Brain Wiring Continues Well Into Our 20s
The human brain doesn’t stop developing at adolescence, but continues well into our 20s, research from the University of Alberta demonstrates.

Vitamin D Deficiency Linked With Severe Asthma
Children with severe therapy-resistant asthma may have poorer lung function and worse symptoms due to lower levels of vitamin D in their blood.

Reprogramming Muscle Stem Cells to Regenerate
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have turned back the clock on mature muscle tissue, coaxing it back to form new muscle.

September 22, 2011--------News Archive

BPA Changes In-Vitro Egg, Risking Down Syndrome
Bisphenol A is omnipresent in the plastic of common products such as beverage bottles, cans or baby bottles.

'Contaminants' Detected in Narragansett Watershed
Researchers say 'Emerging contaminants of concern' have been detected throughout the Narragansett Bay watershed.

New Plastics for Baby Bottles, Shopping Bags, More
With most of the plastics that define modern life dating to the1930s-1960s, a new breed of these ubiquitous materials are starting to gain a foothold.

September 21, 2011--------News Archive

Epigenetic Changes Don't (Neccessarily) Last
The first comprehensive inventory of epigenetic changes over several generations, shows that these changes often do not last.

Vacuum Device Makes Cellular Exploration Easier
New floating microscopic device will allow researchers to study a wide range of cellular processes.

September 20, 2011--------News Archive

11 Genetic Regions Link Schizophrenia/Bipolar Risk
Common genetic variants contribute to the risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, an international research consortium has discovered.

Pediatric Brain Tumors
Regulatory protein presents potential drug target.

Crosstalk Between Bone, Fat and Pancreatic Cells
Cells in bone, fat and the pancreas appear to be talking to each other and one thing they likely are saying is, "Get moving."

September 19, 2011--------News Archive

Gene Catastrophe Causes Developmental Delay
Research has identified some cases of developmental delay or cognitive disorders associated with a sudden chromosomal catastrophe early in development.

Mom's High-Fat Diet 'Programs' Her Baby to Be Fat
This is the first study to demonstrate that a long-term maternal high-fat diet results in the deposition, in utero, of excess body fat in the newborn.

Length of Song Linked to Size of Bird's Upper Brain
Research has proven that the capacity for learning in birds is not linked to overall brain size, but to the relative size and proportion of their specific brain regions.

At long last, new plastics are being generated for baby bottles, shopping bags, and much more.

With most of the plastics that define modern life dating to the1930s-1960s, a new breed of these ubiquitous materials are starting to gain a foothold in products ranging from teapots to potato chip bags to plastic plant pots that biodegrade right in the soil.

That's the topic of the covers story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS' weekly newsmagazine.

In the article, C&EN Senior Editor Alexander H. Tullo explains that a "golden age of polymers," spanning the late 1930s through the mid-1960s, engendered nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyester, and other plastics that have replaced everything from silk to steel in everyday products.

Those traditional plastics were so successful that they fostered development of an infrastructure with multi-million-ton-per-year production for plastic beverage bottles, for instance, and shopping bags.

With that success, manufacturers were reluctant to switch to new and untested plastics, and companies that tried to introduce innovative polymers faced an Everest-like-landscape of hurdles.

The article describes how a new genre of plastics is overcoming those barriers.

Among them is a new plastic with the crystal-clear clarity, toughness, resistance to heat, and other advantages needed to compete with polycarbonate.

Made without the worrisome bisphenol A (BPA), it is replacing polycarbonate in baby bottles and beverage bottles. Another new plastic has potential for fighting global warming, consisting of consisting of 40 per cent carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

Original article: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-09/acs-all092111.php