shell enhances absorption of light by a factor of 1.6 over pure soot particles.

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A new computer model developed at MIT can help solve a problem that has plagued drug companies trying to develop promising new treatments made of antibodies: Such drugs have a relatively short shelf life because they tend to clump together, rendering them ineffective.

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Accelerated snowmelt — precipitated by desert dust blowing into the mountains — changes how alpine plants respond to seasonal climate cues that regulate their life cycles, according to results of a new study reported this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. These results indicate that global warming may have a greater influence on plants’ annual growth cycles than previously thought.

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People are more likely to enroll in conservation programs if their neighbors do — a tendency that should be exploited when it comes to protecting the environment, according to results of a new study.

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Gerardo Chowell-Puente, a mathematical epidemiologist at Arizona State University, is co-author of a new study of the A(H1N1) influenza pandemic strain circulating around the world. The study’s findings reveal an age shift in the proportion of cases toward a younger population when compared with historical patterns of seasonal influenza in Mexico. The findings are published June 29 online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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In a study with important consequences for studies on the effects of chemicals on steroid responses in humans, a team of French and American scientists, including Michael E. Baker, PhD, professor in UC San Diego’s department of medicine, division of nephrology-hypertension, have found that — contrary to earlier assumptions — enzymes used for the synthesis of steroids in insects, snails, octopuses and corals are unrelated to those used in humans.

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Advanced composite materials are playing a vital role in improved design and reduced operating costs for renewable energy technologies. Research presented today, Tuesday, June 30, will highlight how wind, marine and solar power could address these challenges within the renewable energy industry.

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An international team of researchers has modified chlorophyll from an alga so that it resembles the extremely efficient light antennae of bacteria. The team was then able to determine the structure of these light antennae. This is the first step to converting sunlight into energy using an artificial leaf.

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New research using high-speed digital imaging shows that, at least for some insects, wings that flex and deform, something like what happens to a heavy beach towel when you snap it to get rid of the sand, are the best for staying aloft.

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Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have discovered that an ingredient in human breast milk protects and repairs the delicate intestines of newborn babies. The ingredient called pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor, or PSTI, is found at its highest levels in colostrum — the milk produced in the first few days after birth. The new study highlights the importance of breastfeeding in the first few days after the birth.

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