Inspiring Message from His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda to His Followers across the World

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June 9th 2012: As is his innate nature and as usual, the Enlightened Master His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda once again inspires all his followers world wide to be blissful & to continue the good spiritual work which they have been doing for close to ten years now.In a message to all his followers, Paramahamsa Nithyananda assures the followers to have faith in the Divine and the law and also ...

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Inspiring Message from His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda to His Followers across the World

Upcoming First Human Mission to Chinese Space Station May Include Female Taikonaut

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An artist's rendering of the Tiangong-1 module, China's space station, which was launched to space in September, 2011. To the right is a Shenzhou spacecraft, preparing to dock with the module. Image Credit: CNSA

The Chinese government has announced they will launch three taikonauts sometime in mid-June 2012, on the first manned mission to dock with their orbiting experimental module, and confirmed again that the crew might include Chinas first female space traveler. A rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft was moved to a launch pad in Chinas desert northwest over the weekend, Chinas Xinhua News Agency reported.

The three-member crew will dock with and live inside the Tiangong 1 (or Heavenly Palace-1) orbital module launched last year. No word on how long the mission will be. We reported in March that the crew possibly could include a woman, and Niu Hongguang, deputy commander-in-chief of the countrys manned space program, said the final selection would depend on conditions nearer the time of launch. This type of late announcement of the crew is not unprecedented in the past, Chinas space program has named the crew for the next mission just a few days before launch.

From previous reports, China picked two women and five men from thousands of candidates to become the second batch of seven astronaut trainees in 2010. Both of the women were former fighter jet pilots.

The manned space program would not be complete without womens participation, Jiao Weixin, an earth and space scientist with Peking University, was quoted as saying.

China launched their first human mission in 2003. They have launched two other human missions, one of which included a space walk in 2008.

Zhou Jianping, chief designer of Chinas human space program, said that the mission will be a significant step in Chinas space history, because its the first time for a Chinese spacecraft to send astronauts into a space lab, instead of just carrying them to circle the Earth as in the previous three manned missions, the Chinese Daily reported.

During the flight, one crew member will remain aboard the Shenzhou 9 as a precautionary measure in case of emergency while the others enter Tiangong 1, Xinhua said.

Well keep you updated on any announcements of the crew or when the launch will take place.

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Upcoming First Human Mission to Chinese Space Station May Include Female Taikonaut

China Set for Manned Mission to Tiangong-1 Module

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China may be just days away from launching its first manned docking mission to the country's Tiangong-1 space station module, according to reports. A Shenzou-9 spacecraft atop a Long March-2F rocket was moved on Saturday to a launch platform at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China in preparation for a mid-June launch, Chinese space agency officials said over the weekend.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is now conducting final tests ahead of the launch, according to the Global Times. Tiangong-1 was successfully lowered to docking orbit earlier this month, the China-based tabloid newspaper reported.

The three-person crew aboard Shenzou-9 will include a female astronaut, either Liu Yang and Wang Yaping, China's official Xinhua news agency reported Monday.

One of the two candidates from the Chinese Air Force's Wuhan Flight Unit could become the first Chinese woman to travel to space, joining six male astronauts who have done so. Officially, the CNSA has only said that a female astronaut could be part of the Shenzou-9 crew and that the final decision would be made very late in the game, but Xinhua is regarded as the de facto voice of the Chinese government so it seems likely that the decision has been finalized.

"The Shenzhou-9 will perform our country's first manned space docking mission with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module," said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of CNSA's manned space program, according to Global Times. "It means China's spacecraft will become a genuine manned shuttle tool between space and Earth. It can send human beings to space stations or space labs. This will be a significant step in China's manned space flight history."

The 9.4-ton Tiangong-1 module, launched and placed in orbit last September, is not a fully developed space station but rather a testing platform for rendezvous and docking missions like the one planned later this month. The CNSA aims to launch a fully functioning space station as part of the agency's Tiangong, or "Heavenly Palace" program.

The unmanned Shenzou-8 spacecraft successfully docked with Tiangong-1 last November. The upcoming mission calls for two astronauts to board the space station module, with the third remaining in the Shenzou-9 spacecraft.

Tiangong-1 is scheduled to be de-orbited in 2013 following the Shenzou-9 mission and another manned mission to the module.

For more from Damon, follow him on Twitter @dpoeter.

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China Set for Manned Mission to Tiangong-1 Module

China Planning Manned Mission To Its Space Station

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China has a problem. They have such a fairly long history of blatantly stealing technology from other companies, that they were not invited to participate in the International Space Station program. So, to stick their tongues out at everyone, they decide to take the Soviet approach and make their own. Now they are ready to man that space station.

Today the Chinese news agency called Xinhua is reporting that China is preparing to launch a manned space flight to the station called Tiangong-1 later this month. According to Wikipedia, Tiangong-1 is an experimental testbed to demonstrate the rendezvous and docking capabilities needed to support a space station complex. It will be deorbited in 2013 and replaced with different modules to make a true space station by 2020.

This falls in line with Chinas pledge to have a greater space presence and their goal of putting a man on the moon by 2017. Chinas hunger and wiillingness to spend the massive amount of money on a space program is kind of where we were 45 years ago. I think now is the time to push new manned missions to the Moon and eventually Mars before the Chinese can. Not only would it give Americans a sense of national pride that they havent felt since the 60s, but it will show that it is going to be a long time before another country can pass the United States technology wise.

Photo courtesy of english.people.com.cn

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China Planning Manned Mission To Its Space Station

China's first manned space lab mission coming within days

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China will send three astronauts into space aboard a Shenzhou 9 capsule to rendezvous with China's mini-space station Tiangong-1 by mid-June. The mission could be a major milestone in China's space program.

China will launch its first manned mission to an orbiting space laboratory in mid-June, according to state media reports and the country's human spaceflight agency.

A Long March 2F rocket will launch three astronauts aboard a Shenzhou 9 capsule for China's first manned space docking at the mini-space station Tiangong-1. The space lab module has been circling Earth unmanned since its launch last year.

"The Shenzhou 9 will perform our country's first manned space docking mission with the orbiting Tiangong 1 space lab module," the Xinhua news agency quoted Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program, as saying on June ).

IN PICTURES: China's space program

Zhou's comments came as he accompanied the rocket set to launch the Shenzhou 9 mission to a pad at China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest region.

The mission, Zhou told Xinhua, will be a major milestone for China's space exploration program.

"It means China's spacecraft will become a genuine manned shuttle tool between space and Earth. It can send human beings to space stations or space labs," Zhou told Xinhua. "This will be a significant step in China's manned space flight history." [Gallery: Tiangong 1, China's First Space Lab]

China's Shenzhou 9 mission will mark the fourth human spaceflight for the country, which has been making steady advances since the launch of Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei in 2003 on Shenzhou 5, the country's first human spaceflight. China is the third country to achieve human spaceflight after Russia and the United States.

Since its first flight, China has launched two more manned missions, the two-man Shenzhou 6 flight and three-person Shenzhou 7 mission. Last September, China launched the Tiangong 1 module a prototype for a future space station into orbit. That launch was followed in November by the unmanned Shenzhou 8 mission, which successfully docked a capsule with the space laboratory twice during the test flight.

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China's first manned space lab mission coming within days

Dream nearly fulfilled: Virigin Galactic closer to space flight

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LAS CRUCES The iris in Virgin Galactic's logo is that of Sir Richard Branson's you know, the billionaire owner very own eye. Did you know that the business cards of other executives also includes their own irises.

Well, whether you consider that creepy, innovative, or both, the undeniable fact is that the company has its eye, figuratively, on southern New Mexico.

Seven and a half years ago, Branson stopped by a spot in the desert about 40 miles north of Las Cruces and celebrated with school children the spot where Spaceport America would be built. Last week, CEO and President George Whitesides was in town as the company held an open house event for its Las Cruces office.

Such an event flies in the face of some of the comments we've all heard in the past 7 1/2 years:

"The spaceport will never happen. We'll drive by up there and see a concrete pad with brush grown up around it."

"New Mexicans will never support an expensive project for rich people."

"The economy will kill the project."

Whitesides said he's heard the comments too. Still the company plans to launch suborbital space flights at the $200 million Spaceport America, which is nearly complete. Whitesides said he's looking forward to the start of space flights as a company exec and as a customer. In fact, the company executive said Virgin hopes to begin flights in the second half of 2013.

"I bought tickets for me and my wife," he said. "I was one of

In fact, the company has sold more than 500 rides to suborbital space at $200,000 a pop. You do the math. OK, I'll do it for you: If we round off to 500, that's 100 million big ones, a bit more than your average lemonade stand.

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Dream nearly fulfilled: Virigin Galactic closer to space flight

Veteran Space Company Orbital Sciences Ready for ISS

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Image: Orbital Sciences

With a few decades of space launch experience already under its belt, the Orbital Sciences Corporation is next up to demonstrate cargo delivery capabilities to the International Space Station.

With so much attention focused on SpaceXs successful demonstration flight last month, it might be easy to forget Elon Musks company is just one of two receiving investments from NASA as part of its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to deliver cargo to the ISS. And unlike upstart SpaceX, the other company in the COTS program is a veteran of the commercial space industry.

Orbital Sciences Corporation is a 30-year-old firm with more than 60 launches to space using its own rockets, and more than 125 satellites delivered to orbit. The company was founded in 1982 by a trio of Harvard Business School friends who thought a commercial company could provide space products and launch services in a much more affordable way than what was available at the time. After raising the cash, Orbital began work on its first space launch vehicle in the mid-1980s, and by 1990 the company had eight successful launches under its belt.

COTS is exactly what the company was founded to do, says Orbital spokesman Barry Beneski.

Roughly a third of the companys $1.5 billion revenue this year will come from civil government contracts, including the NASA COTS development program and the Commercial Resupply Services contracts to deliver cargo to the ISS. Beneski says a little less than a third of the companys business comes from commercial customers, mainly communication satellite companies, while the rest of the business is comprised of military and intelligence customers.

Were not a new space company, Beneski told Wired, emphasizing Orbitals history of building and launching satellites.

Orbital fills a gap between some of the big veteran companies in the space industry, such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and the newer firms, such as SpaceX and the yet-to-fly-to-space Blue Origin. Were big enough to take on big challenges and have the experience to back it up, Beneski says, touting Orbitals capabilities.

An artist rendition of the Cygnus spacecraft approaching the International Space Station. Image: Orbital Sciences

It would be easy to understand if Orbital felt a bit ignored in all the recent news about private companies getting involved with delivering cargo to the space station, and Beneski says there was a bit of we do that too. But he says the company is simply ready to show it has the expertise to build upon its launch experience and deliver cargo to the ISS. Were confident and were ready to show [our capabilities] later this year.

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Veteran Space Company Orbital Sciences Ready for ISS

Shenzhou 9: China's 1st Manned Space Docking Mission (Pictures)

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Shenzhou 9 Spaceship at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center

A Chinese Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rolls out to the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on June 9, 2012. The Shenzhou 9 mission will launch three astronauts on China's first manned space docking flight.

A Chinese Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rolls out to the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on June 9, 2012. The Shenzhou 9 mission will launch three astronauts on China's first manned space docking flight.

A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 rocket rolls out to the launch pad at China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center ahead of a planned June 2012 launch of the country's first manned space docking mission.

A Chinese Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rolls out to the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on June 9, 2012. The Shenzhou 9 mission will launch three astronauts on China's first manned space docking flight.

This image released by the China Manned Space Engineering Office shows the Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 capsule that will launch three astronauts to the Tiangong 1 space lab in June 2012.

The docking of two robotic spacecraft, the Tiangong 1 space station and Shenzhou 8 capsule, provided a preview of larger Chinese space complexes planned for the future.

Take a look at how China's first space station, called Tiangong ("Heavenly Palace") will be assembled in orbit in this SPACE.com infographic.

A Chinese Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rolls out to the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on June 9, 2012. The Shenzhou 9 mission will launch three astronauts on China's first manned space docking flight.

Launch technicians stand ready as China's Shenzhou 9 spacecraft and Long March 2F rocket are rolled out to the launch pad on June 9, 2012.

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Shenzhou 9: China's 1st Manned Space Docking Mission (Pictures)

Stony Brook tops LSU, heads to CWS

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UpdatedJun 11, 2012 1:30 AM ET

Coach Matt Senk and his unflappable band of ballplayers from upstart Stony Brook invaded the most hostile territory in college baseball and vanquished another national power.

Six-time national champion LSU is done, and after 22 seasons with a Stony Brook program that played in Division III when he arrived in 1991, Senk is taking his team to the sport's promised land: the College World Series in Omaha.

''I'm a little overwhelmed, quite frankly, because I think I do know the magnitude of this,'' Senk said, describing how former LSU coach Skip Bertman, winner of five national titles, congratulated him after the game. ''To make it to Omaha (is) every college baseball team's dream, every college baseball coach's dream and it's come to fruition. And to do it against LSU, Alex Box Stadium ... to shake Coach Bertman's hand on the way in. Oh my God. Having that man congratulate me for going to the College World Series, it's just unbelievable.''

Frankie Vanderka threw a three-hitter, Travis Jankowski had four hits and Stony Brook continued its stunning run with a 7-2 victory Sunday night in the deciding game of the Baton Rouge super regional.

Stony Brook, which has won 28 of 30 and will face UCLA in the opening game in Omaha, became only the second team to open the tournament as a No. 4 seed in the regional round and reach the College World Series. The first was Fresno State in 2008 which went on to win the national title.

''Our motto is: `Shock the world and win the last game of the season,''' said Jankowski, the Seawolves' leading hitter at .422 and the 44th overall selection in last week's amateur draft. ''So as long as we do that we should be all right from here on out.''

This Stony Brook squad, which beat host Miami in winning the Coral Gables Regional, just might be good enough to repeat that feat. Playing before crowds of 10,000-plus draped in LSU purple-and-gold, the Seawolves didn't merely survive so much as thrive, outhitting LSU 35-15 in the series.

''They outplayed us really in every phase of the game,'' LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. ''The people in the South haven't heard much about Stony Brook, but they know who they are now. They gained a lot of respect, besides winning a series. They gained an awful lot of respect not only down here but nationwide and I think you have to look at the leadership of their program and that's Matt (Senk). ... That team can play with anybody.''

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Stony Brook tops LSU, heads to CWS

Stony Brook heads to 1st ever College World Series

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STONY BROOK -- For a little while, at least, upstart Stony Brook is grabbing the kind of attention usually reserved for Derek Jeter, David Wright and the big league stars in New York.

"Our motto is: 'Shock the world and win the last game of the season,'" said center fielder Travis Jankowski, the Seawolves' leading hitter at .422 and the 44th overall selection in last week's Major League Baseball amateur draft. "So as long as we do that, we should be all right from here on out."

"They gained an awful lot of respect not only down here but nationwide," Mainieri continued. "That team can play with anybody."

The Seawolves are the first team from New York State to reach the College World Series since 1980 and the first team from the Northeast since Maine in 1986.

Stony Brook demonstrated that with relentless hitting and stifling pitching against LSU. Starter Frankie Vanderka bounced back from a Game 1 loss in a relief role and threw a complete-game three-hitter in the series clincher. Travis Jankowski had four hits and scored two runs, while Maxx Tissenbaum drove in three runs with a pair of doubles.

When Vanderka's fifth strikeout ended the game, and he was buried under a celebratory dog pile moments afterward, it was a surreal sight for Stony Brook coach Matt Senk, who recalled "doing backflips" when he was first hired at then-Division III Stony Brook in 1991. Some 22 seasons later, he's headed for college baseball's promised land on the heels of stopping the mighty Tigers from booking their 16th appearance in Omaha.

"I'm a little overwhelmed, quite frankly, because I think I do know the magnitude of this," Senk said, describing how former LSU coach Skip Bertman, winner of five national titles, congratulated him after the game. "To make it to Omaha (is) every college baseball team's dream, every college baseball coach's dream and it's come to fruition. And to do it against LSU, Alex Box Stadium ... to shake coach Bertman's hand on the way in. Oh my God. Having that man congratulate me for going to the College World Series, it's just unbelievable."

Stony Brook, which has won 28 of 30 and will face UCLA in the opening game in Omaha, became only the second team to open the tournament as a No. 4 seed in the regional round and reach the College World Series. The first was Fresno State in 2008 which went on to win the national title.

This Stony Brook squad, which beat host Miami in winning the Coral Gables Regional, just might be good enough to repeat that feat. Playing before crowds of 10,000-plus wearing LSU purple-and-gold, the Seawolves didn't merely survive so much as thrive, outhitting LSU 35-15 in the series.

The only time the Seawolves (52-13) trailed in the three games was when Mason Katz hit a walk-off single to end a thrilling Game 1 in the bottom of the 12th, and outhit LSU 15-3 in the series finale.

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Stony Brook heads to 1st ever College World Series

NASA Solicitation: Space Technology Research Opportunities: Early Stage Innovations

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Synopsis - May 31, 2012

General Information

Solicitation Number: NNH12ZUA005N Posted Date: May 31, 2012 FedBizOpps Posted Date: May 31, 2012 Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No FedGrants Posted Date: May 31, 2012 Application Due Date Explanation: Notices of Intent (not mandatory) are due by June 21, 2012. Proposals are due on or before July 12, 2012. Classification Code: A -- Research and Development NAICS Code: 541712

Grant Specific Information

Funding Instrument Type: Grant CFDA Number: 43.009 Cost Sharing or Matching Required: No Estimated Total Program Funding: $2,500,000.00 Expected Number of Awards: 10 Ceiling Amount: none Floor Amount: none Funding Activity: Science and Technology and other Research and Development (ST) Eligible Applicants: 25 - Others (see "Description" below or Full Announcement for clarification) Link to Full Announcement: http://nspires.nasaprs.com

Contracting Office Address

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters Acquisition Branch, Code 210.H, Greenbelt, MD 20771

Description

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters has released a solicitation, entitled Space Technology Research Opportunities - Early Stage Innovations (STRO-ESI), on May 31, 2012. The solicitation is available by opening the NSPIRES homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ selecting "Solicitations," then selecting "Open Solicitations," and, finally, selecting "Space Technology Research Opportunities - Early Stage Innovations (STRO-ESI)."

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) solicits proposals from accredited U.S. universities for innovative, early-stage space technology research of high priority to NASA's Mission Directorates and OCT. Eligibility requirements are detailed in the solicitation. ESI-STRO is focused on low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) space technologies. The goal of this low-TRL technology endeavor is to accelerate the development of push technologies (technology development not directed at a specific mission) to support the future space science and exploration needs of NASA, other government agencies, and the commercial space sector. These Early Stage Innovation technology efforts complement the NASA Mission Directorates' focused technology activities which typically begin at TRL 3 or higher. The TRL of the efforts to be funded as a result of this call will be TRL 1 or TRL 2 at the beginning of the selected effort and TRL 2 or TRL 3 at the end of the effort.

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NASA Solicitation: Space Technology Research Opportunities: Early Stage Innovations

NASA shoots for riskier Mars rover landing

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NASA scientists are taking a risk, aiming to land its super Martian rover closer to its ultimate destination but near a hazardous mountain slope.

"We're trimming the distance we'll have to drive after landing by almost half," said Pete Theisinger, Mars Science Laboratory project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "That could get us to the mountain months earlier."

And they're able to adjust the rover's landing site because, as the robotic rover hurtled through space on its journey to Mars, NASA engineers tested and updated its flight and landing software.

NASA reported that they will send more software upgrades to the Mars rover about a week after it lands.

NASA launched the $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory last November. Dubbed Curiosity, the SUV-size super rover has nearly completed an eight-month journey so it can soon begin its mission to help scientists learn whether life can exist, or has ever existed, on the Red Planet.

Curiosity, equipped with 10 scientific instruments, is expected to land on Mars in the early morning hours of August 6 to begin a two-year project to collect and analyze soil and rock samples.

Curiosity is set to join Opportunity, a NASA rover that has been working on Mars for more than six years. Opportunity has been working alone since another rover, Spirit, stopped functioning last year.

In a teleconference on Monday, NASA officials said that the agency's scientists have gained enough confidence in the precision of the landing technology aboard the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft to change its landing plans. The rover is now slated to touch down close to Mount Sharp, which is in the center of Gale Crater.

Scientists are eager to analyze the rock layers in the mountain to find out if the area has, or ever had, environmental conditions favorable to microbial life.

Prior to changing the target site, the craft was to land within an area measuring about 12 miles wide and 16 miles long. The new target site measures 4 miles wide and 12 miles long.

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NASA shoots for riskier Mars rover landing

Glitch hits NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter

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NASA says its Mars Odyssey spacecraft circling the Red Planet put itself into safe model after detecting a problem in a system that keeps it oriented in space.

An artist's rendering shows the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

PASADENA, Calif., June 11 (UPI) -- NASA says its Mars Odyssey spacecraft circling the Red Planet put itself into safe mode after detecting a problem in a system that keeps it oriented in space.

The orbiter put itself into the protective standby mode early Friday when it detected unusual readings from one of its three reaction wheels, which are used to control its orientation, SPACE.com reported.

"The spacecraft is safe, and information we've received from it indicates the problem is limited to a single reaction wheel," mission manager Chris Potts of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement. "The path forward is evaluating the health of the reaction wheel and our options for proceeding."

The orbiter is equipped with a spare reaction wheel onboard should one of the three primary wheels fail, NASA said.

Mars Odyssey has been studying the Red Planet since it arrived in orbit in 2011.

It has also served as a communications relay station for NASA's Spirit and Opportunity landers on the martian surface and will do the same for the next Mars rover, Curiosity, when it lands in August.

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Glitch hits NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter

Nanoparticles in polluted air, smoke & nanotechnology products have serious impact on health

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ScienceDaily (June 11, 2012) New groundbreaking research by scientists at Trinity College Dublin has found that exposure to nanoparticles can have a serious impact on health, linking it to rheumatoid arthritis and the development of other serious autoimmune diseases. The findings that have been recently published in the international journal Nanomedicine have health and safety implications for the manufacture, use and ultimate disposal of nanotechnology products and materials. They also identified new cellular targets for the development of potential drug therapies in combating the development of autoimmune diseases.

Environmental pollution including carbon particles emitted by car exhaust, smoking and long term inhalation of dust of various origins have been recognized as risk factors causing chronic inflammation of the lungs. The link between smoking and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis has also been established. This new research now raises serious concerns in relation to similar risks caused by nanotechnology products which if not handled appropriately may contribute to the generation of new types of airborne pollutants causing risks to global health.

In their research, the Nanomedicine and Molecular Imaging team at Trinity College Dublin's School of Medicine led by Professor of Molecular Medicine, Yuri Volkov investigated whether there was a common underlying mechanism contributing to the development of autoimmune diseases in human cells following their exposure to a wide range of nanoparticles containing different physical and chemical properties.

The scientists applied a wide range of nanomaterials including ultrafine carbon black, carbon nanotubes and silicon dioxide particles of different sizes, ranging from 20 to 400 nanometers, to human cells derived from the lining of the airway passages, and to the cells of so-called phagocytic origin those cells that are most frequently exposed to the inhaled foreign particles or are tasked with cleaning up our body from them. At the same time, collaborating researchers from the Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (Morgantown, WV, USA) have conducted the studies in mice exposed to chronic inhalation of air contaminated with single walled carbon nanotubes.

The result was clear and convincing: all types of nanoparticles in both the TCD and US study were causing an identical response in human cells and in the lungs of mice, manifesting in the specific transformation of the amino acid arginine into the molecule called citrulline which can lead to the development of autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

In the transformation to citrulline, human proteins which incorporate this modified amino acid as building blocks, can no longer function properly and are subject to destruction and elimination by the bodily defense system. Once programmed to get rid of citrullinated proteins, the immune system can start attacking its own tissues and organs, thereby causing the autoimmune processes which may result in rheumatoid arthritis.

Commenting on the significance of the findings, TCD's Professor Volkov says: "The research establishes a clear link between autoimmune diseases and nanoparticles. Preventing or interfering with the resulting citrullination process looks therefore as a promising target for the development of future preventative and therapeutic approaches in rheumatoid arthritis and possibly other autoimmune conditions."

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Nanoparticles in polluted air, smoke & nanotechnology products have serious impact on health