ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Zooming in on an infant solar system: For the first time, astronomers have observed solar systems in the making in great detail
• Botox eases nerve pain in certain patients
• NASA helps in upcoming asteroid mission homecoming
• Monoclonal antibodies: Short-term therapy for long-term treatment of chronic viral infections?
• Rapid genome sequencing process effectively identifies hereditary genetic diseases, study shows
• Family carers share the illness experience of the dying patient
• Tiny insect brains capable of huge feats
• Flu's evolution strategy strikes perfect balance
• Hot spots where heatwaves could pose greater health risk
• Popular cancer drug can cause kidney damage, study finds
• Nuclear pores call on different assembly mechanisms at different cell cycle stages
• Youth clubs strengthen kids' self image to keep them out of trouble
• New strain of bacteria discovered that could aid in oil spill, other environmental cleanup
• How mutations in presenilin gene cause early onset Alzheimer's disease
• Detailed Martian scenes in new images from Mars Orbiter
• Inexpensive drug to stop sight loss shown to be effective, study finds
• With fungi on their side, rice plants grow to be big
• Scottish people 'living dangerously'
• How the wrong genes are repressed

Zooming in on an infant solar system: For the first time, astronomers have observed solar systems in the making in great detail Posted: 12 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT Astronomers have observed in unprecedented detail the processes giving rise to stars and planets in nascent solar systems. The discoveries lay the groundwork for probing the formation of planets with the potential for life.

Botox eases nerve pain in certain patients Posted: 12 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT Made popular for its ability to smooth wrinkles when injected into the face, Botox -- a toxin known to weaken or paralyze certain nerves and muscles -- may have another use that goes beyond the cosmetic.

NASA helps in upcoming asteroid mission homecoming Posted: 12 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT The space and astronomy worlds have June 13 circled on the calendar. That's when the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) expects the sample return capsule of the agency's technology demonstrator spacecraft, Hayabusa, to boomerang back to Earth. The capsule, along with its mother ship, visited a near-Earth asteroid, Itokawa, five years ago and has logged about 2 billion kilometers (1.25 billion miles) since its launch in May 2003.

Monoclonal antibodies: Short-term therapy for long-term treatment of chronic viral infections? Posted: 12 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT Monoclonal antibodies are the largest class of biotherapeutic drugs. When administered to infected organisms to blunt the propagation of pathogenic viruses, they may also induce a long-lasting and protective antiviral immune response similar to that achieved by vaccination. These results raise hopes for the treatment of certain severe and chronic viral infections.

Rapid genome sequencing process effectively identifies hereditary genetic diseases, study shows Posted: 12 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT Scientists have shown for the first time that it is possible to identify any genetic disease in record time using a powerful and reliable exome sequencing method. The exome, a small part of the genome, is of crucial interest with regard to research on genetic diseases as it accounts for 85 percent of mutations.

Family carers share the illness experience of the dying patient Posted: 12 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT Family carers need to be supported throughout the whole illness of their loved ones as they witness and share much of the experience of the dying person, according to new research.

Tiny insect brains capable of huge feats Posted: 12 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Insects may have tiny brains the size of a pinhead, but the latest research from Australia shows just how clever they really are.

Flu's evolution strategy strikes perfect balance Posted: 12 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Scientists have uncovered how the flu virus effectively evolves within and between host species. These findings overturn long-held assumptions about how the virus spreads. Better understanding how the flu replicates and evolves to infect new hosts will help scientists find new ways to fight the flu. One option is the development of therapies that take advantage of the new findings by promoting mutagenesis -- treatments designed to generate increased mutations that will ultimately kill the virus.

Hot spots where heatwaves could pose greater health risk Posted: 12 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Heatwaves could especially pose an increased health risk this century in Southern European river valleys and along the Mediterranean coast, a new study has revealed.

Popular cancer drug can cause kidney damage, study finds Posted: 12 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT The widely used cancer drug bevacizumab may cause severe loss of protein from the kidney into the urine that can lead to significant kidney damage and can compromise the efficacy of cancer treatment, according to a new study. The results suggest that physicians should monitor patients' kidney health when prescribing this angiogenesis inhibitor.

Nuclear pores call on different assembly mechanisms at different cell cycle stages Posted: 12 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Nuclear pores are the primary gatekeepers mediating communication between a cell's nucleus and its cytoplasm. Recently these large multiprotein transport channels have also been shown to play an essential role in developmental gene regulation. Despite the critical role in nuclear function, however, nuclear pore complexes remain somewhat shadowy figures, with many details about their formation shrouded in mystery.

Youth clubs strengthen kids' self image to keep them out of trouble Posted: 12 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT When children belong to a youth club, they gain a stronger sense of who they are as a person, a new has revealed. The study suggests that even small improvements in self concept go a long way toward keeping children out of trouble.

New strain of bacteria discovered that could aid in oil spill, other environmental cleanup Posted: 11 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT Researchers have discovered a new strain of bacteria that can produce non-toxic, comparatively inexpensive "rhamnolipids," and effectively help degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs -- environmental pollutants that are one of the most harmful aspects of oil spills. Because of its unique characteristics, this new bacterial strain could be of considerable value in the long-term cleanup of the massive Gulf Coast oil spill, scientists say.

How mutations in presenilin gene cause early onset Alzheimer's disease Posted: 11 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT Researchers have discovered how mutations in the presenilin 1 gene cause early-onset Alzheimer's disease. The finding opens the door to developing novel treatments for this form of the mind-robbing disease and for the more common, late-onset form that develops later in life and affects millions of people worldwide.

Detailed Martian scenes in new images from Mars Orbiter Posted: 11 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT Six hundred recent observations of the Mars landscape from an orbiting telescopic camera include scenes of sinuous gullies, geometrical ridges and steep cliffs.

Inexpensive drug to stop sight loss shown to be effective, study finds Posted: 11 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT An inexpensive, but unlicensed drug to help prevent severe sight loss in older people has been shown to be safe and effective, a new study finds.

With fungi on their side, rice plants grow to be big Posted: 11 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT By tinkering with a type of fungus that lives in association with plant roots, researchers have found a way to increase the growth of rice by an impressive margin.

Scottish people 'living dangerously' Posted: 11 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT Almost the entire adult population of Scotland (97.5 percent) are likely to be either cigarette smokers, heavy drinkers, physically inactive, overweight or have a poor diet. Researchers also found a strong association between the presence of several of these risk factors and low income.

How the wrong genes are repressed Posted: 11 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT The mechanism by which "polycomb" proteins critical for embyronic stem cell function and fate are targeted to DNA has been identified by scientists in the UK. The discovery has implications for the fields of stem cell and tissue engineering.

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