How Plants Fine-tune Their Natural Chemical Defenses
Even closely related plants produce their own natural chemical cocktails, each set uniquely adapted to the individual plant’s specific habitat. Comparing anti-fungals produced by tobacco and henbane, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered that only a few mutations in a key enzyme are enough to shift the whole output to an entirely new product mixture. (Embargo expired on 07-Sep-2008 at 13:00 ET)
Nature Chemical Biology, 7-Sep-2008
—Salk Institute for Biological Studies

As Easy as 1, 2, 3: Number Sense Correlates with Test Scores
Knowing how precisely a high school freshman can estimate the number of objects in a group gives you a good idea how well he has done in math as far back as kindergarten. Media embedded: Image(s) (Embargo expired on 07-Sep-2008 at 13:00 ET)
Nature
—Johns Hopkins University

Researchers Identify Tiny Gold Clusters as Top-Notch Catalysts
Using a pair of microscopy instruments, researchers for the first time achieved state-of-the-art resolution of active gold nanocrystals absorbed onto iron oxide surfaces. The knowledge from this research could potentially improve the effectiveness of catalytic converters that clean automobile exhaust and breathing devices that protect miners and firefighters. Media embedded: Image(s)
Science, 5-Sep-2008
—National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

LHC Switch-on Fears Are Completely Unfounded
A new report provides comprehensive evidence to confirm that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)’s switch-on this week poses no threat to mankind.
Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics, Volume 35
—Institute of Physics (IOP) Publishing

Theory of the Sun’s Role in Formation of the Solar System Questioned
Results critical to interpretation of GENESIS spacecraft samples of the Sun. Media embedded: Image(s)
Science, 5-Sep-2008
—University of California, San Diego

Recovery Efforts Not Enough for Critically Endangered Asian Vulture
Captive breeding colonies of a critically endangered vulture, whose numbers in the wild have dwindled from tens of millions to a few thousand, are too small to protect the species from extinction, a University of Michigan analysis shows. Media embedded: Image(s)
Biological Conservation, 15-Aug-2008
—University of Michigan

Michigan Integral to World's Largest Physics Experiment
After 20 years of construction, a machine that could either verify or nullify the prevailing theory of particle physics is about to begin its mission.
—University of Michigan

Bottoms Up: Better Organic Semiconductors for Printable Electronics
Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Seoul National University (SNU) have learned how to tweak a new class of polymer-based semiconductors, potentially enabling the design of practical, large-scale manufacturing techniques for a wide range of printable, flexible electronic displays and other devices. Media embedded: Image(s)
J. of the Am. Chemical Society, 23-Aug-2008
—National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

NIST Releases WTC 7 Investigation Report for Public Comment
The fall of the 47-story World Trade Center building 7 (WTC 7) in New York City late in the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, was primarily due to fires, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced on August 21 following an extensive, three-year scientific and technical building and fire safety investigation. Media embedded: Image(s)
—National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Researchers Study How New Helium Ion Microscope Measures Up
Just as test pilots push planes to explore their limits, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are probing the newest microscope technology to further improve measurement accuracy at the nanoscale.  Media embedded: Image(s)
—National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Paleontology Society Urges Repeal of Louisiana Science Education Act
Today the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, the world’s leading organization of vertebrate paleontologists, urges Louisiana citizens and legislators to repeal the “Louisiana Science Education Act” and to prohibit the injection of religious content in America’s public school classrooms.
—Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Virginia Tech Research Magazine Features Environmental Research
From air quality to wildlife scat, the Summer 2008 Virginia Tech Research magazine provides articles about environmental research. Media embedded: Image(s)
—Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

Philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad Make Unprecedented Gift to Endow the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
Los Angeles-based philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad announced today that they have increased their total gift to the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT to $600 million. Adding to their previous gifts totaling $200 million, the Broads today gave an endowment of $400 million to convert the Institute, which had been launched as a 10-year “venture” experiment, into a permanent biomedical research organization aimed at transforming medicine.
—Broad Institute

Cornell Gets $10 Million NSF Grant to Establish New Institute That Applies Computer Power to Sustainability
Could a computer model help stabilize the tuna population? Can we compute how to transition to ethanol fuel without jeopardizing food production? Those and other questions will be tackled by computer scientists, applied mathematicians, economists, biologists and environmental scientists affiliated with Cornell University’s new Institute for Computational Sustainability, being launched with a $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
—Cornell University

Parallel “Nano-soldering” Technique Chosen for Year’s Top-50 by Nanotech Briefs
That’s why a new electroplating process that simultaneously joins many silicon nanowires to many prepatterned electrodes was selected for a 2008 Nano 50 Award by Nanotech Briefs.
Applied Physics Letters, Jul-2007
—Sandia National Laboratories

Researchers Recognized for Top-Cited Scientific Articles
Six scientific articles by researchers in the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) and Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials at North Dakota State University (NDSU), Fargo, appear among the most cited articles published in Volume 23 of Biofouling: The Journal of Bioadhesion and Biofilm.
Biofouling: The Journal of Bioadhesion and Biofilm
—North Dakota State University

UNC Spin-off Company Receives $2 Million Grant to Market Cancer Treatment Technology
A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill spin-off company has been awarded a $2 million grant to commercialize a new technology to improve radiation treatment of prostate cancer.
The grant from the National Cancer Institute, as part of its Small Business Innovation Research program, will enable Morphormics Inc. to market its proprietary technology for rapidly constructing anatomical “roadmaps” of individual patients.
—University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Iowa State Wins $18.5 Million Grant to Create NSF Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals
The National Science Foundation has awarded Iowa State University and its research partners an $18.5 million grant to establish the NSF Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals based at Iowa State. The center's focus will be to develop catalysts that promote the chemical reactions that can efficiently produce biorenewable chemicals. Media embedded: Image(s)
—Iowa State University