Channel 42
Science is the answer to everything.

Scientists from Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank in the United Kingdom and the University of Graz, Austria, have developed a rapid, new method to diagnose seed quality non-invasively and in real time.

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The twelfth tropical cyclone in the Southern Pacific Ocean has formed today, Feb. 1, 2010, and because of its proximity to the Fiji islands, it has been dubbed “Oli.” The GOES-11 satellite passed over Oli early this morning and captured an infrared image of the storm’s clouds.

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Current research suggests that pandemic H1N1 influenza of swine origin has distinct means of transmission from the seasonal flu, yet does not result in the pathogenic severity of avian flu viruses. The related report by Chan et al, “Tropism and Innate Host Responses of the 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Virus in ex Vivo and in Vitro Cultures of Human Conjunctiva and Respiratory Tract,” appears published online ahead of print in the April 2010 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

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Increasing rates of obese and overweight children in the United States may be contributing to a later onset of puberty in boys, say researchers at the University of Michigan Health System.

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New research from Tel Aviv University found that quitting smoking after a heart attack has about the same positive effect as other major interventions such as lipid-lowering agents like statins or more invasive procedures.

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Scientists at the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario, working in collaboration with researchers in Brazil, have used a unique genetically-modified mouse line to reveal a previously unidentified mechanism contributing to heart failure. The study, led by Marco Prado, Robert Gros and Vania Prado of London, Canada and Silvia Guatimosim of Brazil, shows how the decreased release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, a chemical messenger which slows cardiac activity, contributes to heart failure.

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The American Dietetic Association has published an updated position paper that addresses the nutrition aspects of health care for people with developmental disabilities and special health care needs. It emphasizes prevention, coordination of care, the increasing role of technology and the importance of services provided by registered dietitians and dietetic technicians, registered.

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Newborn screening for a metabolic disorder could lead to false positives — adding stress to parents, costing money and possibly subjecting a baby to unnecessary follow-up treatment and dietary restrictions. But the benefits of diagnosing these children early and preventing the risk of mental retardation, disability or death outweigh the costs of a false positive, according to new U-M research published today in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics.

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Painting the roofs of buildings white has the potential to significantly cool cities and mitigate some impacts of global warming, a new study indicates. The research, which is the first computer modeling study to simulate the impacts of white roofs on urban areas worldwide, suggests there may be merit to an idea advanced by US Energy Secretary Steven Chu and other policymakers that white roofs can be an important tool to help society adjust to climate change.

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Amid all the commentary focused on the historic tragedy in Haiti, a tough but important fact — disasters are preventable — has gone virtually unmentioned, according to a nationally recognized expert on disasters at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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