ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines
for Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Welcome to another edition of ScienceDaily's email newsletter. You can change your subscription options or unsubscribe at any time.
DNA reveals origins of first European farmers (November 10, 2010) -- A team of international researchers has resolved the longstanding issue of the origins of the people who introduced farming to Europe some 8,000 years ago. A detailed genetic study of one of the first farming communities in Europe, from central Germany, reveals marked similarities with populations living in the Ancient Near East (modern-day Turkey, Iraq and other countries) rather than those from Europe. ... > full story
Probiotics shorten diarrhea episodes, review suggests (November 10, 2010) -- Probiotic bacteria given as therapies for diarrhea reduce the length of time sufferers are affected and lessen the chance of episodes continuing for more than four days. ... > full story
MicroRNA controls mammary gland development in mice: Novel mechanism for vertebrate organ development (November 10, 2010) -- Hormones, growth factors and several proteins ensure that development occurs in the right way, at the right time. The components that cause breast development in mammals, for example, were thought to be largely known. However, as scientists in Germany have now discovered, in the case of breast development, hormones and proteins do not account for the full story. The scientists have shown that tiny ribonucleic acid molecules play a key role in this process. The mammary glands of mice lacking the gene for the microRNAs 212 and 132 failed to grow at puberty. ... > full story
New findings on chromosome changes in tumor cells (November 10, 2010) -- New progress has been made on the road to understanding the origins of genetic changes in tumor cells. The prevalent theory has been that genetic changes in tumor cells come about in multiple stages over a long time. However, a recent study by researchers in Sweden shows that this does not have to be the case at all, but that the cancer cells instead can be subject to several major chromosomal changes at the same time. ... > full story
New method for simple fabrication of microperforated membranes (November 10, 2010) -- Microscopically porous polymer membranes have numerous applications in microfluidics, where they can act as filters, masks for surface patterning, and even as components in 3-D devices. A simple new method allows chemists to fabricate free-standing polymer membranes with neatly patterned holes as small as 10 microns. ... > full story
Overcoming the IVF baby blues: Hormones and stress are major contributors to depression, research finds (November 10, 2010) -- New research finds that pre-existing stress, depression, and anxiety are more likely than hormones to cause increased levels of depression during IVF treatment. The research offers a new way to diagnose potential states of stress and depression, making for happier moms and a higher IVF success rate. ... > full story
Oldest fossilized shrimp: Geologists study rare well-preserved creature showing muscles (November 10, 2010) -- Geologists report on the oldest fossil shrimp known to date. The creature in stone is as much as 360 million years old and was found in Oklahoma. ... > full story
Human methylome sequenced at single base-pair resolution (November 10, 2010) -- DNA methylation plays an important role in many processes such as animal development, X-chromosome inactivation, and carcinogenesis. Understanding the mechanisms and functions of DNA methylation and how it varies from tissue to tissue and between individuals will have profound implications for human health and disease. A team of Chinese researchers decoded the essentially complete methylome (an inventory of all the bases that are methylated) of the human genome using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). ... > full story
Taking movies beyond Avatar -- for under £100 (November 10, 2010) -- A new development in virtual cameras at the University of Abertay Dundee is developing the pioneering work of James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar using a Nintendo Wii-like motion controller – all for less than £100. ... > full story
New anti-inflammatory substance: Biochemists ID important messenger in immune system (November 10, 2010) -- The messenger interleukin-27 plays an important role when the human body blocks inflammations, according to new research by an international team of scientists. ... > full story
Foucault revisited: Argentinean scientists show how to build a pendulum for any classroom (November 10, 2010) -- A Foucault pendulum is a simple device for observing the Earth's rotation. While such pendulums have been around for more than 150 years and are a staple of the modern science museum, they are generally large and unwieldy. Now a group of researchers from Argentina has developed a new type of compact pendulum. ... > full story
Alpha males take greater risks: Study links finger length to behavior (November 9, 2010) -- Potential investors might wish to examine the fingers of their financial adviser prior to signing over any savings. A new study has found the length between the second and fourth finger is an indicator of high levels of prenatal testosterone, risk-taking and potential financial success in men. The findings suggest that alpha males may take greater risks in relationships, on the squash court and in the financial market. ... > full story
Long-term statin use is unlikely to increase cancer risk, study finds (November 9, 2010) -- Researchers have further established that long-term use of statins is unlikely to substantially increase or decrease overall cancer risk, according to a new study. ... > full story
Sensor on Mars rover to measure radiation environment (November 9, 2010) -- About eight months before the NASA rover Curiosity touches down on Mars in August 2012, the mission's science measurements will begin much closer to Earth. ... > full story
Obesity in adolescence significantly associated with increased risk of severe obesity in adulthood (November 9, 2010) -- An analysis of nationally representative data suggests that being obese in adolescence increases the risk of being severely obese in adulthood, with the risk higher in women, and highest for black women, according to a new study. ... > full story
Getting to know the Sun advances fusion research: Coaxial helicity injection could make fusion reactors cheaper (November 9, 2010) -- A method known as coaxial helicity injection could eliminate an expensive component in tokamaks, leading to a more economical fusion reactor. ... > full story
Concern over traumatic brain injury in youth offenders (November 9, 2010) -- A new study of young offenders has revealed they have a significantly higher rate of traumatic brain injury (TBI) than that expected in society as a whole. Researchers in the UK also found TBI was associated with a greater number of convictions and, when there were three or more TBIs, greater violence in offending. ... > full story
Brains of Neanderthals and modern humans developed differently (November 9, 2010) -- Researchers have documented species differences in the pattern of brain development after birth that are likely to contribute to cognitive differences between modern humans and Neanderthals. ... > full story
Home exposure to tobacco carcinogens high in children of smokers (November 9, 2010) -- Ninety percent of children who lived in a house where an adult smoked had evidence of tobacco-related carcinogens in their urine, according to new research. ... > full story
Myth of a germ-free world: A closer look at antimicrobial products (November 9, 2010) -- Are antimicrobial chemicals like triclosan and triclocarban, as commonly used by consumers, really safe for human health and the environment? Are they even effective? According to new research, the scientific evidence suggests otherwise. ... > full story
Key link between adrenal gland hormone and brain in hypertension discovered (November 9, 2010) -- A hormone already responsible for increasing blood pressure by prompting the kidneys to retain salt appears to moonlight as a major stimulator of the brain centers that control the vascular system and blood pressure. ... > full story
Offshore wind farms: Low loss solutions for transferring current (November 9, 2010) -- Using wind energy where the wind blows strongest makes perfect sense as long as the energy can be readily transported to where it is needed. The first offshore plants are already being erected, and many more are planned. But the farther they are away from the coast, the more urgent becomes the problem of transferring the current with as low a loss as possible. Over long distances, this is possible only with direct current. ... > full story
Few eligible young women choose to take HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, study shows (November 9, 2010) -- In a study of more than 9,600 adolescent and young adult women, researchers have found that fewer than 30 percent of those eligible to receive the human papillomavirus vaccine to prevent cervical cancer actually chose to get it. And only about a third of those who began receiving the vaccine completed the three doses recommended for maximum protection. ... > full story
NASA's Fermi telescope finds giant structure in our galaxy (November 9, 2010) -- NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has unveiled a previously unseen structure centered in the Milky Way. The feature spans 50,000 light-years and may be the remnant of an eruption from a supersized black hole at the center of our galaxy. ... > full story
Starting dialysis earlier may be harmful for some patients (November 9, 2010) -- Beginning dialysis therapy earlier in the development of advanced kidney disease appears to be associated with a greater risk of death for some patients in the following year, according to new study. ... > full story
Alzheimer's disease: New study shows how amyloid beta disrupts one of the brain's anti-oxidant proteins, points way to protect it (November 9, 2010) -- A new study shows that amyloid beta disrupts one of the brain's anti-oxidant proteins and demonstrates a way to protect that protein, and perhaps others, from amyloid's harmful effects. ... > full story
Smoking increases risk of death in women with breast cancer, study finds (November 9, 2010) -- Being a current smoker or having a history of smoking significantly increased the risk of breast cancer progression and overall death among a group of multiethnic women with breast cancer, according to the results of a large prospective cohort study. ... > full story
New way of detecting concealed radioactive material: Sniffing out dirty bombs via electromagnetic breakdown of air (November 9, 2010) -- Researchers in Maryland have proposed a scheme for detecting a concealed source of radioactive material without searching containers one by one. The concept is based on the gamma-ray emission from the radioactive material that would pass through the shipping container walls and ionize the surrounding air. ... > full story
Hyper-texting and hyper-networking pose new health risks for teens (November 9, 2010) -- Texting while driving can be a deadly combination for anyone. Yet, new data reveal that the dangers of excessive texting among teens are not limited to the road. Hyper-texting and hyper-networking are now giving rise to a new health risk category for this age group. ... > full story
Engineered plants make potential precursor to raw material for plastics (November 9, 2010) -- Scientists report engineering a plant that produces industrially relevant levels of compounds that could potentially be used to make plastics. ... > full story
Soy may stop prostate cancer spread: Experimental soy-based drug shows benefits in men with localized prostate cancer (November 9, 2010) -- Researchers have found that a new, nontoxic drug made from a chemical in soy could prevent the movement of cancer cells from the prostate to the rest of the body. ... > full story
More than 1,000 tigers reduced to skin and bones in last decade, report finds (November 9, 2010) -- Parts of at least 1,069 tigers have been seized in tiger range countries over the past decade, according to new analysis of tiger seizures. The report shows that from January 2000 to April 2010, parts of between 1,069 and 1,220 tigers were seized in 11 of the 13 tiger range countries -- or an average of 104 to 119 animals per year. ... > full story
Soy isoflavones may modify risk of breast cancer (November 9, 2010) -- Increased phytoestrogens commonly found in dietary soy may modify the risk of some types of breast cancer, according to new findings. ... > full story
CERN completes transition to lead-ion running at the Large Hadron Collider (November 9, 2010) -- Four days is all it took for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) operations team at CERN to complete the transition from protons to lead ions in the LHC. After extracting the final proton beam of 2010 on Nov. 4, commissioning the lead-ion beam was underway by early afternoon. First collisions were recorded Nov. 7, and stable running conditions marked the start of physics with heavy ions on Nov. 8. ... > full story
Parents should talk about math early and often with their children -- even before preschool, report finds (November 9, 2010) -- The amount of time parents spend talking about numbers has a much bigger impact on how young children learn mathematics than was previously known. For example, children whose parents talked more about numbers were much more likely to understand the number principle that states that the size of a set of objects is determined by the last number reached when counting the set. ... > full story
Energy harvesting: Nanogenerators grow strong enough to power small conventional electronic devices (November 9, 2010) -- Researchers have reached a significant milestone in their development of nanometer-scale generators that harvest mechanical energy from the environment using an array of tiny nanowires: the ability to power conventional electronic devices such as liquid-crystal displays. ... > full story
Cellular communicators for cancer virus identified (November 9, 2010) -- A new finding describes how cells infected by the Epstein-Barr virus produce small vesicles or sacs called exosomes, changing their cellular "cargo" of proteins and RNA. This altered exosome enters cells and can change the growth of recipient cells from benign to cancer-producing. ... > full story
Fat sand rats are SAD like us: Research shines a light on a mood disorder (November 9, 2010) -- With her work on the Israeli desert inhabitant gerbil called the fat sand rat, a researcher has found new hope for the study of seasonal affective disorder and similar conditions. Her research indicates that her new test subjects are a more suitable model animal for the study of SAD than the rats and mice used previously. ... > full story
Could lung cancer in smokers vs. 'never-smokers' be different diseases? (November 9, 2010) -- Lung tumors in those who smoke and those who never smoked have different DNA alterations in the tumor genomes, according to results of a pilot study. ... > full story
Plasma as a fast optical switch (November 9, 2010) -- Physicists are presenting new research on a laser that uses relativistic effects to turn otherwise opaque plasma transparent, creating an ultra-fast optical switch useful in next-generation particle accelerators. ... > full story
Many physicians still have relationships with industry, survey suggests (November 9, 2010) -- Relationships with drug manufacturers, device companies and other medical companies appear to be have decreased since 2004 but remain common among physicians, according to a new report. ... > full story
Bars kill spiral galaxies, astronomers and volunteers discover (November 9, 2010) -- With the help of the army of volunteers working on the Galaxy Zoo 2 'citizen science' project, an international team of scientists has discovered that the bars found in many spiral galaxies could be helping to kill them off. ... > full story
Brain bleeding is common with aging, study finds (November 9, 2010) -- A small amount of bleeding in the brain seems to be common among older individuals, according to a new study. ... > full story
Children find their own way to solve arithmetic problems (November 9, 2010) -- Children with learning difficulties can benefit from being encouraged to find their own way to solve arithmetic problems, according to new research. ... > full story
Breast cancer: Reducing the risk of unnecessary chemo (November 9, 2010) -- Researchers have developed a tool to determine which breast cancer patients have little risk of their disease recurring. The tool -- an algorithm that identifies "gene expression signatures" or biomarkers that can predict low risk tumors with 87-100 percent accuracy in different groups of patients -- has the potential to virtually eliminate unnecessary chemotherapy. ... > full story
Vacuum arcs spark new interest (November 9, 2010) -- Whenever two pieces of metal at different voltages are brought near each other, as when an appliance is plugged into a live socket, there is a chance there will be an arc between them. Most of the arcs people see are a breakdown of the gas between the metal surfaces, but this type of breakdown can also occur in a vacuum. This vacuum breakdown, which until recently has not been well understood, has implications for applications from particle accelerators to fusion reactors. ... > full story
Silent vascular disease accompanies cognitive decline in healthy aging (November 9, 2010) -- Older people who are leading active, healthy lifestyles often have silent vascular disease that can be seen on brain scans that affect their ability to think, according to a new study. ... > full story
Dangerous chemicals in food wrappers likely migrating to humans (November 9, 2010) -- Scientists have found that chemicals used to line junk food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags are migrating into food and being ingested by people where they are contributing to chemical contamination observed in blood. ... > full story
Copyright 1995-2010 © ScienceDaily LLC. All rights reserved. Terms of use.
|
 To update/change your profile click here  |
