Clark Science Center Intranet

NASA Ames helps re-enter the Dragon
Decades of rigorous research, testing and development performed in the Entry Systems and Technology Division at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., has garnered Ames' thermal protection engineers the respect of not just other government agencies, but also commercial entities. The suc...

Fukushima's radiation effects: World experts to assess impacts from Japanese ...
World experts on the effects of atomic radiation have agreed to start an assessment of the radiological impact of the events at the TEPCO (Fukushima-Daiichi) nuclear power plant following the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Fever during pregnancy more than doubles the risk of autism or developmental ...
Mothers who had fevers during their pregnancies were more than twice as likely to have a child with autism or developmental delay than were mothers of typically developing children, and that taking medication to treat fever countered its effect.

RNA: From messenger to guardian of genome integrity
A new and unexpected role for RNA is identified: the defence of genome integrity and stability. New research shows that an until now unknown class of RNA -- the newly christened DDRNA -- plays a key role in activation of the molecular alarms necessary to safeguard our genome when DNA damage from int...

Stem-cell-growing surface enables bone repair
Researchers have demonstrated that a special surface, free of biological contaminants, allows adult-derived stem cells to thrive and transform into multiple cell types. Their success brings stem cell therapies another step closer.

Factors behind past lemur species extinctions put surviving species in 'ecolo...
At least 17 species of lemurs have vanished on Madagascar over the last 2,000 years, with human activity likely a central factor. New research examined eight of those extinctions, and findings suggest that surviving species don't necessarily benefit when competitors die out.

Hacking code of leaf vein architecture solves mysteries, allows predictions o...
Life scientists have discovered new laws leaves follow as they grow and evolve. These easy-to-apply mathematical rules can be used to better predict the climates of the past, as determined from the fossil record. This research has a range of fundamental implications in global ecology, and can improv...

Hormone plays surprise role in fighting skin infections
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are molecules produced in the skin to fend off infection-causing microbes. Vitamin D has been credited with a role in their production and in the body?s overall immune response, but scientists say a hormone previously associated only with maintaining calcium homeostasis...

Americans find doing their own taxes simpler than improving diet and health
Most Americans (52 percent) have concluded that figuring out their income taxes is easier than knowing what they should and shouldn?t eat to be healthier, according to a new survey.

Wearing two different hats: Moral decisions may depend on the situation
An individual's sense of right or wrong may change depending on their activities at the time -- and they may not be aware of their own shifting moral integrity -- according to a new study looking at why people make ethical or unethical decisions.

How immune cells change wiring of developing mouse brain
Researchers have shown in mice how immune cells in the brain target and remove unused connections between brain cells during normal development. This research sheds light on how brain activity influences brain development, and highlights the newly found importance of the immune system in how the bra...

Big step toward quantum computing: Efficient and tunable interface for quantu...
Quantum computers may someday revolutionize the information world. But in order for quantum computers at distant locations to communicate with one another, they have to be linked together in a network. While several building blocks for a quantum computer have already been successfully tested in the ...

An introduced bird competitor tips the balance against Hawaiian species
Tens of thousands of birds native to Hawaii have been lost in the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, when the Japanese white-eye, a small perching bird originally introduced to Hawaii in 1929 to control insects, increased in numbers. The increase was initiated in a restoration area on the refu...

Treating pain with transplants: Reduced pain from integrating embryonic cells...
Transplanting embryonic cells into adult mouse spinal cord can alleviate persistent pain. The research suggests that reduced pain results from successful integration of the embryonic cells into the host spinal cord. The findings open avenues for clinical strategies aimed not just at treating the sym...

Reverse engineering epilepsy's 'miracle' diet
Researchers link seizure resistance to a protein that modifies cellular metabolism in the brain. The findings, which shed light on the extremely low-carb ketogenic diet, may lead to the development of new treatments for epilepsy.

Geological record shows air up there came from below
The influence of the ground beneath us on the air around us could be greater than scientists had previously thought, according to new research that links the long-ago proliferation of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere to a sudden change in the inner workings of our planet.

A whale of a discovery: New sensory organ found in rorqual whales
Scientists have discovered a sensory organ in rorqual whales that coordinates its signature lunge-feeding behavior -- and may help explain their enormous size. Rorquals are a subgroup of baleen whales -- including blue, fin, minke and humpback whales. They are characterized by a special, accordion-l...

Elusive quasiparticles realized: Repulsive polarons in an ultracold quantum gas
In quantum physics physical processes in condensed matter and other many-body systems can often be described with quasiparticles. For the first time physicists have succeeded in experimentally realizing a new quasiparticle ? a repulsive polaron -- in an ultracold quantum gas.

Children's body fat linked to Vitamin D insufficiency in mothers
Children are more likely to have more body fat during childhood if their mother has low levels of Vitamin D during pregnancy, according to scientists. Low vitamin D status has been linked to obesity in adults and children, but little is known about how variation in a mother?s status affects the body...

Chronic pain is relieved by cell transplantation in lab study
Chronic pain, by definition, is difficult to manage, but a new study shows how a cell therapy might one day be used not only to quell some common types of persistent and difficult-to-treat pain, but also to cure the conditions that give rise to them.