Scientists have turned skin cells from patients with Lou Gehrig’s disease into motor neurons that are genetically identical to the patients’ own neurons. An unlimited number of these neurons can now be created and studied in the laboratory, a capability which should result in a better understanding of the disease and, one day, lead to new treatments or even the production of healthy cells that can replace the diseased ones. ‘The hope of some scientists is that they might be able to harness stem cells and program them to generate pluripotent stem cell lines [capable of differentiating into many different types of cells] which have the genes of patients,’ said Kevin Eggan, co-author of a paper appearing July 31 in the online version of Science. ‘This would open up the possibility of producing a large supply of immune-matched cells to that patient that could be used in transplantation methodologies.’ ‘The other hope, and one that’s much closer upon us . . . is if you could produce the cell types that become sick in that person, you might be able to use them in the laboratory to come to understand basic aspects of the disease and take […]
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said falling U.S. home prices are ‘nowhere near the bottom” and the resulting market turmoil isn’t showing signs of abating. While the odds of a recession are 50-50, achieving stable markets will ‘take a while,” Greenspan said today in a CNBC interview. The economy grew at a 1.9 percent annualized rate in the second quarter after expanding 0.9 percent in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said in Washington. Gross domestic product was revised to show a contraction in the final three months of 2007. More Americans filed claims for unemployment insurance last week than at any time in more than five years, the Labor Department said. Fed policy makers have cut the benchmark rate to 2 percent from 5.25 percent since September, halting the reductions in June amid rising concern about inflation. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest sources of money for U.S. home loans, are a ‘major accident waiting to happen,” Greenspan said. ‘The solution” is the ‘nationalization” of the companies, he said. After the former Fed chairman spoke, Washington-based Fannie Mae dropped 69 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $11.52 at 3:48 in New York Stock […]
In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn’t shine. Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today’s announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy. Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. ‘This is the nirvana of what we’ve been talking about for years,’ said MIT’s Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. ‘Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon.’ Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera’s lab, have developed an unprecedented process that will allow the sun’s energy to be used to split water […]
A new drug halts the devastating progress of Alzheimer’s disease, say British scientists. It is said to be more than twice as effective as current treatments. A daily capsule of remember, as the drug is known, stops Alzheimer’s disease progressing by as much as 81 per cent, according to trial results. Patients with the brain disorder had no significant decline in their mental function over a 19-month period. ‘We appear to be bringing the worst affected parts of the brain functionally back to life,’ said Dr Claude Wischik, who led the research. It is the first time medication has been developed to target the ‘tangles’ in the brain that destroy nerve cells, leading to deteriorating memory. The drug helps to disrupt this process, preventing the formation of new tangles and loosening those already created. Last night the findings were hailed as the biggest breakthrough in the battle against Alzheimer’s since 1907. Eventually the drug could be used to stop the disease in its early stages before symptoms have even appeared, it is hoped. It could be available to patients within four years although, in the wake of the NHS ban on […]
GENEVA — World trade talks collapsed here on Tuesday after seven years of on-again, off-again negotiations, in the latest sign of India’s and China’s growing might on the world stage and the decreasing ability of the United States to impose its will globally. Pascal Lamy, director general of the World Trade Organization, could not bridge differences between a group of newly confident developing nations and established Western economic powers. In the end, too few of the real power brokers proved committed enough to make compromises necessary to deliver a deal. The failure appeared to end, for the near term at least, any hopes of a global deal to further open markets, cut farm subsidies and strengthen the international trading system. ‘It is a massive blow to confidence in the global economy,’ said Peter Power, spokesman for the European Commission. ‘The confidence shot in the arm that we needed badly will not now happen.’ After nine consecutive days of high-level talks, discussions reached an impasse when the United States, India and China refused to compromise over measures to protect farmers in developing countries from greater liberalization of trade. Supporters of the so-called Doha round of talks, […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
