Press releases

Despite progress in maternal-fetal medicine, preterm birth is still one of the most complicated problems in modern obstetrics.

Nature Biotechnology, a leading monthly journal covering the science and business of biotechnology, has announced it will be hosting a series of panel discussions covering issues facing biotech start-ups and biotechnology entrepreneurs.

This technology from Universiti Sains Malaysia won a Gold Award at the recent Malaysian Technology Expo (MTE 2006). For example 74.2 ppm copper in an industrial wastewater sample is reduced to less than 1.0 ppm and more than 95% gold can be recovered from an initial concentration of 500 ppm in 3 hours

A military-style network of laboratories for the avian flu is proposed; The earthquake that unleashed the tsunami in the Indian Ocean forces some rethinking about how and where such giant earthquakes might occur; The application of neutral theory of biodiversity to real-life data is raising new questions and problems.

Summaries of newsworthy papers from Nature. Vol.440 No.7080 Dated 2 March 2006

Pet worries fuel fears; Indonesian Dies; Rs.100,000 for…; African press eyes dangers; World Cup – FIFA; Calls for military labs; Hawaii on front lines; Russia plans mass vaccination; No danger for domestic cats; Lab network proposed; H5N1 in domestic cat in Germany; DA-12 holds forum; Statement From Cats Protection..; situation in Iraq;

Meeting of experts adds urgency; Cat in Germany Has..; All safety measures ensured; More ban French poultry; Sweden reports 1st case; Distrust hurts Nigeria; Trade and Consumption affected..; Turkish areas still under quarantine; Sweden hit; Defra's Message; Govt rules out any human case; Businesses need to plan..; Sweden confirms..;

This technology from Universiti Sains Malaysia won a Gold Award at the recent Malaysian Technology Expo (MTE 2006). The flight control simulator is used for designing, developing and testing of a flight control system and its control laws/logics for autonomous flight.

Universiti Sains Malaysia’s researchers won 18 medals at the recent Malaysia Technology Expo 2006. They won 2 golds, 9 silvers and 7 bronzes. The team also received two special awards for Best Design and Most Creative Booth.

WHO: Human Bird Flu Cases rise; "Bird flu is here ? don't panic!"; Bird Flu Spreads in Nigeria as Wary Farmers Keep Infected Fowl; WHO lauds India for bird flu measures; Speed key to bird flu battle; Beckett rules out panic bird flu vaccination; Romanian lab rules out bird flu in 21-year-old man; Poultry sector reels under bird flu fears

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) and the Australasian Society for Immunology (ASI) today announce an agreement for NPG to publish in partnership with the Society its flagship journal, Immunology and Cell Biology, from January 2007.

Mice subjected to stress caused by the presence of an aggressive intruder, repress the gene that produces a growth factor called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), reports a paper in the March issue of Nature Neuroscience. This finding suggests a molecular pathway by which stress may cause lasting changes in gene regulation

Theme of the Issue : Neonatal Screening and Interventions

Bird flu in Switzerland; Factory farms behind spread; Bird flu kills swans in France; Romania suspects man…; A chicken fest…; Outbreak Reported in Russia..; outbreak possible, warns China; India's poultry industry hurt; Indonesia records 20th fatality; Germany confirms three more cases; "Don't confuse human influenza with bird flu"

The tree frogs of the genera Polypedates and Rhacophorus are new to science and were discovered by researchers on two mountains in Borneo (Gunung Murud and Gunung Gading) (Pictures attached)

Indon govt to take steps; India quarantines 6; 3 babies quarantined; Hatcheries, hotel stocks decline; SA: Bird flu ruffles few feathers; Pharma companies gear up to supply drug; Govt dispels doubts; 3 more in Nigerian states; neighbours shut doors; Govt battles poultry companies; Situation in Indonesia; Defra Consults With Ornithological .;

While some media are still portraying birds as the main vectors of the spread of avian flu, the UNEP with its associated CMS and the AEWA are launching a campaign to remind the world that migrations are essential to natural processes for the effective functioning of our ecosystems.

Previous studies have shown a correlation between childhood obesity and adult asthma but here the authors show for the first time an additional link to depression alongside the other conditions.

By continuing to focus only on bird migrations, other mechanisms and paths for the contamination are being underestimated, and effective protection measures ignored.

‘MNCs exploiting..; No impact of on Bihar market, Govt alerts officials; Pandemic more likely; Cairo zoo closed; 1 life claimed; Indian style of cooking kills virus; Govt prepared; France on war footing; Germany deploys army island; 130 chickens dead in Qena, Egypt; Mr. Yukol affirms Thailand is under ...

Two scientific officer positions are available to work on a Wellcome Trust-funded 3-year research project on molecular epidemiological and population genetic studies on knowlesi malaria

An image-based 360° panorama and turnorama (object movie) “browser” had been developed for networked mobile devices deployed in collaborative virtual environments (CVEs).

A new model that explains why cooling sometimes causes liquid molecules to form disordered glasses rather than ordered crystals; The hunger-signaling gut hormone ghrelin can increase the number of nerve connections in a region of the brain crucial for the formation of new memories

Albanian president touts measures against bird flu; CSL encouraged by small-dose vaccine test; EU launches more measures to fight bird flu; NIGER: Dead birds raise fears; Bird flu hits Slovenia, where in EU next?; Second Iraqi dies; Vietnam to restore poultry industry; US to test child vaccine; Avian influenza confirmed in swans in Hungary ...

Bird flu 'could take 142m lives'; Russia reports new outbreak; UN official urges better strategy to combat bird flu; NIGERIA: International experts deploy to help check bird flu; Iraqi health minister declares alert in southern province; Virulent strain now in Germany; False reports lead to slaughter in Zambia; EU Confirmed Case in Hungary …

This commercial timber tree species has been identified as a fast growing indigenous species suitable for planting in hilly areas. The development of in vitro regeneration systems will immensely speed up production of plantlets to meet current demands on improved planting materials for re-forestation, tree plantation and tree improvement programmes

Through the DMC, Keio University aims to transform the way knowledge is provided to society as well as to support the changing modes of intellectual interaction.

Broken Genius: The rise and fall of William Shockley, Creator of the electronic age; Bones, Rocks & Stars: The science of when things happened; The Whole Story: Alternative medicine on trial?; Climate Change Begins at Home: Life on the two-way street of global warming; The Science of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Satellite and aerial images used by Google Earth are changing the way we respond to disasters. A Commentary in this week's Nature looks at the very different responses to Hurricane Katrina and the Pakistan earthquake. It asks whether opening such operations to the wider public could allow image updates in real time in disaster situations.

Organ donation shortages cause 17 patients in need of transplantations to die each day in the US, while thousands of black market transplants take place due to voluntary sale of donor kidneys. Selling a human organ is illegal in the US and many other countries. Doctors EA and AL Friedman make the case for legalizing such transactions.