ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Neural Stem Cells May Rescue Memory In Advanced Alzheimer's, Mouse Study Suggests
• Are We What Our Mothers Ate?
• Twinkling Nanostars Cast New Light Into Biomedical Imaging
• Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis May Pose Neurological Risks
• Geoengineering Climate Requires More Research, Cautious Consideration And Appropriate Restrictions
• Pre-chewed Food Could Transmit HIV
• New Blue Light Nanocrystals Could Help Mitigate Global Warming
• Discovery May Open Door To Drug That Cuts Appetite And Boosts Energy
• This Article Will Self-destruct: Tool To Make Online Personal Data Vanish
• Nature Or Nurture? New Epigenetic Model Blurs Line In The Debate
• Simple, Inexpensive Method To Detect Melamine Poison In Food
• Rates Of Secondhand Smoke Exposure High Among College Students
• Ancient Humans Left Evidence From The Party That Ended 4,000 Years Ago
• Potential Pathogenic Mutation For Restless Legs Syndrome
• Rock Climbing-related Injuries Increasing
• How Stressed Fat Tissue Malfunctions
• Could Cosmic Ray Influence Climate By Charging Up More Frequent Lightning Storms?
• Taste Sensation: Ads Work Better If All Senses Are Involved
• Neon Blue-tailed Tree Lizard Glides Like A Feather, Thanks To Light Bubbly Bones
• Breast Cancer Drug Shows Promise Against Serious Infections
• Combating Iron Deficiency: Rice With Six Times More Iron Than Polished Rice Kernels Developed
• Improving Mouse Heart Function Following Heart Attack
• New Insights Into Iran's Past: Landlord Villages Of The Tehran Plain
• Trash Or Treasure? Families And Their Beloved Possessions
• Scientists Capitalize On Extended Solar Eclipse
• Testing Relativity, Black Holes And Strange Attractors In The Laboratory
• Promising New Treatment For Alzheimer’s Disease
• Estimating Crop Water Needs Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
• Novel Gene Found For Dilated Cardiomyopathy
• Beneficial Biofuels: Leading National Experts Reach Consensus
• When Context Matters: Consumers Link Unfamiliar Products To Surrounding Items
• How Evolution Can Allow For Large Developmental Leaps
• Ovary Removal May Increase Lung Cancer Risk
• Future Of Western U.S. Water Supply Threatened By Climate Change
• Immune Protection Against Lethal Parasitic Disease
• Rice Defies Its Reputation As A Thirsty Crop
• Can The Relationship Between Doctors And Drug Companies Ever Be A Healthy One?
• Brain's Center For Perceiving 3-D Motion Is Identified
• New DNA Vaccine Inhibits Deadly Skin Cancer In Mice
• New Biosensor Detects Extremely Low Bacteria Concentrations Quickly, Easily And Reliably
• New Drug Candidate Prolongs The Lives Of Pancreatic Cancer Patients
• Design Tool For Materials With A Memory
• Gene Variations Can Be Barometer Of Behavior, Choices
• Electronic Nose Created To Detect Skin Vapors
• Skin-like Tissue Developed From Human Embryonic Stem Cells
• Infection-Causing Amoeba May be Resistant to Multiple Contact Lens Solutions
• Network Of Altered Genes Appear To Play Role In Development Of Brain Tumors
• Seat Belt System Aims To Make Child Seats Safer In The Event Of Frontal Impacts

Neural Stem Cells May Rescue Memory In Advanced Alzheimer's, Mouse Study Suggests Posted: 22 Jul 2009 11:00 AM PDT Scientists have shown for the first time that neural stem cells can rescue memory in mice with advanced Alzheimer's disease, raising hopes of a potential treatment for the leading cause of elderly dementia that afflicts 5.3 million people in the US. Transplanted cells 'nurse' brain back to health.

Are We What Our Mothers Ate? Posted: 22 Jul 2009 11:00 AM PDT Mothers' health in the days and weeks prior to becoming pregnant may determine the health of offspring much later in life, according to new research. The studies demonstrate that maternal nutrition, protein intake and level of fat in the diet may cause epigenetic changes in the developing fetus that can have long-term health consequences.

Twinkling Nanostars Cast New Light Into Biomedical Imaging Posted: 22 Jul 2009 11:00 AM PDT Researchers have created magnetically responsive gold nanostars that may offer a new approach to biomedical imaging. The nanostars gyrate when exposed to a rotating magnetic field, and can scatter light to produce a pulsating or "twinkling" effect. This twinkling allows them to stand out more clearly from noisy backgrounds like those found in biological tissue.

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis May Pose Neurological Risks Posted: 22 Jul 2009 11:00 AM PDT Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has helped many couples conceive healthy children and is generally considered a safe practice. However, a new long-term analysis of PGD in mice suggests that this procedure may increase risks of weight gain and memory decline in adulthood.

Geoengineering Climate Requires More Research, Cautious Consideration And Appropriate Restrictions Posted: 22 Jul 2009 11:00 AM PDT Geoengineering -- deliberately manipulating physical, chemical, or biological aspects of the Earth system to confront climate change -- could contribute to a comprehensive risk management strategy to slow climate change but could also create considerable new risks, according to a policy statement released by the American Meteorological Society.

Pre-chewed Food Could Transmit HIV Posted: 22 Jul 2009 11:00 AM PDT Researchers have uncovered the first cases in which HIV almost certainly was transmitted from mothers or other caregivers to children through pre-chewed food.

New Blue Light Nanocrystals Could Help Mitigate Global Warming Posted: 22 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT Researchers have produced nontoxic nanocrystals that efficiently emit blue light and could also play a role in long-term storage of carbon dioxide, a potential means of tempering the effects of global warming.

Discovery May Open Door To Drug That Cuts Appetite And Boosts Energy Posted: 22 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT In a major advance in obesity and diabetes research, scientists have found that reducing levels of a key enzyme in the brain decreased appetites and increased energy levels.

This Article Will Self-destruct: Tool To Make Online Personal Data Vanish Posted: 22 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT Private information scattered all over the Internet and impossible to control. A new system, called Vanish, puts an expiry date on electronic text. Electronic communication sent using Vanish -- such as e-mail, Facebook posts and chat messages -- would have a brief lifetime and then self-destruct.

Nature Or Nurture? New Epigenetic Model Blurs Line In The Debate Posted: 22 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT A new report complicates the debate over whether nature or nurture plays the most important role in complex diseases such as psychiatric disorders, heart disease and cancer. Scientists explain how epigenetics (temporary changes in gene function) and gene mutations (permanent, heritable changes) contribute to disease risk within populations, and lays the foundation for public health interventions to reduce environmental epigenetic changes.

Simple, Inexpensive Method To Detect Melamine Poison In Food Posted: 22 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT Researchers have responded to the World Health Organization's call for a simple, inexpensive method to detect melamine. Melamine is an industrial chemical that killed six Chinese children and hospitalized 150,000 last year after it was added to milk to increase its apparent protein content.

Rates Of Secondhand Smoke Exposure High Among College Students Posted: 22 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT Secondhand smoke is not only a nuisance, but a potential health concern for many college students, and administrators should be taking steps to reduce students' exposure, according to a new study.

Ancient Humans Left Evidence From The Party That Ended 4,000 Years Ago Posted: 22 Jul 2009 05:00 AM PDT The party was over more than 4,000 years ago, but the remnants still remain in the gourds and squashes that served as dishware. For the first time, researchers have studied the residues from gourds and squash artifacts that date back to 2200 B.C. and recovered starch grains from manioc, potato, chili pepper, arrowroot and algarrobo. The starches provide clues about the foods consumed at feasts, and document the earliest evidence of the consumption of algarrobo and arrowroot in Peru.

Potential Pathogenic Mutation For Restless Legs Syndrome Posted: 22 Jul 2009 05:00 AM PDT Scientists have found what they believe is the first mutated gene linked to restless legs syndrome, a common neurologic disorder.

Rock Climbing-related Injuries Increasing Posted: 22 Jul 2009 05:00 AM PDT The popularity of rock climbing has increased in the last ten years, and so have the number of injuries. A new study finds a 63 percent increase in the number of patients treated in emergency departments for rock climbing-related injuries.

How Stressed Fat Tissue Malfunctions Posted: 22 Jul 2009 05:00 AM PDT Fat tissue dysfunction is caused by obesity-induced fat tissue stress: Cells over-grow as they store fat which may cause decreased oxygen delivery into the tissue; individual cells may die (at least in mouse models), and fat tissue inflammation ensues. The teams collected fat tissue samples from people undergoing abdominal surgery and identified a signaling pathway that is operational in intra-abdominal fat, the fat depot that is most strongly tied to obesity-related morbidity.

Could Cosmic Ray Influence Climate By Charging Up More Frequent Lightning Storms? Posted: 22 Jul 2009 05:00 AM PDT Could cosmic rays be influencing climate by charging up more frequent lightning storms? Several factors influence global climate change. Long-term influences that work over hundreds of thousands of years have an astronomical origin, namely the eccentricity, axial tilt and precession of the Earth's orbit.

Taste Sensation: Ads Work Better If All Senses Are Involved Posted: 22 Jul 2009 05:00 AM PDT Corporations spend billions of dollars each year on food advertising. For example, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, and McDonald's each spent more than $1 billion in advertising in 2007. A new study suggests those advertisers are missing out if their ads only mention taste and ignore our other senses.

Neon Blue-tailed Tree Lizard Glides Like A Feather, Thanks To Light Bubbly Bones Posted: 22 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT Neon blue-tailed tree lizards are perfectly happy scurrying from branch to branch in their arboreal homes, but it wasn't clear whether they simply leaping between branches or glide. Researchers compared the tree lizards' jumps with common wall lizards' and gliding geckos' leaps, and found that the tree lizards glide because they are incredibly light. Their bones are packed with tiny air bubbles that make them feather light.

Breast Cancer Drug Shows Promise Against Serious Infections Posted: 22 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT An FDA-approved drug used for preventing recurrence of breast cancer shows promise in fighting life-threatening fungal infections common in immune-compromised patients, such as infants born prematurely and patients with cancer.

Combating Iron Deficiency: Rice With Six Times More Iron Than Polished Rice Kernels Developed Posted: 22 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT Scientists have developed rice plants that contain six times more iron in polished rice kernels. To accomplish this, the researchers transferred two plant genes into an existing rice variety. In the future, the high-iron rice could help to combat iron deficiency, especially in developing countries in Africa and Asia.

Improving Mouse Heart Function Following Heart Attack Posted: 22 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT One approach being developed as a way to improve heart function following heart attack is the injection of heart stem/progenitor cells directly into the heart. New research now indicates that transplanting sheets of clonally expanded heart cells expressing the protein Sca-1 (cells that are stem/progenitor cells) improves heart function after a heart attack in mice.

New Insights Into Iran's Past: Landlord Villages Of The Tehran Plain Posted: 22 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT A British archaeologist has just returned from a period of fieldwork in Iran, working on the first archaeological project in the country to explore the very recent past. The project looks at the effects the Iranian White Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s had on the ancient 'Landlord Villages' of the early Islamic period of the country's history.

Trash Or Treasure? Families And Their Beloved Possessions Posted: 22 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT Whether it's grandpa's piano or a Nintendo Wii, certain objects become a part of family routines and histories. A new study helps explain why some possessions wind up in permanent storage or get tossed away, while others are kept for generations.

Scientists Capitalize On Extended Solar Eclipse Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:00 PM PDT Scientists at an observatory outside Hangzhou joined residents and tourists across China and India in observing the longest total solar eclipse in a century and probably the most-viewed ever.

Testing Relativity, Black Holes And Strange Attractors In The Laboratory Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:00 PM PDT Physicists have determined that the interactions of light and matter with spacetime, as predicted by general relativity, can be studied using the new breed of artificial optical materials that feature extraordinary abilities to bend light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation.

Promising New Treatment For Alzheimer’s Disease Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:00 PM PDT A promising approach has been developed to help treat Alzheimer's disease in a significant proportion of the population that suffers from a particularly rapid development of this disease.

Estimating Crop Water Needs Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:00 PM PDT Using a system of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) equipped with thermal multispectral cameras scientists will be conducting flights over experimental plots with different crops, some of them being the largest pistachio nut crop in the world, as well as over almond tree and vineyard crops spread across the State of California. This system allows you to know the ideal time to water the crops, saving water, and it can even be used to detect situations of water waste or water leaks in the irrigation system.

Novel Gene Found For Dilated Cardiomyopathy Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:00 PM PDT Researchers have discovered a novel gene responsible for heart muscle disease and chronic heart failure in some children and adults with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Beneficial Biofuels: Leading National Experts Reach Consensus Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:00 PM PDT Biofuels can be produced in large quantities and have multiple benefits, but only if they come from feedstocks produced with low life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, as well as minimal competition with food production, according to a group of experts.

When Context Matters: Consumers Link Unfamiliar Products To Surrounding Items Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:00 PM PDT Sometimes we judge a product by the company it keeps. For example, we might think a car advertised among expensive cars is also pricey -- but only if we're unfamiliar with the car, according to a new study.

How Evolution Can Allow For Large Developmental Leaps Posted: 21 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT Most evolutionary changes happen in tiny increments. But when it comes to traits like the number of wings on an insect, or limbs on a primate, there is no middle ground. How are these sorts of large evolutionary leaps made? According to new research, such changes may at least sometimes be the result of random fluctuations, or noise (nongenetic variations), working alongside a phenomenon known as partial penetrance.

Ovary Removal May Increase Lung Cancer Risk Posted: 21 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT Women who have premature menopause because of medical interventions are at an increased risk of developing lung cancer, according to a new study.

Future Of Western U.S. Water Supply Threatened By Climate Change Posted: 21 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT As the West warms, a drier Colorado River system could see as much as a one-in-two chance of fully depleting all of its reservoir storage by mid-century assuming current management practices continue on course, according to a new study.

Immune Protection Against Lethal Parasitic Disease Posted: 21 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT Kala azar is a lethal disease caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani. Scientists have now obtained new insight into the human immune responses responsible for protection against kala azar.

Rice Defies Its Reputation As A Thirsty Crop Posted: 21 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT Two new sister lines of rice are defying rice's reputation as a thirsty crop as they demonstrate their improved productivity in drought-prone regions of India and the Philippines.

Can The Relationship Between Doctors And Drug Companies Ever Be A Healthy One? Posted: 21 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT Should the financial ties between doctors and drug companies be completely cut, or are healthy alliances between the two possible with the common aim of improving human health? A debate in PLoS Medicine discusses whether the influence of drug company money on doctors is always a corrupting one.

Brain's Center For Perceiving 3-D Motion Is Identified Posted: 21 Jul 2009 05:00 PM PDT Neuroscientists have now pinpointed where and how the brain processes 3-D motion using specially developed computer displays and an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) machine to scan the brain.

New DNA Vaccine Inhibits Deadly Skin Cancer In Mice Posted: 21 Jul 2009 05:00 PM PDT A new DNA vaccine inhibited malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, in mice by eliciting antibodies that target a gastrin-releasing peptide which is known to play a key role in cancer development.

New Biosensor Detects Extremely Low Bacteria Concentrations Quickly, Easily And Reliably Posted: 21 Jul 2009 05:00 PM PDT Scientists have developed a new technique to detect extremely low concentrations of the typhus-inducing Salmonella typhi by using a biosensor, which is based on electrochemical measurements by means of carbon nanotubes equipped with aptamers as bacteria-specific binding sites.

New Drug Candidate Prolongs The Lives Of Pancreatic Cancer Patients Posted: 21 Jul 2009 05:00 PM PDT The new drug compound Salirasib has shown positive results against pancreatic cancer and recently passed Phase I/II clinical trials. The drug, given in combination with gemcitabine, the standard drug used to combat pancreatic cancer, almost doubled the life expectancy of those who received it.

Design Tool For Materials With A Memory Posted: 21 Jul 2009 05:00 PM PDT Shape memory alloys can "remember" a condition. If they are deformed, a temperature change can be enough to bring them back to their original shape. A simulation calculates the characteristics of these materials.

Gene Variations Can Be Barometer Of Behavior, Choices Posted: 21 Jul 2009 05:00 PM PDT Researchers have determined that variations of three different genes in the brain (called single-nucleotide polymorphisms) may help predict a person's tendency to make certain choices.

Electronic Nose Created To Detect Skin Vapors Posted: 21 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT Scientists have developed a system to detect the vapors emitted by human skin in real time. The scientists think that these substances, essentially made up of fatty acids, are what attract mosquitoes and enable dogs to identify their owners.

Skin-like Tissue Developed From Human Embryonic Stem Cells Posted: 21 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT Researchers have used pluripotent human embryonic stem cells to create three-dimensional tissues that mimic human skin and the oral mucosa.

Infection-Causing Amoeba May be Resistant to Multiple Contact Lens Solutions Posted: 21 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT Some contact lens solutions do not properly disinfect against Acanthamoeba, a free-living organism in the environment that can cause a painful vision-threatening infection, according to new reseearch.

Network Of Altered Genes Appear To Play Role In Development Of Brain Tumors Posted: 21 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT The interaction between a network of altered genes appears to play an important role in the development and progression of brain tumors, according to a new study.

Seat Belt System Aims To Make Child Seats Safer In The Event Of Frontal Impacts Posted: 21 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT Researchers have designed a load limiter that reduces the pressure on the chest area by absorbing part of the energy produced in a frontal impact. The system reduces the speed at which the child is thrown forward and back into the seat, a movement that leads to serious injury in many accidents.

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