Korean researchers successfully identified the source of memory impairment in a brain plagued by Alzheimer’s disease, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said Monday.By pinpointing the potential target for treatment, the discovery is expected to open up the possibility of developing new drugs for the illness, which is considered the most common form of dementia.The key to the impairment lies in the reactive astrocytes that build up after the brain is affected by the disease, accordi

A joint team of researchers in South Korea and Italy have pulled off generating a hybrid entanglement of classical and quantum states of light, which could lead to developing a practical quantum computer, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said Sunday.According to scientists from Korea and Italy, the entanglement between quantum and classical objects has been crucial in understanding quantum mechanics and applying it to information processing. Quantum entanglement refers to a state

Korean researchers have collected more evidence linking trans fats to skin and vascular diseases, and even fatty liver, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said Tuesday.Despite trans fats being blamed for diseases including childhood obesity, there have been few studies on how exactly eating them affects one’s health, scientists from Yeongnam University said.“The biggest feat of our research is that we managed to prove the correlation between the trans fat and skin, liver embryonic

NEW YORK (AP) ― Aging cheese on wood boards is a common practice among artisan cheesemakers at home and overseas. Now, some in the industry are worried regulators may crack down on it.In recent communication to the New York regulators, the Food and Drug Administration noted that wood shelves and boards cannot be adequately cleaned and sanitized, and as such, do not conform to a particular regulation regarding plant equipment and utensils.The federal agency also noted that “proper cleaning and sa

MOULTRIE, Georgia (AP) ― Aerial drones, a technology perhaps best known for helping hunt terrorists on the other side of the globe, may soon begin helping U.S. farmers monitor what’s happening in their fields.In Georgia, a group of state and federal officials ― along with members of industry and academia ― has been working since 2009 to develop a drone that can save a farmer’s time and resources during the growing season.The public got its first glimpse of the group’s drone at a flight demonstra

PARIS (AFP) ― In another step towards reversing degenerative vision loss, scientists said Tuesday they had coaxed stem cells into growing into a tiny, light-sensing retina in a lab dish.The study is an important technical feat in using reprogrammed cells, whose discovery in 2006 has unleashed huge interest, they said.“We have basically created a miniature human retina in a dish that not only has the architectural organization of the retina but also has the ability to sense light,” said Valeria C

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Covering icy roads with salt can save the lives of human drivers, but U.S. researchers said the practice may be cutting butterfly lives short.Sodium chloride, the cheapest salt, is the most commonly used to melt ice and snow on slippery winter roads. Previous studies have already shown that salting roads can have an impact on plant and animal life in nearby lakes and rivers. But this latest study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, said pouring th

FREEPORT, Texas (AP) ― Before Houston and its suburbs were built, a dense forest naturally purified the coastal air along a stretch of the Texas Gulf Coast that grew thick with pecan, ash, live oak and hackberry trees.It was the kind of pristine woodland that was mostly wiped out by settlers in their rush to clear land and build communities. Now one of the nation’s largest chemical companies and one of its oldest conservation groups have forged an unlikely partnership that seeks to recreate some

SAO PAULO (AFP) ― The first kick at the World Cup opening ceremony will be made by a paraplegic wearing an Iron Man-like robotic bodysuit controlled by signals from the brain.Brazilian doctor Miguel Nicolelis led a team of 156 scientists from around the world to create the futuristic exoskeleton, which was designed to enable paralysis victims to walk.At the World Cup opening ceremony Thursday in Sao Paulo, a paraplegic whose identity has been kept secret will leave behind his or her wheelchair t

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ― An Oklahoma company has created a protective blanket that developers say could give children a better chance of surviving debris from a tornado ― or bullets from a 9 mm handgun.The Bodyguard Blanket, made by ProTecht, is a bulletproof pad designed to protect students during disasters at school. The rectangle features backpack-like straps that allow users to put it on, and then duck and cover.Steve Walker developed the pad. Walker started on the idea after a massive tornado s

PARIS (AFP) ― Scientists have created a molecule that glows red or blue depending on drug levels in blood ― the basis for a prospective home test to prevent patients accidentally overdosing, they reported Sunday.After contact with a drop of blood, the molecule’s color is observed with the aid of an ordinary digital camera, its Swiss and American developers wrote in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.“The process does not require any laboratory instruments and is so simple that the patients can