ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Astronomers detect vast amounts of gas and dust around black hole in early universe
• Bacteria use chat to play the 'prisoner's dilemma' game in deciding their fate
• New gene therapy approach developed for red blood cell disorders
• New evidence that comets deposited building blocks of life on primordial Earth
• Hot pepper compound could help hearts
• Blocking 'oh-glick-nack' may improve long-term memory
• Capsule for removing radioactive contamination from milk, fruit juices, other beverages
• Competition-linked bursts of testosterone are fundamental aspect of human biology, study of Amazonian tribe suggests
• Transparent, flexible '3-D' memory chips may be the next big thing in small memory devices
• Nanostarfruits are pure gold for research
• New process converts polyethylene into carbon fiber
• Nanoparticles and magnetic current used to damage cancerous cells in mice
• Elusive Bururi long-fingered frog found after 62 years
• Placenta on toast? Could we derive benefits from ingesting afterbirth?
• West Antarctic ice shelves tearing apart at the seams
• Some flame retardants make fires more deadly
• New evidence on effects of green coffee beans in weight loss
• Most extensive full face transplant to date
• Researchers discover a new path for light through metal
• Microfluidic chip developed to stem flu outbreaks
• Living human gut-on-a-chip: Tiny device simulates structure, microenvironment, and mechanical behavior of human intestine
• Ion Beam Laboratory looks at advanced materials for reactors
• Air pollution from trucks and low-quality heating oil may explain childhood asthma hot spots
• New way to abate heart attacks before patients get to the hospital
• New catalyst promises cheaper, greener drugs
• Engineers set their sights on asteroid deflection
• A planetary system from the early Universe
• Chemical microgradients accelerate coral death at the Great Barrier Reef
• New dimension for solar energy: Innovative 3-D designs more than double the solar power generated per area
• Stand up: Your life could depend on it
• Use it or lose it: Mind games help healthy older people too
• How colds cause coughs and wheezes
• Vitamins doing gymnastics: Scientists capture first full image of vitamin B12 in action
• The Black Queen Hypothesis: Basis of a new evolutionary theory
• Cassini makes simultaneous measurements of Saturn's nightside aurora and associated electric current system
• Watching space weather through the MAGIC of CubeSat CINEMA
• 'Ordinary' black hole discovered 12 million light years away
• Deepest ever high-resolution radio survey of Hubble Deep Field begun
• New SCUBA-2 camera reveals wild youth of the universe
• Jupiter helps Halley’s Comet give us more spectacular meteor displays
• Size matters: Large marine protected areas work for dolphins
• Evidence stacks up that monolith at Gardom's Edge is astronomically aligned
• Signs of thawing permafrost revealed from space
• Regular chocolate eaters are thinner, evidence suggests
• New plastics 'bleed' when cut or scratched -- and then heal like human skin
• New twist on 1930s technology may become a 21st century weapon against global warming
• More economical way to produce cleaner, hotter natural gas
• New endoscope technology paves the way for 'molecular-guided surgery' for cancer
• New 'electronic skin' patches monitor health wirelessly
• New field of chemistry has potential for making drugs inside patients -- and more
• Popcorn-shaped gold particles gang up on salmonella
• Study shows people know more than they think they do
• Stem cell study aids quest for motor neuron disease therapies

Astronomers detect vast amounts of gas and dust around black hole in early universe Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:57 PM PDT Astronomers have discovered a large reservoir of gas and dust in a galaxy that surrounds the most distant supermassive black hole known. Light from the galaxy, called J1120+0641, has taken so long to reach us that the galaxy is seen as it was only 740 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was only 1/18th of its current age.

Bacteria use chat to play the 'prisoner's dilemma' game in deciding their fate Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:57 PM PDT When faced with life-or-death situations, bacteria -- and maybe even human cells -- use an extremely sophisticated version of "game theory" to consider their options and decide upon the best course of action. Scientists said microbes "play" a version of the classic "Prisoner's Dilemma" game.

New gene therapy approach developed for red blood cell disorders Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:57 PM PDT Scientists have designed what appears to be a powerful gene therapy strategy that can treat both beta-thalassemia disease and sickle cell anemia. They have also developed a test to predict patient response before treatment.

New evidence that comets deposited building blocks of life on primordial Earth Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:56 PM PDT New research provides further support for the idea that comets bombarding Earth billions of years ago carried and deposited the key ingredients for life to spring up on the planet.

Hot pepper compound could help hearts Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:56 PM PDT The food that inspires wariness is on course for inspiring even more wonder from a medical standpoint as scientists have reported the latest evidence that chili peppers are a heart-healthy food with potential to protect against the No. 1 cause of death in the developed world.

Blocking 'oh-glick-nack' may improve long-term memory Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:56 PM PDT Just as the familiar sugar in food can be bad for the teeth and waistline, another sugar has been implicated as a health menace and blocking its action may have benefits that include improving long-term memory in older people and treating cancer. Progress has been made toward finding such a blocker for the sugar — with the appropriately malicious-sounding name "oh-glick-nack."

Capsule for removing radioactive contamination from milk, fruit juices, other beverages Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:55 PM PDT Amid concerns about possible terrorist attacks with nuclear materials, and fresh memories of environmental contamination from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, scientists have developed a capsule that can be dropped into water, milk, fruit juices and other foods to remove more than a dozen radioactive substances.

Competition-linked bursts of testosterone are fundamental aspect of human biology, study of Amazonian tribe suggests Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:55 PM PDT Though Tsimane men have a third less baseline testosterone compared with U.S. men, Tsimane show the same increase in testosterone following a soccer game, suggesting that competition-linked bursts of testosterone are a fundamental aspect of human biology.

Transparent, flexible '3-D' memory chips may be the next big thing in small memory devices Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:55 PM PDT New memory chips that are transparent, flexible enough to be folded like a sheet of paper, shrug off 1,000-degree Fahrenheit temperatures -- twice as hot as the max in a kitchen oven -- and survive other hostile conditions could usher in the development of next-generation flash-competitive memory for tomorrow's keychain drives, cell phones and computers, scientists say.

Nanostarfruits are pure gold for research Posted: 27 Mar 2012 02:07 PM PDT Starfruit-shaped gold nanorods could nourish applications that rely on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, such as medical imaging and chemical sensing.

New process converts polyethylene into carbon fiber Posted: 27 Mar 2012 12:29 PM PDT Common material such as polyethylene used in plastic bags could be turned into something far more valuable through a new process.

Nanoparticles and magnetic current used to damage cancerous cells in mice Posted: 27 Mar 2012 12:28 PM PDT Using nanoparticles and alternating magnetic fields, scientists have found that head and neck cancerous tumor cells in mice can be killed in half an hour without harming healthy cells. The findings mark the first time to the researchers' knowledge this cancer type has been treated using magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle-induced hyperthermia, or above-normal body temperatures, in laboratory mice.

Elusive Bururi long-fingered frog found after 62 years Posted: 27 Mar 2012 12:28 PM PDT Herpetologists have discovered a single specimen of the Bururi long-fingered frog during a research expedition to Burundi in December 2011. The frog was last seen by scientists in 1949 and was feared to be extinct after decades of turmoil in the tiny East African nation.

Placenta on toast? Could we derive benefits from ingesting afterbirth? Posted: 27 Mar 2012 12:28 PM PDT Almost all non-human mammals eat placenta for good reasons. Are we missing something? Neuroscientists now suggest that ingesting components of afterbirth or placenta -- placentophagia -- may offer benefits to human mothers and perhaps to non-mothers and males.

West Antarctic ice shelves tearing apart at the seams Posted: 27 Mar 2012 10:43 AM PDT A new study examining nearly 40 years of satellite imagery has revealed that the floating ice shelves of a critical portion of West Antarctica are steadily losing their grip on adjacent bay walls, potentially amplifying an already accelerating loss of ice to the sea.

Some flame retardants make fires more deadly Posted: 27 Mar 2012 10:42 AM PDT Some of the flame retardants added to carpets, furniture upholstery, plastics, crib mattresses, car and airline seats and other products to suppress the visible flames in fires are actually increasing the danger of invisible toxic gases that are the No. 1 cause of death in fires.

New evidence on effects of green coffee beans in weight loss Posted: 27 Mar 2012 10:42 AM PDT Scientists have reported striking new evidence that green, or unroasted, coffee beans can produce a substantial decrease in body weight in a relatively short period of time.

Most extensive full face transplant to date Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:49 AM PDT The most extensive full face transplant ever performed has just been completed. It included both jaws, teeth, and tongue. The 36-hour operation occurred on March 19-20, 2012 and involved a multi-disciplinary team of faculty physicians and a team of over 150 nurses and professional staff.

Researchers discover a new path for light through metal Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:49 AM PDT Researchers have coaxed a thin film of titanium nitride into transporting plasmons, tiny electron excitations coupled to light that can direct and manipulate optical signals on the nanoscale. Titanium nitride's addition to the short list of surface-plasmon-supporting materials, formerly comprised only of metals, could point the way to a new class of optoelectronic devices with unprecedented speed and efficiency.

Microfluidic chip developed to stem flu outbreaks Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:48 AM PDT Researchers have developed a rapid, low-cost, accurate, point-of-care device that matches the accuracy of expensive and time-consuming lab-based tests to diagnose influenza.

Living human gut-on-a-chip: Tiny device simulates structure, microenvironment, and mechanical behavior of human intestine Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:48 AM PDT Researchers have created a gut-on-a-chip microdevice lined by living human cells that mimics the structure, physiology, and mechanics of the human intestine -- even supporting the growth of living microbes within its luminal space. As a more accurate alternative to conventional cell culture and animal models, the microdevice could help researchers gain new insights into intestinal disorders and evaluate the safety and efficacy of potential treatments.

Ion Beam Laboratory looks at advanced materials for reactors Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:48 AM PDT Scientists are studying how to rapidly evaluate the tougher advanced materials needed to build the next generation of nuclear reactors and extend the lives of current reactors.

Air pollution from trucks and low-quality heating oil may explain childhood asthma hot spots Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:48 AM PDT Where a child lives can greatly affect his or her risk for asthma. Neighborhood differences in rates of childhood asthma may be explained by varying levels of air pollution from trucks and residential heating oil. In New York City, where the study was conducted, asthma among school-age children ranges from a low of three percent to a high of 19 percent depending on the neighborhood.

New way to abate heart attacks before patients get to the hospital Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:43 AM PDT Paramedics can reduce someone's chances of having a cardiac arrest or dying by 50 percent by immediately administering a mixture of glucose, insulin and potassium to people having a heart attack, according to new research.

New catalyst promises cheaper, greener drugs Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:43 AM PDT A chemistry team has discovered environmentally-friendly iron-based nanoparticle catalysts that work as well as the expensive, toxic, metal-based catalysts that are currently in wide use by the drug, fragrance and food industry.

Engineers set their sights on asteroid deflection Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:42 AM PDT Engineers are developing an innovative technique based on lasers that could radically change asteroid deflection technology.

A planetary system from the early Universe Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:41 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered an ancient planetary system that is likely to be a survivor from one of the earliest cosmic eras, 13 billion years ago. The system consists of the star HIP 11952 and two planets, which have orbital periods of 290 and 7 days, respectively. Whereas planets usually form within clouds that include heavier chemical elements, the star HIP 11952 contains very little other than hydrogen and helium. The system promises to shed light on planet formation in the early universe – under conditions quite different from those of later planetary systems, such as our own.

Chemical microgradients accelerate coral death at the Great Barrier Reef Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:41 AM PDT Researchers have examined corals from the Great Barrier Reef affected by the Black Band Disease and identified the critical parameters that allow this prevalent disease to cause wide mortality of corals around the world. Corals infected with Black Band show a characteristic appearance of healthy tissue displaced by a dark front, the so called Black Band, which leaves the white limestone skeleton of the coral animal exposed. The dark front is commonly one to two centimeters broad and consists of a complex microbial community among which there are phototrophic cyanobacteria, sulfur oxidizing bacteria and sulfate reducing microorganisms.

New dimension for solar energy: Innovative 3-D designs more than double the solar power generated per area Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:46 AM PDT Intensive research around the world has focused on improving the performance of solar photovoltaic cells and bringing down their cost. But very little attention has been paid to the best ways of arranging those cells, which are typically placed flat on a rooftop or other surface, or sometimes attached to motorized structures that keep the cells pointed toward the sun as it crosses the sky. Now, a team of researchers has come up with a very different approach: building cubes or towers that extend the solar cells upward in three-dimensional configurations.

Stand up: Your life could depend on it Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:46 AM PDT Standing up more often may reduce your chances of dying within three years, even if you are already physically active, a study of more than 200,000 people shows.

Use it or lose it: Mind games help healthy older people too Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:43 AM PDT Cognitive training including puzzles, handicrafts and life skills are known to reduce the risk, and help slow down the progress, of dementia amongst the elderly. A new study has shown that cognitive training was able to improve reasoning, memory, language and hand eye co-ordination of healthy, older adults.

How colds cause coughs and wheezes Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:43 AM PDT Cold-like infections make 'cough receptors' in the airways more sensitive, making asthmatics more prone to bouts of coughing and wheezing, reveal scientists. The work could lead to drugs that reduce virus-induced coughing in those suffering chronic lung diseases.

Vitamins doing gymnastics: Scientists capture first full image of vitamin B12 in action Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:41 AM PDT It may not sound too exciting when it's listed on the side of your cereal box and your multivitamin bottle. But when vitamin B12 gets inside your body, new research suggests, it turns into a gymnast. Scientists report that they have created the first full 3-D images of B12 and its partner molecules twisting and contorting as part of a crucial reaction called methyltransfer.

The Black Queen Hypothesis: Basis of a new evolutionary theory Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:40 AM PDT Microorganisms can sometimes lose the ability to perform a function that appears to be necessary for their survival, and yet they still somehow manage to endure and multiply. How can this be? Researchers now explain their ideas about the matter.

Cassini makes simultaneous measurements of Saturn's nightside aurora and associated electric current system Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:36 AM PDT Since the NASA / ESA Cassini-Huygens spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 2004, astronomers and space scientists have been able to study the ringed planet and its moons in great detail. Now, for the first time, a team of planetary scientists have made simultaneous measurements of Saturn's nightside aurora, magnetic field, and associated charged particles.

Watching space weather through the MAGIC of CubeSat CINEMA Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:36 AM PDT A trio of CubeSats that will study the effects of space weather on the Earth's radiation belts and magnetic field are being prepared for launch.

'Ordinary' black hole discovered 12 million light years away Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:36 AM PDT Scientists have discovered an 'ordinary' black hole in the 12 million light year-distant galaxy Centaurus A. This is the first time that a normal-size black hole has been detected away from the immediate vicinity of our own Galaxy.

Deepest ever high-resolution radio survey of Hubble Deep Field begun Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:36 AM PDT Astronomers have begun the deepest ever high-resolution radio imaging of the region around the Hubble Deep Field (HDF), the images originally captured by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in the mid 1990s. The HDF led to the discovery of numerous galaxies billions of light years distant and provided direct visual evidence of the evolution of the Universe. First results from the new imaging show galaxies some 7 billion light years away in unprecedented detail.

New SCUBA-2 camera reveals wild youth of the universe Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:36 AM PDT Astronomers have commenced a revolutionary new study of cosmic star-formation history, looking back in time to when the universe was still in its lively and somewhat unruly youth. The consortium is using a brand new camera called SCUBA-2, the most powerful camera ever developed for observing light at "sub-mm" wavelengths (light that has a wavelength 1000 times longer than we can see with our eyes).

Jupiter helps Halley’s Comet give us more spectacular meteor displays Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:35 AM PDT The dramatic appearance of Halley's comet in the night sky has been observed and recorded by astronomers since 240 BC. Now a study shows that the orbital influences of Jupiter on the comet and the debris it leaves in its wake are responsible for periodic outbursts of activity in the Orionid meteor showers.

Size matters: Large marine protected areas work for dolphins Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:35 AM PDT Ecologists in New Zealand have shown for the first time that Marine Protected Areas – long advocated as a way of protecting threatened marine mammals – actually work. Their study, based on 21 years' monitoring reveals that a marine sanctuary off the coast of Christchurch has significantly improved survival of Hector's dolphins – one of the rarest dolphins in the world.

Evidence stacks up that monolith at Gardom's Edge is astronomically aligned Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:35 AM PDT Researchers have gathered new evidence that a 4000-year-old monolith was aligned to be an astronomical marker.  The 2.2 meter high monument, located in the Peak District National Park, has a striking, right-angled triangular shape that slants up towards geographic south. The orientation and inclination of the slope is aligned to the altitude of the Sun at mid-summer. The researchers believe that the monolith was set in place to give symbolic meaning to the location through the changing seasonal illuminations.

Signs of thawing permafrost revealed from space Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:31 AM PDT Satellite are seeing changes in land surfaces in high detail at northern latitudes, indicating thawing permafrost. This releases greenhouse gases into parts of the Arctic, exacerbating the effects of climate change. Permafrost is ground that remains at or below 0°C for at least two consecutive years and usually appears in areas at high latitudes such as Alaska, Siberia and Northern Scandinavia, or at high altitudes like the Andes, Himalayas and the Alps.

Regular chocolate eaters are thinner, evidence suggests Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:12 AM PDT Katherine Hepburn famously said of her slim physique: "What you see before you is the result of a lifetime of chocolate." New evidence suggests she may have been right. Nutritional experts present new findings that may overturn the major objection to regular chocolate consumption: that it makes people fat.

New plastics 'bleed' when cut or scratched -- and then heal like human skin Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:12 AM PDT A new genre of plastics that mimic the human skin's ability to heal scratches and cuts offers the promise of endowing cell phones, laptops, cars and other products with self-repairing surfaces, scientists have reported. The plastics change color to warn of wounds and heal themselves when exposed to light.

New twist on 1930s technology may become a 21st century weapon against global warming Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:11 AM PDT Far from being a pipe dream years away from reality, practical technology for capturing carbon dioxide — the main greenhouse gas — from smokestacks is aiming for deployment at coal-fired electric power generating stations and other sources, scientists now say. Scientists have a potential advance toward dealing with the 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide released into the air each year through human activity.

More economical way to produce cleaner, hotter natural gas Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:11 AM PDT New technology is offering the prospect of more economical production of a concentrated form of natural gas with many of the advantages — in terms of reduced shipping and storage costs — of the familiar frozen fruit juice concentrates, liquid laundry detergents and other household products that have been drained of their water, scientists report.

New endoscope technology paves the way for 'molecular-guided surgery' for cancer Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:10 AM PDT With about 15 million endoscopies done on patients each year in the U.S., scientists have reported that a new version of these flexible instruments for diagnosing and treating disease shows promise for helping surgeons more completely remove cancerous tumors. The new technology combines endoscopy with the phenomenon responsible for the blue glow in the water of nuclear reactors.

New 'electronic skin' patches monitor health wirelessly Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:10 AM PDT Like the colorful temporary tattoos that children stick to their arms for fun, people may one day put thin "electronic skin" patches onto their arms to wirelessly diagnose health problems or deliver treatments. The patches could eliminate the need for patients to stay tethered to large machines for hours of treatment or monitoring.

New field of chemistry has potential for making drugs inside patients -- and more Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:10 AM PDT The traditional way of making medicines in a factory may be joined by a new approach in which doctors administer the ingredients for a medicine separately, and those ingredients combine inside patients' bodies. That's one promise from an emerging field of chemistry, according to its founder.

Popcorn-shaped gold particles gang up on salmonella Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:10 AM PDT How about a test that identifies Salmonella, the food poisoning bacteria that sickens millions of people each year, in five minutes, so that shipments of lettuce can be confiscated before they reach the table? Scientists have just developed and successfully tested just such a test.

Study shows people know more than they think they do Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:10 AM PDT A new study concludes that "for groups to be successful, they must effectively exploit the knowledge of their (individual) members."

Stem cell study aids quest for motor neuron disease therapies Posted: 26 Mar 2012 01:09 PM PDT A breakthrough using cutting-edge stem cell research could speed up the discovery of new treatments for motor neuron disease. The international research team has created motor neurons using skin cells from a patient with an inherited form of MND.

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