http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Using an ultrafast femtosecond laser, researchers at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., were able to label, draw patterns on, and remove individual melanocytes cells from a species of frog tadpole (Xenopus) without damaging surrounding cells and tissues. Melanocytes are the cells responsible for skin pigment; they also are descendants of a specific type of stem cell that has regenerative potential and other characteristics similar to some cancer cells. http://phys.org/news232800029.html Physics Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:40:01 EST news232800029 Chemists at Oregon State University have discovered that the same crystal structure they identified two years ago to create what may be the world's best blue pigment can also be used with different elements to create other colors, with significant potential in the paint and pigment industries. http://phys.org/news230998933.html Chemistry Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:22:37 EST news230998933 Red may mean STOP or I LOVE YOU! A red splash on a toxic butterfly's wing screams DON'T EAT ME! In nature, one toxic butterfly species may mimic the wing pattern of another toxic species in the area. By using the same signal, they send a stronger message: DON'T EAT US! http://phys.org/news230487600.html Biology Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:20:21 EST news230487600 (PhysOrg.com) -- Beetles use it, birds use it. Plants use it too. Iridescence is the shimmery colour effect that makes things eye-catching. http://phys.org/news228982654.html Biology Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:17:46 EST news228982654 (AP) -- If a proposed law passes, California teens under 18 will need a fake ID to "fake and bake" themselves to a golden brown. http://phys.org/news228411148.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:32:56 EST news228411148 The first clinical trials that examine the use of stem cells to treat two forms of blindness are ready to begin now that patients have been enrolled, a US company announced on Thursday. http://phys.org/news227441842.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:17:48 EST news227441842 Researchers have used cutting-edge stem cell technology to correct a genetic defect present in a rare blinding disorder, another step on a promising path that may one day lead to therapies to reverse blindness caused by common retinal diseases such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa which affect millions of individuals. http://phys.org/news227356302.html Biology Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:33:21 EST news227356302 (PhysOrg.com) -- For the Maya, blue was the color of the gods. For ritual purposes, art objects, and murals, they used Maya blue, a pigment without equal with regard to boldness, beauty, and durability. Maya blue is made of indigo embedded in a special clay mineral called palygorskite. http://phys.org/news225343980.html Chemistry Mon, 23 May 2011 04:33:21 EST news225343980 Smalt was one of the blue pigments the most commonly used by the artists between the 16th and 18th centuries. Unfortunately, this pigment is unstable and tends to fade with time. Researchers from the new European platform for research on ancient materials, the SOLEIL synchrotron, the National Gallery, London and the C2RMF found the key of this fading, described for four centuries. These results, obtained through the synchrotron analysis of microsamples of paint from works by Baroque painter Murillo and other artists, have been published in the journal Analytical Chemistry. http://phys.org/news225023470.html Chemistry Thu, 19 May 2011 11:31:44 EST news225023470 Groundbreaking research from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) shows how mouse stem cells spontaneously form into optic cups, the precursors of eyes. A report on this research, published this week in Nature, sheds light on the embryonic development of complex tissues. http://phys.org/news221313661.html Biology Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:01:20 EST news221313661 High-resolution images from a laser-based tool developed at Duke University could help doctors better diagnose melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, while potentially saving thousands of lives and millions of dollars in unnecessary healthcare costs each year. http://phys.org/news217693145.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:19:18 EST news217693145 (PhysOrg.com) -- Aboriginal Australians are at risk of increased bone and muscle pain due to their inability to produce sufficient vitamin D, according to a University of Adelaide study published in the Medical Journal of Australia today. http://phys.org/news216288068.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Feb 2011 08:40:01 EST news216288068 Everyone has heard that carbon dioxide is responsible for global warming. But the gas also has some positive characteristics. Researchers are now impregnating plastics with compressed CO2 in a process that could lead to new applications ranging from colored contact lenses to bacteria-resistant door handles. http://phys.org/news213277046.html Chemistry Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:37:40 EST news213277046 Biologists at Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences have discovered that a change in membrane voltage in newly identified "instructor cells" can cause stem cells' descendants to trigger melanoma-like growth in pigment cells. The Tufts team also found that this metastatic transformation is due to changes in serotonin transport. The discovery could aid in the prevention and treatment of diseases like cancer and vitiligo as well as birth defects. http://phys.org/news206680770.html Medicine & Health Tue, 19 Oct 2010 04:20:00 EST news206680770 Tomato plants, bearing rich purple fruit, line the inside of Biology Professor Zheng-Hui He's lab in the San Francisco State University Greenhouse. The unusually colored plants are the result of He's research, exploring how to grow purple fruits and vegetables, enriched with the same health-promoting pigment that gives blueberries their purple color. http://phys.org/news206197494.html Biology Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:05:19 EST news206197494 A research team led by Cary Pirone from the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University has identified bilirubin in the popular Bird of Paradise plant. The breakthrough study, published in the September 2010 issue of the American Society for Horticultural Science's journal HortScience, provides new insights into color production in this iconic tropical plant. http://phys.org/news203179728.html Biology Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:00:01 EST news203179728 A team of McGill chemists have discovered that a technique known as photoacoustic infrared spectroscopy could be used to identify the composition of pigments used in art work that is decades or even centuries old. Pigments give artist's materials colour, and they emit sounds when light is shone on them. http://phys.org/news202641799.html Chemistry Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:23:47 EST news202641799 A new imaging system using six different wavelengths to illuminate the interior of the eyeball (ocular fundus) may pave the way for doctors to easily screen patients for common diseases of the eye, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. The system is described in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments. http://phys.org/news202482948.html Physics Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:16:18 EST news202482948 New research on how skin cancer begins has identified adjacent cancer cells that scientists are calling "co-conspirators" in the genesis of melanoma, in findings that could someday hold the key to predicting, preventing and stopping this hard-to-treat cancer before it spreads. http://phys.org/news202406529.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:02:40 EST news202406529 Security systems could be more effective if officials looked at how organisms deal with threats in the natural world, University of Arizona researchers suggest in the May 20 edition of the journal Nature. http://phys.org/news193586040.html Biology Thu, 20 May 2010 14:54:28 EST news193586040 The sedative medetomidine has proved effective at inhibiting fouling and is now being trialled by the EU as an ingredient for the antifouling paints of the future. Research at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has shown that high concentrations of this substance can have an impact on the marine environment. http://phys.org/news192712648.html Space & Earth Mon, 10 May 2010 12:24:16 EST news192712648 Tiny, melanin-covered nanoparticles may protect bone marrow from the harmful effects of radiation therapy, according to scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University who successfully tested the strategy in mouse models. Infusing these particles into human patients may hold promise in the future. The research is described in the current issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics. http://phys.org/news191523440.html Nanotechnology Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:50:09 EST news191523440 In the first study of its kind in the United States, Henry Ford Hospital showed that skin transplant surgery is safe and effective for treating vitiligo. http://phys.org/news187373039.html Medicine & Health Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:20:03 EST news187373039 An international research team led by Columbia University Medical Center successfully used mouse embryonic stem cells to replace diseased retinal cells and restore sight in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa. This strategy could potentially become a new treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, a leading cause of blindness that affects approximately one in 3,000 to 4,000 people, or 1.5 million people worldwide. The study appears online ahead of print in the journal Transplantation (March 27, 2010 print issue). http://phys.org/news186239762.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:30:01 EST news186239762 Have you seen a spotted plaice? Probably. However, marine biologist Helen Nilsson Skold at the University of Gothenburg is the first person to research the spotted insides of plaice. http://phys.org/news186064413.html Biology Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:00:02 EST news186064413 (PhysOrg.com) -- Butterfly experts have suspected for more than 150 years that vision plays a key role in explaining wing color diversity. Now, for the first time, research led by UC Irvine biologists proves this theory true - at least in nine Heliconius species. http://phys.org/news185547792.html Biology Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:03:54 EST news185547792 Researchers at University College London say they have gleaned a key insight into the molecular beginnings of age-related macular degeneration, the No. 1 cause of vision loss in the elderly, by determining how two key proteins interact to naturally prevent the onset of the condition. http://phys.org/news181825289.html Chemistry Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:30:01 EST news181825289 (PhysOrg.com) -- Clinical trials comparing a spray-on skin product with skin grafts will start in the US in December. The trials, which are partly funded by a US army grant of $1.4 million, will last about a year and will involve 106 patients with second degree burns. The product, ReCell, has been available for some time in Europe, Australia, Malaysia and elsewhere, and was approved for use in China earlier this year. http://phys.org/news178271249.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:50:02 EST news178271249 People preferentially marry those with similar ancestry, but their decisions are not necessarily based on hair, eye or skin colour. Research, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology, shows that Mexicans mate according to proportions of Native American to European ancestry, while Puerto Ricans are more likely to settle down with someone carrying a similar mix of African and European genes. http://phys.org/news177917997.html Biology Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:40:44 EST news177917997 (PhysOrg.com) -- Many of us will sit down with our families to a wonderful turkey dinner this Thanksgiving. But statistics increasingly show that Americans consider turkey a year-round staple. http://phys.org/news177781595.html Other Sciences Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:17 EST news177781595