ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines
for Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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Adult Stem Cells Reprogrammed In Their Natural Environment (July 1, 2008) -- In recent years, stem cell researchers have become very adept at manipulating the fate of adult stem cells cultured in the lab. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies achieved the same feat with adult neural stem cells still in place in the brain. They successfully coaxed mouse brain stem cells bound to join the neuronal network to differentiate into support cells instead. ... > full story
Poor Diet During Pregnancy May Have Long Term Impact On Child's Health, Study Suggests (July 1, 2008) -- Mothers who eat an unhealthy diet during pregnancy may be putting their children at risk of developing long term, irreversible health issues including obesity, raised levels of cholesterol and blood sugar, according to new research. The study, carried out in rats, suggests that the effect is even more pronounced in female offspring. ... > full story
Prebiotic Potential Of Almonds (July 1, 2008) -- Researchers have identified potential prebiotic properties in almonds that could help improve our digestive health by increasing levels of beneficial gut bacteria. ... > full story
Multiple Vaccinations Have Not Caused Ill Health In UK Soldiers In Iraq (July 1, 2008) -- Multiple vaccinations have not been a cause of ill health in UK service personnel deployed to Iraq, according to a new study. The report says "recall bias" is to blame, when people link a perception of ill health with their memory of having had multiple vaccinations. ... > full story
ESA Satellite Assesses Damage Of Norway's Largest Fire (July 1, 2008) -- Following the extremely hot weather conditions hitting Europe, Norway experienced its biggest forest fire in the last half century earlier this month. Envisat satellite images were used in the fire's aftermath to get an overview of the damaged area for authorities and insurance companies. ... > full story
Achieving Top Grades In Science Subjects More Difficult, Research Shows (July 1, 2008) -- Schoolchildren in the UK studying science and technology subjects like maths, physics and chemistry find it much harder to achieve the top exam grades than candidates of similar ability studying subjects like media studies and psychology, according to a new report. ... > full story
Invisible Waves Shape Continental Slope (July 1, 2008) -- A class of powerful, invisible waves hidden beneath the surface of the ocean can shape the underwater edges of continents and contribute to ocean mixing and climate, researchers have found. ... > full story
Antiretroviral Therapy As HIV Prevention Strategy (July 1, 2008) -- The widespread use of highly active antiretroviral therapy may reduce the incidence of HIV in individuals and populations but has been overlooked by public health as a prevention strategy. ... > full story
Standards Set For Energy-conserving LED Lighting (July 1, 2008) -- Scientists have developed the first two standards for solid-state lighting in the United States. This new generation lighting technology uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of incandescent filaments or fluorescent tubes to produce illumination that cuts energy consumption significantly. ... > full story
Neuronal Correlates Of The Set-size Effect In Monkey Lateral Intraparietal Area (July 1, 2008) -- It is well known that the brain is limited in the amount of sensory information it can process at any given time. During an everyday task such as finding an object in a cluttered environment (known as visual search), observers take longer to find a target as the number of distractors increases. Scientists now show how a higher-order parietal area relates to attention and eye movements. ... > full story
Using A Grating With A Grade, Engineers Trap A Rainbow (July 1, 2008) -- The THz plasmonic graded metallic grating structure can stop terahertz light waves at multiple points on its surface and also at different frequencies. Engineers say this greater control will help overcome the "mismatch" that poses an obstacle to the integration of nanoelectronics and nanophotonics. ... > full story
Stillbirths, Infant Deaths Lead To Anxiety, Guilt And Stress Among Obstetricians (July 1, 2008) -- Nearly one in 10 obstetricians in a new study has considered giving up obstetric practice because of the emotional toll of stillbirths and infant deaths. Three-quarters of the 804 obstetricians who responded to a survey reported that the experience took a large emotional toll on them personally. ... > full story
Fortified Cassava Could Provide A Day's Nutrition In A Single Meal (June 30, 2008) -- Scientists have determined how to fortify the cassava plant, a staple root crop in many developing countries, with enough vitamins, minerals and protein to provide the poor and malnourished with a day's worth of nutrition in a single meal. The researchers have further engineered the cassava plant so it can resist the crop's most damaging viral threats and are refining methods to reduce cyanogens, substances that yield poisonous cyanide if they are not properly removed from the food before consumption. ... > full story
Zinc Finger Proteins Put Personalized HIV Therapy Within Reach (June 30, 2008) -- Researchers are using minute, naturally occurring proteins called zinc fingers to engineer T-cells to one day treat AIDS in humans. Using the zinc fingers, scientists have shown that they could reduce the viral load of immune-deficient mice transplanted with engineered T cells. ... > full story
Climate Change Causing Significant Shift In Composition Of Coastal Fish Communities (June 30, 2008) -- A detailed analysis of data from nearly 50 years of weekly fish-trawl surveys in Narragansett Bay and adjacent Rhode Island Sound has revealed a long-term shift in species composition, which scientists attribute primarily to the effects of global warming. Invertebrates and warm-water species increase while bottom feeders decrease. ... > full story
Limit Sucrose As Painkiller For Newborns (June 30, 2008) -- Using sucrose to reduce pain in newborns undergoing painful procedures should be limited to babies having blood taken for the newborn screening test but not for intramuscular injections, according to new research findings. ... > full story
Drought Tolerance In Potatoes (June 30, 2008) -- Scientists are studying these varieties to identify the genes and molecular mechanisms of drought tolerance in order to engineer new drought-resistant crops of potato, as well as other Solanaceous vegetables. ... > full story
How Does Language Exist In The Brain? (June 30, 2008) -- Despite much research on acquisition of languages amongst monolingual persons, scientists still have to ask themselves basic questions about bilingual acquisition: How do babies realize that they are in a bilingual environment? What are the clues for them in discovering this? How is discrimination between languages produced in infants? The aim of new research is to find out how the brain acquires and manages languages and to discover in what way languages being similar or different is influential in this process. ... > full story
Tongue Drive System Lets Persons With Disabilities Operate Powered Wheelchairs, Computers (June 30, 2008) -- A new assistive technology allows individuals with disabilities to operate a computer, control a powered wheelchair and interact with their environments simply by moving their tongues. The Tongue Drive system, developed by engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, could help individuals with severe disabilities lead more independent lives. ... > full story
Proteins Could Relate To Increased Longevity In Women (June 30, 2008) -- Scientists in Spain and Italy have identified a group of proteins in laboratory rats that could help explain two enduring medical mysteries -- why women live longer than men and why calorie restriction stands as the only proven method of extending longevity. ... > full story
Unravelling The 'Inconvenient Truth' Of Glacier Movement (June 30, 2008) -- Predicting climate change depends on many factors not properly included in current forecasting models, such as how the major polar ice caps will move in the event of melting around their edges. This in turn requires greater understanding of the processes at work when ice is under stress, influencing how it flows and moves. ... > full story
Single Mechanism For Hypertension, Insulin Resistance And Immune Suppression (June 30, 2008) -- By counteracting the underlying molecular mechanism for high blood pressure in the spontaneously hypertensive rat, researchers found not only how that ailment and others arise in mammals, but also how the conditions may be treated simultaneously. ... > full story
Hard X-ray Nanoprobe Provides New Capability To Study Nanoscale Materials (June 30, 2008) -- The Center for Nanoscale Materials' newly operational Hard X-ray Nanoprobe at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory is one of the world's most powerful X-ray microscopes. It has been designed to study novel nanoscale materials and devices aimed at, for example, harvesting solar energy more efficiently, providing more efficient lighting, or enabling next-generation computing. ... > full story
Food Inspection Technology Could Kill Waiter Jokes (June 30, 2008) -- New inspection X-ray technology developed by European researchers is helping to ensure that the only thing in people's dinners is the food itself. Finding a snail in a salad, a fish bone in a supposedly boneless fillet or opening a soup packet to reveal moldy contents is an unpleasant -- and potentially unsafe -- experience. ... > full story
If The Large Hadron Collider Produced A Microscopic Black Hole, It Probably Wouldn't Matter (June 30, 2008) -- Particle colliders creating black holes that could devour the Earth. Sounds like a great Hollywood script. But, according to UC Santa Barbara Physics Professor Steve Giddings, it's pure fiction. Giddings has co-authored a paper documenting his study of the safety of microscopic black holes that might possibly be produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is nearing completion in Europe. ... > full story
Silencing Of Molecular 'Conversation' May Help Curb Severe Allergies (June 30, 2008) -- Scientists have identified a process, a synergistic encounter between two molecules, that may account for the extreme allergic reactions some people experience. By silencing at least one of these molecules, it may be possible to treat allergies. ... > full story
Passports For Penguins: New Technology Lets Biologists ID Large Numbers Of Endangered Animals (June 30, 2008) -- Groundbreaking technology that will enable biologists to identify and monitor large numbers of endangered animals, from butterflies to whales, without being captured, is now available. ... > full story
Biologists Show How Eye's Neurons Switch Functions During Metamorphosis (June 30, 2008) -- Researchers report that the photoreceptors in an insect's eye can change their traditional functions during metamorphosis. The researchers found that when photoreceptors responsible for detecting the color green die off during metamorphosis a second class of photoreceptors -- those responsible for detecting the color blue -- then fill the role of detecting the color green. These rare switches, the authors speculate, are likely the result of changing life patterns. ... > full story
Avalanche Photodiodes Target Bioterrorism Agents (June 30, 2008) -- Researchers have shown that a new class of ultraviolet photodiode could help meet the U.S. military's pressing requirement for compact, reliable and cost-effective sensors to detect anthrax and other bioterrorism agents in the air. ... > full story
Breaking The Pattern: How Motivation Plays A Role In Getting Healthy (June 30, 2008) -- People fall into a pattern. They start out with the best intentions and do well for a little while ... but then fall back into old habits. It's a classic health trap: two steps forward, three steps back. People end up feeling bad about themselves. Moreover, the two-steps-forward-three-steps-back dance ends up increasing the health problems the behavioral changes were supposed to address in the first place. ... > full story
New Oral Angiogenesis Inhibitor Offers Potential Nontoxic Therapy For A Wide Range Of Cancers (June 30, 2008) -- The first oral, broad-spectrum angiogenesis inhibitor, specially formulated through nanotechnology, shows promising anticancer results in mice, report researchers from Children's Hospital Boston. ... > full story
Cellular Self-eating Promotes Pancreatitis (June 30, 2008) -- To survive tough times, cells sometimes resort to a form of self-cannibalism called autophagy. But autophagy can have a down side, destroying the pancreas by prematurely activating a digestive enzyme. ... > full story
New Process Creates 3-D Nanostructures With Magnetic Materials (June 30, 2008) -- Materials scientists have developed a process to build complex, three-dimensional nanoscale structures of magnetic materials such as nickel or nickel-iron alloys using techniques compatible with standard semiconductor manufacturing. The process could enable whole new classes of sensors and microelectromechanical devices. ... > full story
Heavy Birthweight Increases Risk Of Developing Rheumatoid Arthritis (June 30, 2008) -- People who have a birthweight over 10 pounds are twice as likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis when they are adults compared to individuals born with an average birthweight, according to a new study. While the mechanism for this association is unclear, the study identifies a potentially modifiable risk factor and highlights a potential way to decrease the incidence of the disease. ... > full story
Tick And Mosquito Repellent Can Be Made Commercially From Pine Oil (June 30, 2008) -- A naturally-occurring compound prepared from pine oil that seems to deter mosquito biting and repels two kinds of ticks has been developed. This newly-discovered repellent can be prepared inexpensively from pine oil feedstock in ton quantities for large-scale commercial applications, giving it a significant advantage over many of the other natural-product repellent chemicals. ... > full story
Doubling Of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Over-45s In Under A Decade (June 30, 2008) -- Rates of sexually transmitted infections have doubled among the over-45s in less than a decade, reveals new research in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections. ... > full story
Canine Tooth Strength Provides Clues To Behavior Of Early Human Ancestors (June 30, 2008) -- Measuring and testing the teeth of living primates could provide a window into the behavior of the earliest human ancestors, based on their fossilized remains. New research takes us one step closer to understanding the relationship between canine teeth, body size and the lives of primates. ... > full story
Inadequate Sleep May Exacerbate Cellular Aging In The Elderly, Animal Study Suggests (June 30, 2008) -- Researchers have shown that the unfolded protein response, which is a reaction to stress induced by sleep deprivation, is impaired in the brains of old mice. The findings suggest that inadequate sleep in the elderly could exacerbate an already-impaired protective response. ... > full story
Fisheries, Not Whales, To Blame For Shortage Of Fish (June 30, 2008) -- The argument that increasing whale populations are behind declining fish stocks is completely without scientific foundation, leading researchers and conservation organizations said as the International Whaling Commission opened its 60th meeting in Santiago, Chile. ... > full story
Complexity Of Crohn's Disease Revealed As 'Gene' Count Tops 30 (June 30, 2008) -- New research has trebled the number of genetic regions known to be implicated in Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, to over thirty. The research, published in the journal Nature Genetics, has identified a number of potential new targets for drug development as well as providing surprising new links between the condition and other common diseases including asthma. ... > full story
Researchers Peer Into Water In Carbon Nanotubes (June 30, 2008) -- Researchers have identified a signature for water inside single-walled carbon nanotubes, helping them understand how water is structured and how it moves within these tiny channels. ... > full story
Study: Media Bias Can Net Mistakes At The Ballot Box (June 30, 2008) -- The media slant political news to the left or right to increase ratings and profits, spinning up an information vacuum that can lead to mistakes at the ballot box, a new study by three University of Illinois economists says. ... > full story
Maize (Corn) May Have Been Domesticated In Mexico As Early As 10,000 Years Ago (June 30, 2008) -- Scientists are using new genetic and microbotanical techniques to distinguish domesticated maize from its wild relatives as well as to identify ancient sites of maize agriculture. These new analyses suggest that maize may have been domesticated in Mexico as early as 10,000 years ago. ... > full story
Cancer 'Cure' In Mice To Be Tested In Humans (June 30, 2008) -- Scientists are about to embark on a human trial to test whether a new cancer treatment will be as effective at eradicating cancer in humans as it has proven to be in mice. ... > full story
Pigs Prefer Three Square Meals A Day (June 30, 2008) -- Pigs raised in conventional indoor pens have different feeding patterns from those raised under more natural conditions. New research shows that while pigs in the wild spend much time searching for food and eat little and often, the preferred feeding regime for conventional raised pigs is three meals a day. ... > full story
Calcium Alone Does Not Reduce Hip Fracture Risk (June 30, 2008) -- People, especially the elderly, may reach for calcium supplements in hopes of protecting themselves against bone fractures in case of a fall. But a recent analysis of several studies found no reduction in risk of hip fracture with calcium supplementation. ... > full story
Census Of Marine Life Lists 122,500 Known Species, Over Halfway To Complete Inventory By Oct. 2010 (June 30, 2008) -- Census of Marine Life-affiliated scientists consolidating world databases of ocean organisms have demoted to alias status almost one-third of all names culled so far from 34 regional and highly specialized inventories. Experts will complete the World Register of Marine Species by October 2010 as part of the first Census of Marine Life. ... > full story
Homosexual Behavior Largely Shaped By Genetics And Random Environmental Factors (June 30, 2008) -- Homosexual behavior is largely shaped by genetics and random environmental factors, according to findings from the world's largest study of twins. ... > full story
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