Timely ends

{Click to View Wikipedia Telomere Image & Article}
Glasgow, Scotland -- New research led by a team at the University of Glasgow shows that a good indicator of how long individuals will live can be obtained from early in life using the length of specialised pieces of DNA called telomeres.

Telomeres occur at the ends of the chromosomes, which contain our genetic code. They function a bit like the plastic caps at the end of shoelaces by marking the chromosome ends and protecting them from various process that gradually cause the ends to be worn away.

This method of DNA protection is the same for most animals and plants, including humans, and the eventual loss of the telomere cap is known to cause cells to malfunction. This study is the first in which telomere length has been measured in the same individuals from early life and then repeatedly during the rest of their natural lives.


Read full article: 'Telomere length in early life predicts lifespan'

{NIST Sensor Improvement Brings Analysis Method into Mainstream Image Courtesy NIST & YouTube.com}
Gaithersburg MD, USA & Waterloo ON, Canada -- An advance in sensor design* by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Waterloo's Institute of Quantum Computing (IQC) could unshackle a powerful, yet high-maintenance technique for exploring materials.

The achievement could expand the technique, called neutron interferometryfrom a test of quantum mechanics to a tool for industry as well.

Neutron beams can be used in dozens of ways to probe complex molecules and other advanced materials, but few of the analysis techniques require as much care as neutron interferometry.

The technique treats neutrons as waves, a feature of quantum mechanics, and measures how the neutron is altered as it passes through a sample material. The results can reveal a variety of details about the magnetic, nuclear and structural properties of the sample.

Neutron interferometry is extremely sensitive, but it carries a price: the instruments are so exquisitely sensitive to vibration and temperature that they must be built in a blockhouse the size of a garage, where they can be shielded from seismic activity and maintained at temperatures that are stable to within a few thousandths of a degree Celsius.


Read full article: 'NIST Sensor Improvement Brings Analysis Method into Mainstream'

Could Reveal Way to Observe Enigmatic Particle
{Schematic drawing of collision between two BECs (the gray blobs) that have been “dressed” by laser light (brown arrows) and an additional magnetic field (green arrow). The fuzzy halo shows where atoms have been scattered. The non-uniform projection of the scattering halo on the graph beneath shows that some of the scattering has been d-wave and g-wave.
High-Res Image} CREDIT: Joint Quantum Institute
Gaithersburg MD & College Park, MD, USA -- Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have found a way to manipulate atoms’ internal states with lasers that dramatically influences their interactions in specific ways. Such light-tweaked atoms can be used as proxies to study important phenomena that would be difficult or impossible to study in other contexts.

Their most recent work, appearing in Science,* demonstrates a new class of interactions thought to be important to the physics of superconductors that could be used for quantum computation.

Particle interactions are fundamental to physics, determining, for example, how magnetic materials and high temperature superconductors work.

Learning more about these interactions or creating new “effective” interactions will help scientists design materials with specific magnetic or superconducting properties.


Read full article: 'Atoms Dressed with Light Show New Interactions'

Abingdon, UK & Lake Forest, CA, USA -- Available from AMSBIO, MagSi-proteomics beads are magnetic beads that are an ideal tool for the purification, concentration and desalting of peptides and protein digests.

The surface of the beads has been modified with C4, C8 and C18-alkyl groups that are optimised for reversed phase applications. Sample purity and throughput are areas of key importance for proteomics researchers.

Magnetic beads offer a convenient solid support for a variety of assays and procedures based on affinity purification. They are especially well suited for automated procedures because instrumentation is available to easily mix, incubate and separate the magnetic beads in 96-well plates without columns or centrifugation.


Read full article: 'Magnetic beads provide optimised sample preparation of peptides & protein digest'

Trig, UK -- The Specialised Imaging Multi-Channel Framing Camera (SIM) has established itself as the ultra high-speed camera of choice for many leading university research groups around the world through its proven unmatched performance, reliability, ease-of-use and wide applications flexibility.

Using high-resolution image intensifiers, no-compromise optical design, and double pulsing - SIM Cameras offer the ultimate in ultra-high-speed imaging performance to scientists and engineers.

The high throughput SIM camera optical design offers up to 16 separate channels without compromising resolution, shading, or parallax.


Read full article: 'High Speed Camera for University Research…'

{CAPTION:LROC WAC color shaded relief of the lunar farside (NASA/GSFC/DLR/Arizona State University - click for a larger image).}

Global topography -- a boon to lunar scientists and explorers around the world! The LROC team has released Version 1 of the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) topographic map of the Moon.

This amazing map shows you the ups and downs over nearly the entire Moon, at a scale of 100 meters across the surface, and 20 meters or better vertically. Despite the diminutive size of the WAC (it fits in the palm of one's hand), it images nearly the entire Moon every month.

Every month? Yes! Redundant data? No!

Each month the Moon's lighting changes, so the WAC methodically builds up a record of how different rocks reflect light under different conditions, and adds to the LROC library of stereo observations.


Read full article: 'Lunar Topography:Revealed in Stunning Colors!'

Research Triangle Park NC, USA — The Automation Federation (AF) have announced today that AF and the International Society of Automation (ISA) will exhibit at the 2nd USA Science & Engineering Festival, which will be held 28–29 April 2012, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and other key locations in Washington, D.C.,USA.

The festival is a celebration of science and engineering and will feature more than 1500 hands-on activities and more than 75 performances.

The USA Science & Engineering Festival is the country’s largest national science festival. It was developed to increase public awareness of the importance of science and to encourage youth to pursue careers in science and engineering by celebrating science the same way people celebrate Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes and pop stars.


Read full article: 'The Automation Federation & ISA to Exhibit at 2nd USA Science & Eng'g Festival'

Abingdon, UK & Lake Forest CA, USA -- AMSBIO has added mouse Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (mLIF) to its extensive range of stem cell research products. Functionally tested with mouse ES cells, the affordably-priced AMSBIO recombinant mLIF combines both high quality and high activity.

Mouse Leukemia Inhibitory Factor is a lymphoid factor involved in a number of biological processes including neural and hematopoietic cell differentiation, bone and fat metabolism, and mitogenesis of certain factor dependent cell lines.

Mouse Leukemia Inhibitory Factor has a variety of effects on different cell types in vitro, inhibiting the differentiation of embryonic stem cells and promoting the survival and/or proliferation of primitive hematopoietic precursors and primordial germ cells.


Read full article: 'Mouse Leukemia Inhibitory Factor delivers outstanding results'

NigeriaSat-2's 2.5 m resolution images

Kenley, UK -- The first high resolution satellite imagery has been released from NigeriaSat-2, a 300 kg class earth observation satellite manufactured by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) for the Nigerian space agency (NASRDA).

Benefiting from a high performance Camera with optical components manufactured by Optical Surfaces Ltd (Kenley, UK), the satellite has been able to capture stunning 2.5 m resolution images enabling detailed analysis of ground structures, aircraft and vehicles.

NigeriaSat-2 carries two imagers: a 2.5 m resolution panchromatic and a 5 m resolution multispectral with a swath width of 20 kilometres.


Read full article: 'Satellite Demonstrates Stunning High Resolution Imagery'

Lelystad, The Netherlands & McMurray PA, USA -- Micronic Europe BV has launched a traceable sample management system for donor organisations and banks looking to streamline the storage of blood, bone, allograft and tissue bank materials.

For tissue, bone, blood and allograft organizations, the integrity and handling of each sample is critical.

Drawing upon over 25 years experience of supplying sample storage and management solutions to pharmaceutical, biobanking and forensic labs worldwide, Micronic have developed a traceable sample storage system for donor organizations and tissue banks comprising storage tubes, tube screw caps, racks, tube readers and sample management software.

With a unique 2-dimensional code laser encrypted on the tube bottom, the new Micronic 6 ml storage tubes enable easy and unambiguous identification and storage of your donor and transplant samples.


Read full article: 'Micronic Launch Sample Storage Range for Tissue Banks & Donor Organisations'