ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Biologists Learn Structure, Mechanism Of Powerful 'Molecular Motor' In Virus Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 PM PST Researchers have discovered the atomic structure of a powerful "molecular motor" that packages DNA into the head segment of some viruses during their assembly, an essential step in their ability to multiply and infect new host organisms.

Redesigned Protein Accelerates Blood Clotting Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 PM PST Researchers have made several, subtle changes in the structure of a key protein, dramatically increasing its ability to drive blood clotting, according to a new study. The findings have profound implications for the treatment of hemophilia, the inherited blood disorder that causes easy or excessive bleeding in 30,000 Americans.

College Students Find Comfort In Their Pets During Hard Times Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 PM PST A new study suggests that college students may handle stressful situations better if they have a pet. Research has already shown that pets can improve the quality of life for people who are aging or those who are chronically ill. But researchers have recently found that many college students may also benefit from owning a cat or a dog.

Chink Found In Armor Of Viral 'Tummy Bug' Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 PM PST Researchers have moved a step closer to identifying a broad spectrum treatment for the dreaded 'viral tummy bug' or rotavirus.

Bioreactors Might Solve Blood-platelet Supply Problems Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 PM PST It might be possible to grow human blood platelets in the laboratory for transfusion, according to a new study. The findings might help end the tight supply of these critical blood components. Platelets are needed by certain cancer patients, bone marrow transplant patients, those needing massive blood transfusions and people with aplastic anemia. But concentrates from donors are expensive and up to 40 percent must be discarded.

We Are Better Able To Detect Racial Tension In Members Of Our Racial Group Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 PM PST Is it more difficult for members of different races to understand each others' emotions and intentions? A new study in Psychological Science reveals that we are better able to detect anxiety in members of our own racial group than in people of different racial backgrounds. The authors suggest that "race-matched observers appeared to draw upon subtle nonverbal indicators of intergroup anxiety that were undetectable to race-mismatched observers."

NASA Study Links Severe Storm Increases, Global Warming Posted: 28 Dec 2008 11:00 AM PST The frequency of extremely high clouds in Earth's tropics -- the type associated with severe storms and rainfall -- is increasing as a result of global warming, according to a study by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Brain Starvation As We Age Appears To Trigger Alzheimer's: Improving Blood Flow To Brain Is Preventive Strategy Posted: 28 Dec 2008 11:00 AM PST A slow, chronic starvation of the brain as we age appears to be a major trigger of a biochemical process that causes some forms of Alzheimer's disease. A new study has found when the brain doesn't get enough sugar glucose -- as when cardiovascular disease restricts blood flow to the brain -- a process is launched that produces the sticky clumps of protein that appear to be a cause of Alzheimer's.

Honeybees As Plant 'Bodyguards' Posted: 28 Dec 2008 11:00 AM PST Honeybees are important to plants for reasons that go beyond pollination, according to a new study in Current Biology. The insects' buzz also defends plants against the caterpillars that would otherwise munch on them undisturbed.

Common Treatment For Chronic Prostatitis Fails To Reduce Symptoms, Study Shows Posted: 28 Dec 2008 11:00 AM PST Alfuzosin, a drug commonly prescribed for men with chronic prostatitis, a painful disorder of the prostate and surrounding pelvic area, failed to significantly reduce symptoms in recently diagnosed men who had not been previously treated with this drug, according to a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

First Experimental Evidence For Speedy Adaptation To Pesticides By Worm Species Posted: 28 Dec 2008 11:00 AM PST Scientists in Portugal have shown that populations of the worm Caenhorabditis elegans become resistance to pesticides in 20 generations -- that is, in only 80 days.

How We Make Proper Movements Posted: 28 Dec 2008 11:00 AM PST How do we make proper movements? A new study in Psychological Science suggests that when we see an object, a number of motor programs in the brain are involuntarily activated (each with a different potential movement we can make), which all compete with one another. One program emerges as the winner of the competition and is ready to be implemented while the other programs (which would result in erroneous movements) are inhibited.

What Can Swiss Cheese Teach Us About Dark Energy? Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 AM PST About 10 years ago, scientists reached the astonishing conclusion that our universe is accelerating apart at ever-increasing speeds, stretching space and time itself like melted cheese. The force that's pushing the universe apart is still a mystery, which is precisely why it was dubbed "dark energy." But is dark energy really real? Is our universe really accelerating?

Newly Found Enzymes May Play Early Role In Cancer Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 AM PST Researchers have discovered two enzymes that, when combined, could be involved in the earliest stages of cancer. Manipulating these enzymes genetically might lead to targeted therapies aimed at slowing or preventing the onset of tumors.

Nutritious Fast-food Kids' Meals Are Scarce, Researchers Find Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 AM PST Only three percent of kids' meals served at fast-food restaurants met federal dietary guidelines in the first study to examine the nutrient quality of such meals in a major US metropolitan market. The small percentage of meals that did meet dietary guidelines included fruit as a side dish and milk, and nearly all were deli-sandwich meals.

Better Patient Outcomes With Drug Eluting Stents Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 AM PST Patients receiving drug eluting stents -- stents coated with medication to prevent narrowing of the artery -- as part of an angioplasty had better outcomes one year later than patients with bare metal stents, according to a new study.

Advancing Knowledge Of Little 'Nano-machines' In Our Body Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 AM PST A discovery by Canada-US biophysicists will improve the understanding of ion channels, akin to little "nano-machines" or "nano-valves" in our body, which when they malfunction can cause genetic illnesses that attack muscles, the central nervous system and the heart.

Men, Women Give To Charity Differently, Says New Research Posted: 28 Dec 2008 05:00 AM PST To whom would you rather give money: a needy person in your neighborhood or a needy person in a foreign country? If you're a man, you're more likely to give to the person closest to you -- that is, the one in your neighborhood -- if you give at all.

3-D Moon Imaging Inaugurated With NASA Instrument Aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST Different wavelengths of light provide new information about the Orientale Basin region of the moon in a new composite image taken by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, a guest instrument aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.

Cancer Drug Effectively Treats Transplant Rejections Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST Researchers have discovered a new therapy for transplant patients, targeting the antibody-producing plasma cells that can cause organ rejection.

Humans, Oceans Shaped North American Climate Over Past 50 Years, NOAA Report Says Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST Greenhouse gases play an important role in North American climate, but differences in regional ocean temperatures may hold a key to predicting future U.S. regional climate changes, according to a new NOAA-led scientific assessment.

Scientists Attempt Disentanglement Of Right Whale Off Florida Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST Scientists recently attempted a disentanglement of a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Abrupt Climate Change: Will It Happen this Century? Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST The United States faces the potential for abrupt climate change in the 21st century that could pose clear risks to society in terms of our ability to adapt.

Four Years After Tsunami, Coral Reefs Recovering Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST Scientists have reported a rapid recovery of coral reefs in areas of Indonesia, following the tsunami that devastated coastal regions throughout the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004.

New Hope For Diabetes Patients? Signal Pathway Found That May Be Involved In Type 2 Diabetes Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST Researchers have identified a signal pathway that could be involved in the occurrence of Type 2 diabetes. If it is deactivated, it may be possible to delay the illness by many years.

New Model For Nuclear Pore Complex Backed By Structural Study Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST In higher organisms, the genetic material is confined and protected in the cell nucleus. In order for a healthy cell to function, the DNA must send manufacturing orders through the double membrane of the nucleus and into the cell's cytoplasm, where the protein production factories are and where most cellular functions are carried out. The sole portals through which these instructions pass -- nuclear pore complexes -- have a say in what the orders are and how they are conveyed. But these conspicuously large structures have ironically proved all but inscrutable to researchers over the years.

Single Letter In Human Genome Points To Risk For High Cholesterol Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST Write out every letter in the human genome, one A, C, T or G per millimeter, and the text would be 1,800 miles long, roughly the distance from New York to Colorado. Now, in the search for genes that affect how humans synthesize, process and break down cholesterol, scientists have found a single letter among this expanse of code that is associated with elevated LDL cholesterol levels, one of the leading health concerns that has come to dominate the 21st century.

Microbiologist Tests Safety Of Spiked Eggnog Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST With one in every 20,000 eggs contaminated with Salmonella bacteria, drinking homemade eggnog can be something of a gamble. But an experiment designed to test whether the alcohol in spiked eggnog can kill the deadly bugs suggests that, in general, few bacteria survive in a mixture containing both raw eggs and 20 percent rum and bourbon.

Defensive Protein Killed Ancient Primate Retroviruses, Research Suggests Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST Retroviruses are the worst sort of guest. Over eons, these molecular parasites have insinuated themselves into their hosts' DNA and caused a ruckus. The poor hosts can't even be rid of the intruders by killing them, because they stubbornly remain after death.

Drilling Holes Through Deadly Bacteria's Kevlar-like Hide Posted: 26 Dec 2008 09:00 PM PST To protect themselves from human defenses, disease-causing bacteria have evolved a cell wall made from a nearly impenetrable tangle of tightly woven strands. That's made it difficult for scientists to see what goes on inside these potentially deadly organisms. But that era is now over. Researchers have now figured out how to drill holes through the Kevlar-like hide of gram-positive bacteria without obliterating them, and in doing so, they've made it possible to study, from the inside out, most of the known bacteria on the planet.

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