The τ Herculid meteor shower has not shown any appreciable activity since 1930. However, it is associated with Comet 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann 3, a Jupiter-family comet that split in 1995. The fragments will pass near the Earth on 2006 May 13, and could produce an outburst of the τ Herculid shower. However, by considering both meteoroids released during the splitting event and on previous perihe...

RNA plays a direct role in a variety of cellular activities, and in many cases its biological function is conferred by the RNA three-dimensional structure. X-ray crystallography is the method of choice for determining high resolution structures of large RNA molecules, and can also be used to compare related RNAs and identify conformational changes that may accompany biochemical activity. Howeve...

The genome sequences of important model systems are available and the focus is now shifting to large-scale experiments enabled by this data. Following in the footsteps of genomics, we have functional genomics, proteomics, and even metabolomics, roughly paralleling the biological hierarchy of the transcription, translation, and production of small molecules. Proteomics is initially concerned wit...

The biochemical activity of mammals is controlled by an internal timekeeping mechanism driving a clock to run in approximate 24-hour (circadian) cycles. In mammals, this circadian clock is located both in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) and peripheral oscillators. Recently, microRNAs have emerged as significant players in circadian clock timing. The biological implications of miRNAs are extend...

Controlled actin assembly is crucial to a wide variety of cellular processes, including polarity establishment during early development. The recently discovered actin mesh, a structure that traverses the Drosophila oocyte during mid-oogenesis, is essential for proper establishment of the major body axes. Genetic experiments indicate that at least two proteins, Spire (Spir) and Cappuccino (Capu)...

Starter cultures, by their biochemical activity, cause changes to the pH of the meat, speed up the development of colour, consistency, fl avour, aroma, and in general bring about the formation of the characteristic qualities of the product. Alongside their desired eff ect, some microbe cultures may cause the product to spoil; it is also possible to fi nd microorganisms which may be harmful for ...

There is considerable evidence that encoding and consolidation of memory are modulated by emotion, but the retrieval of emotional memories is not well characterized. Here we manipulated the emotional context with which affectively neutral stimuli were associated during encoding, allowing us to examine neural activity associated with retrieval of emotional memories without confounding the emotio...

We developed a simple but efficient method to synthesize protein-inorganic hybrid nanostructures with a flower-like shape (nanoflowers), which relies on sonication to facilitate the synthesis of the nanoflowers. With this technique, we synthesized nanoflowers containing laccase as a model protein and copper phosphate within 5 minutes at room temperature. The resulting laccase nanoflowers yielde...

Artificial light is gaining attention as a potential stressor to aquatic ecosystems. Artificial lights located near streams increase light levels experienced by stream invertebrates and we hypothesized light would depress night drift rates. We also hypothesized that the effect of light on drift rates would decrease over time as the invertebrates acclimated to the new light level over the course...

In the pathway that controls sigmaB activity, the RsbR-RsbS complex plays an important role by trapping RsbT, a positive regulator of sigmaB of Bacillus subtilis. We have proposed that at the onset of stress, RsbR becomes phosphorylated, resulting in an enhanced activity of RsbT towards RsbS. RsbT is then free to interact with and activate RsbU, which in turn ultimately activates sigmaB. In thi...