A team of scientists from Cardiff University’s School of Earth and Ocean Sciences and Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales travelled to Africa to find new evidence of climate change which helps explain some of the mystery surrounding the appearance of the Antarctic ice sheet.

Ice sheet formation in the Antarctic is one of the most important climatic shifts in Earth’s history. However, previous temperature records show no evidence of the oceans cooling at this time, but instead suggest they actually warmed, presenting a confusing picture of the climate system which has long been a mystery in palaeoclimatology.

Utilizing a technique that combines low temperature measurements and theoretical calculations, Hebrew University of Jerusalem scientists and others have revealed for the first time the electronic structure of single DNA molecules.

The knowledge of the electronic properties of DNA is an important issue in many scientific areas from biochemistry to nanotechnology -- for example in the study of DNA damage by ultraviolet radiation that may cause the generation of free radicals and genetic mutations. In those cases, DNA repair occurs spontaneously via an electronic charge transfer along the DNA helix that restores the damaged molecular bonds.

TOKYO, February 28 /PRNewswire/ --

Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd. President: Dr. Yuzuru Matsuda announced that Kyowa Pharmaceutical, Inc. (New Jersey, United States), its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, received on February 25, 2008 a Not approvable letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for istradefylline (KW-6002), its investigational drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

In the not approvable letter FDA expressed concern if the efficacy findings support clinical utility of istradefylline (KW-6002). The FDA requested an overall summary of nonclinical mineralization findings. Additionally, the FDA asked for clinical pharmacology follow-up information as a Phase 4 commitment.

Researchers have discovered that neurons can use two different neurotransmitters that target the same receptor on a receiving neuron to shape the transmission of a nerve impulse.

Although the researchers’ experiments identified the “co-release” of the two neurotransmitters only in specific types of neurons in the brain’s auditory center, their finding may apply more broadly in the brain, they said.

Thus, the finding may represent a new way in which the brain precisely modulates the nerve impulses that travel from neuron to neuron in its circuitry.

ASHBY DE LA ZOUCH, England, February 28 /PRNewswire/ --

Siemens today underlined its commitment to creating greener railways, with the launch of a major initiative at today's RAIL 2008 conference.

It may not be for all people, but I am betting 90% of the readers of this site and 100% of the writers would buy this car; active suspension, six-wheel drive with independent steering for each wheel, no doors, no windows, no seats and the only color available is gold.

And no passenger seat. Pure off-roading heaven.

But NASA's latest concept vehicle is meant to go way off-road, as in 240,000 miles from the nearest pavement, and drive on the moon.

Children who under-achieve at school may just have poor working memory rather than low intelligence according to researchers who have produced the world's first tool to assess memory capacity in the classroom.

The researchers from Durham University, who surveyed over three thousand children, found that ten per cent of school children across all age ranges suffer from poor working memory seriously affecting their learning. Nationally, this equates to almost half a million children in primary education alone being affected.

However, the researchers identified that poor working memory is rarely identified by teachers, who often describe children with this problem as inattentive or as having lower levels of intelligence.

Boulders the size of footballs could help scientists predict the West Antarctic Ice Sheet’s (WAIS) contribution to sea-level rise according to new research published this week in Geology.

Scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Durham University and Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) collected boulders deposited by three glaciers in the Amundsen Sea Embayment – a region currently the focus of intense international scientific attention because it is changing faster than anywhere else on the WAIS and it has the potential to raise sea-level by around 1.5 meters.

Analysis of the boulders has enabled the scientists to start constructing a long-term picture of glacier behavior in the region.

Taking the supplement ginkgo biloba had no clear-cut benefit on the risk of developing memory problems, according to a study published in Neurology®.

The three-year study involved 118 people age 85 and older with no memory problems. Half of the participants took ginkgo biloba extract three times a day and half took a placebo. During the study, 21 people developed mild memory problems, or questionable dementia: 14 of those took the placebo and seven took the ginkgo extract. Although there was a trend favoring ginkgo, the difference between those who took gingko versus the placebo was not statistically significant.

RALEIGH, North Carolina, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

DARA BioSciences(TM) (Nasdaq: DARA) announced today the appointment of Haywood D. Cochrane, Jr. to the Board of Directors. Mr. Cochrane was appointed to fill a Board vacancy and will serve on the Company's Audit and Compensation Committees. The appointment was effective February 21, 2008.

In making the announcement DARA's Board Chairman, Richard Franco, Sr., commented, "We are pleased that Haywood has joined us as a Director. His vast knowledge and successful experience in the healthcare industry will further strengthen DARA's already skilled Board."