Comet to light up the night sky, brighter than full moon

Every so often stargazers can see shooting stars passing through the night sky. This spectacular phenomenon is not that uncommon, but such events are very short in duration. A comet currently passing by Saturn may however be a tad bit different: astronomers have calculated that when it passes by, it will be brighter than the light coming from a full moon. This will undoubtedly be a spectacular sight and the event is set to happen somewhere next year.

Millions of cancer patients suffer unnecessary pain

Cancer is one of the worst diseases known to man, especially because many forms are hard to treat and are often lethal. Additionally, the disease itself, or even the treatment, can cause a lot of pain. Fortunately, pain can almost always be treated due to a vast arsenal of analgesics. A recent study has shown that despite the availability of painkillers, many cancer patients worldwide suffer from pain as a result from their cancer. According to the lead researcher, the study "paints a shocking picture of unnecessary pain on a global scale".

Biological 'internet' lets cells communicate

The internet basically consists of a bunch of computers that are connected with each other globally. By sending messages back and forth, we gain access to web pages and are able to communicate with other people through the web. This principle also exists in the body: cells communicate with each other using a variety of molecules, such as hormones, chemokines, cytokines. Everything takes place in an endlessly complex network, far beyond our own attempts with the internet. Scientists from the Stanford University Medical Center have found a way to send artificial messages to cells in the body, by harnessing the power of viruses. This way, they have created something that may be regarded as the biological internet, or Bi-Fi, as they have named it themselves.

Predicting drug effect by 'putting the patient in a tube'

Some patients are easy to treat, while others can be very difficult. Even for patients that have the same disease, it is sometimes necessary to opt for a different treatment because of specific indicators that result in a lack of drug efficacy. In such cases, it is worthwhile to explore the use of other drugs, though it is not always clear which ones would work best, and it is of course unethical to use the patient as a guinea pig. A new method, used in oncology, works by taking some of the patient's healthy and diseased cells and putting them into a laboratory culture system. This allows for free drug testing without potentially harming the patient, and a first case study shows such lab predictions can aid treatment decisions by testing and selecting the right drug.

Curiosity finds traces of ancient river on Mars

Mars rover Curiosity has again reported a couple of interesting findings back to earth. Looking at one of its latest images, it appears that there might have been rivers with flowing water on the Red Planet. The picture shows a rocky area that looks very much like earth, which allows for comparison. And it just may be that we are looking at a prehistoric river here, further reinforcing the evidence that Mars once had liquid water flowing on its surface. It is not the first time Curiosity has shown us images.

Beneficial effect of autism drugs still unproven

One of the biggest concerns in healthcare these days is overmedication. That means a patient is taking unnecessary or excessive medications. This is partly fuelled by our attitude of trying to solve everything with a pill, but the pharmaceutical industry also plays a large role by trying to promote use of medicine for indications that do not require drugs at all. Most of this discussion takes place in the realm of psychology and psychiatry. Especially treatment of disturbances in behaviour, such as in autism, has been found questionable. A recent study from the Vanderbilt University reveals that medicating adolescents diagnosed with autism is indeed not proven to be favourable, casting doubts on the current clinical practice in autism treatment.

Iron plays a role in the cause of diabetes

Our lifestyle is becoming an important cause of a variety of diseases which have been steadily increasing in incidence over the last couple of decades. Examples include obesity, various forms of cancer and diabetes. The latter can be caused by an unhealthy diet, as well as other factors. Because diabetes leads to increased risk of various cardiovascular and renal diseases, much research is devoted to finding out the underlying causes of the disease, especially because of the increase in bad lifestyle choices seen in recent years. While we already know a fair bit about diabetes, scientists from the University of Copenhagen  have shown that transportation of iron in the body may be an underlying cause.