Researchers have what they think may be a basic recipe for capturing and maintaining indefinitely the most fundamental of embryonic stem cells from essentially any mammal, including cows, pigs and even humans. Two new studies reported in Cell, show that a cocktail first demonstrated to work in mice earlier this year, which includes inhibitory chemicals, also can be used to successfully isolate embryonic stem cells from rats.

Authentic rat embryonic stem cells had never before been established.

A slow, chronic starvation of the brain as we age appears to be one of the major triggers of a biochemical process that causes some forms of Alzheimer's disease.

A new study from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine has found when the brain doesn't get enough sugar glucose -- as might occur when cardiovascular disease restricts blood flow in arteries to the brain -- a process is launched that ultimately produces the sticky clumps of protein that appear to be a cause of Alzheimer's.

How electrical traffic is routed through the brain has always been of great interest to psychologists. It was once thought that electrical signals always followed set paths through the brain, much in the way the heart pushes blood through the cardiovascular system. Many signals do, in fact, follow the same paths over and over again, but what is now more generally understood is that these pathways are in no way hardwired. The plasticity of the brain, or its ability to change based on the needs of the organism, has now been verified using a number of independent experiments.

“I discovered a flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works.” This, infamously, was uttered by former chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan, who admitted that his view of how economies work was deeply flawed, and yet refused to issue an apology for years of federal intervention (or lack thereof) based on his “flawed” model. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are suffering economic hardship as a result of someone making policy decisions on the basis of a flawed assumption.

HANOVER, Germany, December 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Access specialist arcutronix introduces its high flexible 10G multiprotocol transponders FCX10G and FCX10G2. The fiber optic transponders are new members of the manageable arcutronix system products and allow data transmission via single or dual independent channels. Each channel supports data rates from 9.95 Gbit/s up to 11.32 Gbit/s for all 10G applications, such as Ethernet LAN/WAN, SDH/Sonet, Fiber Channel, Fibre Channel with FEC and OTN.

Sports drinks containing protein are better at improving athletes' performance. Research published in BioMed Central's open access Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition has shown that drinks containing a mix of carbohydrate and protein are superior to carbohydrate-only drinks in improving cyclists' recovery from exercise.

Fish oil protects against deaths from heart problems, but doesn't provide a clear benefit in heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias), according a study published on bmj.com today.

Consuming oily fish at least two to four times a week is recommended for patients after a heart attack. But the evidence for the protective effect of fish oil supplements is based on one large trial from over 10 years ago. More recent trials have showed no beneficial effect of fish oil on patient outcomes.

Deriving plentiful electricity from sunlight at a modest cost is a challenge with immense implications for energy, technology, and climate policy. A paper in a special energy issue of Optics Express, describes a relatively new approach to solar cells: lacing them with nanoscopic metal particles. As the authors describe in the article, this approach has the potential to greatly improve the ability of solar cells to harvest light efficiently. 

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, December 23 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Systems To Improve The Quality And Throughput Of Patients' Treatments

The Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre (BOCOC, Nicosia, Cyprus) recently announced the acquisition of two Elekta Synergy(R) systems and an Elekta Synergy(R) Platform for the non-invasive treatment of cancer. The systems will be delivered throughout 2009, with the first installation expected to begin in March. The acquisition was made with the help of a donation from the Bank of Cyprus Medical Foundation

PETALUMA, California, December 22 /PRNewswire/ --

- Joint Solution Simplifies Migration of Legacy Traffic, Including Cellular Backhaul, to IP-Centric Networks

Teknovus, the leading provider of EPON (Ethernet Passive Optical Network) chips for the deployment of triple play services in broadband access networks, and RAD Data Communications, the industry pioneer in pseudowire technology, today announced support for the migration of legacy TDM services to next generation IP networks.