ScienceDaily: Latest Science News |
| How We See Objects In Depth: Brain's Code For 3-D Structure Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 PM CDT Neuroscientists have discovered patterns of brain activity that may underlie our remarkable ability to see and understand the three-dimensional structure of objects.  |
| Fight Obesity With New Antibody That Degrades Appetite Stimulant? Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 PM CDT Scientists have discovered a catalytic antibody that degrades a known appetite stimulant. The antibody works against the gastric hormone ghrelin, which has been linked to weight gain and fat storage through its metabolic actions.  |
| NASA Tests Rover Concepts In Arizona Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 PM CDT NASA's newest lunar rover prototype has now gone farther than it ever has before. A collection of engineers, astronauts and geologists have spent the past week testing out the Small Pressurized Rover in the 11th annual Desert RATS -- or Research and Technology Studies -- field tests.  |
| Healing Process Found To Backfire In Lung Patients Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 PM CDT A mechanism in the body which typically helps a person heal from an injury, may actually be causing patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis to get worse, researchers have found.  |
| Models Help Assess Biofuels' Sustainability Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 PM CDT Many agricultural products can be converted into feedstocks for alternative fuel. Now analysis from the Agricultural Research Service suggests that they can be used this way without reducing the nation's food supply, soil production capacity or environmental quality.  |
| Does Religion Make A Difference In Politics? Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 PM CDT Hoping to answer the question of which political party has a monopoly on the "best" values and how religion affects these values, researchers compared the "extrinsic" values (financial success, status, appearance) with "intrinsic" values (growth, intimacy, helping) of self-declared Democrats and Republicans in four different samples.  |
| Fire Out Of Africa: A Key To The Migration Of Prehistoric Humans Posted: 28 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT The ability to make fire millennia ago was likely a key factor in the migration of prehistoric hominids from Africa into Eurasia, according to an archaeologist studying the findings at the Gesher Benot Ya'aqov archaeological site in Israel.  |
| Masks, Hand Washing, Prevent Spread Of Flu-like Symptoms By Up To 50 Percent Posted: 28 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT Wearing masks and using alcohol-based hand sanitizers may prevent the spread of flu symptoms by as much as 50 percent, a new study suggests.  |
| NASA's Spitzer Gets Sneak Peek Inside Comet Holmes Posted: 28 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT When comet Holmes unexpectedly erupted in 2007, professional and amateur astronomers around the world turned their telescopes toward the spectacular event. Their quest was to find out why the comet had suddenly exploded. Observations taken of the comet after the explosion by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope deepen the mystery, showing oddly behaving streamers in the shell of dust surrounding the nucleus of the comet.  |
| Honing In On New Strategy To Treat Common Infection Posted: 28 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT Researchers have successfully tested a genetic strategy designed to improve treatment of human infections caused by the yeast Candida albicans, ranging from diaper rash, vaginitis, oral infections (or thrush which is common in HIV/AIDS patients), as well as invasive, blood-borne and life-threatening diseases.  |
| Posted: 28 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT RV Polarstern has returned to Bremerhaven from the Arctic Sea. It has cruised both the Northeast and the Northwest Passages and thereby circled the North Pole. The third part of the research vessel's 23rd Arctic expedition started its journey on Aug. 12 in Reykjavik and ended it on Oct. 17 in Bremerhaven. The ship traveled a distance of 20,000 km.  |
| News Flash: Candidates' Ads Actually Match Deeds In Congress Posted: 28 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT If you think candidates never keep their promises and will say anything to get elected, you're certainly not alone. And you're not right, either.  |
| Bacteria Cause Old Buildings To Feel Off-color Posted: 28 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT The assumption that time, weather, and pollution are what cause buildings to decline is only partly true. Bacteria are also responsible for the aging of buildings and monuments -- a process known as biodeterioration. Scientists have just isolated five new strains of bacteria that degrade old buildings.  |
| Common Epilepsy Drug Could Prevent And Treat Alzheimer's Disease Posted: 28 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT Researchers have discovered that a drug used to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorders blocks the formation of plaques that cause Alzheimer's disease in animal models.  |
| Exposing Chicks To Maternal Stress Leads To Long-term Reproductive Success Posted: 28 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT Exposure to maternal stress during pre-natal development has negative impacts, so why doesn't natural selection work to block it? European starling sons exposed to the stress hormone corticosterone experienced increased mortality. But those that survived were of better quality. The mothers began later broods in better condition, had increased future reproduction, and increased survival compared to "stressed" mothers that raised "normal" offspring that were not exposed to corticosterone.  |
| New Test Promises Quicker, More Accurate Evaluation For Cystic Fibrosis Patients Posted: 28 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT Researchers have identified a simple gene-based blood test that more accurately and quickly measures cystic fibrosis patients' response to therapy than current tests. The test, a measure of inflammatory gene expression, could improve patient care and help clear a backlog of promising medications now hung up in clinical trials.  |
| Scientists Unwrap The Elements Of Life Posted: 28 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT Researchers have taken a step forward in our understanding of how the fundamental building blocks of life are put together. They have revealed a mechanism that ensures the right metal goes to the right protein. Proteins are essential and involved in just about every process in living cells.  |
| Role Of Slave Trade In Evolution Of American Wild Rice Species Posted: 28 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT Rice is the world's foremost cereal crop as a human food source. Today's cultivated varieties derive from the species Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrina, domesticated respectively in Asia and West Africa. Besides these two domestic taxa, there are around 20 species of wild rice of the genus Oryza, all located in the tropics. Their common ancestor appears to have emerged from Eurasia about 50 million years B.P.  |
| New Process Promises Bigger, Better Diamond Crystals Posted: 28 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT Researchers have developed a new technique for improving the properties of diamonds -- not only adding sparkle to gemstones, but also simplifying the process of making high-quality diamond for scalpel blades, electronic components, even quantum computers.  |
| Revealing Secrets Of 'African Sleeping Sickness' Posted: 28 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT Scientists have identified a long-sought chink in the armor of the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness, a parasitic disease that kills at least 50,000 people each year.  |
| How Plants Know to Send Roots Down and Leaves Up Posted: 28 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT Researchers have discovered how the transport of an important plant hormone is organized in a way that the plant knows in which direction its roots and leaves have to grow. They discovered how the needed transport protein turns up at the underside of plant cells. The discovery helps explain how plants grow, and how they organize themselves in order to grow.  |
| Posted: 28 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT Complications during pregnancy and birth, such as birth hypoxia - the shortage of oxygen in the body - are associated with an increased risk for schizophrenia. However, it is not clear why hypoxia increases the risk for schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry includes an article by researchers who show that the presence of a specific indicator of fetal distress following hypoxia was more likely to be present among people who later develop schizophrenia. Their findings suggest that the inability of a high-risk fetus to respond adequately to metabolic stresses that it faces in the womb may contribute to its later risk for developing schizophrenia.  |
| Wetlands Expert: China Should Think Outside The Flooding Box With Three Gorges Dam Posted: 28 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT China's farmers and merchants should take advantage of new opportunities that could help mitigate some effects of the annual flooding behind the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. The reservoir's water level behind the dam will peak at 575 feet above sea level during the winter. The reservoir pool will extend over 400 square miles -- equivalent to the land area of Hong Kong. By summer the water level will drop 100 feet. The flooding and receding water will repeat every year.  |
| Early Achievement In Math May Identify Future Scientists And Engineers Posted: 28 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT New research in Psychological Science suggests that there may be a way to identify future scientists and engineers. Adolescents who had scored in the top 1 percent on the math portion of the SAT were more likely to go on to receive advanced degrees, author a peer-reviewed scientific publication or earn a patent as adults.  |
| Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT Did the Bible's King David and his son Solomon control the copper industry in present-day southern Jordan? Though that remains an open question, the possibility is raised once again by research reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  |
| Effects Of Anesthesia On The Heart Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT Researchers have created the first animal model that can reveal the side effects of anesthetic agents (the substances used to block pain during surgery) in individuals genetically predisposed to sudden cardiac death. The researchers also found that some anesthetic agents may trigger arrhythmias.  |
| Diversity Of Trees In Ecuador's Amazon Rainforest Defies Simple Explanation Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT Trees in a hyper-diverse tropical rainforest interact with each other and their environment to create and maintain diversity, researchers report in the journal Science. This study was conducted in the Yasuni forest dynamics plot of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, a diverse tropical forest site.  |
| Better Instructions Reduce Complications Among Patients Using Common Blood Thinner Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT Patients who report receiving written and verbal instructions on the proper way to take the blood thinner warfarin are significantly less likely to suffer the serious gastrointestinal and brain bleeding problems that are associated with misuse of the drug, according to new research.  |
| New Molecules With Many Branches Will Help Unleash Potential Of Nanotechnology Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT Materials science and the pharmaceutical industry could soon be revolutionized by emerging nanotechnologies based on designer molecules with long complex tree-and branch structures. Such molecules offer almost limitless scope for design of bespoke compounds for specific applications in disease therapy, for novel materials such as resins, as well as electronic displays, and energy storage. Almost every field involving design and synthesis of chemical compounds will be transformed by the arrival of technologies allowing nanoscale design of these branched molecules, known as hyperbranched polymers.  |
| Study Reveals Factors Of Exceptional Health In Old Age Posted: 28 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT Elderly people who have a positive outlook, lower stress levels, moderate alcohol consumption, abstention from tobacco, moderate to higher income and no chronic health conditions are more likely to thrive in their old age, according to a study in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.  |
| Arctic Sea Ice Is Getting Thinner As Well As Receding Posted: 27 Oct 2008 11:00 PM CDT Last winter, the thickness of sea ice in large parts of the Arctic fell by nearly half a meter (19 per cent) compared with the average thickness of the previous five winters. This followed the dramatic 2007 summer low when Arctic ice extent dropped to its lowest level since records began.  |
| Orange Peel Can Help Clean Up Dirty Water Posted: 27 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT Highly colored industrial waste water is a serious environmental problem as it seriously discolors waterways as well as blocking sunlight for photosynthesizing plant species in the water. Now, researchers in Algeria have discovered that nothing more sophisticated than orange peel could be used to remove acidic dyes from industrial effluent.  |
| Eating Whole Grains Lowers Heart Failure Risk, According To New Study Posted: 27 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT About 5 million people in the United States suffer from heart failure (HF). While some reports indicate that changes to diet can reduce HF risk, few large, prospective studies have been conducted. In a new study researchers observed over 14,000 participants for more than 13 years and found that whole grain consumption lowered HF risk, while egg and high-fat dairy consumption raised risk. Other food groups did not directly affect HF risk.  |
| Bumblebees Learn The Sweet Smell Of Foraging Success Posted: 27 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT Bumblebees use flower scent to guide their nest-mates to good food sources, according to new research.  |
| Newly Discovered Mechanism Can Explain Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome Posted: 27 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT Researchers have discovered a mechanism that silences several genes in a chromosome domain. The findings, published in Molecular Cell, have implications in understanding the human disorder Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.  |
| How To 'Stamp' Nanodevices With Rubber Molds Posted: 27 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT By manipulating the way tiny droplets of fluid dry, researchers have created an innovative way to make and pattern nanoscale wires and other devices that ordinarily can be made only with expensive lithographic tools. The process is guided by molds that "stamp" the desired structures.  |
| Enabling The Blind To Find Their Way Posted: 27 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT "Eyes on the future" is the mantra of the 'World Sight Day' held this month to raise awareness of blindness and vision impairment. New technologies, developed by European researchers offering the visually impaired greater independence, live up to this vision.  |
| High Dose Of Flu Vaccine Boosts Immune Response In Elderly Posted: 27 Oct 2008 07:00 PM CDT Giving people age 65 and older a dose four times larger than the standard flu vaccine boosts the amount of antibodies in their blood to levels considered protective against the flu, more so than the standard flu vaccine does.  |
| 'Voter-Verifiable' Voting System Ensures Accuracy And Privacy Posted: 27 Oct 2008 07:00 PM CDT Approximately two-thirds of Americans voting in the November Presidential election will cast their votes on paper ballots. How can voters be assured their votes are counted and kept private?  |
| Rapid HIV Testing In The ER Boosts Diagnoses, Screening Posted: 27 Oct 2008 07:00 PM CDT One in every 50 people screened for a suspected sexually transmitted infection in the Emergency Department at Henry Ford Hospital was found to be infected with HIV using a rapid blood sample screening test.  |
| Inmates Conduct Ecological Research On Slow-growing Mosses Posted: 27 Oct 2008 07:00 PM CDT Nalini Nadkarni of Evergreen State College currently advises a team of researchers who sport shaved heads, tattooed biceps and prison-issued garb rather than the lab coats and khakis typically worn by researchers. Why is Nadkarni's team composed of such apparently iconoclastic researchers? Because all of her researchers are inmates at Cedar Creek Corrections Center, a medium security prison in Littlerock, Wash.  |
| Ballet Dancers Are Fitter Than International Swimmers, Study Finds Posted: 27 Oct 2008 07:00 PM CDT New research reveals that the overall fitness of ballet dancers is greater than that of international swimmers.  |
| Posted: 27 Oct 2008 04:00 PM CDT A missing piece of the puzzle of how neurons and muscle cells establish lifelong communication has been found by researchers who suspect this piece may be mutated and/or attacked in muscular dystrophy.  |
| Cold Virus Found To Manipulate Genes Posted: 27 Oct 2008 04:00 PM CDT Sneezing, runny nose and chills? You might blame the human rhinovirus, which causes 30 to 50 percent of common colds. But in reality, it's not the virus itself but HRV's ability to manipulate your genes that is the true cause of some of the most annoying cold symptoms.  |
| Exposure To Low Doses Of Mercury Changes The Way The Arteries Work Posted: 27 Oct 2008 04:00 PM CDT An international team of researchers has shown that mercury is another important factor in cardiovascular disease as it changes the way arteries work. One of the possible sources of exposure of humans to mercury is by eating contaminated fish.  |
| Early Trial Of New Multi-kinase Inhibitor Shows Impressive Activity In Thyroid Cancer Posted: 27 Oct 2008 04:00 PM CDT Preliminary trials of a new multi-kinase inhibitor have indicated it has impressive tumor shrinkage activity in patients with a difficult to treat type of thyroid cancer. The results have put the drug's development on a fast track, prompting the accelerated initiation of a large phase III trial.  |
| Secret Lives Of Catalysts Revealed Posted: 27 Oct 2008 04:00 PM CDT The first-ever glimpse of nanoscale catalysts in action could lead to improved pollution control and fuel cell technologies. Scientists have observed catalysts restructuring themselves in response to various gases swirling around them, like a chameleon changing its color to match its surroundings.  |
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