The study of processes that make life possible is hardly a leisurely pursuit, but that doesn't preclude researchers from taking advantage of the most advanced video gaming technology available to aid in their work. A team of University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (U.I.U.C.) physicists has assembled a supercomputer consisting of several hundred superfast graphics processing units (GPUs) --typically used for rendering highly sophisticated video game graphics--that they think will help them build a simulation depicting how chromatophore proteins turn light energy into chemical energy, a process called photosynthesis.

"Ninety-five percent of the energy that life on Earth requires are fueled by photosynthetic processes," says Klaus Schulten , a (U.I.U.C.) physics professor leading the simulation-building effort and director of the school's Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group . To better understand how these processes work, Schulten's team is assembling a computer-based, virtual photosynthetic chromatophore . [More]

Much has been made of the potential difficulties businesses face if numerous employees are out sick with the H1N1 "swine" flu . But there has been little information on the economic and other impacts if schools and day care centers continue to close temporarily to mitigate outbreaks. [More]

Doctors could predict a patient's risk of receiving a domestic abuse diagnosis years in advance by using electronic medical records as an early warning system, according to new research.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is starting to come together. A major component of the telescope, the Integrated Science Instrument Module structure, recently arrived at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for testing in the Spacecraft Systems Development and Integration Facility.

A new study has found that, among a large study population of women who lived until at least age 70, being overweight in mid-life was associated with having more health problems later in life.

Physicists have developed the world's most sensitive astronomical camera. Marketed by Photon etc., a young Quebec firm, the camera will be used by the Mont-Megantic Observatory and NASA, which purchased the first unit.

An early laboratory success is taking researchers a step closer to parathyroid gland transplants that could one day prevent a currently untreatable form of bone loss associated with thyroid surgery.

Researchers have identified critical biochemical pathways linked to the aging of human muscle. By manipulating these pathways, the researchers were able to turn back the clock on old human muscle, restoring its ability to repair and rebuild itself. The findings provide promising new targets for stemming the debilitating muscle atrophy that accompanies human aging.

The people of East Africa once again face a devastating drought this year: Crops wither and fail from Kenya to Ethiopia, livestock drop dead and famine spreads. Although, historically, such droughts are not uncommon in this region, their frequency seems to have increased in recent years, raising prices for staple foods, such as maize. [More]

Obesity is a “global epidemic,” according to the World Health Organization. Two thirds of American adults and one third of school-age children are either overweight or obese (defined as extremely overweight). These proportions have been rising steeply, report the latest surveys. From 1960 to 2002 the population of overweight and obese adults increased by roughly 50 percent, and the corresponding increase for children was 300 percent. Compounding the problem, obesity rates in other countries are rapidly approaching those in the U.S.

What is causing this pandemic, and what can we do about it? Researchers have provided some tentative answers that fly in the face of commonly held beliefs. They suggest that the increase in obesity may be a result of environmental changes that tempt us into unhealthy habits and tend to overwhelm our psychological defenses against consuming too much and succumbing to fattening fare. In fact, environmental cues can exacerbate any innate tendency to use food as a balm for jittery nerves or sadness. Thus, many health experts advocate legislation--for instance, a tax on junk food--that promotes healthy eating. Others are trying to help individuals change their immediate eating milieu in ways that discourage overeating.

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