ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• New antibacterial material for bandages, food packaging, shoes
• Why more education lowers dementia risk
• The healing effects of forests
• Irradiating stem cell niche doubles survival in brain cancer patients
• Unaccounted feedbacks from climate-induced ecosystem changes may increase future climate warming
• Open golfers should putt with a 'Quiet Eye'
• A plane that lands like a bird
• How key enzyme repairs sun-damaged DNA
• Organic nanoelectronics a step closer
• The hormone IGF-1: A trigger of puberty
• Simpler method for building varieties of nanocrystal superlattices
• Stop or speed through a yellow light? That is the question
• Giant pandas: Landscape has big effect on movement of genes within population
• Rare and common genetic variations responsible for high triglyceride levels in blood
• Hijacked supplies for pathogens: Legionnaire’s disease bacteria tap into the material transport in immune cells
• Parkinson's: New clues to alleviating gait disorders and falls
• Concealed patterns beneath life's variety: Synthesis of studies of how biodiversity changes reveals trends over space and time
• Power outage: A loss of social power distorts how money is represented
• Amount of dust, pollen matters for cloud precipitation, climate change
• New epigenetic player implicated in mental retardation and facial birth defects
• How cells keep their guards in check
• Important clue to understanding the pathogenesis of ciliary disorders
• Straw residue helps keep nitrogen on the farm
• Confident teachers help preschoolers more with language and literacy skills
• Non-human sugar in biotech drugs causes inflammation
• Accepted theory explaining frequent eruptions at Italy’s Stromboli volcano questioned

New antibacterial material for bandages, food packaging, shoes Posted: 26 Jul 2010 08:00 AM PDT A new form of paper with the built-in ability to fight disease-causing bacteria could have applications that range from antibacterial bandages to food packaging that keeps food fresher longer to shoes that ward off foot odor. The new material consists of the thinnest possible sheets of carbon.

Why more education lowers dementia risk Posted: 26 Jul 2010 08:00 AM PDT A team of researchers from the UK and Finland has discovered why people who stay in education longer have a lower risk of developing dementia -- a question that has puzzled scientists for the past decade.

The healing effects of forests Posted: 26 Jul 2010 08:00 AM PDT Forests -- and other natural, green settings -- can reduce stress, improve moods, reduce anger and aggressiveness and increase overall happiness. Forest visits may also strengthen our immune system by increasing the activity and number of natural killer cells that destroy cancer cells.

Irradiating stem cell niche doubles survival in brain cancer patients Posted: 26 Jul 2010 08:00 AM PDT Patients with deadly glioblastomas who received high doses of radiation that hit a portion of the brain that harbors neural stem cells had double the progression-free survival time as patients who had lower doses or no radiation targeting the area, a study has found.

Unaccounted feedbacks from climate-induced ecosystem changes may increase future climate warming Posted: 26 Jul 2010 08:00 AM PDT In addition to the carbon cycle-climate interactions that have been a major focus of modeling work in recent years, other biogeochemistry feedbacks could be at least equally important for future climate change. Experts argue that it is important to include these feedbacks in the next generation of Earth system models.

Open golfers should putt with a 'Quiet Eye' Posted: 26 Jul 2010 08:00 AM PDT Studies by researchers in the UK have shown how using a technique called the "Quiet Eye" can significantly improve a golfers' putting performance, particularly when under pressure.

A plane that lands like a bird Posted: 26 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Everyone knows what it's like for an airplane to land: the slow maneuvering into an approach pattern, the long descent, and the brakes slamming on as soon as the plane touches down, which seems to just barely bring it to a rest a mile later. Birds, however, can switch from barreling forward at full speed to lightly touching down on a target as narrow as a telephone wire. Why can't an airplane be more like a bird?

How key enzyme repairs sun-damaged DNA Posted: 26 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Researchers have long known that humans lack a key enzyme -- one possessed by most of the animal kingdom and even plants -- that reverses severe sun damage. For the first time, researchers have witnessed how this enzyme works at the atomic level to repair sun-damaged DNA. The discovery holds promise for future sunburn remedies and skin cancer prevention.

Organic nanoelectronics a step closer Posted: 26 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Scientists have effectively discovered a way to order the molecules in the PEDOT, the single most industrially important conducting polymer.

The hormone IGF-1: A trigger of puberty Posted: 26 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Puberty is triggered by pulsatile release of GnRH from specific nerve cells in the the brain. What signals tell these nerve cells to release GnRH in this manner has not been determined, although it has been suggested that hormones associated with good nutritional status (such as IGF-1) have a role. New research has now confirmed that in mice IGF-1 does indeed have a key role in coordinating the timing of puberty onset.

Simpler method for building varieties of nanocrystal superlattices Posted: 26 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Researchers have created a simple and inexpensive method to rapidly grow centimeter-scale membranes of binary nanocrystal superlattices, or BNSLs, by crystallizing a mixture of nanocrystals on a liquid surface.

Stop or speed through a yellow light? That is the question Posted: 26 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT Are you, as a driver, more likely to stop or to speed through a yellow light?

Giant pandas: Landscape has big effect on movement of genes within population Posted: 26 Jul 2010 02:00 AM PDT Genetic analysis of giant pandas has shown that features of their landscape have a profound effect on the movement of genes within their population. Researchers found that physical barriers, such as areas lacking bamboo plants and other forest foliage, can separate giant pandas into isolated genetic groups.

Rare and common genetic variations responsible for high triglyceride levels in blood Posted: 26 Jul 2010 02:00 AM PDT Scientists have shown that it's a combination of both common and rare variants or "misprints" in several genes that add up, and put a patient at risk of developing high levels of triglycerides in the blood, a disease called hypertriglyceridemia (HTG). HTG affects one in 20 people in North America.

Hijacked supplies for pathogens: Legionnaire’s disease bacteria tap into the material transport in immune cells Posted: 26 Jul 2010 02:00 AM PDT When it infects the lungs, the Legionnaire's bacterium Legionella pneumophila causes acute pneumonia. The pathogen's modus operandi is particularly ingenious: it infiltrates deliberately into cells of the human immune system and injects a host of proteins which then interfere in the normal cellular processes. Scientists have now discovered how Legionella reprogrammes the cells to ensure its own survival and to propagate. They examined a protein used by the pathogen to divert the material transport within the cells for its own purposes.

Parkinson's: New clues to alleviating gait disorders and falls Posted: 26 Jul 2010 02:00 AM PDT Drugs that target the mediator of nerve cell communication dopamine alleviate many of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease but not the gait disorders and falls that affect those with severe disease. New research indicates that drugs targeting nerve cells that communicate using the molecule acetylcholine in the PPN region of the brain might provide a way to alleviate these otherwise untreatable symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

Concealed patterns beneath life's variety: Synthesis of studies of how biodiversity changes reveals trends over space and time Posted: 26 Jul 2010 02:00 AM PDT Although it is well known that there are more species in the tropics than in higher latitudes, it is hard to study how the species in a sampling change in time and across large distances. A synthesis based on multiple studies reveals some surprising trends that suggest ways to more effectively explore how ecosystems develop.

Power outage: A loss of social power distorts how money is represented Posted: 26 Jul 2010 02:00 AM PDT Retail therapy can soothe the defeat of losing a major client, the rejection of not getting a promotion or even the embarrassment a high-powered executive might feel after receiving a speeding ticket. Spending money to uplift a damaged ego provides more than comfort; it restores the equilibrium of what lies at the foundation of Western culture -- power and social hierarchy.

Amount of dust, pollen matters for cloud precipitation, climate change Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 PM PDT Atmospheric scientists have discovered that an abundance of aerosol particles are needed to help form ice crystals in clouds, which can influence precipitation and climate change.

New epigenetic player implicated in mental retardation and facial birth defects Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 PM PDT A subtle mutation affecting the epigenome --- a set of dynamic factors that influence gene activity -- may lead to an inherited form of mental retardation that affects boys, researchers have found The disorder, which also involves cleft lip or cleft palate, appears to hinge on an enzyme working in a biological pathway that may offer several potential drug targets.

How cells keep their guards in check Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 PM PDT When cells are attacked by bacteria they use all means at their disposal to defend themselves. But cellular defense systems can damage the cells themselves and so need to be kept tightly in check. Recent results help us to understand how this is done and give pointers to new ways of combating disease.

Important clue to understanding the pathogenesis of ciliary disorders Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 PM PDT A research team has pinpointed a gene that is essential for the physiologically correct disassembly of cilia. Errors in the regulation of cilia assembly are implicated in a variety of human syndromes. Until now, however, the consequences of faulty cilia disassembly have not yet been elucidated.

Straw residue helps keep nitrogen on the farm Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 PM PDT A research study evaluated the potential for straw residue to retain legume-derived nitrogen in a corn cropping system.

Confident teachers help preschoolers more with language and literacy skills Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:00 PM PDT New research suggests that pre-school students may gain more language and literacy skills if they have teachers with higher levels of confidence in their abilities. However, in some cases students only saw gains when their teachers also had classrooms that emphasized emotional support for the children.

Non-human sugar in biotech drugs causes inflammation Posted: 24 Jul 2010 09:00 PM PDT Researchers have discovered that a kind of sugar molecule common to chimpanzees, gorillas and other mammals but not found in humans provokes a strong immune response in some people, likely worsening conditions in which chronic inflammation is a major issue.

Accepted theory explaining frequent eruptions at Italy’s Stromboli volcano questioned Posted: 24 Jul 2010 09:00 PM PDT One volcano that volcanologists believe they understand fairly well is Italy's Stromboli, which has been erupting every five to 20 minutes for thousands of years, spewing fountains of ash and magma several meters into the sky. For several decades, scientists have pretty much used one theory to explain what is causing huge amounts of gas to erupt so frequently: swimming-pool-sized bubbles that travel through a few hundred meters of molten magma before popping at the surface. But they may be wrong, according to new research.

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