ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Rare Single Top Quark Discovered In Collider Experiments Posted: 10 Mar 2009 11:00 AM PDT Scientists have observed particle collisions that produce single top quarks. The discovery of the single top confirms important parameters of particle physics, including the total number of quarks, and has significance for the ongoing search for the Higgs particle at Fermilab's Tevatron, currently the world's most powerful operating particle accelerator.

Epstein-Barr Virus May Be Associated With Progression Of Multiple Sclerosis Posted: 10 Mar 2009 11:00 AM PDT Epstein-Barr virus, the pathogen that causes mononucleosis, appears to play a role in the neurodegeneration that occurs in persons with multiple sclerosis, researchers have shown.

Genetic Study Finds Treasure Trove Of New Lizards Posted: 10 Mar 2009 11:00 AM PDT Scientists have discovered that there are many more species of Australian lizards than previously thought, raising new questions about conservation and management of Australia's native reptiles.

Influenza A Becoming Increasingly Resistant To Drug Oseltamivir Posted: 10 Mar 2009 11:00 AM PDT Influenza A viruses (H1N1 subtype) that are resistant to the drug oseltamivir circulated widely in the US during the 2007-2008 influenza season, with an even higher prevalence of drug resistance during the current 2008-2009 influenza season, according to a new study.

Cleansing Toxic Waste With Vinegar Posted: 10 Mar 2009 11:00 AM PDT Engineers and environmental scientists are developing methods of helping contaminated water to clean itself by adding simple organic chemicals such as vinegar.

Compulsive Hoarding Poses Safety And Psychological Risks Posted: 10 Mar 2009 11:00 AM PDT Most of us save things -- memorabilia, collectibles, items from our childhood or from our children. But for more than an estimated million Americans, the saving may get out of hand and cross over to a psychiatric condition known as compulsive hoarding.

Coral Reefs May Start Dissolving When Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Doubles Posted: 10 Mar 2009 08:00 AM PDT Rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the resulting effects on ocean water are making it increasingly difficult for coral reefs to grow, say scientists. A new study warns that if carbon dioxide reaches double pre-industrial levels, coral reefs can be expected to not just stop growing, but also to begin dissolving all over the world.

Teenage Boys Who Eat Fish At Least Once A Week Achieve Higher Intelligence Scores Posted: 10 Mar 2009 08:00 AM PDT Male teenagers who ate fish at least once a week at the age of 15 showed a 6 percent increase in intelligence scores at 18 and those who ate it more than once a week showed an 11 percent increase.

Captive Bred Black Tiger Prawns Lack Lust, 'Prawnography' Shows Posted: 10 Mar 2009 08:00 AM PDT A researcher has filmed hours of prawn "sex tapes" to find out why prawns bred in captivity did not go on to breed well.

Potential Therapeutic Target In Osteosarcoma Identified Posted: 10 Mar 2009 08:00 AM PDT A receptor known to be active in bone metastases, but previously unexplored in primary bone tumors, is a potential therapeutic target in osteosarcoma, investigators report in Cancer Research.

Gray Wolves No Longer To Be Listed As Threatened And Endangered Species In Western Great Lakes, Portion Of Northern Rockies Posted: 10 Mar 2009 08:00 AM PDT The U.S. Secretary of the Interior has affirmed the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove gray wolves from the list of threatened and endangered species in the western Great Lakes and the northern Rocky Mountain states of Idaho and Montana and parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah. Wolves will remain a protected species in Wyoming.

Gifted Children Shape Their Personalities According To Social Stigma Posted: 10 Mar 2009 08:00 AM PDT Gifted youths already know what they want to be when they grow up. They usually choose to study applied sciences, but when they are asked why they made their choices, they are not able to explain. "Society identifies the gifted child with high intelligence and is often hasty to identify this intelligence with specific subjects, especially exact or prestigious sciences. The maturing children are quick to adopt this identity, renouncing the process of building self-identity."

Severe Headaches Associated With Higher Temperatures, Lower Barometric Pressures Posted: 10 Mar 2009 05:00 AM PDT A study of more than 7,000 patients provides some of the first large-scale data on how environmental conditions -- weather, as well as air pollution -- influence headache pain.

Children Of Older Fathers Perform Less Well In Intelligence Tests During Infancy Posted: 10 Mar 2009 05:00 AM PDT Children of older fathers perform less well in a range of cognitive tests during infancy and early childhood, according to a study published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine.

Big-hearted Fish Reveals Genetics Of Cardiovascular Condition Posted: 10 Mar 2009 05:00 AM PDT Researchers have found that a human vascular condition called cerebral cavernous malformation is caused by leaky junctions between cells in the lining of blood vessels. By combining studies with zebrafish and mice, they found that the aberrant junctions are the result of mutated or missing proteins in a novel biochemical process, the so-called "Heart-of-glass" CCM pathway.

Injectable Birth Control Causes Significant Weight Gain And Changes In Body Mass, Study Finds Posted: 10 Mar 2009 05:00 AM PDT Women using depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, commonly known as the birth control shot, gained an average of 11 pounds and increased their body fat by 3.4 percent over three years, according to researchers.

Hemlock Trees Dying Rapidly, Affecting Forest Carbon Cycle Posted: 10 Mar 2009 05:00 AM PDT The hemlock woolly adelgid is killing hemlock trees faster than expected in the southern Appalachians and rapidly altering the carbon cycle of these forests according to a new study in the journal Ecosystems.

Suicide In The Workplace 'Contagious,' Swedish Study Suggests Posted: 10 Mar 2009 05:00 AM PDT It has previously been known that the risk of suicide increases if a family member has taken his/her life. This connection is also confirmed in a new study from Stockholm University in Sweden and the University of Oxford. But the study also reveals something that was previously unknown: suicide in the workplace increases the risk of more people killing themselves. The contagious effect, which is statistically significant only in the case of men, is greater than that of suicide in the family, since more individuals are involved.

Novel Electric Signals In Plants Induced By Wounding Plant Posted: 10 Mar 2009 02:00 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a new form of electrical signaling in different plant species. This electrical signal -- called "system potential" -- is induced by wounding of the plant tissue and then passed from leaf to leaf.

Ecstasy Could Help Patients With Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Study Suggests Posted: 10 Mar 2009 02:00 AM PDT Ecstasy may help suffers of post-traumatic stress learn to deal with their memories more effectively by encouraging a feeling of safety, according to an article in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

White-nose Syndrome Death In Bats: First Prevention Proposed By Ecologists Posted: 10 Mar 2009 02:00 AM PDT White-nose syndrome is a poorly understood condition that, in the two years since its discovery, has spread to at least seven Northeastern states and killed as many as half a million bats. Now researchers have suggested the first step toward a measure that may help save the affected bats: providing localized heat sources to the hibernating animals.

Being Overweight Worsens Osteoarthritis Posted: 10 Mar 2009 02:00 AM PDT Being fat increases the risk of primary joint replacement in osteoarthritis. A new study found that increased waist circumference and body mass index were associated with the risk of both knee and hip joint replacement.

Models Present New View Of Nanoscale Friction Posted: 10 Mar 2009 02:00 AM PDT Friction is a force that affects any application where moving parts come into contact; the more surface contact there is, the stronger the force. At the nanoscale -- mere billionths of a meter -- friction can wreak havoc on tiny devices made from only a small number of atoms or molecules. With their high surface-to-volume ratio, nanomaterials are especially susceptible to the forces of friction.

Regular Family Meals Result In Better Eating Habits For Adolescents Posted: 10 Mar 2009 02:00 AM PDT Good eating habits can result when families eat together. Researchers report on one of the first studies to examine the long-term benefits of regular family meals for diet quality during the transition from early to middle adolescence. In general, the study found adolescents who participated in regular family meals reported more healthful diets and meal patterns compared to adolescents without regular family meals.

Amazonian Amphibian Diversity Traced To Andes Posted: 09 Mar 2009 11:00 PM PDT Colorful poison frogs in the Amazon owe their great diversity to ancestors that leapt into the region from the Andes Mountains several times during the last 10 million years, a new study suggests.

Vitamin A Signals Offer Clues To Treating Autoimmunity Posted: 09 Mar 2009 11:00 PM PDT Dendritic cells, the microbe-sensing alarms of the immune system, can send out a "red alert" to stimulate immunity, or a "calm down" message that tones down excessive immunity that might damage the host. The "calm down" message makes use of vitamin A, providing an explanation for the link between vitamin A deficiency and autoimmune diseases. Bacteria and viruses that cause chronic infections, such as tuberculosis, hepatitis C and HIV, may have evolved strategies that skew this balance of signals in their favor.

European Satellites Provide New Insight Into Ozone-depleting Species Posted: 09 Mar 2009 11:00 PM PDT Using data from the satellite-based MIPAS and GOME-2 instruments, scientists have for the first time detected important bromine species in the atmosphere. These new measurements will help scientists to better understand sources of ozone-depleting species and to improve simulations of stratospheric ozone chemistry.

Penile Extender Increased Flaccid Length By Almost A Third, Clinical Study Reports Posted: 09 Mar 2009 11:00 PM PDT Men who used a penile extender every day for six months saw the length of their flaccid penis increase by 32% and their erectile function increase by up to 36%. Researchers at the University of Turin suggest that the treatment could provide a viable alternative to surgery, as the results were significant and patient satisfaction with the technique was high. The measurements were taken six months after the men had stopped using the device.

200,000 Rice Mutants Available Worldwide For Scientific Investigation Posted: 09 Mar 2009 11:00 PM PDT Researchers have estimated the number of different rice mutants needed to have a mutant for every gene as somewhere between 180,698 and 460,000. Two hundred thousand rice mutants are now available and have been mapped.

Mortality Risk Greater For Elderly Women Who Nap Daily Posted: 09 Mar 2009 11:00 PM PDT A new study has found that older women who reported taking daily naps had a significantly greater risk of dying. The results of the study are in contrast to a number of prior studies which have indicated that daily napping improves health.

Quantum Doughnuts Slow And Freeze Light At Will: Fast Computing And 'Slow Glass' Posted: 09 Mar 2009 08:00 PM PDT Researchers have found a way to use doughnuts shaped by-products of quantum dots to slow and even freeze light, opening up a wide range of possibilities from reliable and effective light-based computing to the possibility of "slow glass."

Secrets Of C. Difficile's Protective Shell Revealed, Paving The Way For New Superbug Drugs And Vaccines Posted: 09 Mar 2009 08:00 PM PDT The detailed structure of a protective 'jacket' that surrounds cells of the Clostridium difficile superbug, and which helps the dangerous pathogen stick to human host cells and tissues, is revealed in part in Molecular Microbiology.

British Butterfly Reveals Role Of Habitat For Species Responding To Climate Change Posted: 09 Mar 2009 08:00 PM PDT A new study shows it is possible to predict how fast a population will spread and reveals the importance of habitat conservation in helping threatened species survive environmental change. The research tracks the recovery of a rare British butterfly over 18 years and offers hope for the preservation of other species.

Busy B's: Lymphocyte Uses Multiple Mechanisms To Shape Immune Response Posted: 09 Mar 2009 08:00 PM PDT New research expands our understanding of how a type of immune cell called a B lymphocyte enables the immune system to mount a successful defense against an intestinal parasite. The study provides some intriguing insight into the variety of mechanisms implemented by B cells to protect the host from infection.

Calculating Gene And Protein Connections In Parkinson's Disease Model Posted: 09 Mar 2009 08:00 PM PDT Researchers have created an algorithm that meshes existing data to produce a clearer step-by-step flow chart of how cells respond to stimuli. Using this new method, scientists have analyzed alpha-synuclein toxicity to identify genes and pathways that can affect cell survival. Misfolded copies of the alpha-synuclein protein in brain cells are a hallmark of Parkinson's disease.

Untreated Psychiatric Disorders Common In Single Mothers On Welfare Posted: 09 Mar 2009 08:00 PM PDT Urban single mothers nearing the end of their welfare eligibility appear more likely to have substance use and psychiatric disorders than women in the general population, and often do not receive treatment, according to a new report.

Not So Sweet: Over-consumption Of Sugar Linked To Aging Posted: 09 Mar 2009 05:00 PM PDT Biochemists discovered to their surprise that if they removed the gene for a glucose sensor from yeast cells, they lived just as long as those living on a glucose-restricted diet. In short, the fate of these cells doesn't depend on what they eat but what they think they're eating.

Building Strong Bones: Running May Provide More Benefits Than Resistance Training, Study Finds Posted: 09 Mar 2009 05:00 PM PDT Osteoporosis affects more than 200 million people worldwide and is a serious public health concern, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. Resistance training often is recommended to increase and prevent loss of bone mineral density, although previous studies that examined the effects of resistance training in men produced varied results.

It's In His Smell: Female Moths Can Discern Male's Ancestry, Age And Possibly Reproductive Fitness From His Smell Posted: 09 Mar 2009 05:00 PM PDT A female moth selects a mate based on the scent of his pheromones. An analysis of the pheromones used by the European corn borer shows that females can discern a male's ancestry, age and possibly reproductive fitness from the chemical cocktail he exudes.

Discovery Provides Hope For Sufferers Of Disfiguring Bone Disease Posted: 09 Mar 2009 05:00 PM PDT Researchers have made a major genetic discovery that could lead to the effective treatment for sufferers of craniosynostosis - a severe childhood bone disease.

Shredding Corn Silage Could Produce More Ethanol At Less Cost Posted: 09 Mar 2009 05:00 PM PDT A researcher has found a way to get more bang for fewer bucks when it comes to processing cellulosic material to make ethanol. By shredding corn stover instead of chopping, as is commonly done, about 40 percent less energy is needed to gain access to more of the material stored in the plant.

Young Adults With Post-traumatic Stress Disorder May Be More Likely To Attempt Suicide Posted: 09 Mar 2009 05:00 PM PDT Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) -- but not exposure to traumatic events without the development of PTSD -- may be associated with subsequent attempted suicide in young adults, according to a new report.

Stem Cells Replace Stroke-damaged Tissue In Rats Posted: 09 Mar 2009 02:00 PM PDT Effective stem cell treatment for strokes has taken a significant step forward today as scientists reveal how they have replaced stroke-damaged brain tissue in rats. The team of scientists show that by inserting tiny scaffolding with stem cells attached, it is possible to fill a hole left by stroke damage with brand new brain tissue within seven days.

Gene Mutations That Cause Childhood Brain Cancer Identified Posted: 09 Mar 2009 02:00 PM PDT Researchers have discovered eight similar genes that, when mutated, appear to be responsible for medulloblastoma -- the most common of childhood brain cancers.

Crafty Australian Crayfish Cheat Posted: 09 Mar 2009 02:00 PM PDT Australian and British scientists have found how puny crayfish cheat. Biologists explain that weak males cheat by intimidating stronger foes with their large claws. However, this shouldn't work because the tough guys should get wise. Wilson shows that large claws are risky; they make it harder to evade predators. Cheats get away with it because crayfish wouldn't bother to have big claws unless they really meant it.

Young Athletes Most At Risk Of Knee Injuries Reap Big Benefit From Warm-Up Exercises Posted: 09 Mar 2009 02:00 PM PDT Pick an option: the prospect of months on crutches and a season on the sidelines, versus taking 10 minutes to do a short, simple, structured warm up. For athletes, particularly school-aged athletes, the choice should be clear.

Nanotechnology: Bristly Spheres As Capsules for Drugs Posted: 09 Mar 2009 02:00 PM PDT Researchers have produced amphiphilic hybrid particles made of a water-insoluble inorganic nanoparticle at the core surrounded by a bristle-like layer of hydrophilic polymer chains. The polymer-coated spheres offer a simple method for the controlled production of superstructures, such as vesicles to be used to encapsulate drugs or as contrast agents.

The 'Clean Plate Club' May Turn Children Into Overeaters Posted: 09 Mar 2009 02:00 PM PDT Preschoolers whose parents forced them to clean their plates, ate 41 percent more snacks when at school. Part of this is because preschool snack time was one place where they could regain control of what they ate. Unfortunately, it was for the worse and not the better.

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