ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines
for Monday, January 17, 2011
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Researchers can predict your video game aptitude by imaging your brain (January 16, 2011) -- Researchers report that they can predict "with unprecedented accuracy" how well you will do on a complex task such as a strategic video game simply by analyzing activity in a specific region of your brain. ... > full story
Measles virus plays role in Paget's disease of bone, researchers say (January 16, 2011) -- A gene from the measles virus plays a key role in the development of Paget's disease of bone, according to new research. These findings confirm a long-held speculation that the childhood infection is an environmental trigger for the disease and reveal how the viral gene contributes to the development of its characteristic bone lesions. ... > full story
100-year-old specimens at California museum help determine when avian pox hit Galapagos (January 16, 2011) -- A research team from across the United States and Ecuador has pinpointed 1898 as the year the avipoxvirus, or avian pox, hit the Galapagos Islands and started infecting its birds. This estimation is vital to understanding avian diseases that affect today's Galapagos birds. ... > full story
99% of pregnant women in US test positive for multiple chemicals including banned ones, study suggests (January 16, 2011) -- The bodies of virtually all US pregnant women carry multiple chemicals, including some banned since the 1970s and others used in common products such as non-stick cookware, processed foods and personal care products, according to a new study. ... > full story
Warming climate means red deer rutting season arrives early (January 16, 2011) -- Wild red deer on the Isle of Rum are rutting earlier in the year, a study shows. Scientists believe the annual rutting season on the Isle of Rum could be changing because of warming spring and summer temperatures. The study shows that the rutting and calving seasons are now up to two weeks earlier on average compared with 30 years ago. ... > full story
Inverse benefits due to drug marketing undermine patient safety and public health, study finds (January 16, 2011) -- Drugs that pharmaceutical companies market most aggressively to physicians and patients tend to offer less benefit and more harm to most patients -- a phenomenon described as the "inverse benefit law," according to new research. ... > full story
Quantum quirk contained: Discovery moves quantum networks closer to reality (January 16, 2011) -- Researchers are working on a way to make quantum networks a reality. They have demonstrated, for the first time, that a crystal can store information encoded into entangled quantum states of photons. ... > full story
Researchers discover way to halt lung inflammation in animal models (January 16, 2011) -- Acute inflammation of the lung is a poorly recognized human disease that develops in surprising and unexpected ways. However, an answer to halting lung inflammation may have been discovered, thanks to new research. ... > full story
Flipper bands hinder king penguins (January 16, 2011) -- Over a ten year period, flipper-banded penguins have a 16% lower survival rate and produce 39% fewer chicks than non-banded birds, new research shows. ... > full story
Molecular rationale for combining targeted agents to treat breast cancer (January 16, 2011) -- A new study provides a rational for treating breast cancer by combining two kinds of targeted agents, one that inhibits an overactive, cancer-causing signaling pathway in cancer cells and one that reverses changes that silence genes that normally prevent cancer. Both types of agents are currently available and being evaluated individually in clinical trials. ... > full story
Extent of corruption in countries around the world tied to earthquake fatalities (January 16, 2011) -- A new assessment of global earthquake fatalities over the past three decades indicates that 83 percent of all deaths caused by the collapse of buildings during earthquakes occurred in countries considered to be unusually corrupt. ... > full story
Next-generation hospital design can improve health -- and save money (January 16, 2011) -- Larger hospital rooms with plenty of natural light and artwork may seem like luxuries, but new research shows that these and other design features can improve patient care and reduce health care expenses. They are among the elements of the "Fable hospital," an ideal health care facility conceived by leaders in health care and design. Elements of the Fable hospital are being adopted on the ground today, with the imperative to improve quality and value. ... > full story
Dramatic ocean circulation changes caused a colder Europe in the past (January 15, 2011) -- The unusually cold weather in Europe this winter has been caused by a change in the winds. Instead of the typical westerly winds warmed by Atlantic surface ocean currents, cold northerly Arctic winds are influencing much of Europe. However, scientists have long suspected that far more severe and longer-lasting cold intervals have been caused by changes to the circulation of the warm Atlantic ocean currents themselves. ... > full story
Why coffee protects against diabetes (January 15, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered a possible molecular mechanism behind coffee's protective effect against type 2 diabetes. ... > full story
Bioactive compounds in berries can reduce high blood pressure (January 15, 2011) -- Eating blueberries can guard against high blood pressure, according to new research. ... > full story
Skin provides Australia's first adult stem cells for rare genetic disease (January 15, 2011) -- Scientists have developed Australia's first adult induced pluripotent stem cell lines using skin biopsies from patients with the rare genetic disease Friedreich's ataxia. ... > full story
Laser sheds light on tracking source of microbial contamination on beach (January 15, 2011) -- A simple, automated method of tracking E. coli uses a laser to detect and monitor the microbe in potentially contaminated bodies of water or waterways. The technique could reduce the incidence of waterborne disease outbreaks. ... > full story
Universities miss chance to identify depressed students, study finds (January 15, 2011) -- One out of every four or five students who visits a university health center for a routine cold turns out to be depressed, but most centers miss the opportunity to identify these students because they don't screen for depression, according to new research. About 2 to 3 percent of these depressed students have had suicidal thoughts or are considering suicide. Depression screening is easy and must be done for every health center student, researchers said. ... > full story
Self-assembling structures open door to new class of materials (January 15, 2011) -- Researchers have demonstrated bio-inspired structures that self-assemble from simple building blocks: spheres. The helical "supermolecules" are made of tiny colloid balls instead of atoms or molecules. Similar methods could be used to make new materials with the functionality of complex colloidal molecules. ... > full story
Tinnitus is the result of the brain trying, but failing, to repair itself (January 15, 2011) -- Tinnitus appears to be produced by an unfortunate confluence of structural and functional changes in the brain, say neuroscientists. ... > full story
Improving plants: New software quantifies leaf venation networks, enables plant biology advances (January 15, 2011) -- Plant biologists are facing pressure to breed plants that can respond to changing environments. One method of monitoring the response of plants to different environments is by studying their vein network patterns. To help address the challenge of how to quickly examine a large quantity of leaves, researchers have developed a user-assisted software tool that extracts macroscopic vein structures directly from leaf images. ... > full story
Cancer survivors likely to experience pain at some point in care (January 15, 2011) -- More than 40 percent of cancer survivors experience cancer pain since their diagnosis and many have current cancer-related chronic pain, according to new research. The study provides new insight on issues facing the growing number of US cancer survivors. ... > full story
New farming method reduces greenhouse gases, increases farm yields (January 15, 2011) -- Researchers have found methods to help farmers reduce nitrous oxide emissions while also increasing corn grain production. ... > full story
Academics urge universities to change culture to value teaching as highly as research (January 15, 2011) -- The reward systems at universities heavily favor science, math and engineering research at the expense of teaching, which can and must change, according to a group of academics. ... > full story
Living cells used to create 'biotic' video games (January 14, 2011) -- The digital revolution has triggered a wild proliferation of video games, but what of the revolution in biotechnology? Does it have the potential to spawn its own brood of games? A physicist has begun developing "biotic games" involving paramecia and other living organisms. He hopes the games will lead to advances in education and crowd-sourcing of laboratory research while helping to raise the level of public discourse on bio-related issues. ... > full story
Early development of anti-HIV neutralizing antibodies (January 14, 2011) -- New findings are bringing scientists closer to an effective HIV vaccine. Researchers report findings showing new evidence about broadly-reactive neutralizing antibodies, which block HIV infection. ... > full story
Putting the dead to work: Conservation paleobiologists dig deep to solve today's ecological, evolutionary questions (January 14, 2011) -- Conservation paleobiologists -- scientists who use the fossil record to understand the evolutionary and ecological responses of present-day species to changes in their environment -- are putting the dead to work. A new review of the research in this emerging field provides examples of how the fossil record can help assess environmental impacts, predict which species will be most vulnerable to environmental changes, and provide guidelines for restoration. ... > full story
Population-wide reduction in salt consumption recommended (January 14, 2011) -- The American Heart Association today issued a call to action for the public, health professionals, the food industry and the government to intensify efforts to reduce the amount of sodium (salt) Americans consume daily. ... > full story
Best way to measure dark energy just got better (January 14, 2011) -- Dark energy is a mysterious force that pervades all space, acting as a "push" to accelerate the universe's expansion. Despite being 70 percent of the universe, dark energy was only discovered in 1998 by two teams observing Type Ia supernovae. A Type 1a supernova is a cataclysmic explosion of a white dwarf star. The best way of measuring dark energy just got better, thanks to a new study of Type Ia supernovae. ... > full story
Taking more steps every day can help ward off diabetes (January 14, 2011) -- Simply taking more steps every day not only helps ward off obesity but also reduces the risk of diabetes, finds a new study. ... > full story
New technique could pinpoint 'Galaxy X': Satellite galaxies located based on the ripples they create in the hydrogen gas (January 14, 2011) -- Many galaxies have smaller satellites, but astronomers can't see them all because many are composed of dark matter. Astronomers have developed a way to find dark satellite galaxies by analyzing the ripples in the hydrogen gas distribution in spiral galaxies. The technique allowed Sukanya Chakrabarti to predict the existence of a satellite of the Milky Way, which is obscured from view because it sits on the opposite side of the galaxy from Earth. ... > full story
Airborne pathogens can induce mad cow disease, new findings suggest (January 14, 2011) -- Airborne prions are also infectious and can induce mad cow disease or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disorder, new findings suggest. Researchers recommend precautionary measures for scientific labs, slaughterhouses and animal feed plants. ... > full story
Fastest movie in the world recorded: Method to film nanostructures developed (January 14, 2011) -- Processes at a molecular level are minuscule and often extremely fast, and therefore difficult to capture in action. Scientists have taken a good step towards producing a "molecular movie". They can record two pictures at such a short time interval that it will soon be possible to observe molecules and nanostructures in real time. ... > full story
Individuals with partial hearing loss may benefit from hybrid cochlear implant (January 14, 2011) -- Hearing loss can affect anyone, at any time. But it can be especially frightening for someone who suddenly starts to lose hearing during adulthood. A new study is investigating the effectiveness of a new cochlear implant device that aims to restore hearing for individuals with high-frequency hearing loss and functional low-frequency hearing. ... > full story
Trapped sunlight cleans water (January 14, 2011) -- High energy costs are one drawback of making clean water from waste effluents. Now a new system that combines two different technologies proposes to break down contaminants using the cheapest possible energy source, sunlight. ... > full story
Driving simulators help older adults improve their road skills (January 14, 2011) -- Older drivers could benefit from training programs that put them behind the wheel -- in a driving simulator, with an observer who helps them develop their skills, according to a new article. ... > full story
Fruit fly nervous system provides new solution to fundamental computer network problem (January 14, 2011) -- The fruit fly has evolved a method for arranging the tiny, hair-like structures it uses to feel and hear the world that's so efficient a team of scientists says it could be used to more effectively deploy wireless sensor networks and other distributed computing applications. ... > full story
Microbes in our gut regulate genes that control obesity and inflammation (January 14, 2011) -- If you are looking to lose weight in the coming year, you may need help from an unexpected place: the bacteria in your gut. That's because scientists have discovered that the bacteria living in your intestines may play a far more significant role in weight loss and gastrointestinal problems than ever imagined. ... > full story
2010 tied for warmest year on record, NASA research finds (January 14, 2011) -- Global surface temperatures in 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest on record, according to an analysis by researchers at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. ... > full story
New therapies for prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease identified (January 14, 2011) -- A new study reveals underlying causes for the degeneration of synapses in Alzheimer's disease and identifies promising pharmaceutical solutions for the devastating condition. ... > full story
Risks associated with second-hand smoke in cars carrying children (January 14, 2011) -- While the evidence is incomplete there is enough available to support legislation against letting people smoke in cars with children, according to a new article. ... > full story
Suicide risk greater for people living at higher elevations, study finds (January 14, 2011) -- Twenty years of mortality data from counties across the United States led to the striking discovery that living at higher altitudes may be a risk factor for suicide, according to a provocative study. ... > full story
Genetically modified chickens that don't transmit bird flu developed; Breakthrough could prevent future bird flu epidemics (January 14, 2011) -- Chickens genetically modified to prevent them spreading bird flu have been produced by researchers in the UK. ... > full story
Room light before bedtime may impact sleep quality, blood pressure and diabetes risk (January 14, 2011) -- Exposure to electrical light between dusk and bedtime strongly suppresses melatonin levels and may impact physiologic processes regulated by melatonin signaling, such as sleepiness, thermoregulation, blood pressure and glucose homeostasis. ... > full story
New telescope is exploring solar system 'outback' (January 14, 2011) -- In the outer reaches of our solar system lies a mysterious region far more remote and difficult to explore than the Australian outback. It remains the only part of our solar system not visited by spacecraft. A new telescope has begun to virtually explore the solar system outback, and already is scoring discoveries. ... > full story
New drug protects against blood clots following hip replacement surgery, study suggests (January 14, 2011) -- Scientists have shown that a new drug is more effective and easier to use than current medicines in the prevention of blood clots following hip replacement surgery. ... > full story
Rotational motion in living cells: New tool for cell research may help unravel secrets of disease (January 14, 2011) -- Advancements in understanding rotational motion in living cells may help researchers shed light on the causes of deadly diseases, such as Alzheimer's, according to researchers. ... > full story
New evidence for climate impacts on ancient societies (January 14, 2011) -- Annual-resolved European summer climate has, for the first time ever, been reconstructed over the past 2,500 years. Tree rings reveal possible links between past climate variability and changes in human history. Climate change coincided with periods of socioeconomic, cultural and political turmoil associated with the Barbarian Migrations, the Black Death and Thirty Years' War. ... > full story
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