Here First - Science and Technology Blog

A team of neuroscientists researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory , New York, USA, led by Professor Pavel Osten, has developed a new technique to create images of the entire brain, after having conducted experiments on the brains of mice. The new technique takes successive images of brain sections precisely, using a laser microscope with two photons. The resulting images are then computer processed, resulting in a three-dimensional image of the entire brain. Developed in conjunction with the TissueVision company, new brain scanning technique was called Serial Two-Photon Tomography - STP . Study leader, Professor Pavel Osten argues that this new technology is extremely accurate and is sufficiently developed to be already used in specific procedures. The researchers tested the process at different resolutions, from 1-2 microns to less than one micron and obtained a complete set of data regarding the studied brain from 6.5-8.5 hours and a standby time considerably reduced c...

Mobile phones should carry a health warning like those on cigarette packets, scientists have warned. The authorities must not make the same mistakes over possible links between mobile phones and brain cancer as they did with cigarettes and lung cancer, experts warned a powerful U.S. congressional committee. It took 50 years to get the tobacco industry to acknowledge the risks, and 70 years to remove lead from paint and petrol, they said. 'Society must not repeat the situation we had with smoking and lung cancer, where we waited until every 'i' was dotted and 't' was crossed before warnings were issued,' said Professor David Carpenter, director of the institute of health and environment at the University of Albany. 'Precaution is warranted even in the absence of absolutely final evidence concerning the magnitude of the risk - especially for children.' Dr Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute - one of the top U.S. ...