Category: Hiroshima University

SLAC researchers reveal the dance of water

August 11, 2009

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Water is familiar to everyone -- it shapes our bodies and our planet. But despite this abundance, the molecular structure of water has remained a mystery, with the substance exhibiting many strange properties that are still poorly understood.

Milky Way's super-efficient particle accelerators caught in the act

June 25, 2009

Thanks to a unique "ballistic study" that combines data from ESO's Very Large Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have now solved a long-standing mystery of the Milky Way's particle accelerators. They show in a paper published today on Science Express that cosmic rays from our galaxy are very efficiently accelerated in the remnants of exploded stars.

Researchers identify key proteins needed for ovulation

May 14, 2009

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have identified in mice two proteins essential for ovulation to take place.

The finding has implications for treating infertility resulting from a failure of ovulation to occur as well as for developing new means to prevent pregnancy by preventing the release of the egg.

Melatonin found to have broader effects in brain than once thought

February 8, 2005

Shift workers and travelers who pop melatonin pills to stave off drowsiness or jetlag have another reason to be cautious about taking the supplement, say Japanese and University of California, Berkeley, researchers. A new study shows that melatonin, a hormone available without prescription, has broader effects in the brain than once thought. In experiments on the Japanese quail, the researchers found that melatonin switches on a recently discovered hormone called gonadotropin inhibitory hormone (GnIH), which has been found to have the opposite effect to the key hormone priming the body for sex -- gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH). In birds, switching off GnRH causes the gonads -- testes and ovary -- to shrink as part of the birds' yearly cycle.