HOUSTON, March 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency said it will televise a series of maneuvers by the European Space Agency's Jules Verne spacecraft next week.
The automated transfer vehicle, or ATV, is to begin a series of automated approaches in preparation for an eventual docking with the International Space Station. NASA Television will broadcast the most critical maneuvers on its Web site March 31 and April 3, with commentary from controllers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The March 31 coverage will begin at 10 a.m. EDT as the ATV begins an approach to the station from a distance of two miles. It will move to within 36 feet of the station before an abort signal is sent to move the ATV away from the complex for its final approach three days later. The maneuvers will test systems required for a safe automated docking.
On April 3, NASA TV coverage will begin at 7 a.m. EDT as the cargo ship prepares for a 10:40 a.m. EDT docking.
The ATV will remain at the space station until early August, when it will undock and burn up after entering the Earth's atmosphere.
NASA-TV is available at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html.
Heart failure may be treated in the brain
LONDON, March 27 (UPI) -- A British study suggests cardiac medicines known as beta-blockers might heal the heart via the brain when administered during heart failure.
Up to now medical scientists have believed beta-blockers -- drugs that slow heart rate, lower blood pressure, control angina and help protect against from heart attack -- worked directly on the heart. But researchers at University College London said the drugs might also act via the brain, suggesting future cardiovascular disease therapies might target the central nervous system.
The study, based on a rat model of postmyocardial infarction-induced heart failure, discovered the beta-adrenoceptor blocker metoprolol acts directly in the brain to slow the progression of heart failure.
"Our study shows the importance of the brain in regulating the cardiovascular system," said Professor Mike Spyer, co-author of the research. "This is often ignored by cardiologists who concentrate on the dynamics of cardiac contraction and the receptors on the heart that influence this, rather than how the nervous innervation of the heart is regulated."
The UCL findings appear in the journal Circulation Research.
Living upside-down helps spiders' energy
MADRID, March 27 (UPI) -- A Spanish- and Croatian-led study suggests spiders that live, feed and walk upside-down have a high energy efficiency.
The majority of land animals evolved to use the ground as the main support for their motion, the scientists said, but many spider species spend most of their lives hanging suspended by their legs, and "walk" by swinging under the influence of gravity.
The researchers studied more than 100 spider species, comparing how they handle both types of movement.
"We discovered spiders that live upside-down have evolved disproportionately longer legs relative to 'normal' spiders, which enables them to move faster while bridging than while 'normally walking' on the ground," said Jordi Moya-Larano of the Spanish Higher Council for Scientific Research, who led the study.
"Particularly 'clumsy' walkers are larger spiders, because their long legs -- otherwise so convenient for bridging -- do not allow an easy lifting of their relatively large body mass," said Moya-Larano.
"With this research we finally proved the energetic efficiency of such motion stems from the same physical principle used to run the grandfather's clock -- motion of a pendulum under the influence of gravity," said researcher Dejan Vinkovic, an astrophysicist from Croatia.
The findings are reported in the online journal PLoS One.
Study: NSAIDS might be anti-cancer drugs
GUANGZHOU, China, March 27 (UPI) -- Chinese and Taiwanese scientists have identified a new mechanism by which non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs weaken tumor invasion and metastasis.
Researchers at China's National Sun Yat-Sen University and Taiwan's Kaohsiung Medical University said their findings provide new insights into the anti-cancer effects of NSAIDS.
NSAIDS have long been used to suppress pain and inflammation. But the new study found NSAIDs also "up-regulated" several anti-metastatic genes and tissue inhibitors in human lung cancer cells.
"Our results indicate that NSAIDs may … provide a new strategy for the treatment or prevention of cancer," said lead researcher Wen-Chun Hung of National Sun Yat-Sen University.
The study that included former Sun Yat-Sen University doctoral student Mei-Ren Pan, along with Hui-Chiu Chang and Lea-Yea Chuang of Kaohsiung Medical University, is reported in the April issue of the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine.
