Scientists at the University of Liverpool have discovered a five-sided ice chain structure that they say could be used to modify future weather patterns.

Researchers, in collaboration with University College London and the Fritz-Haber Institut in Berlin, created the first moments of water condensing on matter – a process vital for the formation of clouds in the atmosphere – by analyzing how the two interact on a flat copper surface. Ice has rarely been viewed at the nanoscale before and the team discovered a one-dimensional chain structure built from pentagon-shaped rings, rather than the more commonly seen hexagonal structures of ice formations like those seen in snowflakes.

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has developed the first sensor capable of measuring localized ultrasonic cavitation – the implosion of bubbles in a liquid when a high frequency sound wave is applied. The sensor will help hospitals ensure that their instruments are properly disinfected before they are used on patients. The device recently won the annual Outstanding Ultrasonics Product award from the Ultrasonic Industry Association.

Australian scientists say they have made a discovery that may one day remove the need for a lifetime of toxic immunosuppressive drugs after organ transplants.

Scientists have completed the first study of microbes that live within the plumbing of deep-sea mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Mexico, where conditions may resemble those in extraterrestrial environments and early Earth. The study was conducted in an area where clusters of seafloor vents spew mud, oil, brine and gases that support food chains independently of the Sun.

And it's about time.  Only about five percent of the world's oceans have been explored but the dark side of the moon has been throughly mapped.

Specialized Microbes Thrive in Harsh Environments

A new Hubble image highlights striking swirling dust lanes and glittering globular clusters in oddball galaxy NGC 7049.

The NASA/ESA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured this image of NGC 7049, a mysterious looking galaxy on the border between spiral and elliptical galaxies. NGC 7049 is found in the constellation of Indus, and is the brightest of a cluster of galaxies, a so-called Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG). Typical BCGs are some of the oldest and most massive galaxies. They provide excellent opportunities for astronomers to study the elusive globular clusters lurking within.

Video may have killed the radio star(*) but violent video games may save the vision of teens who play them, according to a new Tel Aviv University study.

Dr. Uri Polat of Tel Aviv University's Goldschlager Eye Institute and his collaborators compared the effects of playing violent action games like "Unreal Tournament 2004" and "Call of Duty 2" to other video games which do not require high levels of visual-motor coordination, like "The Sims."

A new, simpler programming language for wireless sensor networks, written with the novice programmer in mind, can be used by geologists for monitoring volcanoes and biologists who rely on them to understand birds' nesting behaviors.

Finding an embedded systems expert to program a sensor network is difficult and costly and can lead to errors because the person using the network is not the person programming it. The cost and disconnect associated with the situation means these networks aren't being used to their full potential.

Candy Gunther Brown, an associate professor in the Indiana University Bloomington Department of Religious Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a $150,000 grant to pursue research on divine healing practices and their involvement in globalization. 

The grant comes from the Flame of Love Project, funded by the John Templeton Foundation. It complements a $64,500 in research funding that Indiana University has provided Brown in the past year.

Today, if you like playing with electricity, you can hop over to Amazon and buy the Extreme Snap Circuits set and put together transistors, switches, lamps, motors, resistors, and capacitors to build all sorts of fun projects, from an auto-off night light to the perpetually entertaining space war timer. More ambitious engineers can buy off-the-shelf parts to build appliances, computers, and control systems for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

What if you could engineer biology this way? What would you build? Physicist and scientific prophet Freeman Dyson would love to build genetically engineered pets and ornamental plants. Standford biologist Drew Endy envisions a collection of standardized biological parts called BioBricks, off-the-shelf modules that biological engineers can assemble like snap circuits into amazing biological machines. An annual undergraduate competition, the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition draws teams of biogeeks who design glowing microbes that spell "Hello World" on an agar plate and  gut bacteria that smell like mint or bananas.

This all sounds exciting, but what's the reality? Do biological engineers, or synthetic biologists (as they are most commonly called) have anything close to the know-how of today's electrical or aerospace engineers? The answer, obviously, is no.

EXETER, California, April 7 /PRNewswire/ --

Leading Sucralose manufacturer Guangdong Food Industry Institute/LP Food Ingredient Co. Ltd. (GDFII/LP) today announced that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington, D.C. ruled in its favor in a Section 337 patent dispute (docket no. 337-TA-604) filed against the company by its competitor, Tate Lyle Corporation (TL).