Researchers have determined the isotope composition of the rare trace elements Hafnium and Neodymium in 2.7 billion year-old seawater using high purity chemical sediments from Temagami Banded Iron Formation (Canada) and concluded that large landmasses must have existed then.

The Temagami Banded Iron Formation was formed 2.7 billion years ago during the Neoarchean period and can be used as an archive because the isotopic composition of many chemical elements such as Hafnium and Neodymium directly mirrors the composition of Neoarchean seawater. These two very rare elements allow many valuable conclusions about weathering processes to be drawn. Earlier work has shown that these Canadian rocks only contain chemical elements that directly precipitated from ocean water.

Every child learns about photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert sunlight into energy.

It sounds simple but duplicating it elegantly remains one of the biggest challenges for chemists. Currently, the most efficient methods that we have of making fuel, like hydrogen, from sunlight and water involve expensive metal catalysts like platinum.

Obesity is a growing problem, that is the downside to a a world where agricultural science has allowed plentiful food to be grown cheaply. With kids the problem is compounded. Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. A population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

When you think of treating urinary incontinence in senior women, what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Probably not dancing. But maybe it will work, and it sounds like fun. 

For a study of potential benefits of dancing (and virtual reality), researchers added a series of dance exercises via a video game console to a physiotherapy program for pelvic floor muscles. The results of the small study (24 participants) was a greater decrease in daily urine leakage than for the usual program (so, an improvement in effectiveness) as well as no dropouts from the program and a higher weekly participation rate (an increase in compliance). 

The problem with diagnosing and treating pain is that it's so subjective. But a new paper in Pain says that brain structure may hold some answers. 

Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center say that
the amount of grey matter in certain regions of the brain
 is related to how intensely people perceive pain.  

The brain is made up of both grey and white matter. Grey matter processes information much like a computer, while white matter coordinates communications between the different regions of the brain.

One of the less positive aspects of race-baiting culture left over from the 1960s is the charge that you are 'not black enough' if you don't dress, act or speak in a stereotypical way.

A new blood test developed by ImmusanT in Boston and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute can rapidly and accurately diagnose celiac disease without the need for prolonged gluten exposure, according to a preliminary result with 48 participants.

The new diagnostic test gave a result within 24 hours and the preliminary findings indicated it could accurately detect celiac disease. Larger studies will be needed to verify the results.

A little studied chemical compound dubbed BMH-21 targets and shuts down a common cancer process in laboratory-grown human tumor cell lines.  BMH-21  disrupted tumor cell division and prevented growth of advanced cancer cells. 

Johns Hopkins researcher Marikki Laiho, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues focused on the ability ofBMH-21 to sabotage the transcription pathway RNA Polymerase pathway (POL I), shutting down the ability of mutant cancer genes to communicate with cells and replicate. Their research linked the pathway to p53 gene activity. P53 is a tumor suppressor gene, a protein that regulates cell growth, and it is the most frequently mutated suppressor gene in cancer.