ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

---

• Bird bones may be hollow, but they are also heavy
• Controlling HIV: Highly promising new compound developed
• Genes keep watch on blood clotting time
• Nanowire advances promise improved light-emitting diodes and solar-energy generation
• Memory may decline rapidly even in stage before Alzheimer's disease
• Mysterious stone spheres in Costa Rica investigated
• Hypoglycemia linked to mortality rates in critically ill
• Growing by Biblical portions: Last Supper paintings over Millennium depict growing appetites
• Exploring the link between sunlight and multiple sclerosis
• How strong is your booze? True strength of alcohol revealed by new portable device
• Fearless fish forget their phobias
• How dinosaurs rose to prominence
• High fructose corn syrup linked to liver scarring, research suggests
• New bone-hard biomaterial for surgical screws
• Genes may exert opposite effects in diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease
• Evolution of primordial chemical sensor, nociception, sniffed out
• Modern medicine conquers witchcraft in fight against AIDS in Ghana
• Helium rain on Jupiter explains lack of neon in atmosphere
• Replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat may cut heart disease risk
• Seafarers' scourge provides hope for biofuel future
• Chagas disease surveillance focuses on palms, undercover bugs
• Is this the future of tablet technology?
• Apples for me, potato chips for you: Consumers buy healthier foods for themselves
• Walnuts slow prostate tumors in mice, study finds
• Chest X-rays can help predict which H1N1 patients are at greatest risk
• Alcohol in moderation is good for sick hearts too, Italian study suggests
• Combining weight-focused counseling, medication helps women quit smoking
• World has underestimated climate-change effects, expert argues
• Securing elite college admissions: Women caught up in 'rug-rat race'
• Giant 'microscope' will use neutrons to study glass transition mystery in solid-state research
• Poorly understood cell plays role in immunity against the flu
• Cracking the plant-cell membrane code
• Immunology: New Gene Mutation Linked To Antibody Deficiency
• Fishing discard ban could damage sea bird success, scientists warn
• Physical therapy exercise program can reduce risk of postnatal depression in new mothers
• Smelling scenery in stereo: Desert ants perceive odor maps in navigation
• Radiotherapy can cause lasting vascular disease: Changes in gene expression to blame, research suggests
• Eating less meat and dairy products won't have major impact on global warming, export argues
• Quantity vs. quality: Long-term use of bone-building osteoporosis drugs
• Sticky environmental problem with carpet tiles solved
• Risky drinkers less likely to take good care of themselves and seek medical care
• High-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain, researchers find
• New superbug surpasses MRSA infection rates in community hospitals
• Sea creatures' sex protein provides new insight into diabetes
• Patients with irritable bowel syndrome not more likely to develop polyps, colon cancer
• Success rates for organ transplants are increasing, but organ donations are decreasing, study shows

Bird bones may be hollow, but they are also heavy Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:00 PM PDT For centuries biologists have known that bird bones are hollow, and even elementary school children know that bird skeletons are lightweight to offset the high energy cost of flying. Nevertheless, many people are surprised to learn that bird skeletons do not actually weigh any less than the skeletons of similarly sized mammals. In other words, the skeleton of a two-ounce songbird weighs just as much as the skeleton of a two-ounce rodent.

Controlling HIV: Highly promising new compound developed Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:00 PM PDT A compound that can inhibit the transfer of HIV from one cell to another has been developed by researchers in France. It acts by saturating a receptor called DC-SIGN, which is used by HIV to ensure its transmission throughout the body.

Genes keep watch on blood clotting time Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:00 PM PDT Scientists have discovered three genes that could shed light on the genetic causes of blood-clotting disorders such as thrombosis and some types of stroke.

Nanowire advances promise improved light-emitting diodes and solar-energy generation Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:00 PM PDT Researchers are making improvements to semiconductor alloys that will help overcome some of the technical roadblocks to producing more effective photovoltaic cells for generating solar energy and will enable light-emitting diodes to provide more versatile and efficient lighting.

Memory may decline rapidly even in stage before Alzheimer's disease Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:00 PM PDT Memory and thinking skills may decline rapidly for people who have mild cognitive impairment, which is the stage before Alzheimer's disease when people have mild memory problems but no dementia symptoms, and even more rapidly when dementia begins, which is when Alzheimer's disease is usually diagnosed.

Mysterious stone spheres in Costa Rica investigated Posted: 23 Mar 2010 11:00 AM PDT Researchers are investigating the origin of the giant stone balls in Costa Rica that inspired the opening scenes of "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Hypoglycemia linked to mortality rates in critically ill Posted: 23 Mar 2010 11:00 AM PDT Researchers report that they have found a link between mild to moderate hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and mortality in critically ill patients.

Growing by Biblical portions: Last Supper paintings over Millennium depict growing appetites Posted: 23 Mar 2010 11:00 AM PDT The sizes of the portions and plates in more than four dozen depictions of the Last Supper -- painted over the past 1,000 years -- have gradually grown bigger and bigger, according to a new study.

Exploring the link between sunlight and multiple sclerosis Posted: 23 Mar 2010 11:00 AM PDT For more than 30 years, scientists have known that multiple sclerosis is much more common in higher latitudes than in the tropics. Because sunlight is more abundant near the equator, many researchers have wondered if the high levels of vitamin D engendered by sunlight could explain this unusual pattern of prevalence.

How strong is your booze? True strength of alcohol revealed by new portable device Posted: 23 Mar 2010 11:00 AM PDT Both legitimate brewers and distillers -- and authorities on the track of illicit alcohol from home stills -- will soon have a helping hand. Measurement experts have unveiled a portable device to determine the strength of alcoholic drinks quickly and easily, almost anywhere. In a new study, the researchers show that their technique is just as accurate, and more sophisticated, than widely used lab-based methods.

Fearless fish forget their phobias Posted: 23 Mar 2010 11:00 AM PDT Imagine if your fear of spiders, heights or flying could be cured with a simple injection. Research suggests that one day this could be a reality.

How dinosaurs rose to prominence Posted: 23 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PDT How did dinosaurs become rulers of Earth more than 200 million years ago? Widespread volcanism and a spike in atmospheric carbon dioxide wiped out half of all plant species, and extinguished early crocodile relatives that had competed with the earliest dinosaurs, according to experts.

High fructose corn syrup linked to liver scarring, research suggests Posted: 23 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PDT High fructose corn syrup, which some studies have linked to obesity, may also be harmful to the liver, according to new research.

New bone-hard biomaterial for surgical screws Posted: 23 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PDT Screws used in surgical operations are often made of titanium. They usually have to be removed after a while or replaced by new ones. A new biomaterial makes this unnecessary. It promotes bone growth and is biodegradable.

Genes may exert opposite effects in diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease Posted: 23 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PDT Pediatric researchers analyzing DNA variations in type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease have found a complex interplay of genes. Some genes have opposing effects, raising the risk of one disease while protecting against the other. In other cases, a gene variant may act in the same direction, raising the risk for both diseases.

Evolution of primordial chemical sensor, nociception, sniffed out Posted: 23 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PDT Whenever you choke on acrid cigarette smoke, feel like you're burning up from a mouthful of wasabi-laced sushi, or cry while cutting raw onions and garlic, your response is being triggered by a primordial chemical sensor conserved across some 500 million years of animal evolution, report scientists.

Modern medicine conquers witchcraft in fight against AIDS in Ghana Posted: 23 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PDT More than a third of Ghana's population believes that AIDS is caused by witchcraft. But large-scale intervention programs for improving health standards have convinced people to trust medical explanations of the disease.

Helium rain on Jupiter explains lack of neon in atmosphere Posted: 23 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PDT When the Galileo probe descended through Jupiter's atmosphere in 1995, it found neon to be one-tenth as abundant as predicted. This unexpected finding has led researchers to propose an explanation: at about 10,000 kilometers below the cloud tops, helium condenses into droplets and falls inward, dragging neon with it and depleting Jupiter's outer layers of neon as well as helium.

Replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat may cut heart disease risk Posted: 23 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PDT A new study provides the first conclusive evidence from randomized clinical trials that people who replace saturated fat in their diet with polyunsaturated fat reduce their risk of coronary heart disease by 19 percent, compared with control groups of people who do not.

Seafarers' scourge provides hope for biofuel future Posted: 23 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PDT For centuries, seafarers were plagued by wood-eating gribble that destroyed their ships, and these creatures continue to wreak damage on wooden piers and docks in coastal communities. But new research is uncovering how the tiny marine isopod digests could hold the key to converting wood and straw into liquid biofuels.

Chagas disease surveillance focuses on palms, undercover bugs Posted: 23 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PDT Failure to detect disease vectors may result in increased disease risk. The first systematic study in the Amazon of surveillance techniques for the bugs that transmit Chagas disease takes into account the fact that sticky traps and manual searches often miss bugs living in palm trees.

Is this the future of tablet technology? Posted: 23 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PDT Before you swallow a tablet, or put it into a glass of water to dissolve, do you ever stop and think about how it actually works in your body and how quickly and effectively it can deliver the drug to where it is needed?

Apples for me, potato chips for you: Consumers buy healthier foods for themselves Posted: 23 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PDT Feel like Mom is pushing dessert? According to a new study consumers choose foods that are less healthy when they are purchasing for others.

Walnuts slow prostate tumors in mice, study finds Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PDT Walnut consumption slows the growth of prostate cancer in mice and has beneficial effects on multiple genes related to the control of tumor growth and metabolism, researchers have found.

Chest X-rays can help predict which H1N1 patients are at greatest risk Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PDT A new study suggests that chest x-rays may play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of H1N1 influenza by predicting which patients are likely to become sicker.

Alcohol in moderation is good for sick hearts too, Italian study suggests Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PDT A new study shows that moderate consumption, one or two glasses of wine a day or the equivalent amounts of beer or other alcoholic beverages, significantly reduces the risk of death from any cause in those who already suffered from ischemic vascular disease.

Combining weight-focused counseling, medication helps women quit smoking Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PDT For women smokers worried about their weight, combining cognitive behavioral therapy addressing weight concerns with the medication bupropion appears more effective than counseling alone to help them quit smoking, according to a new study.

World has underestimated climate-change effects, expert argues Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PDT The world's policymakers have underestimated the potential dangerous impacts that man-made climate change will have on society, say a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences.

Securing elite college admissions: Women caught up in 'rug-rat race' Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PDT College-educated mothers in the United States are going to extremes to secure elite college admission for their kids. Since the mid-1990s, these women have dramatically increased the time they spend on childcare, especially on organizing and driving to activities.

Giant 'microscope' will use neutrons to study glass transition mystery in solid-state research Posted: 22 Mar 2010 11:00 PM PDT Scientists are building an electrostatic levitation chamber that will be installed at the Spallation Neutron Source in Oakridge National Laboratory. Using neutrons as a probe, the instrument will allow scientists to watch atoms in a suspended drop of liquid as the drop cools and solidifies. Researchers are particularly eager to see what the new instrument will tell them about the "glass transition," the smooth change a glass undergoes from a freely flowing liquid to a viscous liquid to a rigid structure. The physics underlying the transition has been called "the deepest and most interesting unsolved problem in solid-state research."

Poorly understood cell plays role in immunity against the flu Posted: 22 Mar 2010 11:00 PM PDT A new understanding of a certain cell in the immune system may help guide scientists in creating better flu vaccines, researchers report.

Cracking the plant-cell membrane code Posted: 22 Mar 2010 11:00 PM PDT To engineer better crops and develop new drugs to combat disease, scientists look at how the sensor-laden membranes surrounding cells interact with their environment. But remarkably little is known about how proteins interact with these protective structures. For the first time for any multicellular organism, researchers have analyzed 3.4 million potential protein/membrane interactions and have found 65,000 unique relationships.

Immunology: New Gene Mutation Linked To Antibody Deficiency Posted: 22 Mar 2010 11:00 PM PDT Individuals who have abnormally low levels of immune molecules known as antibodies have an increased susceptibility to infection with certain types of bacteria. By analyzing one such person, researchers have identified a new genetic cause of antibody deficiency, mutations in the CD81 gene.

Fishing discard ban could damage sea bird success, scientists warn Posted: 22 Mar 2010 11:00 PM PDT A proposed EU ban on throwing unwanted fish overboard from commercial boats could put one of the North Sea's most successful sea birds at risk, say researchers.

Physical therapy exercise program can reduce risk of postnatal depression in new mothers Posted: 22 Mar 2010 11:00 PM PDT A physical therapy exercise and health education program is effective in improving postnatal well-being and reducing the risk for postnatal depression.

Smelling scenery in stereo: Desert ants perceive odor maps in navigation Posted: 22 Mar 2010 08:00 PM PDT Desert ants are well-known for their remarkable orientation: they use a compass along with a step counter and visible landmarks to locate their nest. After researchers discovered that these ants can navigate also by using olfactory cues, they now found that the animals even can take advantage of the distribution of different odors in a map-like manner by utilizing their antennae to smell their environment in stereo.

Radiotherapy can cause lasting vascular disease: Changes in gene expression to blame, research suggests Posted: 22 Mar 2010 08:00 PM PDT For an as yet unknown reason, cancer radiotherapy can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life, a problem that is growing as more and more people survive their cancer diagnosis. New research from Sweden now suggests that sustained inflammation induced by post-radiotherapy changes in the gene expression in the arteries could be the cause.

Eating less meat and dairy products won't have major impact on global warming, export argues Posted: 22 Mar 2010 08:00 PM PDT Consuming less meat and dairy products will fail to reverse global warming -- despite continual claims that link greenhouse-gas production to eating meat-rich diets, according to one expert. In a recent report, an air quality specialist discusses this popular misconception and describes why he believes it is steering society away from solutions to the global crisis.

Quantity vs. quality: Long-term use of bone-building osteoporosis drugs Posted: 22 Mar 2010 08:00 PM PDT Bisphosphonate treatments, proven to enhance bone density and reduce fracture incidence in post-menopausal women, may adversely affect bone quality and increase risk of atypical fractures of the femur when used for four or more years, according to preliminary research.

Sticky environmental problem with carpet tiles solved Posted: 22 Mar 2010 08:00 PM PDT A new adhesive for use in carpet tiles could help dramatically reduce their impact on the environment. The powerful adhesives currently used to bind the layers of carpet tiles together make it challenging to recycle them. In Europe, around 70 million kilograms of carpet tile waste is incinerated or sent to landfill sites every year.

Risky drinkers less likely to take good care of themselves and seek medical care Posted: 22 Mar 2010 08:00 PM PDT A study of 7,884 men and women that found people who engage in frequent heavy drinking report significantly worse health-related practices, such as not wearing seat belts, unhealthy eating, and failing to visit their doctor regularly. The study also found women who drink heavily report worse general and mental health than men who drink at that same level.

High-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain, researchers find Posted: 22 Mar 2010 05:00 PM PDT Researchers have demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

New superbug surpasses MRSA infection rates in community hospitals Posted: 22 Mar 2010 05:00 PM PDT While prevention methods appear to be helping to lower hospital infection rates from MRSA, a deadly antibiotic-resistant bacterium, a new superbug is on the rise, according to researchers.

Sea creatures' sex protein provides new insight into diabetes Posted: 22 Mar 2010 05:00 PM PDT A genetic accident in the sea more than 500 million years ago has provided new insight into diabetes. New research findings could help to explain a rare form of the disease that causes sufferers to urinate more than three liters every day.

Patients with irritable bowel syndrome not more likely to develop polyps, colon cancer Posted: 22 Mar 2010 05:00 PM PDT Patients with irritable bowel syndrome are at no greater risk of having polyps, colon cancer or inflammatory bowel diseases than healthy people undergoing colonoscopies, according to a new study.

Success rates for organ transplants are increasing, but organ donations are decreasing, study shows Posted: 22 Mar 2010 05:00 PM PDT The number of living donor organs available for transplant has progressively declined over the past five years, according to a new study. In addition, the study showed that for the first time, organs from deceased donors decreased in 2008.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Latest Science News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610