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• First Neotropical Rainforest Was Home Of The Titanoboa -- World's Biggest Snake
• Most H1N1 Patients With Respiratory Failure Treated With Oxygenating System Survive Illness
• Live Recordings Of Cell Communication
• Parasite Growth Hormone Pushes Human Cells To Liver Cancer
• Mystery About Proteins That Package The Genome Solved
• Dyslexia Varies Across Languages
• First Spider Known To Science That Feeds Mainly On Plant Food
• H1N1 Critical Illness Can Occur Rapidly; Predominantly Affects Young Patients
• Researchers Pave The Way For Effective Liver Treatments
• Signs Of Macular Degeneration May Predict Heart Disease
• Kraken Becomes First Academic Machine To Achieve Petaflop
• Children Can Greatly Reduce Abdominal Pain By Using Their Imagination
• Sex In The Caribbean: Environmental Change Drives Evolutionary Change, Eventually
• A High Fat Diet During Pregnancy Can Lead To Severe Liver Disease In Offspring
• New Mobile Lab Allows Researchers To Study Air Quality, Health Effects
• Image-guided Treatment For Deep Venous Thrombosis Could Improve Patients' Long-term Outcomes
• Warmer Climate Not The Cause Of Oxygen Deficiency In The Baltic Sea
• Planning, Positivism Influence Employment Success At Different Stages
• Orangutans Unique In Movement Through Tree Tops
• Important Defence Against Stomach Ulcer Bacterium Identified
• A Tree's Response To Environmental Changes: What Can We Expect Over The Next 100 Years?
• Polymorphisms Of The Interleukin-1 Gene Complex May Influence Alcohol Dependence
• New Method Reveals All You Need To Know About 'Waveforms'
• Public Attitudes To New Technology: Lessons For Regulators
• Radio Waves 'See' Through Walls
• Opportunity To Usurp Reproductive Power Of Royal Throne Keeps Worker Termites Home
• Inhibitors Of Important Tuberculosis Survival Mechanism Identified
• New Lab-on-a-chip Technique Developed
• Stranger Homicide By People With Schizophrenia Is Rare -- And Unpredictable

First Neotropical Rainforest Was Home Of The Titanoboa -- World's Biggest Snake Posted: 13 Oct 2009 08:00 AM PDT Researchers working in Colombia's Cerrejón coal mine have unearthed the first megafossil evidence of a neotropical rainforest. Titanoboa, the world's biggest snake, lived in this forest 58 million years ago at temperatures 3-5 C warmer than in rainforests today, indicating that rainforests flourished during warm periods.

Most H1N1 Patients With Respiratory Failure Treated With Oxygenating System Survive Illness Posted: 13 Oct 2009 08:00 AM PDT Despite the severity of disease and the intensity of treatment, most patients in Australia and New Zealand who experienced respiratory failure as a result of 2009 influenza A(H1N1) and were treated with a system that adds oxygen to the patient's blood survived the disease, according to a study.

Live Recordings Of Cell Communication Posted: 13 Oct 2009 08:00 AM PDT A new advanced method for nano-scale imaging of vesicle-fusion could add to our understanding of diseases of the nervous system and viral infections. In the long term, this could be useful in developing a cure for neurological diseases and mental disorders (e.g. schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease).

Parasite Growth Hormone Pushes Human Cells To Liver Cancer Posted: 13 Oct 2009 08:00 AM PDT Scientists have found that the human liver fluke (Opisthorchis viverrini) contributes to the development of bile duct (liver) cancer by secreting granulin, a growth hormone that is known to cause uncontrolled growth of cells.

Mystery About Proteins That Package The Genome Solved Posted: 13 Oct 2009 08:00 AM PDT Researchers have solved a century-old mystery about proteins that play a vital role in the transfer of the human genetic code from one cell to another. The discovery could lead to finding new ways to help the body fight a variety of diseases, including cancer.

Dyslexia Varies Across Languages Posted: 13 Oct 2009 08:00 AM PDT Chinese-speaking children with dyslexia have a disorder that is distinctly different, and perhaps more complicated and severe, than that of English speakers. Those differences can be seen in the brain and in the performance of Chinese children on visual and oral language tasks, reveals a new report.

First Spider Known To Science That Feeds Mainly On Plant Food Posted: 13 Oct 2009 05:00 AM PDT There are approximately 40,000 species of spiders in the world, all of which have been thought to be strict predators that feed on insects or other animals. Now, scientists have found that a small Central American jumping spider has a uniquely different diet: the species Bagheera kiplingi feeds predominantly on plant food.

H1N1 Critical Illness Can Occur Rapidly; Predominantly Affects Young Patients Posted: 13 Oct 2009 05:00 AM PDT Critical illness among Canadian patients with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) occurred rapidly after hospital admission, often in young adults, and was associated with severely low levels of oxygen in the blood, multi-system organ failure, a need for prolonged mechanical ventilation and frequent use of rescue therapies, according to a new study.

Researchers Pave The Way For Effective Liver Treatments Posted: 13 Oct 2009 05:00 AM PDT A combination of bioengineering and medical research has led to a new discovery that could pave the way for more effective treatments for liver disease.

Signs Of Macular Degeneration May Predict Heart Disease Posted: 13 Oct 2009 05:00 AM PDT A large study found strong evidence that older people who have age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are at increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), although not for stroke. This result adds to mounting evidence that AMD and cardiovascular disease may share some risk factors--smoking, high blood pressure, inflammatory indicators such as C-reactive protein, genetic variants such as complement factor H--and disease mechanisms.

Kraken Becomes First Academic Machine To Achieve Petaflop Posted: 13 Oct 2009 05:00 AM PDT The University of Tennessee's Kraken supercomputer was just upgraded to a peak performance exceeding one petaflop, making it the fastest system in the country managed by an academic institution and placing it among the five fastest systems in the world.

Children Can Greatly Reduce Abdominal Pain By Using Their Imagination Posted: 13 Oct 2009 05:00 AM PDT Children with functional abdominal pain who used audio recordings of guided imagery at home in addition to standard medical treatment were almost three times as likely to improve their pain problem, compared to children who received standard treatment alone.

Sex In The Caribbean: Environmental Change Drives Evolutionary Change, Eventually Posted: 13 Oct 2009 02:00 AM PDT Hungry, sexual organisms replaced well-fed, clonal organisms in the Caribbean Sea as the Isthmus of Panama arose, separating the Caribbean from the Pacific, report researchers. The fossil record shows that if a species could shift from clonal to sexual reproduction it survived. Otherwise it was destined for extinction, millions of years later.

A High Fat Diet During Pregnancy Can Lead To Severe Liver Disease In Offspring Posted: 13 Oct 2009 02:00 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a previously unknown link between a mother's diet in pregnancy and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in her child. Researchers have found that a high fat diet during a woman's pregnancy makes her offspring more likely to develop a severe form of fatty liver disease when they reach adulthood. The findings are another piece in the jigsaw for scientists who believe diets containing too high levels of saturated fat may have an adverse effect on our health.

New Mobile Lab Allows Researchers To Study Air Quality, Health Effects Posted: 13 Oct 2009 02:00 AM PDT A new mobile air research laboratory will help a team of researchers better understand the damaging health effects of air pollution and why certain airborne particles -- emitted from industrial plants and vehicles -- induce disease and illness.

Image-guided Treatment For Deep Venous Thrombosis Could Improve Patients' Long-term Outcomes Posted: 13 Oct 2009 02:00 AM PDT Deep venous thrombosis is a serious condition that involves the formation of a blood clot inside of a deep vein usually in the legs. A patient with DVT is typically treated with anticoagulants (blood thinners); however, researchers have found that image-guided interventional radiology procedures may play a more central role in the long-term treatment of DVT, according to a new study.

Warmer Climate Not The Cause Of Oxygen Deficiency In The Baltic Sea Posted: 13 Oct 2009 02:00 AM PDT Oxygen deficiency in the Baltic Sea has never been greater than it is now. But it is not an effect of climate change but rather of increased inputs of nutrients and fertilizers.

Planning, Positivism Influence Employment Success At Different Stages Posted: 13 Oct 2009 02:00 AM PDT With America's unemployment rate higher than it has been in decades, many people find themselves looking for jobs. In a new study, researchers focus on what job seekers need to get ahead of the competition. The scientists found that certain planning activities and positive emotions have a large impact on success in finding a job.

Orangutans Unique In Movement Through Tree Tops Posted: 12 Oct 2009 11:00 PM PDT Scientists have found that orangutans move through the canopy of tropical forests in a completely different way to all other tree-dwelling primates.

Important Defence Against Stomach Ulcer Bacterium Identified Posted: 12 Oct 2009 11:00 PM PDT A special protein in the lining of the stomach has been shown to be an important part of the body's defence against the stomach ulcer bacterium Helicobacter pylori in a new study from researchers in Sweden. The discovery may explain why the bacterium makes some people more ill than others.

A Tree's Response To Environmental Changes: What Can We Expect Over The Next 100 Years? Posted: 12 Oct 2009 11:00 PM PDT The many environmental issues facing our society are prevalent in the media lately. Our ecosystem is composed of a very delicate network of interactions among all species and the non-living environment. Predicting how each component of this complex system will respond to the many environmental changes sweeping the globe is a challenging problem today's scientists face. This study explores how increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide may be affecting trees and, ultimately, affecting water and carbon cycles.

Polymorphisms Of The Interleukin-1 Gene Complex May Influence Alcohol Dependence Posted: 12 Oct 2009 11:00 PM PDT Cytokines are small proteins secreted by cells that serve as molecular messengers between cells. Pro-inflammatory cytokines -- which function in the immune system -- may be involved in alcohol dependence. A study of three polymorphisms of the interleukin-1 gene complex (IL-1) and one of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha has found that IL-1 may directly contribute to AD among Spanish Caucasian males.

New Method Reveals All You Need To Know About 'Waveforms' Posted: 12 Oct 2009 11:00 PM PDT A new method enables calibrating entire waveforms -- graphical shapes showing how electrical signals vary over time -- rather than just parts of waveforms as is current practice. The new method improves the accuracy of common test instruments used in communications and electronics.

Public Attitudes To New Technology: Lessons For Regulators Posted: 12 Oct 2009 11:00 PM PDT New technologies may change our lives for the better, but sometimes they have risks. Communicating those benefits and risks to the public, and developing regulations to deal with them, can be difficult -- particularly if there's already public opposition to the technology.

Radio Waves 'See' Through Walls Posted: 12 Oct 2009 11:00 AM PDT Engineers have shown that a wireless network of radio transmitters can track people moving behind solid walls. The system could help police, firefighters and others nab intruders, and rescue hostages, fire victims and elderly people who fall in their homes. It also might help retail marketing and border control.

Opportunity To Usurp Reproductive Power Of Royal Throne Keeps Worker Termites Home Posted: 12 Oct 2009 11:00 AM PDT Termite offspring may stay in their birth colony to help their queen and king parents rather than leave to try and start their own family because their chance of inheriting the 'reproductive throne' is higher than their chance of successfully dispersing, finding a mate, and surviving to produce fertile offspring on their own.

Inhibitors Of Important Tuberculosis Survival Mechanism Identified Posted: 12 Oct 2009 11:00 AM PDT Attempts to eradicate tuberculosis are stymied by the fact that the disease-causing bacteria have a sophisticated mechanism for surviving dormant in infected cells. Now, a team of scientists has identified compounds that inhibit that mechanism -- without damaging human cells -- which could lead to the design of new anti-TB drugs.

New Lab-on-a-chip Technique Developed Posted: 12 Oct 2009 11:00 AM PDT Scientists have developed a new "lab-on-a-chip" technique that analyzes tiny samples of blood and breast tissue to identify women at risk of breast cancer much more quickly than ever before.

Stranger Homicide By People With Schizophrenia Is Rare -- And Unpredictable Posted: 12 Oct 2009 11:00 AM PDT Homicide of strangers by people with schizophrenia is so rare that is impossible to predict who might offend or when it might happen, say researchers. More than half of offenders in the study had never been treated for schizophrenia -- earlier treatment for the first episode of psychosis and good quality care could prevent some homicides, the study concludes.

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