ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Prenatal whole genome sequencing: Just because we can, should we?
• Of mice and melodies: Research on language gene seeks to uncover the origins of the singing mouse
• Research shows gene defect's role in autism-like behavior
• Daily aspirin usage linked to lower cancer mortality
• NASA Curiosity Mars rover installing smarts for driving
• Quantum cryptography theory has a demonstrated security defect
• Influence of heating techniques on red palm oil carotene levels
• Study of fruit fly chromosomes improves understanding of evolution and fertility
• USDA: Ongoing drought causes significant crop yield declines
• NOAA raises hurricane season prediction despite expected El Niño
• 50-year decline found in some Los Angeles vehicle-related pollutants
• New view of body's infection response
• Spending more on trauma care doesn't translate to higher survival rates, study suggests
• Why do organisms build tissues they seemingly never use?
• Stabilizing shell effects in heaviest elements directly measured
• Rooting out rumors, epidemics, and crime -- with math
• Earthquake risk in Europe detailed
• Mission discovers record depth for Lophelia coral on Gulf of Mexico energy platforms
• Summer storm spins over Arctic
• Project Morpheus vehicle experiences hardware component failure
• NASA Global Hawk pilots face challenges flying hurricane missions
• Weekend hospital stays prove more deadly than other times for older people with head trauma
• 'Selfish' DNA in animal mitochondria offers possible tool to study aging
• 'Theranostic' imaging offers means of killing prostate cancer cells
• New regulatory mechanism discovered in cell system for eliminating unneeded proteins
• Good news: Migraines hurt your head but not your brain
• Autonomous robotic plane dodges obstacles when flying indoors
• How much nitrogen is fixed in the ocean?
• Thinking about giving, not receiving, motivates people to help others
• Physicists explore properties of electrons in revolutionary material
• New approach of resistant tuberculosis
• Wireless power for the price of a penny?
• The power to heal at the tips of your fingers
• North American freshwater fishes race to extinction: Rate of loss of species exceeds that of terrestrial animals
• Populations survive despite many deleterious mutations: Evolutionary model of Muller's ratchet explored
• Security risk: Sensitive data can be harvested from a PC even if it is in standby mode, experts say

Prenatal whole genome sequencing: Just because we can, should we? Posted: 10 Aug 2012 04:37 PM PDT With whole genome sequencing quickly becoming more affordable and accessible, we need to pay more attention to the massive amount of information it will deliver to parents -- and the fact that we don't yet understand what most of it means, concludes a new article.

Of mice and melodies: Research on language gene seeks to uncover the origins of the singing mouse Posted: 10 Aug 2012 04:37 PM PDT Singing mice are unique rodents that use song to communicate. An important underlying gene that is thought to influence the singing behavior is a transcription factor called FOXP2, sometimes called the 'language gene' because it has been linked to speech disorders in humans. This information could help researchers find areas of the human FOXP2 gene that are associated with autism.

Research shows gene defect's role in autism-like behavior Posted: 10 Aug 2012 04:37 PM PDT Scientists have discovered how a defective gene causes brain changes that lead to the atypical social behavior characteristic of autism. The research offers a potential target for drugs to treat the condition.

Daily aspirin usage linked to lower cancer mortality Posted: 10 Aug 2012 04:37 PM PDT A new study provides additional support for a potential benefit of daily aspirin use for cancer mortality, but the authors say important questions remain about the size of the potential benefit.

NASA Curiosity Mars rover installing smarts for driving Posted: 10 Aug 2012 02:20 PM PDT NASA's Mars rover Curiosity will spend its first weekend on Mars transitioning to software better suited for tasks ahead, such as driving and using its strong robotic arm. The rover's "brain transplant," which will occur during a series of steps Aug. 10 through Aug. 13, will install a new version of software on both of the rover's redundant main computers. This software for Mars surface operations was uploaded to the rover's memory during the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft's flight from Earth.

Quantum cryptography theory has a demonstrated security defect Posted: 10 Aug 2012 11:49 AM PDT Researchers have just demonstrated the incompleteness and limit of the security theory in quantum key distribution. The present theory cannot guarantee unconditional security.

Influence of heating techniques on red palm oil carotene levels Posted: 10 Aug 2012 11:49 AM PDT Researchers have studied carotene and antibacterial effects of microwave heated and conventional heated red palm oil (RPO). They discovered that conventional heating reduced its carotene levels but microwave heating retained a higher carotene content.

Study of fruit fly chromosomes improves understanding of evolution and fertility Posted: 10 Aug 2012 11:47 AM PDT New research explores the evolution of sperm structure and function, through an analysis of Drosophila genes and gene products. The research has important implications for the study of human infertility as well.

USDA: Ongoing drought causes significant crop yield declines Posted: 10 Aug 2012 11:06 AM PDT Corn production will drop 13 percent to a six-year low, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Aug. 10, confirming what many farmers already knew -- they are having a very bad year.

NOAA raises hurricane season prediction despite expected El Niño Posted: 10 Aug 2012 10:45 AM PDT This year's Atlantic hurricane season got off to a busy start, with 6 named storms to date, and may have a busy second half, according to the updated hurricane season outlook issued Aug. 9, 2012 by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service. The updated outlook still indicates a 50 percent chance of a near-normal season, but increases the chance of an above-normal season to 35 percent and decreases the chance of a below-normal season to only 15 percent from the initial outlook issued in May.

50-year decline found in some Los Angeles vehicle-related pollutants Posted: 10 Aug 2012 10:41 AM PDT In California's Los Angeles Basin, levels of some vehicle-related air pollutants have decreased by about 98 percent since the 1960s, even as area residents now burn three times as much gasoline and diesel fuel. Between 2002 and 2010 alone, the concentration of air pollutants called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) dropped by half, according to a new study by NOAA scientists and colleagues.

New view of body's infection response Posted: 10 Aug 2012 10:32 AM PDT A new 3-D view of the body's response to infection – and the ability to identify proteins involved in the response – could point to novel biomarkers and therapeutic agents for infectious diseases. Scientists in multiple disciplines combined magnetic resonance imaging and imaging mass spectrometry to visualize the inflammatory response to bacterial infection in mice. The techniques offer opportunities for discovering proteins not previously implicated in the inflammatory response.

Spending more on trauma care doesn't translate to higher survival rates, study suggests Posted: 10 Aug 2012 10:31 AM PDT A large-scale national review of U.S. patient records reveals that although survival rates are the same, the cost of treating trauma patients in the western United States is 33 percent higher than the bill for treating similarly injured patients in the Northeast. Overall, treatment costs were lower in the Northeast than anywhere in the United States.

Why do organisms build tissues they seemingly never use? Posted: 10 Aug 2012 10:31 AM PDT Why, after millions of years of evolution, do organisms build structures that seemingly serve no purpose? A new study investigates the evolutionary reasons why organisms go through developmental stages that appear unnecessary.

Stabilizing shell effects in heaviest elements directly measured Posted: 10 Aug 2012 10:31 AM PDT An international research team has succeeded in directly measuring the strength of shell effects in very heavy elements. The results provide information on the nuclear structure of superheavy elements, thus promising to enable drastically improved predictions concerning the location and extension of the island of stability of superheavy elements.

Rooting out rumors, epidemics, and crime -- with math Posted: 10 Aug 2012 10:31 AM PDT Scientists have developed an algorithm that can identify the source of an epidemic or information circulating within a network, a method that could also be used to help with criminal investigations.

Earthquake risk in Europe detailed Posted: 10 Aug 2012 10:31 AM PDT For the first time, scientists have succeeded in setting up a harmonized catalog of earthquakes for Europe and the Mediterranean for the last thousand years. This catalog consists of about 45000 earthquakes.

Mission discovers record depth for Lophelia coral on Gulf of Mexico energy platforms Posted: 10 Aug 2012 10:06 AM PDT A team of federal and university scientists on a 10-day expedition in the Gulf of Mexico has discovered Lophelia coral growing deeper than previously seen anywhere in the Gulf. Newly available information on Lophelia's growth rate and conditions will inform future environmental review and decision-making for the protection of deep-water coral habitats.

Summer storm spins over Arctic Posted: 10 Aug 2012 09:59 AM PDT An unusually strong storm formed off the coast of Alaska on August 5 and tracked into the center of the Arctic Ocean, where it slowly dissipated over the next several days. Arctic storms such as this one can have a large impact on the sea ice, causing it to melt rapidly through many mechanisms, such as tearing off large swaths of ice and pushing them to warmer sites, churning the ice and making it slushier, or lifting warmer waters from the depths of the Arctic Ocean.

Project Morpheus vehicle experiences hardware component failure Posted: 10 Aug 2012 09:49 AM PDT NASA's prototype Morpheus lander crashed in a test flight on Thursday (Aug. 9, 2012), at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The vehicle lifted off the ground and then experienced a hardware component failure. This failure prevented the vehicle from maintaining stable flight. No one was injured, and the resulting fire was extinguished by Kennedy Space Center fire personnel.

NASA Global Hawk pilots face challenges flying hurricane missions Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:31 AM PDT NASA's Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel, or HS3, mission will be a complex one for the pilots flying NASA's Global Hawk aircraft from the ground. The mission, set to begin this month, will be the first deployment for the unmanned aircraft away from their regular base of operations at the Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. In addition the pilots will be operating the aircraft from two locations on opposite coasts.

Weekend hospital stays prove more deadly than other times for older people with head trauma Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:29 AM PDT A review of more than 38,000 patient records finds that older adults who sustain substantial head trauma over a weekend are significantly more likely to die from their injuries than those similarly hurt and hospitalized Monday through Friday, even if their injuries are less severe and they have fewer other illnesses than their weekday counterparts.

'Selfish' DNA in animal mitochondria offers possible tool to study aging Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:29 AM PDT Researchers have discovered, for the first time in any animal species, a type of "selfish" mitochondrial DNA that is actually hurting the organism and lessening its chance to survive – and bears a strong similarity to some damage done to human cells as they age. It could provide an important new model to study human aging.

'Theranostic' imaging offers means of killing prostate cancer cells Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:29 AM PDT Experimenting with human prostate cancer cells and mice, cancer imaging experts say they have developed a method for finding and killing malignant cells while sparing healthy ones.

New regulatory mechanism discovered in cell system for eliminating unneeded proteins Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:29 AM PDT A faulty gene linked to a rare blood vessel disorder has led investigators to discover a mechanism involved in determining the fate of possibly thousands of proteins working inside cells.

Good news: Migraines hurt your head but not your brain Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:28 AM PDT Migraines currently affect about 20 percent of the female population, and while these headaches are common, there are many unanswered questions surrounding this complex disease. Previous studies have linked this disorder to an increased risk of stroke and structural brain lesions, but it has remained unclear whether migraines had other negative consequences such as dementia or cognitive decline. According to new research migraines are not associated with cognitive decline.

Autonomous robotic plane dodges obstacles when flying indoors Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:28 AM PDT New algorithms allow an autonomous robotic plane to dodge obstacles in a subterranean parking garage, without the use of GPS.

How much nitrogen is fixed in the ocean? Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:28 AM PDT In order to predict how the Earth's climate develops scientists have to know which gases and trace elements are naturally bound and released by the ocean and in which quantities. For nitrogen, an essential element for the production of biomass, there are many unanswered questions. Scientists have now published a research study showing that widely applied methods are part of the problem.

Thinking about giving, not receiving, motivates people to help others Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:28 AM PDT We're often told to 'count our blessings' and be grateful for what we have. And research shows that doing so makes us happier. But will it actually change our behavior towards others? A new study suggests that thinking about what we've given, rather than what we've received, may lead us to be more helpful toward others.

Physicists explore properties of electrons in revolutionary material Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:28 AM PDT Scientists have found a new way to examine certain properties of electrons in graphene – a very thin material that may hold the key to new technologies in computing and other fields.

New approach of resistant tuberculosis Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:27 AM PDT Scientists have breathed new life into a forgotten technique and so succeeded in detecting resistant tuberculosis in circumstances where so far this was hardly feasible. Tuberculosis bacilli that have become resistant against our major antibiotics are a serious threat to world health.

Wireless power for the price of a penny? Posted: 10 Aug 2012 05:37 AM PDT The newspaper-style printing of electronic equipment has led to a cost-effective device that could change the way we interact with everyday objects.

The power to heal at the tips of your fingers Posted: 10 Aug 2012 05:37 AM PDT The intricate properties of the fingertips have been mimicked and recreated using semiconductor devices in what researchers hope will lead to the development of advanced surgical gloves.

North American freshwater fishes race to extinction: Rate of loss of species exceeds that of terrestrial animals Posted: 10 Aug 2012 05:37 AM PDT The rate of extinction of freshwater fishes in North America is estimated to be 877 times the historical background rate. Thirty-nine species have gone extinct since the end of the 19th Century. Between 53 and 86 species are likely to have gone extinct by 2050, according to new estimates.

Populations survive despite many deleterious mutations: Evolutionary model of Muller's ratchet explored Posted: 10 Aug 2012 05:36 AM PDT From protozoans to mammals, evolution has created more and more complex structures and better-adapted organisms. This is all the more astonishing as most genetic mutations are deleterious. Especially in small asexual populations that do not recombine their genes, unfavourable mutations can accumulate. This process is known as Muller's ratchet in evolutionary biology. The ratchet, proposed by the American geneticist Hermann Joseph Muller, predicts that the genome deteriorates irreversibly, leaving populations on a one-way street to extinction.

Security risk: Sensitive data can be harvested from a PC even if it is in standby mode, experts say Posted: 10 Aug 2012 05:36 AM PDT When you switch off your computer any passwords you used to login to web pages, your bank or other financial account evaporate into the digital ether, right? Not so fast! Researchers in Greece have discovered a security loophole that exploits the way computer memory works and could be used to harvest passwords and other sensitive data from a PC even if it is in standby mode.

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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Blood test for Alzheimer's gaining ground
• Brain hubs boil when hoarders face pitching their own stuff
• Evidence further suggests extra-terrestrial origin of quasicrystals
• Copper facilitates prion disease, scientists show
• Tracking fruit flies to understand the function of the nervous system
• Psychotherapy is effective but underutilized, review shows
• NASA's Curiosity beams back a color 360 of Mars' Gale Crater
• Gecko feet hold clues to creating bandages that stick when wet
• Computer scientists reveal how aquatic Olympic gold is captured -- above and below the surface
• Scientist discovers plate tectonics on Mars
• Thinking abstractly may help to boost self-control
• New way to track formaldehyde
• Soft autonomous robot inches along like an earthworm: Flexible design enables body-morphing capability
• Searching salt for answers about life on Earth, Mars
• ChemCam sends digital ‘thumbs up’: Martian landing area could be a boon for scientific study
• First 360-degree panorama from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover
• Freezing magnetic monopoles: How dipoles become monopoles and vice versa
• Why living in the moment is impossible: Decision-making memories stored in mysterious brain area known to be involved with vision
• Researchers combine remote sensing technologies for highly detailed look at coastal change
• You snooze, you lose: Less sleep leads to more offspring in male pectoral sandpipers
• 1.5 million years of climate history revealed after scientists solve mystery of the deep
• Global water sustainability flows through natural and human challenges
• Cheaper and cleaner catalyst for burning methane
• Neuroscientists find brain stem cells that may be responsible for higher functions, bigger brains
• Human antibodies that protect against large variety of flu viruses described
• Hormone in fruit flies sheds light on diabetes cure, weight-loss drug for humans
• The making and unmaking of stem-like, aggressive breast cancer cells
• Hormone acting drugs and uterine artery embolization offers nonsurgical treatment for uterine fibroids
• Neolithic man: The first lumberjack?
• Pine trees one of biggest contributors to air pollution: Pine gases chemically transformed by free radicals
• U.S. retirement expert: Medicare woes mostly rooted in myth
• 89 million Americans medically uninsured during 2004 to 2007
• Solar power day and night: New storage systems control fluctuation of renewable energies
• Potential drug molecule shows enhanced anti-HIV activity
• Scientists use worms to unearth cancer drug targets
• Depression linked with increased risk of peripheral artery disease
• Earliest use of Mexican turkeys by ancient Maya
• Delirium increases the risk of developing new dementia 8-fold in older patients
• Crossing five or more time zones more than doubles illness risk for elite athletes
• The difference between a mole and shrew is in their SOX
• Tai Chi shown to improve COPD exercise capacity
• Natural birth -- but not C-section -- triggers brain-boosting proteins
• Clinical trial results support strategy for reversing type 1 diabetes: Treatment with generic vaccine kills autoimmune cells, temporarily restoring insulin production
• Doctors can now detect hard-to-diagnose prostate cancer
• New perspectives on the function of the Golgi apparatus
• And then there was light! Discovery of the world's first eyeless huntsman spider
• Plenty of dark matter near the Sun
• Student scores improve if teachers given incentives upfront
• One week of therapy may help reorganize brain, reduce stuttering
• Drivers of marine biodiversity: Tiny, freeloading clams find the key to evolutionary success
• Snail believed extinct found by student in Cahaba River
• Genome study of children's cancer yields possible prognosis tool
• Simple mathematical computations underlie brain circuits
• Iron, vitamins could affect physical fitness in adolescents

Blood test for Alzheimer's gaining ground Posted: 09 Aug 2012 04:07 PM PDT The possibility of an inexpensive, convenient test for Alzheimer's disease has been on the horizon for several years, but previous research leads have been hard to duplicate. Now in a new study, scientists have taken a step toward developing a blood test for Alzheimer's, finding a group of markers that hold up in statistical analyses in three independent groups of patients.

Brain hubs boil when hoarders face pitching their own stuff Posted: 09 Aug 2012 04:07 PM PDT In patients with hoarding disorder, parts of a decision-making brain circuit under-activated when dealing with others' possessions, but over-activated when deciding whether to keep or discard their own things, a new study has found.

Evidence further suggests extra-terrestrial origin of quasicrystals Posted: 09 Aug 2012 04:07 PM PDT Results from an expedition to far eastern Russia that set out to find the origin of naturally occurring quasicrystals have provided convincing evidence that they arrived on Earth from outer space. Scientists reveal that new, naturally occurring quasicrystal samples have been found in an environment that does not have the extreme terrestrial conditions needed to produce them, therefore strengthening the case that they were brought to Earth by a meteorite.

Copper facilitates prion disease, scientists show Posted: 09 Aug 2012 04:07 PM PDT Many of us are familiar with prion disease from its most startling and unusual incarnations —- the outbreaks of "mad cow" disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) that created a crisis in the global beef industry. Or the strange story of Kuru, a fatal illness affecting a tribe in Papua New Guinea known for its cannibalism. Both are forms of prion disease, caused by the abnormal folding of a protein and resulting in progressive neurodegeneration and death.

Tracking fruit flies to understand the function of the nervous system Posted: 09 Aug 2012 04:07 PM PDT Researchers at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany and the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, Spain have designed open source software that allows tracking the position of Drosophila fruit flies as well as their larvae during behavioral experiments. The research appeared in two joint publications in the open access journal PLOS ONE.

Psychotherapy is effective but underutilized, review shows Posted: 09 Aug 2012 04:06 PM PDT Psychotherapy is effective, helps reduce the overall need for health services and produces long-term health improvements, according to a new review.

NASA's Curiosity beams back a color 360 of Mars' Gale Crater Posted: 09 Aug 2012 04:00 PM PDT The first images from Curiosity's color Mast Camera, or Mastcam, have been received by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The 130 low-resolution thumbnails, which were received Thursday morning, provide scientists and engineers of NASA's newest Mars rover their first color, horizon-to-horizon glimpse of Gale Crater.

Gecko feet hold clues to creating bandages that stick when wet Posted: 09 Aug 2012 01:27 PM PDT A better understanding of geckos' gripping power in wet conditions may lead to improvements in bandages and sutures.

Computer scientists reveal how aquatic Olympic gold is captured -- above and below the surface Posted: 09 Aug 2012 01:25 PM PDT Computer scientists have isolated the movements of Olympic swimmers and divers through a cutting-edge technique that reveals their motions above and below the water's surface.

Scientist discovers plate tectonics on Mars Posted: 09 Aug 2012 12:58 PM PDT For years, many scientists had thought that plate tectonics existed nowhere in our solar system but on Earth. Now, a researcher has discovered that the geological phenomenon, which involves the movement of huge crustal plates beneath a planet's surface, also exists on Mars.

Thinking abstractly may help to boost self-control Posted: 09 Aug 2012 12:13 PM PDT Many of the long term goals people strive for -- like losing weight -- require us to use self-control and forgo immediate gratification. And yet denying our immediate desires in order to reap future benefits is often very hard for us to do. Psychologists now propose that the way people subjectively understand, or construe, events can influence self-control.

New way to track formaldehyde Posted: 09 Aug 2012 12:13 PM PDT NASA researchers are helping to fill a big gap in scientists' understanding of how much urban pollution -- and more precisely formaldehyde -- ultimately winds up in Earth's upper atmosphere where it can wreak havoc on Earth's protective ozone layer.

Soft autonomous robot inches along like an earthworm: Flexible design enables body-morphing capability Posted: 09 Aug 2012 12:13 PM PDT Researchers have engineered a soft autonomous robot that moves via peristalsis, crawling across surfaces by contracting segments of its body, much like an earthworm.

Searching salt for answers about life on Earth, Mars Posted: 09 Aug 2012 12:13 PM PDT Researchers have discovered that not only is there evidence of liquid water on Mars, but the planet is also rich with magnesium sulfate. One of the questions researchers are seeking to answer is whether microbial life on Earth can grow at high concentrations of magnesium sulfate.

ChemCam sends digital ‘thumbs up’: Martian landing area could be a boon for scientific study Posted: 09 Aug 2012 12:03 PM PDT Members of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover ChemCam team got a digital thumbs up about the operational readiness of their instrument just hours after the rover landed on Martian soil late Sunday evening.

First 360-degree panorama from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:58 AM PDT Remarkable image sets from NASA's Curiosity rover and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are continuing to develop the story of Curiosity's landing and first days on Mars. The images from Curiosity's just-activated navigation cameras, or Navcams, include the rover's first self-portrait, looking down at its deck from above.

Freezing magnetic monopoles: How dipoles become monopoles and vice versa Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:16 AM PDT Scientists have sharpened the theoretical framework under which monopoles can be studied.

Why living in the moment is impossible: Decision-making memories stored in mysterious brain area known to be involved with vision Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:16 AM PDT The sought-after equanimity of "living in the moment" may be impossible, according to neuroscientists who've pinpointed a brain area responsible for using past decisions and outcomes to guide future behavior.

Researchers combine remote sensing technologies for highly detailed look at coastal change Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:16 AM PDT Shifting sands and tides make it difficult to measure accurately the amount of beach that's available for recreation, development and conservation, but researchers have now combined several remote sensing technologies with historical data to create coastal maps with an unsurpassed level of accuracy.

You snooze, you lose: Less sleep leads to more offspring in male pectoral sandpipers Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:16 AM PDT During the breeding season, polygynous male pectoral sandpipers that sleep the least sire the most young. Biologists have now discovered this extraordinary relationship. During three weeks of intense competition under the constant daylight of the Arctic summer, males actively court females and compete with other males. The most sleepless males were found to be the most successful in producing young.

1.5 million years of climate history revealed after scientists solve mystery of the deep Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:16 AM PDT Scientists have announced a major breakthrough in understanding the Earth's climate machine by reconstructing highly accurate records of changes in ice volume and deep-ocean temperatures over the last 1.5 million years.

Global water sustainability flows through natural and human challenges Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:16 AM PDT Water's fate in China mirrors problems across the world: fouled, pushed far from its natural origins, squandered and exploited. Scientists look back at lessons learned in China and management strategies that hold solutions for China -- and across the world.

Cheaper and cleaner catalyst for burning methane Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:16 AM PDT Researchers have created a material that catalyzes the burning of methane 30 times better than do currently available catalysts.

Neuroscientists find brain stem cells that may be responsible for higher functions, bigger brains Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:15 AM PDT Scientists have identified a new stem cell population that may be responsible for giving birth to the neurons responsible for higher thinking. The finding also paves the way for scientists to produce these neurons in culture—a first step in developing better treatments for cognitive disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism, which result from disrupted connections among these brain cells.

Human antibodies that protect against large variety of flu viruses described Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:15 AM PDT Scientists have described three human antibodies that provide broad protection against Influenza B virus strains. The same team had previously reported finding broadly neutralizing antibodies against Influenza A strains.

Hormone in fruit flies sheds light on diabetes cure, weight-loss drug for humans Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:14 AM PDT Neurobiologists have examined how fruit flies (Drosophila) react when given a decreased diet. Since fruit flies and humans share 30% of the same genes and their brains are wired similarly, the findings could be key to developing new treatments for diabetes and aiding in all sorts of metabolic research, including weight-loss drugs.

The making and unmaking of stem-like, aggressive breast cancer cells Posted: 09 Aug 2012 10:38 AM PDT Progestins regulate miRNA-29, returning hormone-dependent breast cancer cells to chemoresistant, aggressive, stem-cell-like state.

Hormone acting drugs and uterine artery embolization offers nonsurgical treatment for uterine fibroids Posted: 09 Aug 2012 10:38 AM PDT Women with uterine fibroids larger than 10 cm have a new nonsurgical treatment choice –- hormone acting drugs followed by uterine artery embolization, a new study shows. The new treatment option can replace hysterectomy, which leaves women infertile.

Neolithic man: The first lumberjack? Posted: 09 Aug 2012 10:38 AM PDT Scientists have unearthed evidence that sophisticated carpentry tools first appeared at the same time as increased agriculture and the establishment of permanent settlements during the Neolithic Age.

Pine trees one of biggest contributors to air pollution: Pine gases chemically transformed by free radicals Posted: 09 Aug 2012 10:38 AM PDT Pine trees are one of the biggest contributors to air pollution. They give off gases that react with airborne chemicals creating tiny, invisible particles that muddy the air. Scientists have shown that particles formed by pine trees are much more dynamic than previously thought. The findings can help make climate and air quality prediction models more accurate, and inform regulatory agencies as they consider strategies for improving air quality.

U.S. retirement expert: Medicare woes mostly rooted in myth Posted: 09 Aug 2012 10:38 AM PDT Various misconceptions surrounding the continued viability of Medicare can be debunked or discredited, according to an article by an expert on retirement benefits.

89 million Americans medically uninsured during 2004 to 2007 Posted: 09 Aug 2012 09:46 AM PDT 89 million Americans were without health insurance for at least one month during the period from 2004 to 2007, and 23 million lost coverage more than once during that time, according to researchers.

Solar power day and night: New storage systems control fluctuation of renewable energies Posted: 09 Aug 2012 09:46 AM PDT Energy storage systems are one of the key technologies for the energy turnaround. With their help, the fluctuating supply of electricity based on photovoltaics and wind power can be stored until the time of consumption. A number of pilot plants of solar cells, small wind power plants, lithium-ion batteries, and power electronics are now under construction to demonstrate how load peaks in the grid can be balanced and what regenerative power supply by an isolated network may look like in the future.

Potential drug molecule shows enhanced anti-HIV activity Posted: 09 Aug 2012 09:46 AM PDT Researchers have shown that minimal modification of a synthetic peptide with anti-HIV activity results in a new compound with more than two orders of magnitude higher binding affinity to the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and greatly improved anti-HIV activity. This could be a step toward the design of new, more effective drugs against AIDS, inflammatory diseases, and some forms of cancer.

Scientists use worms to unearth cancer drug targets Posted: 09 Aug 2012 09:45 AM PDT Through novel experiments involving small nematode worms, scientists have discovered several genes that may be potential targets for drug development in the ongoing war against cancer. Specifically, researchers hypothesize that inhibiting these genes could reverse certain key traits associated with cancer cells.

Depression linked with increased risk of peripheral artery disease Posted: 09 Aug 2012 07:02 AM PDT Depression was linked with an increased risk of peripheral artery disease in a study of more than one thousand men and women with heart disease conducted by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

Earliest use of Mexican turkeys by ancient Maya Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:07 AM PDT A new study shows the turkey, one of the most widely consumed birds worldwide, was domesticated more than 1,000 years earlier than previously believed.

Delirium increases the risk of developing new dementia 8-fold in older patients Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:07 AM PDT Older people who have experienced episodes of delirium are significantly more likely to develop dementia, according to new research.

Crossing five or more time zones more than doubles illness risk for elite athletes Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:06 AM PDT Elite athletes who cross more than five time zones to compete are around two to three times as likely to get ill as when they compete on their home turf, suggests new research.

The difference between a mole and shrew is in their SOX Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:06 AM PDT The family of small insectivores, Talpidae, includes the moles, shrew moles, and aquatic desmans. New research has found that the enlargement of moles' digging front paws, compared to their feet, is controlled by altered timing of expression of the gene SOX9.

Tai Chi shown to improve COPD exercise capacity Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:06 AM PDT Tai Chi can be used as an effective form of exercise therapy for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to new findings.

Natural birth -- but not C-section -- triggers brain-boosting proteins Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:06 AM PDT Vaginal birth triggers the expression of a protein in the brains of newborns that improves brain development and function in adulthood, according to a new study. The study also found that this protein expression is impaired in the brains of offspring delivered by cesarean section.

Clinical trial results support strategy for reversing type 1 diabetes: Treatment with generic vaccine kills autoimmune cells, temporarily restoring insulin production Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:05 AM PDT A phase I clinical trial has confirmed that use of a generic vaccine to raise levels of an immune system modulator can cause the death of autoimmune cells targeting the insulin-secreting cells of the pancreas and temporarily restore insulin secretion in human patients with type 1 diabetes.

Doctors can now detect hard-to-diagnose prostate cancer Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:05 AM PDT Researchers have successfully developed and tested a new prostate cancer screening method that uses the combined power of a novel drug therapy and changes in PSA levels over time to identify men with a high PSA who are more likely to have aggressive prostate cancer despite negative biopsies.

New perspectives on the function of the Golgi apparatus Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:04 AM PDT New perspectives have been reached on the function of the Golgi apparatus. Scientists explain a basic difference between plant and animal cells.

And then there was light! Discovery of the world's first eyeless huntsman spider Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:04 AM PDT A scientist has discovered the first eyeless huntsman spider in the world. With a leg span of only six centimetres and a body size of around twelve millimetres, the spider Sinopoda scurion is certainly not one of the largest representatives of the huntsman spiders, which include more than 1100 species. However, it is the first of its kind in the world without any eyes.

Plenty of dark matter near the Sun Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:04 AM PDT Astronomers have found large amounts of invisible "dark matter" near the Sun. Their results are inconsistent with the theory that the Milky Way Galaxy is surrounded by a massive "halo" of dark matter, but this is the first study of its kind to use a method rigorously tested against mock data from high quality simulations. The authors also find tantalizing hints of a new dark matter component in our Galaxy.

Student scores improve if teachers given incentives upfront Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:03 AM PDT A bonus payment to teachers can improve student academic performance — but only when it is given upfront, on the condition that part of the money must be returned if student performance fails to improve, new research shows.

One week of therapy may help reorganize brain, reduce stuttering Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:03 AM PDT Just one week of speech therapy may reorganize the brain, helping to reduce stuttering, according to a new study.

Drivers of marine biodiversity: Tiny, freeloading clams find the key to evolutionary success Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:03 AM PDT What mechanisms control the generation and maintenance of biological diversity on the planet? It's a central question in evolutionary biology. For land-dwelling organisms such as insects and the flowers they pollinate, it's clear that interactions between species are one of the main drivers of the evolutionary change that leads to biological diversity.

Snail believed extinct found by student in Cahaba River Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:03 AM PDT A freshwater snail declared extinct in 2000 was recently rediscovered in the Cahaba River by a graduate student.

Genome study of children's cancer yields possible prognosis tool Posted: 09 Aug 2012 06:02 AM PDT A new study of the genetic makeup, or genome, of Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that strikes children, teenagers, and young adults, has produced multiple discoveries, including genetic factors related to long-term survival.

Simple mathematical computations underlie brain circuits Posted: 08 Aug 2012 01:31 PM PDT Neuroscientists report that two major classes of brain cells repress neural activity in specific mathematical ways: One type subtracts from overall activation, while the other divides it.

Iron, vitamins could affect physical fitness in adolescents Posted: 08 Aug 2012 01:31 PM PDT Adolescents' blood levels of various micronutrients are correlated with how well they performed in certain physical fitness tests, new research shows. Though these results don't prove causality, they suggest a new relationship between different measures of adolescent health.

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