ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Piece of the puzzle for individualized cancer therapy via gene silencing discovered
• Advances made in walking, running robots
• In infant heart surgery, newer technique yields better survival in first year of life
• Solar panels can attract breeding water insects ... but scientists propose a simple fix
• Opioid-blocking medication reduces brain's response to alcoholism cues, study finds
• Optical Legos: Building nanoshell structures
• Novel therapeutic approach shows promise against multiple bacterial pathogens
• To double spud production, just add a little spit
• Flu doesn't die out, it hides out
• Dicty mystery solved: First to starve in slime mold thrive at others' expense
• Traditional aerobic fitness training trumps pedometer-based walking programs for health benefits
• Scientists detect huge carbon 'burp' that helped end last ice age
• New weapon against highly resistant microbes within grasp
• Nondestructive methods for evaluating ancient coins could be worth their weight in gold
• Fewer infections with new heart-pump implant, study suggests
• Scientists offer solutions to arsenic groundwater poisoning in southern Asia
• Largest supercomputers to simulate life on Earth, including economies and whole societies
• Bursting 'bubbles' the origin of galactic gas clouds, astronomers find
• New bacterial signaling molecule could lead to improved vaccines
• Scaffold gradients: Finding the right environment for developing cells
• Single-lens distance glasses reduce falls in active older people
• Computers can effectively detect diabetes-related eye problems, analysis finds
• Shark cartilage shows no benefit as a therapeutic agent for lung cancer, study finds
• Out of the woods for 'Ardi': Early human habitat was savanna, not forest, scientists argue
• Milk: Two glasses a day tones muscles, keeps the fat away in women, study shows
• Discovery simplifies view of atmospheric aerosols, a factor in climate change
• New left-side heart pump improves right-side heart function, study suggests
• Virulent new strains of Ug99 stem rust, a deadly wheat pathogen
• A stone says more than a thousand runes
• X-51 Waverider makes historic ramjet-powered hypersonic flight
• Increasing BPA levels in urine associated with worsening male sexual function, study finds
• Yeast make plant hormone that speeds infection, scientists discover
• High blood cortisol levels significantly increases death rate in patients with acute coronary syndrome
• Secrets of a chiral gold nanocluster unveiled
• Young assault victims often involved in subsequent violence
• Brief exercise reduces impact of stress on cell aging, study shows
• Case study analyzes why, where and when of leading shark attack site
• Lengthening time a drug remains bound to a target may lead to improving diagnostics, therapy
• Microbes answer more questions collectively
• An underlying cause for psychopathic behavior?
• Compulsive behavior in mice cured by bone marrow transplant
• Ultrasound could boost tissue implant success
• Indoor tanning to melanoma definitively linked in new study, researchers say
• Gene mutation linked to lymphatic dysfunction discovered
• Oil spill threatens toothy marine predator that is cultural and historic icon
• Racial bias clouds ability to feel others' pain, study shows

Piece of the puzzle for individualized cancer therapy via gene silencing discovered Posted: 28 May 2010 11:00 AM PDT In a major cancer-research breakthrough, researchers have discovered that a small segment of a protein that interacts with RNA can control the normal expression of genes -- including those that are active in cancer.

Advances made in walking, running robots Posted: 28 May 2010 11:00 AM PDT Researchers have made an important fundamental advance in robotics, in work that should lead toward robots that not only can walk and run effectively, but use little energy in the process. By achieving an optimal approach with robotic mechanisms, studies are moving closer to robots that could take on dangerous missions in the military, create prosthetic limbs for humans that work much better, or even help some people who use wheelchairs to gain "walking" abilities.

In infant heart surgery, newer technique yields better survival in first year of life Posted: 28 May 2010 11:00 AM PDT Pediatric researchers report that a recently introduced surgical procedure offers infants with severely underdeveloped hearts a better chance at surviving during their first year of life, in comparison to the standard surgery.

Solar panels can attract breeding water insects ... but scientists propose a simple fix Posted: 28 May 2010 11:00 AM PDT Solar power might be nature's most plentiful and benign source of energy, but shiny dark solar cells can lure water insects away from critical breeding areas, scientists warn. Applying white grids or other methods to break up the polarized reflection of light, however, makes mayflies and other aquatic insects far less likely to deposit eggs on the panels thinking that they are water, the group discovered.

Opioid-blocking medication reduces brain's response to alcoholism cues, study finds Posted: 28 May 2010 11:00 AM PDT Researchers have produced the first evidence that the opioid blocker extended-release injectable naltrexone is able to reduce the brain's response to cues that may cause alcoholics to relapse.

Optical Legos: Building nanoshell structures Posted: 28 May 2010 08:00 AM PDT Scientists have created a way to use light-activated nanoshells as building blocks for 2-D and 3-D structures that could be useful for making chemical sensors, nanolasers and bizarre light-absorbing metamaterials. Much as a child might use Lego blocks to build 3-D models of complex buildings or vehicles, the scientists are using the new chemical self-assembly method to build complex structures that can trap, store and bend light.

Novel therapeutic approach shows promise against multiple bacterial pathogens Posted: 28 May 2010 08:00 AM PDT A team of scientists from government, academia and private industry has developed a novel treatment that protects mice from infection with the bacterium that causes tularemia, a highly infectious disease of rodents, sometimes transmitted to people, and also known as rabbit fever. In additional experiments with human immune cells, the treatment also demonstrated protection against three other types of disease-causing bacteria that, like the tularemia bacteria, occur naturally, can be highly virulent, and are considered possible agents of bioterrorism.

To double spud production, just add a little spit Posted: 28 May 2010 08:00 AM PDT When it comes to potentially doubling the output of the world's fourth largest food crop, the secret may be in the spit. Researchers have discovered that when a major South American pest infests potato tubers, the plant produces bigger spuds. The secret to this increased yield is found that the saliva of the Guatemalan potato moth larvae.

Flu doesn't die out, it hides out Posted: 28 May 2010 08:00 AM PDT Every autumn, as predictably as falling leaves, flu season descends upon us. Every spring, just as predictably, the season comes to a close. This cyclical pattern, common in temperate regions, is well known, but the driving forces behind it have been in question.

Dicty mystery solved: First to starve in slime mold thrive at others' expense Posted: 28 May 2010 08:00 AM PDT Evolutionary biologists have found that the first cells to starve in a slime mold seem to have an advantage that not only helps them survive to reproduce, but also pushes those that keep on eating into sacrificing themselves for the common good.

Traditional aerobic fitness training trumps pedometer-based walking programs for health benefits Posted: 28 May 2010 08:00 AM PDT Researchers compared fitness training to a pedometer-based walking program, measuring the fitness and health outcomes of each. All participants saw health benefits but traditional aerobic fitness training outclassed walking program benefits significantly.

Scientists detect huge carbon 'burp' that helped end last ice age Posted: 28 May 2010 05:00 AM PDT Scientists have found the possible source of a huge carbon dioxide "burp" that happened some 18,000 years ago and which helped to end the last ice age.

New weapon against highly resistant microbes within grasp Posted: 28 May 2010 05:00 AM PDT An active compound from fungi and lower animals may well be suitable as an effective weapon against dangerous bacteria. We're talking about plectasin, a small protein molecule that can even destroy highly resistant bacteria. Researchers have shed light on how the substance does this. The authors see plectasin as a promising lead compound for new antibiotics.

Nondestructive methods for evaluating ancient coins could be worth their weight in gold Posted: 28 May 2010 05:00 AM PDT Researchers have demonstrated that sensitive nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques can be used to determine the elemental composition of ancient coins, even coins that generally have been considered too corroded for such methods.

Fewer infections with new heart-pump implant, study suggests Posted: 28 May 2010 05:00 AM PDT A state-of-the-art heart pump recently approved for use in end-stage cardiac patients has a significantly lower risk for infection than an earlier model of the device, according to new research.

Scientists offer solutions to arsenic groundwater poisoning in southern Asia Posted: 28 May 2010 05:00 AM PDT About 60 million people in Bangladesh are exposed to unsafe levels of arsenic in their drinking water, dramatically raising their risk for cancer and other serious diseases. Because most of the contaminated water is near the surface, many Bangladeshis have installed deep wells to tap into groundwater relatively free of arsenic. But now, farmers are using the deep aquifers for irrigation, which could compromise access to clean drinking, according to scientists.

Largest supercomputers to simulate life on Earth, including economies and whole societies Posted: 28 May 2010 05:00 AM PDT Scientists are planning to use the largest supercomputers to simulate life on Earth, including the financial system, economies and whole societies. The project is called "Living Earth Simulator" and part of a huge EU research initiative named FuturIcT.

Bursting 'bubbles' the origin of galactic gas clouds, astronomers find Posted: 28 May 2010 02:00 AM PDT Like bubbles bursting on the surface of a glass of champagne, "bubbles" in our galaxy burst and leave flecks of material in the form of clouds of hydrogen gas, researchers using CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope in eastern Australia have found. Their study explains the origin of these clouds for the first time.

New bacterial signaling molecule could lead to improved vaccines Posted: 28 May 2010 02:00 AM PDT In a 20-year quest to determine why Listeria bacteria produce a uniquely strong immune response in humans, scientists have found part of the answer: an unsuspected signaling molecule that the bacteria pump out and which ramps up production of interferon by the host. Interferon mobilizes the immune system to fight off bacteria and viruses. According to researchers, the finding could help improve vaccines.

Scaffold gradients: Finding the right environment for developing cells Posted: 28 May 2010 02:00 AM PDT A research team has developed a way to offer cells a 3-D scaffold that varies over a broad range of degrees of stiffness to determine where they develop best. Their technique is a way to rapidly optimize 3-D cell growth media to meet the developmental needs of specific cell types for a wide variety of potential tissue-replacement therapies.

Single-lens distance glasses reduce falls in active older people Posted: 28 May 2010 02:00 AM PDT Providing single-lens distance glasses to older people who wear multifocal glasses and who regularly take part in outdoor activities is a simple and effective way of preventing falls, concludes a recent study.

Computers can effectively detect diabetes-related eye problems, analysis finds Posted: 28 May 2010 02:00 AM PDT People with diabetes have an increased risk of blindness, yet nearly half of the approximately 23 million Americans with diabetes do not get an annual eye exam to detect possible problems. But it appears that cost-effective computerized systems to detect early eye problems related to diabetes can help meet the screening need, a new analysis shows.

Shark cartilage shows no benefit as a therapeutic agent for lung cancer, study finds Posted: 28 May 2010 02:00 AM PDT In the first scientific study of its kind, shark cartilage extract, AE-941 or Neovastat, has shown no benefit as a therapeutic agent when combined with chemotherapy and radiation for patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer.

Out of the woods for 'Ardi': Early human habitat was savanna, not forest, scientists argue Posted: 27 May 2010 11:00 PM PDT Pre-humans living in East Africa 4.4 million years ago inhabited grassy plains, not forests, a team of researchers has concluded.

Milk: Two glasses a day tones muscles, keeps the fat away in women, study shows Posted: 27 May 2010 11:00 PM PDT Women who drink two large glasses of milk a day after their weight-lifting routine gained more muscle and lost more fat compared to women who drank sugar-based energy drinks, a study has found.

Discovery simplifies view of atmospheric aerosols, a factor in climate change Posted: 27 May 2010 11:00 PM PDT The large number of tiny organic aerosols floating in the atmosphere -- emitted from tailpipes and trees alike -- share enough common characteristics as a group that scientists can generalize their makeup and how they change in the atmosphere, according to new research.

New left-side heart pump improves right-side heart function, study suggests Posted: 27 May 2010 11:00 PM PDT A state-of-the-art heart pump, designed to maintain a continuous flow of blood in end-stage cardiac patients with damage to the left side of the heart, also improves function on the right side of the heart, according to new research.

Virulent new strains of Ug99 stem rust, a deadly wheat pathogen Posted: 27 May 2010 11:00 PM PDT Four new mutations of Ug99, a strain of a deadly wheat pathogen known as stem rust, have overcome existing sources of genetic resistance developed to safeguard the world's wheat crop. Leading wheat experts say the evolving pathogen may pose an even greater threat to global wheat production than the original Ug99.

A stone says more than a thousand runes Posted: 27 May 2010 11:00 PM PDT It was not necessary to be literate to be able to access rune carvings in the 11th century. At the same time, those who could read were able to glean much more information from a rune stone than merely what was written in runes.

X-51 Waverider makes historic ramjet-powered hypersonic flight Posted: 27 May 2010 08:00 PM PDT An X-51A Waverider flight-test vehicle successfully made the longest supersonic combustion ramjet-powered hypersonic flight May 26 off the southern California Pacific coast.

Increasing BPA levels in urine associated with worsening male sexual function, study finds Posted: 27 May 2010 08:00 PM PDT A new study finds that increasing bisphenol-A levels in urine are associated with worsening male sexual function, including decreased sexual desire, more difficulty having an erection, lower ejaculation strength and lower level of overall satisfaction with sex life. The five-year study examined 427 workers in factories in China, comparing workers in BPA manufacturing facilities with a control group of workers in factories where no BPA was present.

Yeast make plant hormone that speeds infection, scientists discover Posted: 27 May 2010 08:00 PM PDT Scientists report that yeast produce a hormone previously known to be made by plants, and that the presence of that hormone in sufficient quantity within the yeast's immediate environment triggers the fungal cells to become more infectious. The journal editors called it a "surprising finding."

High blood cortisol levels significantly increases death rate in patients with acute coronary syndrome Posted: 27 May 2010 08:00 PM PDT Growing evidence suggests that serum cortisol levels are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality in patients with chronic heart failure.

Secrets of a chiral gold nanocluster unveiled Posted: 27 May 2010 08:00 PM PDT Researchers have resolved the structural, electronic and optical properties of a chiral gold nanocluster that remained a mystery for 10 years.

Young assault victims often involved in subsequent violence Posted: 27 May 2010 08:00 PM PDT When adolescents are treated in an emergency department (ED) after being assaulted, they have a significant chance of being involved in another violent encounter soon afterward.

Brief exercise reduces impact of stress on cell aging, study shows Posted: 27 May 2010 05:00 PM PDT Exercise can buffer the effects of stress-induced cell aging, according to new research that revealed actual benefits of physical activity at the cellular level.

Case study analyzes why, where and when of leading shark attack site Posted: 27 May 2010 05:00 PM PDT Shark attacks are most likely to occur on Sunday, in less than 6 feet of water, during a new moon and involve surfers wearing black and white bathing suits, a first of its kind study suggests.

Lengthening time a drug remains bound to a target may lead to improving diagnostics, therapy Posted: 27 May 2010 05:00 PM PDT Studies indicate that modifications that enhance the time a drug remains bound to its target, or residence time, may lead to better diagnostic and therapeutic agents.

Microbes answer more questions collectively Posted: 27 May 2010 05:00 PM PDT Studying whole microbial communities rather than individual microorganisms could help scientists answer fundamental questions such as how ecosystems respond to climate change or pollution.

An underlying cause for psychopathic behavior? Posted: 27 May 2010 05:00 PM PDT Psychopaths are known to be characterized by callousness, diminished capacity for remorse, and lack of empathy. However, the exact cause of these personality traits is an area of scientific debate. The results of a new study show striking similarities between the mental impairments observed in psychopaths and those seen in patients with frontal lobe damage.

Compulsive behavior in mice cured by bone marrow transplant Posted: 27 May 2010 02:00 PM PDT Scientists earlier found that mice missing one of a group of core developmental genes known as the Hox genes developed an odd and rather unexpected pathology: the mutant animals groomed themselves compulsively to the point that they were removing their own hair and leaving self-inflicted open sores on their skin.

Ultrasound could boost tissue implant success Posted: 27 May 2010 02:00 PM PDT New research shows low-intensity ultrasound stimulation would be able to enhance the survival of implanted tissue graft, which could vastly increase the rates of success of a broad range of tissue-graft therapies.

Indoor tanning to melanoma definitively linked in new study, researchers say Posted: 27 May 2010 02:00 PM PDT Researchers say a new study definitively links the use of indoor tanning devices to increased risk of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.

Gene mutation linked to lymphatic dysfunction discovered Posted: 27 May 2010 02:00 PM PDT A genetic mutation for inherited lymphedema associated with lymphatic function has been discovered that could help create new treatments for the condition, say researchers.

Oil spill threatens toothy marine predator that is cultural and historic icon Posted: 27 May 2010 02:00 PM PDT The BP oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico threatens the existence of a critically endangered sawfish and its relative that recently has been proposed to join it as the only two marine fish in United States waters to receive such federal protection.

Racial bias clouds ability to feel others' pain, study shows Posted: 27 May 2010 02:00 PM PDT When people witness or imagine the pain of another person, their nervous system responds in essentially the same way it would if they were feeling that pain themselves. Now, researchers have new evidence to show that that kind of empathy is diminished when people (black or white) who hold racial biases see that pain is being inflicted on those of another race.

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