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| Fossilized Pregnant Fish One Of First Animals To Have Sex Posted: 26 Feb 2009 11:00 AM PST A pregnant fossil fish at the Natural History Museum in London has shed light on the possible origin of sex, according to a new study. Dating from the Upper Devonian period 365 million years ago, the adult placoderm fish Incisoscutum ritchiei is one of the earliest examples of a pregnant vertebrate and contains a five-centimetre-long embryo. |
| 'Obesity Gene' Involved In Weight Gain Response To High-fat Diet Identified Posted: 26 Feb 2009 11:00 AM PST Scientists have determined that a specific gene plays a role in the weight-gain response to a high-fat diet. The finding in an animal study suggests that blocking this gene could one day be a therapeutic strategy to reduce diet-related obesity and associated disorders, such as diabetes and liver damage, in humans. |
| Excessive Dietary Fat Caused 300 Percent Increase in Metastasizing Tumor Cells In Animal Models Posted: 26 Feb 2009 11:00 AM PST Researchers have precisely measured the impact of a high-fat diet on the spread of cancer, finding that excessive dietary fat caused a 300 percent increase in metastasizing tumor cells in laboratory animals. |
| Researchers Explore New Driver Of Transplant Rejection: Platelets Posted: 26 Feb 2009 11:00 AM PST Platelets, tiny and relatively uncharted tenants of the bloodstream known mostly for their role in blood clotting, turn out to also rally sustained immune system inflammatory responses that play a critical role in organ transplant rejection, according to a new report. |
| Environmental Footprint Of Information Technology Much Higher Than Expected, Researcher Finds Posted: 26 Feb 2009 11:00 AM PST A researcher in Canada has found that the environmental impact of digital technology is much higher than previously believed. |
| The Science Behind The 'Anthrax Letter' Attack Investigation Posted: 26 Feb 2009 11:00 AM PST Innovative science was a very important part of the investigation of the anthrax letters but has been widely misrepresented in the popular press because of secrecy requirements imposed by the FBI. This secrecy veil is now being lifted by allowing the investigative scientists to present their findings and methods. |
| New Theory On How Animals Smell: Brain Encodes Complex Plumes Of Odors With A Simple Code Posted: 26 Feb 2009 08:00 AM PST In the real world, odors don't happen one puff at a time. Animals move through, and subsequently distort, plumes of odor molecules that constantly drift, changing direction as the wind disperses them. Now, by exploring how animals smell odors under naturalistic conditions, scientists reveal that the brain encodes these swirling, and complex patterns of molecules using surprisingly little neural machinery. The findings suggest a new theory of how animals smell. |
| Mental Fatigue Can Affect Physical Endurance Posted: 26 Feb 2009 08:00 AM PST When participants performed a mentally fatiguing task prior to a difficult exercise test, they reached exhaustion more quickly than when they did the same exercise when mentally rested. Mental fatigue did not cause the heart or muscles to perform any differently; instead, our "perceived effort" determines when we reach exhaustion. The next step is to look at the brain to find out exactly why people with mental fatigue perceive exercise to be more difficult. |
| Additional Evidence That Potato Chips Should Be Eaten Only In Moderation Posted: 26 Feb 2009 08:00 AM PST A new study suggests that acrylamide from foods may increase the risk of heart disease. |
| Biomarker Predicts Disease Recurrence In Colorectal Cancer Posted: 26 Feb 2009 08:00 AM PST Findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University show that the presence of a biomarker in regional lymph nodes is an independent predictor of disease recurrence in patients with colorectal cancer. |
| Building A Better Protein: Researchers Use Computers To Find Keys To Stabilizing Proteins Posted: 26 Feb 2009 08:00 AM PST Scientists are searching for ways to increase the stability of proteins. In a new study, researchers detail a targeted strategy to substantially increase the thermodynamic stability of nearly any protein, while preserving its unique function. Their redesign technique creates proteins that remain stable at temperatures 10 degrees Celsius higher than normal. |
| Waiting For Biopsy Results May Adversely Affect Health Posted: 26 Feb 2009 08:00 AM PST Women who've had a breast biopsy know the anxiety of waiting for the results, but that stress may cause adverse health effects, according to a new study. |
| Clovis-era Tool Cache 13,000 Years Old Shows Evidence Of Camel, Horse Butchering Posted: 26 Feb 2009 05:00 AM PST More than 80 stone implements were discovered together in Boulder city limits by landscapers. A biochemical analysis of a rare Clovis-era stone tool cache recently unearthed in the city limits of Boulder, Colo., indicates some of the implements were used to butcher ice-age camels and horses that roamed North America until their extinction about 13,000 years ago, according to a new study. |
| Cholesterol-reducing Drugs May Lessen Brain Function, Says Researcher Posted: 26 Feb 2009 05:00 AM PST A new study shows that drugs that inhibit the liver from making cholesterol may also keep the brain from making cholesterol, which is vital to efficient brain function. |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2009 05:00 AM PST Scientists have presented the first-ever evaluation of the impact of the 1816 eruption of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia on the Iberian Peninsula. Historical documents and observations by Spanish and Portuguese stations have shown that emissions of gas and particulates from the volcano limited the effect of solar radiation in Spain, where temperatures that summer did not rise above 15ºC. |
| U.S. States Expand Newborn Screening For Life-threatening Disorders Posted: 26 Feb 2009 05:00 AM PST All 50 states and the District of Columbia now require that every baby be screened for 21 or more of the 29 serious genetic or functional disorders on the uniform panel recommended by the American College of Medical Genetics. If diagnosed early, these disorders can be successfully managed or treated to prevent death, disability, or other severe consequences such as mental retardation. |
| Cosmologist Explores Notion Of 'Alien' Life On Earth Posted: 26 Feb 2009 05:00 AM PST Astrobiologists have often pondered "life as we do not know it" in the context of extraterrestrial life, says Paul Davies, an internationally acclaimed theoretical physicist and cosmologist at Arizona State University. But has there been a blind spot to the possibility of "alien" life on Earth? |
| Medical Prescription Of Heroin Does Not Pose Neighborhood Risk, Study Suggests Posted: 26 Feb 2009 05:00 AM PST Providing heroin to drug addicts at medically supervised clinics does not pose risks to surrounding neighborhoods, according to a new study. Researchers found that the Montreal leg of the NAOMI project, otherwise know as the North American Opiate Medication Initiative, didn't have a negative impact on its surrounding neighborhood. |
| World's Smallest Periscopes Peer At Cells From Several Sides At Once Posted: 26 Feb 2009 02:00 AM PST Scientists have invented the world's smallest version of the periscope and are using it to look at cells and other microorganisms from several sides at once. |
| Vaccine Research Targets HIV In The Slower, Early Stage Of Infection Posted: 26 Feb 2009 02:00 AM PST New research suggests vaccines that specifically target HIV in the initial stages of infection before it becomes a rapidly replicating, system-wide infection may be a successful approach in limiting the spread of the disease. Using this approach, researcher's were able to successfully vaccinate some monkeys infected with SIV -- the monkey counterpart to HIV. |
| Vitamin C Production: Molecular Gatekeeper In Enzyme Discovered Posted: 26 Feb 2009 02:00 AM PST Researchers have unraveled the mechanism that plays a role in the natural production of vitamin C. In this process, a molecular gatekeeper blocks the entrance to the reaction center of a crucial enzyme. |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2009 02:00 AM PST Worldwide almost 30 million suffer from Alzheimer's disease. The brains of people with Alzheimer's contain two types of misfolded proteins -- amyloid plaques and tangles of the protein Tau. Whether these protein abnormalities are a cause of Alzheimer's or a consequence of the disease are unclear. A new paper in PLoS Biology investigates the structure of Tau to better understand its role in healthy cells and in the pathology of Alzheimer's. |
| Will Large Amounts Of Soil Carbon Be Released If Grasslands Are Converted To Energy Crops? Posted: 26 Feb 2009 02:00 AM PST A recent study analyzed whether or not soils that were converted from perennial grasses to the production of bioenergy grain crops would experience loss of soil organic carbon. The researchers found the best method to keep this carbon sequestered is through no-till production. |
| Extensive Publication Bias For Phase I Drug Trials Found Posted: 26 Feb 2009 02:00 AM PST A new study suggests that, in comparison to other types of trials, the results of Phase I drug trials are far less likely to be published. |
| Ice Declining Faster Than Expected In Both Arctic And Antarctic Glaciers Posted: 25 Feb 2009 11:00 PM PST New evidence of the widespread effects of global warming in the polar regions is emerging. Snow and ice are declining in both polar regions, affecting human livelihoods as well as local plant and animal life in the Arctic, as well as global ocean and atmospheric circulation and sea level. The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are losing mass contributing to sea level rise. Warming in the Antarctic is much more widespread than previously thought, and it now appears that the rate of ice loss from Greenland is increasing. |
| Mediterranean Diet Helps Women Preserve Their Bone Mass, Study Suggests Posted: 25 Feb 2009 11:00 PM PST A new study suggests that adherence to a dietary pattern close to the Mediterranean diet, with high consumption of fish and olive oil and low red meat intake, has a significant impact in women skeletal health. Results suggest that this eating pattern could have bone-preserving properties throughout adult life. |
| James Webb Space Telescope's Actual 'Spine' Now Being Built Posted: 25 Feb 2009 11:00 PM PST Scientists and engineers who have been working on the James Webb Space Telescope mission for years are getting very excited, because some of the actual pieces that will fly aboard the Webb telescope are now being built. One of the pieces, called the Backplane, is like a "spine" to the telescope. The Backplane is now being assembled by Alliant Techsystems at its Magna, Utah facility. |
| Video Imaging Provides Dynamic View Of Airway Obstruction In Those With Sleep Breathing Disorder Posted: 25 Feb 2009 11:00 PM PST A video imaging technique demonstrates that the soft palate, the tissue at the back of the roof of the mouth, is more elongated and angled in patients with obstructive sleep apnea both when they sleep and when they are awake, according to a new report. |
| New Software Dramatically Speeds Enzyme Design Posted: 25 Feb 2009 11:00 PM PST Scientists have brought powerful software to the never-ending arms race between antibiotics and germs. Working together, computer scientists and biochemists have developed and laboratory-tested a computer program that can show experimentalists how to change the machinery that bacteria use to make natural antibiotics. |
| When Texting, Eligible Women Express Themselves Better Posted: 25 Feb 2009 11:00 PM PST The book "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus" and its gender stereotypes on how the sexes communicate remains fodder for debate, but two researchers have confirmed one thing: When men and women talk through technology, it's the women who are more expressive. |
| Mathematical 'Snowfakes' Mimic Nature, Advance Science Posted: 25 Feb 2009 08:00 PM PST Exquisitely detailed and beautifully symmetrical, the snowflakes made by a mathematician are icy jewels of art. But don't be fooled; there is some serious science behind a mathematician's charming creations. Although they look as if they tumbled straight from the clouds, these "snowfakes" are actually the product of an elaborate computer model designed to replicate the wildly complex growth of snow crystals. |
| Dividing Cells May Contribute To Alzheimer's Disease Posted: 25 Feb 2009 08:00 PM PST Dr. Mark Smith and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University found that dysregulated cell cycle control may contribute to neural cell death. |
| Nanoparticles Double Their Chances Of Getting Into Sticky Situations, And Boost Potential Uses Posted: 25 Feb 2009 08:00 PM PST Researchers have found that tiny nanoparticles could be twice as likely to stick to the interface of two non mixing liquids than previously believed. This opens up a range of new possibilities for the uses of nanoparticles in living cells, polymer composites, and high-tech foams, gels, and paints. The researchers are also working on ways of further artificially enhancing this new found sticking power. |
| Posted: 25 Feb 2009 08:00 PM PST New research suggests that the (as yet unlicensed) antiarrhythmic drug dronedarone can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular-related hospitalization or death in patients with atrial fibrillation. |
| Scientist Models The Mysterious Travels Of Greenhouse Gas Posted: 25 Feb 2009 08:00 PM PST The global travel logs of greenhouse gases are based on atmospheric sampling locations sprinkled over the Earth and short towers that measure the uptake or release of carbon from a small patch of forest. But those measurements don't agree with current computer models of how plants and soils behave. Researchers are developing a unique way to reconcile these crucial data. |
| Peer Victimization In Middle And High School Predicts Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents Posted: 25 Feb 2009 08:00 PM PST Peer victimization during middle and high school may be an important indicator of an individual's sexual behavior later in life, according to a new study. |
| Great Lake's Sinkholes Host Exotic Ecosystems Akin To Iced-over Antarctic Lakes Posted: 25 Feb 2009 05:00 PM PST Sinkholes penetrating the bottom one of North America's Great Lakes -- Lake Huron -- unexpectedly harbor exotic ecosystems akin to those in permanently iced-over Antarctic lakes and deep-sea, hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. As little as 20 meters (66 feet) below the surface of Lake Huron, the third largest of North America's Great Lakes, peculiar geological formations--sinkholes made by water dissolving parts of an ancient underlying seabed--harbor bizarre ecosystems where the fish typical of the huge freshwater lake are rarely to be seen. Instead, brilliant purple mats of cyanobacteria--cousins of microbes found at the bottoms of permanently ice-covered lakes in Antarctica--and pallid, floating pony-tails of other microbial life thrive in the dense, salty water that's hostile to most familiar, larger forms of life because it lacks oxygen. |
| Researchers Report Breakthrough In Human Papillomavirus Research Posted: 25 Feb 2009 05:00 PM PST Researchers have developed a new, inexpensive and efficient method for producing and studying a type of human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer. The process could speed understanding of how the virus functions and causes diseases, and lead to new prevention or treatment options. |
| Synthetic Biology Yields Clues To Evolution And Origin Of Life Posted: 25 Feb 2009 05:00 PM PST Researchers in the field of synthetic biology are still a long way from being able to assemble living cells from scratch in the laboratory. But according tobiochemists, their efforts are yielding clues to the mystery of how life began on Earth. |
| Many Children With Hearing Loss Also Have Eye Disorders Posted: 25 Feb 2009 05:00 PM PST About one-fifth of children with sensorineural hearing loss also have ocular disorders, according to a new report. |
| How New Artificial Intelligence Can Help Us Understand How We See Posted: 25 Feb 2009 05:00 PM PST Computer artificial intelligence used to create previously unseen types of pictures to explore the abilities of the human visual system. |
| Anthropologist's Studies Of Childbirth Bring New Focus On Women In Evolution Posted: 25 Feb 2009 05:00 PM PST Contrary to the TV sitcom where the wife experiencing strong labor pains screams at her husband to stay away from her, women rarely give birth alone. Assisted birth has likely been around for millennia, possibly dating as far back as 5 million years ago when our ancestors first began walking upright, according to a paleoanthropologist. She says that social assistance during childbirth is just one aspect of our evolutionary heritage that makes us distinctive as humans. |
| Molecule Helps Sleep-deprived Rebound Mentally Posted: 25 Feb 2009 02:00 PM PST Sleep experts know that the mental clarity lost because of a few sleepless nights can often be restored with a good night's rest. Now, researchers have identified a key molecular mechanism that regulates the brain's ability to compensate mentally for sleep deprivation. |
| Vaccine Protects Against 1918 Influenza Strain Posted: 25 Feb 2009 02:00 PM PST Researchers have developed a vaccine that appears to protect against the 1918 "Spanish" influenza virus. Using a mammalian expression system they created a virus-like particle (VLP) that mimics the 1918 influenza virus, prompting the immune system to develop protective antibodies. |
| Chemists Offer New Hydrogen Purification Method Posted: 25 Feb 2009 02:00 PM PST One of the hydrogen economy's roadblocks to success is the hydrogen itself. Hydrogen needs to be purified before it can be used as fuel for fuel cells, but current methods are not very clean or efficient. Researchers have developed a class of new porous materials, structured like honeycomb, that is very effective at separating hydrogen from complex gas mixtures. The materials exhibit the best selectivity in separating hydrogen from carbon dioxide and methane. |
| Boosting Its Infectivity Turns Benign Virus Into Good Gene Therapy Carrier For Cystic Fibrosis Posted: 25 Feb 2009 02:00 PM PST Previous attempts to use viruses to carry a normal gene into cystic fibrosis patients and cure their illness have failed because the immune system mopped them up too quickly or the viruses didn't infect enough lung cells to deliver the new gene.Scientists have developed a technique to force viruses to evolve as better gene therapy carriers, and tests at U-Iowa show that the virus can completely cure CF in tissue culture. |
| Scanning Artifacts Up To Two Tons With Astounding Precision Posted: 25 Feb 2009 02:00 PM PST A new research platform soon to be available at the Diamond Light Source, will help uncover ancient secrets that have been locked away for centuries. For the first time ever, cultural heritage scientists will be able to scan and image large relics and artifacts up to two tons in weight in incredible precision. |
| Persons Who Survive Cancer More Likely To Be Unemployed Posted: 25 Feb 2009 02:00 PM PST An analysis of previous studies finds an association between being a cancer survivor and being unemployed, compared to healthy individuals, especially for survivors of breast and gastrointestinal cancers, according to a new article. |
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