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• With altered brain chemistry, fear is more easily overcome
• Scientists Identify New Molecules Important for Vision and Brain Function
• Helices of light: dark helices with a bright future
• ORNL microscopy reveals workings behind promising inexpensive catalyst
• Knotty proteins present new puzzle
• Mountain of data awaits at Mount St. Helens
• Offspring of older fathers may live longer

With altered brain chemistry, fear is more easily overcome Posted: 12 Jun 2012 05:10 AM PDT Researchers at Duke University and the National Institutes of Health have found a way to calm the fears of anxious mice with a drug that alters their brain chemistry. They've also found that human genetic differences related to the same brain chemistry influence how well people cope with fear and stress. It's an advance in understanding the brain's fear circuitry that the research team says may hold particular promise for people at risk for anxiety disorders, including those suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). read more

Scientists Identify New Molecules Important for Vision and Brain Function Posted: 12 Jun 2012 04:53 AM PDT In a pair of related studies, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified several proteins that help regulate cells’ response to light—and the development of night blindness, a rare disease that abolishes the ability to see in dim light. read more

Helices of light: dark helices with a bright future Posted: 12 Jun 2012 04:44 AM PDT Laser beams can be made to form dark as well as bright intensity helices, or corkscrews of light.  In a paper shortly to appear in Optics Express, Dr Ole Steuernagel, at the University of Hertfordshire's Science and Technology Research Institute, has now shown that forming dark helices can have considerable advantages over employing their commonly considered bright cousins. read more

ORNL microscopy reveals workings behind promising inexpensive catalyst Posted: 11 Jun 2012 01:24 PM PDT A newly developed carbon nanotube material could help lower the cost of fuel cells, catalytic converters and similar energy-related technologies by delivering a substitute for expensive platinum catalysts. The precious metal platinum has long been prized for its ability to spur key chemical reactions in a process called catalysis, but at more than $1,000 an ounce, its high price is a limiting factor for applications like fuel cells, which rely on the metal. read more

Knotty proteins present new puzzle Posted: 11 Jun 2012 01:11 PM PDT Strings of all kinds, when jostled, wind up in knots. It turns out that happens even when the strings are long strands of molecules that make up proteins. A new study by scientists at Rice University and elsewhere examines structures of proteins that not only twist and turn themselves into knots, but also form slipknots that, if anybody could actually see them, might look like shoelaces for cells. read more

Mountain of data awaits at Mount St. Helens Posted: 11 Jun 2012 12:52 PM PDT Rice University Professor Alan Levander and a crew of researchers are preparing to perform what amounts to an ultrasound examination of Mount St. Helens in a project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). read more

Offspring of older fathers may live longer Posted: 11 Jun 2012 12:42 PM PDT If your father and grandfather waited until they were older before reproducing, you might experience life-extending benefits. Biologists assume that a slow pace of aging requires that the body invest more resources in repairing cells and tissues. A new Northwestern University study suggests that our bodies might increase these investments to slow the pace of aging if our father and grandfather waited until they were older before having children. read more

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