Carbon is usually typecast as a villain in terms of the environment but researchers at the University of Warwick have devised a novel way to miniaturise a technology that will make carbon a key material in some extremely green heating products for our homes and in air conditioning equipment for our cars. Most domestic heating and automotive air conditioning requires a lot of energy. Domestic space...

Passing gas — flatulence — is normal and happens to everyone. But for some people, excessive gas and pain interfere with normal activities. The November issue of Mayo Clinic Women`s HealthSource offers tips to reduce gas. Gas is often caused by what and how one eats and drinks. "One common cause is swallowed air," says G. Richard Locke, III, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterolo...

Most children actively notice and think about race. A new study has found that children develop an awareness about racial stereotypes early, and that those biases can be damaging. The study, by researchers at Rush University and Yale University, appears in the November/December 2009 issue of the journal Child Development. This study looked at more than 120 elementary school children from an ethnic...

A new study carried out at the University of Haifa has found that the hormone oxytocin, the "love hormone," which affects behaviors such as trust, empathy and generosity, also affects opposite behaviors, such as jealousy and gloating. "Subsequent to these findings, we assume that the hormone is an overall trigger for social sentiments: when the person`s association is positive, oxyt...

A study appearing in Science Translational Medicine puts scientists one step closer to clinical trials to test a gene delivery strategy to improve muscle mass and function in patients with certain degenerative muscle disorders. Severe weakness of the quadriceps is a defining feature of several neuromuscular disorders. Researchers at Nationwide Children`s Hospital have shown that a gene delivery st...

Although often seen as an inconsequential feature of digital technologies, one`s self-representation, or avatar, in a virtual environment can affect the user`s thoughts, according to research by a University of Texas at Austin communication professor. In the first study to use avatars to prime negative responses in a desktop virtual setting, Jorge Peña, assistant professor in the College of...

Damp environments, poorly maintained heating and air-conditioning systems and carpeting may contribute to poor indoor air quality, according to experts at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Miami Beach, Fla. Americans spend about 90 percent of their time indoors, where they are repeatedly exposed to indoor allergens and airborne particles that c...

A new study reveals that a previously undiscovered mouse gene reduces the two major pathological perturbations commonly associated with Alzheimer`s disease (AD). The research, published in the November 12 issue of the journal Neuron, finds that the novel gene interacts with a key cellular enzyme previously linked with AD pathology, thereby uncovering a new strategy for treating this devastating di...

The long-held theory that our brains use different mechanisms for forming long-term and short-term memories has been challenged by new research from UCL, published in PNAS. Neuroscientists formed this theory based on observation of patients with amnesia, a condition that severely disrupts the ability to form long-lasting memories. Typically, amnesia is caused by injury to the hippocampi, a pair of...

Contrary to more conservative customs, exercising up to the end of pregnancy has no harmful effect on the weight or size of the foetus, new research suggests. This is what has been indicated in a study carried out by researchers of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Polytechnic University of Madrid), which also shows the positive relationship between the weight of sedentary mothers befo...