Week In Science

UD scientists build an 'IceTop' at the bottom of the world tells of an ongoing construction project, the goal of which, is to build a unique telescope which will detect elusive particles known as a neutrinos. Involved in the project is the University of Wisconsin, which assumes a leading role, as well as the University of Delaware and other universities in the United States. Funding primarily comes from the National Science Foundation but funds also come from international sources located in a number of countries.

After a short *cough cough* hiatus, Week in Science is back with new science stories. We hope that you'll continue to find the content interesting and informative. There's a whole world out there, and so much to study. So when we aren't out studying it ourselves, we'll be here giving you the heads up on what has been happening this week in science.

The article New process generates hydrogen from aluminum alloy to run engines, fuel cells describes a potential new technology which may enable the refueling of engines with nothing more than water.

You'll need to know something about actin to fully appreciate the propulsion patterns described by a paper entitled 'A kinematic description of the trajectories of Listeria monocytogenes propelled by actin comet tails,' authored by V. B. Shenoy, D. T. Tambe, A. Prasad, and J. A. Theriot and published in PNAS. This site provides tests and information about actin useful to both novices and those possessing familiarity with actin structures. Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterial pathogen, was the object of study. Specifically analyzed were movement patterns made as Listeria propels itself inside infected cells. The bacteria employs a unique strategy to move and evade immunological responses. It involves utilizing the cytoskeleton protein actin of a host cell. This leaves a trail of actin molecules that traces a variety of geometric shapes marking the movement of the organism. These shapes were analyzed and categorized in the paper and used to create a mechanistic model.

Team Detects 'Top Quark,' a Basic Constituent of Matter reports a finding of the top quark; the heaviest known elementary particle. The top quark is one of nature's fundamental building blocks but does not occur naturally. Instead it must be generated in a high energy particle accelerator. A group of 50 physicists led by Ann Heinson produced the top quark without also producing its antimatter counterpart. This was described as an extremely rare event. As the article explains: "The discovery of the single top quark could help scientists better explain how the universe works and how objects acquire their mass, thereby assisting human understanding of the fundamental nature of the universe."

Recent findings, noted in two news releases, call for an alteration of our understanding of gene expression. The first release cited, focuses on the interaction of DNA and proteins that bind to it. The second deals with an editing mechanism and its regulatory effects, particulary with respect to non-coding RNA.

The first two stories involve hydrogen and some research discoveries made in the UK. A University of Bath press release tell of of an invention "which stores and releases hydrogen at room temperature, at the flick of a switch, and promises to help make hydrogen power a viable clean technology for the future." The invention could move forward efforts to develop pollution-free cars through burning hydrogen. The by-product of this is water but an obstacle to hydrogen burning vehicles has been the inability to safely and efficiently store hydrogen on vehicles.

A New Scientist article Life goes on without 'vital' DNA details a story of a surprising find. It is about the deletion of huge parts of a mouse genome, thought to be conserved by evolution, without observing effects on the mice as a consequence of the deletions. It was thought that because the deleted parts were conserved, they therefore had important functions.

A three decade long search for an elusive particle called the axion has now ended with the detection of the particle.

Axions lie in a class of particles that include the as yet undetected Higgs Boson. It has also been suggested that axions form a large component of dark matter. The detection of the axion is thus a very important discovery for particle physicists.

The article Toxin Buster: New technique makes cottonseeds edible, describes a genetic modification of cottonseeds which makes them edible by removing a poisonous compound known as gossypol. Researchers employed a technique called RNA interference which short circuits the gossypol synthesis process by matching an RNA to one specific for gossypol. The amount of protein made available from cottonseeds without gossypol could supply the daily needs of up to 500 million people based on current crop estimates.