ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• More evidence that autism is a brain 'connectivity' disorder
• New method of measuring ocean carbon dioxide uptake could lead to climate change 'early warning system'
• How to divide and conquer 'social network' of cells
• Nanoscience goes 'big': Discovery could lead to enhanced electronics
• Brain activity levels affect self-perception: 'Rose-colored glasses' correlate with less frontal lobe use
• Bering Strait influenced ice age climate patterns worldwide
• Single atom controls motility required for bacterial infection
• Molecule repairs alcohol metabolism enzyme
• New test may help address costly parasite in sheep industry
• Liver stiffness measurements identify patients with rapid or slow fibrosis
• Hunting oscillation of muon to electron: Neutrino data to flow in 2010; NOvA scientists tune design
• Sex Life May Hold Key To Honeybee Survival
• Galaxy exposes its dusty inner workings in new Spitzer image
• Rheumatologists advance genetic research related to disabling form of arthritis
• MyoD helps stem cells proliferate in response to muscle injury
• Tiotropium associated with reduced mortality in patients with COPD
• Scientists uncover role of protein critical for activating DNA replication
• Well-traveled Wasps Provide Hope For Vanishing Species

More evidence that autism is a brain 'connectivity' disorder Posted: 11 Jan 2010 11:00 AM PST Studying a rare disorder that also causes autism in 25-50 percent of affected patients, new research supports the emerging idea that autism results from disrupted brain "connectivity" causing improper information flow. These abnormalities might be reversible with rapamycin or rapamycin-like drugs, which the studies researchers will be bringing to clinical trial later this year.

New method of measuring ocean carbon dioxide uptake could lead to climate change 'early warning system' Posted: 11 Jan 2010 11:00 AM PST Scientists have developed a new method of measuring the absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans and mapped for the first time carbon dioxide uptake for the entire North Atlantic.

How to divide and conquer 'social network' of cells Posted: 11 Jan 2010 11:00 AM PST On Noah's Ark animals came in twos: male and female. In human bodies trillions of cells are coupled, too, and so are the molecules from which they are composed. Yet these don't come in twos, they are regrouped into indistinguishable clusters. Because these complex cell networks are the backbone of life -- and illness -- scientists have long searched for ways to splice cell clusters down to their original pairs.

Nanoscience goes 'big': Discovery could lead to enhanced electronics Posted: 11 Jan 2010 11:00 AM PST Nanoscience has the potential to play an enormous role in enhancing a range of products, including sensors, photovoltaics and consumer electronics. Scientists in this field have created a multitude of nano scale materials, such as metal nanocrystals, carbon nanotubes and semiconducting nanowires.

Brain activity levels affect self-perception: 'Rose-colored glasses' correlate with less frontal lobe use Posted: 11 Jan 2010 11:00 AM PST The less you use your brain's frontal lobes, the more you see yourself through rose-colored glasses, researchers have found.

Bering Strait influenced ice age climate patterns worldwide Posted: 11 Jan 2010 08:00 AM PST In a vivid example of how a small geographic feature can have far-reaching impacts on climate, new research shows that water levels in the Bering Strait helped drive global climate patterns during ice age episodes dating back more than 100,000 years.

Single atom controls motility required for bacterial infection Posted: 11 Jan 2010 05:00 AM PST Researchers have discovered that a single atom -- a calcium, in fact -- can control how bacteria walk. The finding identifies a key step in the process by which bacteria infect their hosts, and could one day lead to new drug targets to prevent infection.

Molecule repairs alcohol metabolism enzyme Posted: 11 Jan 2010 02:00 AM PST About 1 billion people worldwide carry a genetic mutation that produces an inactive form of ALDH2, an important alcohol metabolism enzyme. When individuals with the ALDH2 mutation drink alcohol, the toxic compound acetaldehyde accumulates in the body. The inactive form of ALDH2 is linked to increased risk for cancer. Researchers found that an experimental compound restores the structure and function of the inactive enzyme, which suggests the possibility of a treatment for the enzyme defect.

New test may help address costly parasite in sheep industry Posted: 11 Jan 2010 02:00 AM PST Researchers have developed an improved, more efficient method to test for the most serious of the parasitic worms in sheep, a problem that causes hundreds of millions of dollars in losses every year to the global sheep and wool industry.

Liver stiffness measurements identify patients with rapid or slow fibrosis Posted: 11 Jan 2010 02:00 AM PST A recent study finds that repeated liver stiffness measurements in the first year following liver transplant could discriminate between slow and rapid "fibrosers." Determining those at risk for a recurrence of hepatitis C virus allows for early-stage administration of therapies that could prevent LT or graft failure.

Hunting oscillation of muon to electron: Neutrino data to flow in 2010; NOvA scientists tune design Posted: 11 Jan 2010 02:00 AM PST Physicists may see data by late summer from a prototype for a $278 million NOvA neutrino experiment that can yield clues to the universe's mysteries. Construction is underway on a 220-ton "integration prototype" detector and a larger 14,000-ton detector, a project of Fermilab and University of Minnesota. About 40 scientists will fine-tune design Jan. 8-10 at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, their first meeting since the US Department of Energy's October approval of "full construction start."

Sex Life May Hold Key To Honeybee Survival Posted: 11 Jan 2010 02:00 AM PST The number and diversity of male partners a queen honeybee has could help to protect her children from disease, say scientists, who are investigating possible causes of the widespread increase in bee deaths seen around the world.

Galaxy exposes its dusty inner workings in new Spitzer image Posted: 10 Jan 2010 11:00 PM PST NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured an action-packed picture of the nearby Small Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy that looks like a wispy cloud when seen from Earth.

Rheumatologists advance genetic research related to disabling form of arthritis Posted: 10 Jan 2010 11:00 PM PST Scientists have discovered two new genes that are implicated in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), an inflammatory and potentially disabling disease. In addition, they pinpointed two areas along stretches of DNA that play an important role in regulating gene activity associated with the arthritic condition.

MyoD helps stem cells proliferate in response to muscle injury Posted: 10 Jan 2010 11:00 PM PST The master regulator of muscle differentiation, MyoD, functions early in myogenesis to help stem cells proliferate in response to muscle injury, according to researchers.

Tiotropium associated with reduced mortality in patients with COPD Posted: 10 Jan 2010 11:00 PM PST New research suggests that tiotropium, a long-acting anticholinergic used in patients with COPD, may be associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and cardiovascular events.

Scientists uncover role of protein critical for activating DNA replication Posted: 10 Jan 2010 11:00 PM PST Scientists have discovered how a protein long known to be an essential activator of DNA replication actually triggers this process in cells. The protein, called DDK (for Ddf4-dependent protein kinase), is one of two cell-cycle-regulated protein kinases that facilitate coordination with other processes during cell division. DDK is now shown to block the inhibitory activity of a domain within the DNA unwinding enzyme Mcm4, thereby promoting DNA replication.

Well-traveled Wasps Provide Hope For Vanishing Species Posted: 10 Jan 2010 11:00 PM PST They may only be 1.5mm in size, but the tiny wasps that pollinate fig trees can travel over 160km in less than 48 hours, according to new research. The fig wasps are transporting pollen ten times further than previously recorded for any insect. The fig wasps travel these distances in search of trees to lay their eggs, which offers hope that trees pollinated by similar creatures have a good chance of surviving if they become isolated through deforestation.

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