ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Changes In Winds Could Have Been Cause Of Abrupt Glacial Climatic Change Posted: 21 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT During the last glacial period, small variations in the surface winds could have induced significant changes in the oceanic currents of the North Atlantic, and could even have played a role in the abrupt climate change that occurred at the time.

Researchers Grow Human Blood Vessels In Mice From Adult Progenitor Cells Posted: 21 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT For the first time, researchers have grown in mice functioning human blood vessels from cells obtained from adult blood and bone marrow. This research could eventually lead to treatments for heart attack, acute injuries, wound healing and may facilitate growing new organs.

Brain Morphology Of Homo Liujiang Cranium Fossil Detailed With 3-D CT Scan Posted: 21 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT High-resolution industrial computed tomography was used to scan the Homo Liujiang cranium fossil, and the three-dimensional virtual brain image was reconstructed. The brain morphology of Liujiang is assigned to Late Homo sapiens.

New Protocol Streamlines Therapy That Makes More Kidney Transplants Possible Posted: 21 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT A new therapy improves transplant rates and outcomes for patients awaiting living- and deceased-donor kidney transplantation. The therapy may provide an option for many patients "sensitized" to transplant antigens (human leukocyte antigens, or HLA) who previously would not have been candidates for transplantation because of their intense immune response to these HLA targets.

NASA Mission To Be Crystal Ball Into Oceans' Future, Mirror To The Past Posted: 21 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT Imagine the lives that could be saved from flash floods and drought, the millions of dollars in fuel costs that could be avoided for fishing vessels, and the homes that could be spared from the effects of coastline erosion if only scientists could more accurately predict the dynamics of Earth's often unpredictable oceans. Armed with increasingly more accurate forecasts, weather services in countries across the globe are improving time-sensitive warnings of cyclones, flooding and high sea winds, as well as information about when it's safe to scuba dive, sail, or fish 48 kilometers (30 miles) or more beyond coastlines.

Loud Music Can Make You Drink More, In Less Time, In A Bar Posted: 21 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT Commercial venues are very aware of the effects that the environment -- in this case, music -- can have on in-store traffic flow, sales volumes, product choices and consumer time spent in the immediate vicinity. A study of the effects of music levels on drinking in a bar setting has found that loud music leads to more drinking in less time.

Rapid Alzheimer's Improvement After New Immune-based Treatment Posted: 21 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT Alzheimer's patients showed rapid improvement in language within minutes of a novel immune-based treatment. A new article provides preliminary evidence that the disrupted neural communication seen in Alzheimer's disease may be reversible.

Natural Selection May Not Produce The Best Organisms Posted: 21 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT "Survival of the fittest" is the catch phrase of evolution by natural selection. While natural selection favors the most fit organisms around, evolutionary biologists have long wondered whether this leads to the best possible organisms in the long run. A team of researchers has developed a new theory, which suggests that life may not always be optimal.

Explosive Eruption Of Okmok Volcano In Alaska Posted: 21 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT Okmok Volcano in Alaska continues to produce explosions and ash plumes through a newly created vent and poses hazards to air travel in the area. Scientists are using a combination of seismic and GPS instruments on the ground and weather and radar satellites in space to track the progress of the eruption. Human visual observations are limited because airborne ash obscures a view of what is happening inside the volcano's 6-mile-diameter caldera and the area is too hazardous to enter.

First Human Use Of New Device To Make Arrhythmia Treatment Safer Posted: 21 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT The first person in the world has been successfully treated with a new device designed to make it safer and easier for heart specialists to create a hole in the cardiac atrial septum. The hole, created by the NRGTM Transseptal Needle, allows cardiac catheters to cross from the right side of the heart to the left side.

Athapaskan Migration To Southwest U.S. Illuminated With Y Chromosome Study Posted: 21 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT A large-scale genetic study of native North Americans offers new insights into the migration of a small group of Athapaskan natives from their subarctic home in northwest North America to the southwestern United States. The migration, which left no known archaeological trace, is believed to have occurred about 500 years ago.

Eyewitnesses May Misidentify Perpetrator Of A Crime Due To Stress Or Fear Posted: 21 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT A new study highlights the fragility of eyewitness identification used within the criminal justice system. The study shows that stress and fear reduce the likelihood of successful identification, bringing into question a victim's ability to identify the perpetrator of a crime.

Massive Greenhouse Gases May Be Released As Destruction, Drying Of World Wetlands Worsen Posted: 21 Jul 2008 04:00 AM CDT There is growing concern among environmental scientists that evaporation and ongoing destruction of world wetlands, which hold a volume of carbon similar to that in the atmosphere today, could cause them to exhale billows of greenhouse gases. Warming world temperatures are speeding both rates of decomposition of trapped organic material and evaporation, while threatening critical sources of wetlands recharge.

Archaeologists Trace Early Irrigation Farming In Ancient Yemen Posted: 21 Jul 2008 04:00 AM CDT In the remote desert highlands of southern Yemen, a team of archaeologists have discovered new evidence of ancient transitions from hunting and herding to irrigation agriculture 5,200 years ago.

Childhood Diarrhea: Treat With Zinc Over 6 Months Of Age, Study Suggests Posted: 21 Jul 2008 04:00 AM CDT Zinc supplementation benefits children suffering from diarrhea in developing countries, but only in infants over six months old, Cochrane researchers have found. Their study supports World Health Organization guidelines for the treatment of diarrhea with zinc, although not in the very young.

Controlled Growth Of Truly Nanoscale Single Crystal Fullerites For Device Applications Posted: 21 Jul 2008 04:00 AM CDT Researchers have found a way to make ultra-small pure carbon crystals entirely formed from the spherical carbon 'buckyball' molecule known as C60. The method used involves mixing two liquids together, one of which contains C60, at low temperature.

Mind Over Matter In Chronic Disease Treatment Posted: 21 Jul 2008 04:00 AM CDT A new study by sleep psychologists is shedding light on why some people with life-threatening conditions do not adhere to medical treatment, even when "it's for their own good". Psychological factors had a powerful effect on whether people would accept effective medical treatment.

Social Behavior In Ants Influenced By Small Number Of Genes Posted: 21 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT In a new study, researchers have shed light on the numbers and types of genes that may control social organization in fire ant colonies. This work suggests that a relatively small number of genes, many of which are predicted to play a role in chemical communication, determine social organization. This research also increases our understanding of how the social environment can indirectly influence the expression of socially relevant traits.

How Cells Die Determines Whether Immune System Mounts Response Posted: 21 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT Every moment we live, cells in our bodies are dying. One type of cell death activates an immune response while another type doesn't. Now researchers have figured out how some dying cells signal the immune system. The finding eventually could have important implications in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.

Greatest Value Of Forests Is Sustainable Water Supply Posted: 21 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT The forests of the future may need to be managed as much for a sustainable supply of clean water as any other goal, researchers say in a new federal report -- but even so, forest resources will offer no "quick fix" to the insatiable, often conflicting demands for this precious resource.

Statin Does Not Appear Helpful For Children With Learning Disabilities Caused By Genetic Disorder Posted: 21 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT Use of simvastatin by children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a genetic disorder that can cause learning disabilities, did not result in improved cognitive function, according to a new study.

Digital Cameras, Remote Satellites Measure Crop Water Demand Posted: 21 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT Determining growth stage, size, and water needs are especially important for horticultural crops because most crops are grown in limited water environments and require irrigation. Researchers have evaluated remotely sensed normalized difference vegetation index relative to canopy cover of several major horticultural crops in commercial fields.

Second Life Improves Real-life Social Skills Posted: 21 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT Social interaction is enhanced rather than diminished by online interfaces, according to new research on the virtual program Second Life. A new study took an in-depth look at social order in emergent online environments.

Predicting Acute GVHD By Gene Expression Could Improve Liver Stem Cell Transplant Outcomes Posted: 20 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT Acute graft-versus-host disease occurs when an immune response is elicited by the grafted cells against a recipient, resulting in tissue damage for the treated individual. There are no definitive markers for predicting the development or progression of GVHD following the transplant of allogenic stem cells as therapy for liver cancer. This study offers a preliminary "molecular signature" for the development of acute GVHD based on altered gene expression.

Adding Lime To Seawater May Cut Carbon Dioxide Levels Back To Pre-industrial Levels Posted: 20 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT A workable way of reducing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere by adding lime, found in limestone, to seawater has the potential to dramatically reverse CO2 accumulation. Adding lime to seawater increases alkalinity, boosting seawater's ability to absorb CO2 from air and reducing the tendency to release it back again.

Could Quantum Tunneling Be Measured By The Attosecond? New Research Leads The Way Posted: 19 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT Experimental physicists have described how circularly polarized light can be used to measure events in the attosecond range. A measurement of this kind could perhaps soon give an experimental answer to the question of whether a measurable tunneling time of electrons as a result of the tunneling effect really exists -- one of the big unsolved riddles of physics.

Why Cannabis Stems Inflammation Posted: 19 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT Cannabis has long been accredited with anti-inflammatory properties. Researchers, however, have now discovered that it is not only the familiar psychoactive substances that are responsible for this; a compound we take in every day in vegetable nutriment also plays a significant role.

Target-seeking Antibodies For Cancer Therapy Posted: 19 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT A chemist has discovered a new marker together with three associated monoclonal antibodies which are promising candidates for cancer therapy. Up to now, monoclonal antibodies have only aided the chemotherapeutic fight against cancer to a limited extent.

Nanotechnology In Food And Packaging Accepted By Consumers Posted: 19 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT Consumers accept nanotechnology in nutrition for packaging and, to a lesser extent, even the food itself. In recent years, nanotechnology has joined gene and information technology in becoming a pinnacle of hope for research and industry. The fields of materials science, electronics, environmental and medicine are all looking to particles, most of which are smaller than 100 nanometers, effectively an 800th of a hair's breadth, for all kinds innovation. The latest uses for nanotechnology include food products and their packaging.

Student Devises Solar Energy ECG Useful For Developing Countries And Troubled Areas Posted: 19 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT A electrotechnology student has devised an ECG machine that runs on solar energy. This especially lends itself to use in developing countries or troubled areas.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Latest Science News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email Delivery powered by FeedBurner
Inbox too full? Subscribe to the feed version of ScienceDaily: Latest Science News in a feed reader.
If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News, c/o FeedBurner, 20 W Kinzie, 9th Floor, Chicago IL USA 60610