Science & Technology

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29 - A team of scientists from the United States and France have found evidence that rain-making bacteria are widely distributed in the atmosphere.

These biological particles could factor heavily into the precipitation cycle, affecting climate, agricultural productivity and even global warming. The new finding is published in the journal Science on Friday.

The polar cap in the Arctic may well disappear this summer due to the global warming, Dr. Olav Orheim, head of the Norwegian International Polar Year Secretariat, said on Friday.

The shrinking of the Arctic ice cap has been astonishing, Orheim said in an interview with Xinhua. "Ice sheet hit the

John Hopkins Hospital issued a "Cancer Update" detailing how cancer spreads and recommending methods for treating the disease. 

Roboticists are using the lessons of a 1930s human physiologist to build the world's fastest walking robot.

A new technique for creating artificial blood vessels outside the body using a patient's own stem cells has offered hope for people with heart disease.

One in four men and one in six women in the UK will die from heart disease and around 300,000 people a year suffer a heart attack. The disease is caused by a build-up of fatty deposits in blood vessels supplying the heart muscle with blood. If these are blocked completely the heart is starved of oxygen and stops.

Heart bypass surgery involves taking a length of artery from elsewhere in the body - usually the chest or leg - and using it to replace the furred-up heart artery.

Scientists have identified a genetic factor that is linked with a 20% to 30% increased risk of developing bowel cancer. Although very rare genetic mutations have been associated with the disease previously, the newly identified mutation - which is carried by over half the general population - is the most common yet discovered.

Researchers do not yet know which gene or genes are affected, let alone how they might cause the disease, but they say the finding will help to intensify screening of people most at risk for the disease.

Thousands of worms that hitched a ride to Earth on the shuttle Atlantis have arrived safely at a B.C. university, where they could shed light on how space radiation affects humans.

The worms landed with the shuttle Friday afternoon at Edwards Air Force Base in California, six months after their ancestors — now long dead — were sent to the International Space Station.

"The worms are at the lab and appear to be fine," molecular biologist Bob Johnsen told CBC News on Monday.

RIO DE JANEIRO -- A study released on Monday showed that Africa's Central Western region mostly contributed to the genetic formation of African Brazilians.

According to research carried out by the geneticist Sergio Danilo Pena, who teaches biochemistry at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), 44.5 percent of the samples of genetic material studied, indicated that the individuals were related to ancestors from the region, which currently includes Angola, Congo and Cameroon.

Another 43 percent had roots in Western Africa, where countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Cote d'Ivoire are located, and 12.3 percent had ancestors in Southeast Africa, in the region of Mozambique.

The study analyzed the mitochondrial DNA, which remains the same over centuries, unless some genetic mutation takes place at some point. This determines an individual's ancestors on the mother's side, while the chromosome Y reveals ancestry on the
father's side.

Searching for the world's oldest lobster fossil? Head to Mexico where scientists claim they have one some 120 million years old, 20 million years older than lobster fossils previously found.

The fossil is 4.7 inches (12 cm) long and its shell and legs are immaculately preserved by the mud in the southern state of Chiapas where it was found.

"This lobster that we found in Chiapas belongs to the genus
that is in Africa today," said geologist Francisco Javier Vega of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

"This isn't a surprise because at that time, 120 million years ago, Africa and America were relatively close," he told Reuters. "It's very likely that this genus of lobster originated here."

South America and Africa are believed to have split into two continents around 120 million years ago.

The first car in the world propelled by compressed air is scheduled to be cruising India's city streets sometime next year.

Developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Negre, the Air Car will be built by Tata Motors, India's largest automaker. Tata Motors anticipates producing 6,000 Air cars by 2008.

The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engine's pistons and should be practical and reasonably priced. The CityCat model's top-end speed is 68 mph with a
driving range of 125 miles.

Refueling is easy and takes just a few minutes if you live near a gas station with custom air compressor units. The cost of a fill up is approximately 2 U.S. dollars. If a driver doesn't have access to a compressor station, they will be able to plug
into the electrical grid and use the car's built-in compressor to refill the tank in about four hours.