ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines
for Thursday, March 25, 2010
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Emotions key to judging others: New piece to puzzle of how human brain constructs morality from study of harmful intent (March 25, 2010) -- A new study by neuroscientists suggests that our ability to respond appropriately to intended harms -- that is, with outrage toward the perpetrator -- is seated in a brain region associated with regulating emotions. ... > full story
New way to attack TB (March 25, 2010) -- Suspecting that a particular protein in tuberculosis was likely to be vital to the bacteria's survival, scientists screened 175,000 small chemical compounds and identified a potent class of compounds that selectively slows down this protein's activity and, in a test tube, blocks TB growth, demonstrating that the protein is indeed a vulnerable target. ... > full story
Dormant microbes promote diversity, serve environment (March 25, 2010) -- Scientists have developed a mathematical model and molecular tools to study how dormancy affects the biodiversity of natural microbial communities, especially in lakes. ... > full story
Virtual colonoscopy allows detection of unsuspected cancers beyond colon (March 25, 2010) -- A new, large-scale study of more than 10,000 adults found that more than one in every 200 asymptomatic people screened with CT colonography, or virtual colonoscopy, had clinically unsuspected malignant cancer and more than half of the cancers were located outside the colon. ... > full story
Biofuel mandates would make corn shortfall costly, experts say (March 25, 2010) -- Grocery shoppers face hefty price increases if bad weather withers a US corn crop that is now tethered to grain-intensive renewable fuel mandates, a new study warns. ... > full story
New scale for measuring addiction to work (March 25, 2010) -- Researchers have proven the usefulness of DUWAS, a new scale for measuring addiction to work, a disorder that affects around 12 percent of all working people in Spain. The experts say that 8 percent of the working population in Spain devotes more than 12 hours per day to their job. ... > full story
Even soil feels the heat: Soils release more carbon dioxide as globe warms (March 25, 2010) -- Twenty years of field studies reveal that as the Earth has gotten warmer, plants and microbes in the soil have given off more carbon dioxide. So-called soil respiration has increased about one-tenth of 1 percent per year since 1989, according to an analysis of past studies. ... > full story
How weight-loss surgery reverses type 2 diabetes: New study offers explanation (March 25, 2010) -- Researchers have shown for the first time that a surgical procedure in rats that is similar to bariatric surgery in humans can delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. The researchers also have identified biochemical changes caused by the surgeries that may be responsible for that delay. ... > full story
Pure maple syrup contains medicinally beneficial compounds, pharmacy researcher finds (March 25, 2010) -- An expert in medicinal plant research has found more than 20 compounds in maple syrup from Canada that have been linked to human health, 13 of which are newly discovered in maple syrup. In addition, eight of the compounds have been found in the Acer (maple) family for the first time. ... > full story
Bailout stenting successful treatment for infants with constricted aortas (March 25, 2010) -- Cardiac interventionalists and surgeons have achieved successful stent implantation and follow-up coarctectomy in premature infants suffering from aortic coarctation. ... > full story
Scientists are helping rice farmers in Uruguay stop polluting their waterways (March 25, 2010) -- Scientists are helping rice farmers in Uruguay stop polluting their waterways -- including drinking-water sources and a globally valuable nature reserve. ... > full story
Healthy food makes consumers feel hungrier when choices are limited (March 25, 2010) -- If we don't have a choice in the matter, eating something that's considered healthy might simply lead us to feel hungry and eat something else, according to a new study. ... > full story
Great apes know they could be wrong, research suggests (March 24, 2010) -- Great apes -- orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas -- realize that they can be wrong when making choices, according to new research. ... > full story
Newly discovered gene explains mouse embryonic stem cell immortality (March 24, 2010) -- Researchers have discovered a key to embryonic stem cell rejuvenation in a gene -- Zscan4. This breakthrough finding could have major implications for aging research, stem cell biology, regenerative medicine and cancer biology. ... > full story
Stretchable electronics device holds promise for treating irregular heart rhythms (March 24, 2010) -- The electronics can bend, stretch and twist. Now the flexible and stretchable electronics can map waves of electrical activity in the heart with better resolution and speed than that of conventional cardiac monitoring technology. Researchers from three institutions are the first to demonstrate a flexible silicon electronics device used for a medical application. The thin device produced high-density maps of a beating heart's electrical activity, providing potential means to localize and treat abnormal heart rhythms. ... > full story
Comprehensive screening test for falling risk developed (March 24, 2010) -- A new study has found that falls are not just a problem for older adults. Researchers have found that people in their 20s and 30s have significant issues affecting their balance, indicating an increased risk for falling. A researcher has now developed a screening test that could quickly diagnose an individual's risk of falling at any age. ... > full story
Increasingly threatened loggerheads follow their own paths in travel, eating (March 24, 2010) -- With loggerhead sea turtle nests in dramatic decline, researchers would love to know more about where the turtles go, and what they eat, so they can better protect the creatures' habitat. ... > full story
People are living longer and healthier: Now what? (March 24, 2010) -- People in developed nations are living in good health as much as a decade longer than their parents did, not because aging has been slowed or reversed, but because they are staying healthy to a more advanced age. ... > full story
Researchers create 'handshaking' particles (March 24, 2010) -- Physicists have created "handshaking" particles that link together based on their shape rather than randomly. Their work marks the first time scientists have succeeded in "programming" particles to join in this manner and offers a type of architecture that could enhance the creation of synthetic materials. ... > full story
Traumatic brain injury causes loss of smell and taste (March 24, 2010) -- The ability to taste and smell can be lost or impaired after a head injury, according to a new study. The research established that mild to severe traumatic brain injury could cause olfactory loss. ... > full story
Why many surveys of distant galaxies miss 90 percent of their targets (March 24, 2010) -- Astronomers have long known that in many surveys of the very distant Universe, a large fraction of the total intrinsic light was not being observed. Now, thanks to an extremely deep survey using two of the four giant 8.2-m telescopes that make up ESO's Very Large Telescope and a unique custom-built filter, astronomers have determined that a large fraction of galaxies whose light took 10 billion years to reach us have gone undiscovered. ... > full story
Scientists in hot pursuit of first new drug for global killer in 50 years (March 24, 2010) -- This World TB Day, researchers in Australia have announced they have made an important discovery that could lead to the first new drug for tuberculosis in almost 50 years. The scientists are looking at the genetics of TB in the hope they will reveal a way to reduce the impact of one of the deadliest diseases in the world. ... > full story
Warmer summers could create challenges for nesting Arctic seabirds (March 24, 2010) -- In tropical regions, seabird deaths are often due to introduced predators, ecto-parasites or fishery collapse. In the Arctic, however, causes of bird deaths are a bit unusual. For example, birds can crash into each other or cliffs during heavy fogs, they can be smashed into the water by Katabatic winds, or they can die in rock slides. Three northern biologists suggest that warmer temperatures could also create survival challenges for nesting Arctic seabirds. ... > full story
Cyber wars (March 24, 2010) -- As cyberspace has become the arena for political activism, governments are growing more sophisticated in controlling free expression online -- from surveillance to filtering. And it's now becoming harder than ever for human rights activists to outwit the authorities. ... > full story
Pulling power points the way to world's strongest insect -- a dung beetle (March 24, 2010) -- Following months of grueling tests and trials, scientists now reveal the world's strongest insect to be a species of dung beetle called Onthophagus taurus. ... > full story
Leptin therapy in animal models shows promise for type 1 diabetes (March 24, 2010) -- Using leptin alone in place of standard insulin therapy shows promise in abating symptoms of type 1 diabetes, researchers report. ... > full story
New Hubble treasury project to survey first third of cosmic time (March 24, 2010) -- Astronomers will peer deep into the universe in five directions to document the early history of star formation and galaxy evolution in an ambitious new project requiring an unprecedented amount of time on the Hubble Space Telescope. ... > full story
Hair dye and smoking linked to progressive liver disease (March 24, 2010) -- Hair dye and smoking both increase the risk of progressive liver disease, suggests new research. Primary biliary cirrhosis, which is an early form of liver cirrhosis, is a long term progressive autoimmune disease, in which environmental factors are thought to play a part. ... > full story
Hard plastics decompose in oceans, releasing endocrine disruptor BPA (March 24, 2010) -- Scientists have reported widespread global contamination of sea sand and sea water with the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) and said that the BPA probably originated from a surprising source: Hard plastic trash discarded in the oceans and the epoxy plastic paint used to seal the hulls of ships. ... > full story
Optimism boosts the immune system (March 24, 2010) -- Feeling better about the future might help you feel better for real. In a new study, psychological scientists studied how law students' expectations about the future affected their immune response. Their conclusions: optimism may be good for your health. ... > full story
Mini generators make energy from random ambient vibrations (March 24, 2010) -- Tiny generators could produce enough electricity from random, ambient vibrations to power a wristwatch, pacemaker or wireless sensor. ... > full story
Probing the secrets of sharp memory in old age (March 24, 2010) -- Scientists are reporting new findings that may help explain why some individuals maintain sharp memory during aging, while others have normal or diminished mental capacity. The scientists found that "super-aged" brains tend to have fewer or no brain 'tangles' when compared to other individuals. ... > full story
Social bees have bigger brain area for learning, memory (March 24, 2010) -- Who's in charge? Who's got food? The brain region responsible for learning and memory is bigger in social bee queens who may have to address these questions than in solitary queens, report scientists who study the tropical sweat bee species, Megalopta genalis, in Panama. Their study is the first comparison of the brain sizes of social and non-social individuals of the same species. ... > full story
Another perk of painkillers? Decreased hormone levels may reduce cancer risk (March 24, 2010) -- Postmenopausal women who regularly use aspirin and other analgesics (known as painkillers) have lower estrogen levels, which could contribute to a decreased risk of breast or ovarian cancer. ... > full story
New spintronics material could help usher in next generation of microelectronics (March 24, 2010) -- Complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology is used today in all forms of electronic devices. However power dissipation and variability, saturation of device performance, are two major issues the market will need to overcome as it continues to scale down its devices. Electrical engineers have just created a new material incorporating spintronics that could lead to a new generation of devices. ... > full story
Poker face busted? Our eye position betrays the numbers we have in mind, new study (March 24, 2010) -- It will be harder to lie about your age or your poker hand after new research from Australia has revealed that our eye position betrays the numbers we are thinking about. In the study, participants were asked to state a series of random numbers. By measuring their vertical and horizontal eye position, researchers were able to predict with reliable confidence the next chosen number -- before it was spoken. ... > full story
New dinosaur from Utah's red rocks (March 24, 2010) -- Utah's red rocks -- world-famous attractions at numerous national parks, monuments and state parks -- have yielded a rare skeleton of a new species of plant-eating dinosaur that lived 185 million years ago and may have been buried alive by a collapsing sand dune. ... > full story
New theory of Down syndrome cause may lead to new therapies (March 24, 2010) -- Conventional wisdom among scientists for years has suggested that because individuals with Down syndrome have an extra chromosome, the disorder most likely results from the presence of too many genes or proteins contained in that additional structure. But a recent study reveals that just the opposite could be true -- that a deficiency of a protein in the brain of Down syndrome patients could contribute to the cognitive impairment and congenital heart defects that characterize the syndrome. ... > full story
Greenland ice sheet losing mass on northwest coast (March 24, 2010) -- Ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet, which has been increasing during the past decade over its southern region, is now moving up its northwest coast, according to a new international study. ... > full story
Height loss in postmenopausal women may indicate spinal fracture (March 24, 2010) -- Loss of height in postmenopausal women may indicate a vertebral fracture, according to a new article. ... > full story
Diesel exhaust associated with lethargy in offspring (March 24, 2010) -- Breathing diesel exhaust during pregnancy is associated with sluggishness in offspring. Researchers studied the effects of pollution exposure in mice, finding that the offspring of mothers who breathed diesel fumes while pregnant were less likely to show spontaneous movement. ... > full story
It's the thought that counts: Helping behavior in infants may be determined by previous interactions (March 24, 2010) -- We are usually eager to assist people who have helped us in the past. These reciprocal relationships are an important part of adult interactions and foster cooperation in society. New findings suggest that this reciprocal behavior may have early beginnings and can be demonstrated in children as young as 21 months. ... > full story
New form of insulin can be inhaled rather than injected (March 24, 2010) -- A new inhalable powder carrying insulin not only eliminates the pain of injections, but actually delivers the medication faster than a needle, researchers. ... > full story
Infection with tickborne parasite may suppress malaria (March 24, 2010) -- A new study suggests that monkeys chronically infected with babesiosis, a tick-borne parasite, are able to suppress malaria infection when exposed to a simian malaria parasite. ... > full story
Tsunami generator will help protect against future catastrophe (March 24, 2010) -- A unique wave-generating machine that mimics the activity of real-life tsunamis with unprecedented realism has been used successfully in a laboratory in the UK. The simulator has copied the behavior of the first massive wave of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. ... > full story
Stopping clinical trials early often exaggerates treatment effects (March 24, 2010) -- An international study of nearly 100 clinical trials that were stopped early due to positive treatment effects has found that many of those effects were exaggerated. ... > full story
Lab-on-a-chip with moveable channels (March 24, 2010) -- Microfluidic devices typically depend upon electrokinetic or traditional pressure methods to move microscopic amounts of fluid around a fixed microchip. Engineering researchers have created a paradigm shift -- and moved some tiny channels in the process. ... > full story
Therapy via teleconference? Professor studies remote psychotherapy (March 24, 2010) -- Obtaining therapy via teleconference is just as effective as face-to-face meetings, according to new research. ... > full story
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