Yoghurt Prevents Heart Disease

While some doctors are not in favor of yoghurt saying it is just milk gone sour, others are now claiming it assists in the prevention of heart disease. Apparently, it slows the build up of plaque in the arteries.

Daily consumption of yoghurt in moderate amounts reduces the thickness of artery walls. Consuming cheese and milk had no effect. Tests were only done on elderly women, but the effects are believed to be the same for men.

Not much research has been done into the effects of dairy products in regard to disease prevention. The positive result of yoghurt has increased interest in dairy food and more tests will be done.
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Food
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Cycad no Longer a Living Fossil

scientists have been wrong in the past and in some cases are still wrong today. Things that have been taught as fact for centuries are now found not to be true. Cycads have been called living fossils for a very long time. However, the species that survive today were not around when dinosaurs roamed the planet.

Will they find coelacanth fish, horseshoe crabs and gingko trees to also be recent branches on their family trees? Many scientists are still fighting for Pluto to be reinstated as a planet. Now cycads will be struck off the living fossil list.

When a new find of an ancient individual related to humans is announced, along with the excitement is the claim that it is the missing link between Man and lesser apes. Common sense would tell us that the missing link will probably never be found. Be prepared for "truths" held for centuries to fall by the wayside.
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Evolution
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Baby Bear View

"What can you see son? I can see forever mum."
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Funny Animal Photos
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Australian Researcher Discovers a New Chlorophyll

A new form of chlorophyll has been identified in Shark Bay stromatolites by Min Chen of the University of Sydney. She has been awarded the Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year.

Chlorophyll had previously been found in four forms. It is a plant pigment that makes sugar giving energy to plants. The new type called chlorophyll f operates in the upper red end of the visible spectrum. Future uses include solar cells and new kinds of food crops.

The new type of chlorophyll was found by studying cyanobacteria within stromatolites. It was an accidental discovery. The intention was to understand more about chlorophyll d. Both types of chlorophyll are similar, but have different bonding structures.
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Science
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Brainy Cat

"What about that then. It really is a fact."
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Funny Animal Photos
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Hendra Virus Similar to Nipah Disease in Asia

The Hendra virus was first identified in 1994. It killed horses and several veterinary scientists. Oddly, this deadly disease has only appeared in Australia. This is very unusual. Diseases tend to spread across national borders.

Outbreaks are spasmodic. Horses in Queensland and New South Wales have died recently in the latest outbreak. Scientists are intensively examining all aspects of the Hendra virus. A dog was found to be a carrier. Though unaffected and quite healthy the dog had to be put down.

Promising results have been obtained by using human antibody m102.4 on monkeys who were intentionally infected. The animals remained well for three days before needing treatment. All of the subjects survived. A control group of monkeys who were not given the antibody died.

Though unproven, the ailment is believed to be carried and spread by bats. A similar bat borne disease is widespread in India, Bangladesh and Malaysia. The Asian Nipah ailment identified in 1998 is of interest to scientists because aspects of it are much the same as the Hendra virus.
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Medicine
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Contented Pets

"We do alright here. How did you know?"
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Funny Animal Photos
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Trash into Fashion Called "Trashion" - The New Fad

Rubbish is being recycled. Thrown away plastic is being turned into articles that sell in Asia and the West. In Southeast Asia people are scouring rubbish tips for plastic which is turned into fashion products called "trashion".

The business in burgeoning in the West with designers using clothing, jewelry and even things for the home made of discarded plastic. Soft drink bottles, toothpaste tubes and detergent containers are sought after material.

A non-profit organization has been set up by Ann Wizer to buy trash from pickers and train people to make the "rubbish" into useful products. It generates employment and some of the income goes toward health and scholarships.
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Fashion
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Muscles Created for Nanobots

Can nanobots have muscles? Researchers have made very strong, flexible muscles that could be used by nanobots to travel around the body diagnosing and treating medical conditions.

As flexible limbs much like octopus tentacles, artificial muscles can move objects a thousand times heavier. Thinner than a human hair, the "yarns" are cheap to make. They could potentially be used for pumps, valves, stirrers and flagella for drug discovery.

They were created by applying an electrochemical charge to spun carbon nanotubes making them twist into helical yarns. They are ideal to attach to bots as a tiny tail, a flagella, to propel the bot forward.

This was a truly international breakthrough. Participants in the work were the University of Wollongong, Australia, the University of Texas and Hanyang University of Korea.
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Science
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