ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Toward a new generation of superplastics
• Light and moderate physical activity reduces the risk of early death, study finds
• 3-D gesture-based interaction system unveiled
• Morning test helps doctors save kidneys
• Researchers calculate the cost of CO₂ emissions, call for carbon tax
• Mental health woes grow while spending declines, study finds
• Sea lamprey research sheds light on how stress hormones evolved
• Starve a cancer: Calorie restriction as an anti-invasive therapy for malignant brain cancer
• Graphene oxide gets green: Environmentally friendly ways to make it in bulk, break it down
• Test could predict which children with T-cell ALL are best candidates for clinical trials
• Predicting nanoparticle structures: Standard chemical reactions show the way
• Disease genes that followed the Silk Road identified
• Nanowick at heart of new system to cool 'power electronics'
• Gene may hold key to reducing spread of oral cancers
• Nanoparticles in English ivy may hold the key to making sunscreen safer and more effective
• Eye study finds two therapies slow diabetic eye disease progression
• 'Super socks' help stem pollution runoff
• Hormonal contraceptives have mixed success among overweight women
• Graphene organic photovoltaics: Flexible material only a few atoms thick may offer cheap solar power
• Microbicide containing engineered bacteria may inhibit HIV-1
• Virtual reality gives insight on protein structures
• Chokeberry extract found to regulate weight gain, blood glucose, and inflammation in rats
• Asia's most devastating droughts reconstructed
• Cold-blooded mothers: Magpie parents seem to induce mortality of 'unwanted' chicks
• NASA spacecraft camera yields most accurate Mars map
• Stem cells from surgery leftovers could repair damaged hearts
• Charging up electric car batteries in environmentally-friendly way
• Diabetes monitoring device benefits not just people but dogs and other animals, too
• Hops helps reduce ammonia produced by cattle
• Academic language impedes students' ability to learn science, expert argues

Toward a new generation of superplastics Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 PM PDT Scientists are reporting an in-depth validation of the discovery of the world's first mass producible, low-cost, organoclays for plastics. The powdered material, made from natural clay, would be a safer, more environmentally friendly replacement for the compound widely used to make plastics nanocomposites.

Light and moderate physical activity reduces the risk of early death, study finds Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 PM PDT A new study has found that even light or moderate intensity physical activity, such as walking or cycling, can substantially reduced the risk of early death.

3-D gesture-based interaction system unveiled Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 PM PDT Touch screens such as those found on the iPhone or iPad are the latest form of technology allowing interaction with smart phones, computers and other devices. However, scientists in Germany have developed the next generation non-contact gesture and finger recognition system. The novel system detects hand and finger positions in real-time and translates these into appropriate interaction commands. Furthermore, the system does not require special gloves or markers and is capable of supporting multiple users.

Morning test helps doctors save kidneys Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 PM PDT A morning urine test is superior to all other tests for detecting declining kidney performance in patients with diabetic kidney disease, according to a new study. The results suggest that clinicians should monitor kidney function by measuring the albumin:creatinine ratio from a first morning urine sample.

Researchers calculate the cost of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, call for carbon tax Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 PM PDT Researchers are calling on policymakers to encourage the transition from coal-based electricity production to a system based on natural gas through a carbon tax.

Mental health woes grow while spending declines, study finds Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 PM PDT As the current global economic crisis drives up the demand for mental health-care services, cash-strapped agencies are slashing mental health budgets, according to a new study.

Sea lamprey research sheds light on how stress hormones evolved Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT Researchers are have identified a stress hormone in the sea lamprey, using the 500 million-year-old species as a model to understand the evolution of the endocrine system.

Starve a cancer: Calorie restriction as an anti-invasive therapy for malignant brain cancer Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT Researchers have found that reducing calorie intake can restrict the growth and spread of brain cancer.

Graphene oxide gets green: Environmentally friendly ways to make it in bulk, break it down Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT Scientists have found a way to synthesize graphene oxide in bulk in an environmentally friendly way, eliminating toxic and explosive chemicals from the process. They have also found a class of common bacteria breaks down graphene oxide into environmentally benign graphene.

Test could predict which children with T-cell ALL are best candidates for clinical trials Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT A genetic clue uncovered by scientists enables doctors to predict, for the first time, which children with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) are unlikely to benefit from standard chemotherapy for the disease and should therefore be among the first to receive new treatments in future clinical trials.

Predicting nanoparticle structures: Standard chemical reactions show the way Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a way to predict the organization of nanoparticles in larger forms by treating them much the same as ensembles of molecules formed from standard chemical reactions.

Disease genes that followed the Silk Road identified Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT Researchers have found susceptibility to Behcet's disease, a painful, inflammatory condition, to be associated with genes involved in the body's immune response.

Nanowick at heart of new system to cool 'power electronics' Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Researchers have shown that an advanced cooling technology being developed for high-power electronics in military and automotive systems is capable of handling roughly 10 times the heat generated by conventional computer chips.

Gene may hold key to reducing spread of oral cancers Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT The spread of cancer cells in the tongue may be reduced if a gene that regulates cancer cell migration can be controlled, according to new research.

Nanoparticles in English ivy may hold the key to making sunscreen safer and more effective Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Researchers have found that nanoparticles in ivy may protect skin from UV radiation at least four times better than the metal-based sunblocks found on store shelves today.

Eye study finds two therapies slow diabetic eye disease progression Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT In high-risk adults with Type 2 diabetes, researchers have found that two therapies may slow the progression of diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease that is the leading cause of vision loss in working-age Americans.

'Super socks' help stem pollution runoff Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Agricultural scientists have improved on an existing method for removing contaminants from storm water runoff. These findings could provide surface waters additional protection against runoff containing pollutants from point sources such as construction sites, storm waters and other urban landscapes.

Hormonal contraceptives have mixed success among overweight women Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT As obesity continues to be a worldwide health risk, one of its "side effects" could include less effective birth control for overweight and obese women who use hormonal contraceptives.

Graphene organic photovoltaics: Flexible material only a few atoms thick may offer cheap solar power Posted: 24 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT A research team has produced flexible transparent carbon atom films that the researchers say have great potential for a new breed of solar cells.

Microbicide containing engineered bacteria may inhibit HIV-1 Posted: 24 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT Researchers from the U.S. and abroad used bacteria inherent to the human vaginal tract to develop a live, topical microbicide that may induce production of HIV-1 protein inhibitors and ultimately prevent transmission of the virus.

Virtual reality gives insight on protein structures Posted: 24 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT To understand a protein, it helps to get inside of it, and a professor has now figured out a way to do so. A new computer software program and projection system lets a person look at larger-than-life, 3-D structures of proteins in virtual reality. This allows scientists to walk inside, through or around the protein of interest for investigating its structure and function.

Chokeberry extract found to regulate weight gain, blood glucose, and inflammation in rats Posted: 24 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT A new study finds that chokeberry extract inhibits weight gain in insulin-resistant animals and modulates multiple genes associated with adipose tissue growth, blood glucose regulation, and inflammatory pathways.

Asia's most devastating droughts reconstructed Posted: 24 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT Asia's monsoon rains feed nearly half the world's population. A new study of tree rings provides a detailed record of at least four epic failures of the monsoon that have shaken Asia over the last thousand years. The study is expected not only to help historians understand how environment has affected the past, but to aid scientists trying to understand the potential for large-scale disruptions in the face of changing climate.

Cold-blooded mothers: Magpie parents seem to induce mortality of 'unwanted' chicks Posted: 24 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT A new pattern of nestling mortality was found in magpies' nests. Sons died more in the nests with more daughters and daughters died more in the nests with more sons. Researchers think that this pattern, that reinforces the original bias in brood sex composition, implies parental strategies being set as a "package," where specific initial sex composition of a brood is correlated with a specific parental "attitude" towards sons and daughters.

NASA spacecraft camera yields most accurate Mars map Posted: 24 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT A camera aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has helped develop the most accurate global Martian map ever. Researchers and the public can access the map via several websites and explore and survey the entire surface of the Red Planet.

Stem cells from surgery leftovers could repair damaged hearts Posted: 24 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Scientists have for the first time succeeded in extracting vital stem cells from sections of vein removed for heart bypass surgery.

Charging up electric car batteries in environmentally-friendly way Posted: 24 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Electromobility makes sense only if car batteries are charged using electricity from renewable energy sources. But the supply of green electricity is not always adequate. An intelligent charging station can help, by adapting the recharging times to suit energy supply and network capacity.

Diabetes monitoring device benefits not just people but dogs and other animals, too Posted: 24 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT A researcher is using a continuous glucose monitoring device -- commonly used in humans with diabetes -- to help treat dogs and other animals. The device, which provides a detailed glucose picture of an animal over several days, will help pet owners manage their pets' diabetes.

Hops helps reduce ammonia produced by cattle Posted: 24 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT An agricultural scientist may have found a way to cut the amount of ammonia produced by cattle, using a key ingredient of the brewer's art: hops.

Academic language impedes students' ability to learn science, expert argues Posted: 24 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Middle and high school students who read fluently in English class and on the Web may find that they cannot understand their science texts. And their science teachers may be ill-prepared to guide them in reading the academic language in which science information is presented. A professor of education and expert on language and literacy development makes the case that students need to be taught academic language to learn science and other subjects.

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