New Scientist: "Tests in hamsters that had lost a lot of blood showed they actually fared better when given MP4 than real blood (Critical Care Medicine, vol 31, p 1824). The animals needed less MP4 than real blood to oxygenate their tissues. The researchers think this is because it releases oxygen only where levels are lowest."

New Scientist: "Butter that not only spreads easily when cold, but also contains a healthier balance of fats has been developed by researchers tinkering with the diets of cows.
Cows consuming 600 grams of rapeseed (canola) oil every day produced milk containing 26 per cent less palmitic acid, the 'bad' saturated fat which is thought to clog up arteries. At the same time, beneficial 'unsaturated' fats like those in some margarines went up substantially. Oleic acid, abundant in olive oil, rose by 35 per cent."

Watch what you read on the web!: "City officials were so concerned about the potentially dangerous properties of dihydrogen monoxide that they considered banning foam cups after they learned the chemical was used in their production.
Then they learned, to their chagrin, that dihydrogen monoxide — H2O for short — is the scientific term for water."

KSL News: BYU Professor Trying to Make Office a Quieter Place: "The four microphones measure the fan's noises and signal a tiny microprocessor that drives the speakers, which make sound waves precisely canceling out the sound waves of the rotating fan blades. From the speakers come a sound pressure inverse to the pressure made by the fan, Sommerfeldt said."

New Scientist: "Taking a nutrient called choline during pregnancy could 'super-charge' children's brains for life, suggests a study in rats.
Offspring born to pregnant rats given the supplement were known to be faster learners with better memories. But the new work, by Scott Swartzwelder and colleagues at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, US, shows this is due to having bigger brain cells in vital areas.
Choline, a member of the vitamin B family, is found in egg yolks, liver and other meats - 'exactly the kind of things people were told not to eat' due to their high cholesterol content, says Swartzwelder.
There is little information on how much choline women currently take. "But don't be afraid of eggs," Swartzwelder suggests. "I used to eat a low fat diet - I've started eating eggs and I'm not even pregnant!"

FDA Cautions Against Ultrasound 'Keepsake' Images: "FDA Cautions Against Ultrasound 'Keepsake' Images"

New Scientist: "It's been assumed until now that women have just one wave per monthly cycle, leading to one ovulation, but nobody has actually carried out detailed analysis before,' said Roger Pierson, who led the study. 'In fact, all the women in our study had at least two waves and 30 per cent of them had three."

New Scientist: "Since the number of living follicles dropped much more slowly, that suggested - contrary to every text book on reproductive biology - that new egg follicles were being created well into adult life from stem cells. 'We didn't expect to challenge the dogma,' says Tilly. 'We are just as shocked as everyone else.'"

New Scientist: "The key to the technology is a computer-guided nozzle that deposits a line of wet concrete, like toothpaste being squeezed onto a table. Two trowels attached to the nozzle then move to shape the deposit. The robot repeats its journey many times to raise the height and builds hollow walls before returning to fill them.
Engineer Behrokh Khoshnevis, at the University of Southern California, has been perfecting his 'contour crafter' for more than a year. 'The goal is to be able to completely construct a one-story, 2000-square foot home on site, in one day and without using human hands,' he says."

03.03.2004 - UC Berkeley Researchers Developing Robotic Exoskeleton that can Enhance Human Strength and Endurance: "UC Berkeley researchers developing robotic exoskeleton that can enhance human strength and endurance"

New Scientist: "Ten of the original 13 authors of a controversial 1998 medical report which implied a link between autism and the combined MMR vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella, have retracted the paper's interpretations."

New Scientist: "Miniature sensors similar to those that trigger airbags in cars might soon be implanted in the hearts of people suffering from a kind of heart disease. The sensors would make it easy for doctors to measure blood pressure inside the heart, which at present involves repeated operations."