ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Researchers Unveil Whiskered Robot Rat
• Clocking Salt Levels In The Blood: Link Between The Circadian Rhythm And Salt Balance
• Castor-oil Plants Genetically Altered To Produce New Bio-lubricants
• No Evidence That WHO-recommended Treatment For Insecticide Poisoning Improves Survival
• First Wave Of Swine Flu Hit Young People Harder Than Expected
• Does Study Design Influence Clinical Outcome?
• World's First 'Self-Watering' Plant: Desert Rhubarb
• Secrets Revealed About How Disease-causing DNA Mutations Occur
• A Young Brain For An Old Bee
• Accelerated Fertility Treatment Leads To Shortened Time To Pregnancy And Cost Savings
• Desert Dust Alters Ecology Of Colorado Alpine Meadows
• Discovery May Provide New Treatments For Alcohol Dependence
• Inexpensive Thin Printable Batteries Developed
• Researchers Discover New Information On Spreading Of Cancer
• Innovative Technology Shatters The Barriers Of Modern Light Microscopy
• New Way To Fix Leaking Mitral Heart Valves Safe In Initial Testing, Study Shows
• Fast Neutral Hydrogen Detected Coming From The Moon
• Zooming In To Catch The Bad Guys: New 'Perfection Tool' From Researchers In Israel Enhances Video To Catch Criminals And Terrorists
• Late Blight -- Irish Potato Famine Fungus -- Attacks U.S. Northeast Gardens And Farms Hard
• Researchers Describe The 90-year Evolution Of Swine Flu
• Tubules 'Grown' From Droplets
• Gene Map Aims To Combat Blood Flukes
• White Phosphorous Can Be Safely Handled And Transported With New Technique, Researchers Say
• Mom’s Weight During Pregnancy Affects Her Daughter’s Risk Of Being Obese

Researchers Unveil Whiskered Robot Rat Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT Scientists have developed an innovative robot rat which can seek out and identify objects using its whiskers. The SCRATCHbot robot will be demonstrated at an international workshop looking at how robots can help us examine the workings of the brain.

Clocking Salt Levels In The Blood: Link Between The Circadian Rhythm And Salt Balance Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT New research suggests a link between the circadian rhythm and control of sodium (salt) levels in the blood of mice. Specifically, the circadian clock protein Period 1 was found to function downstream of the hormone aldosterone (a known controller of blood sodium levels and thereby blood pressure) to regulate levels of the alpha-subunit of the epithelial sodium channel in the mouse kidney.

Castor-oil Plants Genetically Altered To Produce New Bio-lubricants Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT Researchers have genetically altered castor-oil plant so as to use it as a factory to produce bio lubricants.

No Evidence That WHO-recommended Treatment For Insecticide Poisoning Improves Survival Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT A new study finds no evidence to suggest that a controversial antidote recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to treat patients poisoned with highly toxic insecticides improves their chance of survival. The results may even add weight to existing concerns about pralidoxime, the treatment recommended by the WHO, by suggesting that it could be harmful in patients who have deliberately poisoned themselves with insecticides.

First Wave Of Swine Flu Hit Young People Harder Than Expected Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT A mathematical epidemiologist is researching the A(H1N1) influenza pandemic strain circulating around the world. The new study's findings reveal an age shift in the proportion of cases toward a younger population when compared with historical patterns of seasonal influenza in Mexico. "For the 1918 ("Spanish flu") influenza pandemic, this was the pattern -- first a mild wave, and then a severe one with higher case fatality rates," notes one of the researchers.

Does Study Design Influence Clinical Outcome? Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 PM PDT Response and remission rates to antidepressants are significantly affected by study type and duration. Clinicians and researchers must consider the study design when interpreting and designing RCTs of antidepressant medications, researchers urge.

World's First 'Self-Watering' Plant: Desert Rhubarb Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT Researchers have managed to make out the "self-irrigating" mechanism of the desert rhubarb, which enables it to harvest 16 times the amount of water than otherwise expected for a plant in this region based on the quantities of rain in the desert. This is the first example of a self-irrigating plant worldwide.

Secrets Revealed About How Disease-causing DNA Mutations Occur Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT Scientists have shed light on the processes that lead to certain human DNA mutations that are implicated in hundreds of inherited diseases. The results one day could influence the way couples who seek to have children receive genetic counseling.

A Young Brain For An Old Bee Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT Scientists have found that by switching the social role of honey bees, aging honey bees can keep their learning ability intact or even improve it. The research team is hoping to use them as a model to study general aging processes in the brain and how to prevent or ameliorate cognitive impairments associated with old age.

Accelerated Fertility Treatment Leads To Shortened Time To Pregnancy And Cost Savings Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT For couples beginning infertility treatments, an accelerated path to in-vitro fertilization can offer a shorter time to pregnancy, cost savings of nearly $10,000, and a lowered risk of multiple births.

Desert Dust Alters Ecology Of Colorado Alpine Meadows Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT Accelerated snowmelt -- precipitated by desert dust blowing into the mountains -- changes how alpine plants respond to seasonal climate cues that regulate their life cycles, according to a new study. These results indicate that global warming may have a greater influence on plants' annual growth cycles than previously thought.

Discovery May Provide New Treatments For Alcohol Dependence Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT Researchers have discovered a new brain mechanism involved in alcohol addiction involving the stomach hormone ghrelin. When ghrelin's actions in the brain are blocked, alcohol's effects on the reward system are reduced. It is an important discovery that could lead to new therapies for addictions such as alcohol dependence.

Inexpensive Thin Printable Batteries Developed Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT For a long time, batteries were bulky and heavy. Now, a new cutting-edge battery is revolutionizing the field. It is thinner than a millimeter, lighter than a gram, and can be produced cost-effectively through a printing process.

Researchers Discover New Information On Spreading Of Cancer Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a mechanism lung cancer cells use when spreading into the body to form metastases. They have also found a factor controlling the spreading of several different cancer types. The common feature in both findings is that they explain the lethal ability of cancer cells to "start running" and spread from the original tumor to other parts of the body.

Innovative Technology Shatters The Barriers Of Modern Light Microscopy Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT Researchers are using a combination of light and ultrasound to visualize fluorescent proteins that are seated several centimeters deep into living tissue.

New Way To Fix Leaking Mitral Heart Valves Safe In Initial Testing, Study Shows Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT A novel method to seal leaking heart valves was shown to be safe in its first use in heart failure patients. If effective in larger trials, the PTMA system could significantly reduce the life-threatening risks associated with surgical repair of the mitral valve.

Fast Neutral Hydrogen Detected Coming From The Moon Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft has made the first observations of very fast hydrogen atoms coming from the moon, following decades of speculation and searching for their existence.

Zooming In To Catch The Bad Guys: New 'Perfection Tool' From Researchers In Israel Enhances Video To Catch Criminals And Terrorists Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT It's a frequent scene in television crime dramas: Clever police technicians zoom in on a security camera video to read a license plate or capture the face of a hold-up artist. But in real life, enhancing this low-quality video to focus in on important clues hasn't been an easy task. Until now. Researchers in Israel have developed a new video "perfection tool" to help investigators enhance raw video images and identify suspects.

Late Blight -- Irish Potato Famine Fungus -- Attacks U.S. Northeast Gardens And Farms Hard Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT Home gardeners beware: This year, late blight -- a destructive infectious disease that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s -- is killing tomato and potato plants in gardens and on commercial farms in the eastern United States. In addition, basil downy mildew is affecting plants in the Northeast.

Researchers Describe The 90-year Evolution Of Swine Flu Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT The current H1N1 swine flu strain has genetic roots in an illness that sickened pigs at the 1918 Cedar Rapids Swine Show in Iowa, report experts. Their paper describes H1N1's nearly century-long and often convoluted journey, which may include the accidental resurrection of an extinct strain.

Tubules 'Grown' From Droplets Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes in the early 1990s, nanotubes and nanowires have been the focus of scientific and technological interest. It has since also proved possible to produce these tiny structures from materials other than carbon. Possible applications range across many areas, including microelectronic circuits, sensor technology, and special fibre optics and light-emitting nanotubes for displays.

Gene Map Aims To Combat Blood Flukes Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT The first microsatellite-based genetic linkage map has been published for Schistosoma mansoni, a blood fluke that is known to infect over 90 million people in Africa, the Middle East and the New World. Researchers hope the map will stimulate research and open doors to new advances in combating this neglected human pathogen.

White Phosphorous Can Be Safely Handled And Transported With New Technique, Researchers Say Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a technique to safely handle and transport white phosphorous.

Mom’s Weight During Pregnancy Affects Her Daughter’s Risk Of Being Obese Posted: 05 Jul 2009 02:00 AM PDT A mother's weight and the amount she gains during pregnancy both impact her daughter's risk of obesity decades later, according to a new study.

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