Dear Reader ,
Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for May 31, 2011:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Shrinking device makes objects appear smaller than they are- Physicists describe how to make time-reversed light pulses
- Mouse virus erroneously linked to chronic fatigue syndrome, study finds
- Nanoscale waveguide for future photonics
- Code green: Energy-efficient programming to curb computers' power use
- Nvidia shows off Kal-El -- new quad-core processing chip
- Researchers uncover how the brain processes faces
- Bilingualism no big deal for brain, researcher finds
- Study: 'E-waste pollution' a threat to human health
- Origins of XMRV deciphered, undermining claims for a role in human disease
- Blood test can instantly diagnose depression
- Researchers solve decades-old molecular mystery linked to blood clotting
- Experts say cellphones are 'possibly carcinogenic'
- Google adds non-stop flight data to search results
- Potential new drug candidate found for Alzheimer's disease
Space & Earth news
Space Image: Docked one last time
Backdropped by a night time view of the Earth and the starry sky, the Space Shuttle Endeavour is photographed docked at the International Space Station on May 28, 2011.
Doc Draper in space
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy laid out a vision for "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth." Six months later, Charles Stark Draper responded to that call, volunteering his services as an Apollo crewmember.
Food security in 2050 on a global scale achievable but greatly challenging
With today's crops, it would be possible to feed the 2050 global population of nine billion people. But agricultural land will have to be used optimally. And this demands solid economic and institutional preconditions. Food prices will probably eventually rise. This was discussed by Professor Martin van Ittersum on 12 May 2011 at the ceremony at which he accepted the post of Professor of Plant Production Systems with a personal chair at Wageningen University.
The real space saver: NC State students look to support manned mission to Mars
What would it take to make a manned mission to Mars a reality? A team of aeronautical and textile engineering students from North Carolina State University believe part of the solution may lie in advanced textile materials. The students joined forces to tackle life-support challenges that the aerospace industry has been grappling with for decades.
Support for local community programs key to climate change response in Arctic
Johnson's research has taken her to Kanngiqtugaapik (Clyde River) on Baffin Island, Nunavut. There, she has been finding out how Inuit communities are adapting to climate change, and what contributions they are able to make to the development of policies and programs that affect them.
Astronauts get set to land Endeavour one last time
(AP) -- Endeavour's six astronauts have checked the systems they need to bring NASA's next-to-last space shuttle flight to an end.
Scientists warn of more quake danger in N.Z.
New Zealand's earthquake-devastated Canterbury region faces an almost one-in-four chance of another powerful tremor in the next 12 months, government scientists said Tuesday.
Weather 'promising' for Endeavour landing: NASA
The weather forecast looks "promising" for the US shuttle Endeavour's nighttime landing to end its final mission, scheduled for 2:35 am (0635 GMT) on Wednesday, NASA said.
Copenhagen suborbitals upcoming launch attempt in June
Copenhagen Suborbitals hopes to launch the world’s first amateur-built rocket for human space travel and have announced an upcoming launch window for their Tycho Brahe capsule. The window extends from June 1-14, 2011 and they are currently shooting for Thursday, June 2 for an unmanned suborbital test flight, according the their website. The group is headed by Kristian von Bengtson and Peter Madsen, and their HEAT 1-X rocket is being prepared for launch from a steel catamaran in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark.
EU carbon emissions 'plummeted in 2009'
Greenhouse-gas emissions by the 27 members of the European Union fell by 7.1 percent in 2009 over 2008, driven by economic recession but also a switch to renewable energy, the European Environment Agency (EAA) said on Tuesday.
Hurricane season starting with high US, Caribbean risk
The Atlantic hurricane season kicks off Wednesday with elevated threats to the United States and nations around the Caribbean, the latest forecasts show.
Forest fragmentation threatens Europe, species: UN
Fires, felling and agriculture are whittling Europe's forests down into isolated patches, threatening to speed up desertification and deplete wildlife, a UN report warned Tuesday.
US astronaut fears 'memory' gap after shuttle ends
US astronaut Mark Kelly, who is commanding the shuttle Endeavour's final space flight, said Tuesday he is concerned about a drain of NASA talent once the US shuttle program ends later this year.
Study: 'E-waste pollution' a threat to human health
In addition to its damaging effect on the environment and its illegal smuggling into developing countries, researchers have now linked e-waste to adverse effects on human health, such as inflammation and oxidative stress – precursors to cardiovascular disease, DNA damage and possibly cancer.
MOST microsatellite reveals true nature of mysterious dust-forming Wolf-Rayet binary CV Ser
(PhysOrg.com) -- Using the Canadian MOST microsatellite, a team of researchers from the Universite de Montreal and the Centre de Recherche en Astrophysique du Quebec has made a stunning observation. As they'll report at this week's CASCA 2011 meeting in Ontario, Canada, the team has observed significant changes in the depth of the atmospheric eclipses in the 30-day binary WR+O system CV Serpentis, suggesting a never before seen change of mass-loss rate of the WR component by 70%.
Probing the origins of extreme neutron stars
(PhysOrg.com) -- Neutron stars are the unimaginably dense corpses of what were once much more massive stars that died while being ripped apart in a supernova explosion. Their average density is typically more than one billion tons per teaspoonful, even denser than the nucleus of an atom that is composed of protons and neutrons. Because these densities can never be reproduced on the Earth, these objects are great extraterrestrial laboratories for the study of how matter and exotic particles behave under extreme conditions.
Scientists calculate the true cost of saving rainforest, improving food security
(PhysOrg.com) -- New research shows that international plans to pay developing countries to reduce tropical forest destruction may increase rural poverty because critical income streams to rural people have been ignored.
Study: Biodegradable products may be bad for the environment
Research from North Carolina State University shows that so-called biodegradable products are likely doing more harm than good in landfills, because they are releasing a powerful greenhouse gas as they break down.
New NASA map reveals patterns of tropical forest carbon storage
A NASA-led research team has used a variety of NASA satellite data to create the most precise map ever produced depicting the amount and location of carbon stored in Earth's tropical forests. The data are expected to provide a baseline for ongoing carbon monitoring and research and serve as a useful resource for managing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
Technology news
Measuring the next generation of life-saving pollution sensors
New research from the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is helping Duvas Technologies Ltd (Duvas) to develop improved air quality monitoring instrumentation. Currently over 1bn people a year suffer from respiratory disease associated with pollution, and according to the World Health Organisation, over 3m a year die from its effects. Duvas is planning to help provide technology to understand and address this problem.
FRAVE: Flexible virtual reality system
Product developers, vehicle design engineers and trainee pilots increasingly utilize 3-D worlds, operating in a virtual space created by realistic images in real time. Researchers at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have now created precisely a new virtual reality system. The Flexible Reconfigurable Cave (FRAVE) offers a wealth of advantages over the previously established CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment): it is much cheaper, more flexible, features a modular structure and a smaller footprint.
Virginia Tech mechanical engineers win measurement science best paper award
For the second consecutive year, members of Virginia Tech's Advanced Experimental Thermofluid Engineering Research (AEThER) Laboratory in mechanical engineering, directed by professor Pavlos P. Vlachos, professor of mechanical engineering, have received the Outstanding Paper Award in fluid mechanics from the Measurement Science and Technology Journal, published by the American Institute of Physics.
Sony to restore most PlayStation services this week
Sony said Tuesday it plans to restore by this weekend PlayStation Network services worldwide except in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, after being targeted in a massive online attack in April.
LinkedIn opens Asia headquarters in Singapore
Career networking website LinkedIn opened its Asian headquarters in Singapore on Tuesday, part of a plan to tap the region's large pool of professionals.
SKorea's Ticket Monster acquires Malaysian site
(AP) -- Fast-growing South Korean daily deal website Ticket Monster has acquired a Malaysian company in the first move of its expansion to other countries in Asia.
Pentagon: All options on table in cyber-attack (Update)
The Pentagon said Tuesday that it would consider all options if the United States were hit by a cyber-attack as it develops the first military guidelines for the age of Internet warfare.
Web interface defines new paradigm for life science data-sharing
A new lightweight web service interface for accessing massive amounts of life science research data across multiple public and private domains has been developed by researchers at RIKEN, Japan's flagship research institute. Through the powerful RIKEN Scientists' Networking System (SciNetS), the service provides a secure, flexible and light weight interface to millions of data records and their network of semantic relationships, ushering in a new era of collaboration, analysis and information-sharing for life science research and applied innovation.
Activision bets on online play for 'Call of Duty'
(AP) -- Activision knows it's more fun to blast on-screen enemies into oblivion with friends, so this fall it's launching an online service for its "Call of Duty" games that's part Facebook, part player matchmaker and part organized sports.
Apple's Jobs to unveil 'Lion' operating system
Ailing chief executive Steve Jobs will return from sick leave to unveil Apple's latest generation of software next week, the firm announced Tuesday.
Nokia share price plummets as it lowers outlook
The world's top mobile phone maker Nokia on Tuesday downgraded its second quarter outlook, saying sales would be far lower than expected and that it could no longer give a full-year forecast.
Algorithm for identifying object boundaries in digital images 50,000 times more efficient than predecessor
Determining the boundaries of objects is one of the central problems in computer vision. It's something humans do with ease: We glance out the window and immediately see cars as distinct from the sidewalk and street and the people walking by, or lampposts as distinct from the facades of the buildings behind them. But duplicating that facility in silicon has proven remarkably difficult.
DoCoMo demonstrates spoken language translator for smartphones
(PhysOrg.com) -- Japanese cellular service company NTT DoCoMo, recently demonstrated a smartphone cloud based app that allows users speaking different languages to communicate with one another by translating their conversation into each other’s language. Using already existing technology from other companies, the service “listens” to words spoken on one end, coverts those words to text, then translates them to the other person’s language, which it spits into another text file; it then uses text-to-speech software to read the results to the person on the other end of the line. When the person responds, the whole process works in reverse. In addition to speaking and hearing the finished result, users can also see the words in both languages on their cell phones as the conversation progresses.
Google adds non-stop flight data to search results
(PhysOrg.com) -- Using Google to search for flights is nothing new but that search tool just got a serious boost. The company announced on Friday that it is adding flight schedules to all of their travel related searches.
The NutriSmart system would put RFIDs into your food for enhanced information
(PhysOrg.com) -- RFID, short for Radio Frequency ID, tags have found their way into a wide variety of applications. These pellets, which are often roughly the same size as a grain of rice, can help us to be reunited with our lost pets, keep towels inside the hotel, and keep big box stores shipping the right boxes to the right places at the right time.
Code green: Energy-efficient programming to curb computers' power use
Soaring energy consumption by ever more powerful computers, data centers and mobile devices has many experts looking to reduce the energy use of these devices. Most projects so far focus on more efficient cooling systems or energy-saving power modes.
Medicine & Health news
DTC genetic tests neither accurate in their predictions nor beneficial to individuals
Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests give inaccurate predictions of disease risks and many European geneticists believe that some of them should be banned, the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics will hear today (Tuesday). In the first of two studies to be presented, Rachel Kalf, from the department of epidemiology at Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, will say that her research is the first to look at the real predictive ability of such tests, the results of which are available directly to an individual without having to go through a healthcare professional.
Warning about keeping and storing medicines
(Medical Xpress) -- Many people keep their medicines in places that may be too hot and humid, or too cold, to keep them safe to use, new University of Otago research suggests.
Risk of blood clots in veins hereditary
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the third most common type of cardiovascular disease after coronary heart disease and stroke. Researchers at the Centre for Primary Health Care Research in Malmo have mapped the significance of hereditary factors for venous thromboembolism in the entire Swedish population by studying the risk of VTE in children of parents with VTE compared with the children of parents who have not had VTE.
Cosmetics can cause serious adverse effects
Permanent hair dye gives the most serious adverse effects, yet there are also many reactions to facial and body moisturisers. This comes from the first report from the National Register of Adverse Effects from Cosmetic Products published by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Breaking the fracture cycle through effective and coordinated models of care
A prior fracture at least doubles a patient's future fracture risk – yet numerous studies from across the world have found that healthcare systems fail to respond to the first fracture to prevent future fractures. Professor Cyrus Cooper, chair of the Committee of Scientific Advisors of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and director of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton in the UK stated, "Studies from the UK, USA and Australia have reported that 45% or more of today's hip fracture patients have a prior fracture history. Healthcare systems are evidently failing to respond to the first fracture – this is, tragically, a missed opportunity for intervention. Worldwide, millions of people go on to experience debilitating and life-threatening hip fractures, at great cost to the individual and to healthcare systems."
Difficulties in diagnosing dementia type
"It is true that we know of around 70 different types of dementia, but these findings are shocking. We believed more patients were diagnosed correctly when we began the study", say researchers Elisabet Englund and Hans Brunnström at Lund University.
HbA1C test for glucose monitoring poorly predictive in dialysis patients
The gold standard long-term glucose monitoring test for patients with diabetes proved to be of limited value in dialysis patients, according to a new study at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
Extra weight equals better health-related quality of life for blacks, not so for women
A survey of nearly 4,000 Americans finds that obese women reported significantly worse health than obese men. Blacks who were overweight also reported better health than blacks in the normal or obese weight categories. Respondents were divided into three categories: normal, overweight, or obese, according to their height and weight.
Medical ethicists working in hospitals need to have standards
A Queen's University professor is helping standardize practices for healthcare ethicists who consult and give guidance on medical ethics issues to doctors, nurses and patients across the country.
First controlled clinical trial for Juvenile Batten disease to start
After years of building hope for a treatment, Rochester researchers and clinicians will begin the first controlled clinical trial for Juvenile Batten disease this summer, thanks to $1 million in grants from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Batten Disease Support and Research Association (BDRSA). The trial will examine whether mycophenolate mofetil, a drug FDA-approved to suppress the immune system and prevent organ rejection in children, is safe for these children and whether it can slow or halt the progression of the fatal neurodegenerative disease.
Key goals for building on 30 years of HIV/AIDS research
In the 30 years since the first reported cases of a mysterious illness now known as AIDS, researchers have made extraordinary advances in understanding, treating and preventing the disease. Now the challenge, according to experts at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is to build on those successes to control and, ultimately, end the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Facelift incision offers safe option for some thyroid patients
A facelift incision and robotics can help surgeons safely remove a portion of a diseased thyroid from some patients without the characteristic neck scar.
What can we do about death? Reinventing the American medical system
(Garrison, NY) In a feature article in The New Republic, Daniel Callahan and Sherwin Nuland propose a radical reinvention of the American medical system requiring new ways of thinking about living, aging, and dying. They argue that a sustainable -- and more humane -- medical system in the U.S. will have to reprioritize to emphasize public health and prevention for the young, and care not cure for the elderly.
More than one-third of California teens do not participate in school physical education
Despite a state requirement that public middle and high school students get 400 minutes of physical education every 10 days, approximately 1.3 million — more than a third (38 percent) of all adolescents enrolled in California public schools — do not participate in any school-based physical education classes, according to a new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Diabetic drug could help prevent the spread of cancer
A protein activated by certain drugs already approved for treating Type II diabetes may slow or stop the spread of breast tumors.
Study finds nighttime organ transplant surgery not associated with poorer survival after 1 year
An analysis of data on heart and lung transplant recipients indicates that patients who had transplant surgery performed at nighttime did not have a significantly different rate of survival up to one year after organ transplantation, according to a study in the June 1 issue of JAMA.
Fracture prediction methods may be useful for patients with diabetes
Use of established fracture prediction methods in older patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) found that scores from these methods were associated with hip and nonspine fracture risk, and a certain score associated with higher risk of fracture compared to persons without DM, according to a study in the June 1 issue of JAMA. Because patients with type 2 DM often have higher levels of bone mineral density (BMD), it has been uncertain the applicability of fracture risk screening methods typically used for patients with lower levels of BMD.
The search for an effective treatment for critical limb ischemia continues
Despite showing promising results in a recent phase 2 trial, administration of a novel gene therapy (NV1FGF) to enhance the growth of new blood vessels in people with critical limb ischaemia (whose legs are damaged when blocked arteries lead to a lack of blood flow), does not reduce amputation or death, according to the results of the phase 3 TAMARIS trial.
Arrowing in on Alzheimer's disease
Recently the number of genes known to be associated with Alzheimer's disease has increased from four to eight, including the MS4A gene cluster on chromosome 11. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Medicine has expanded on this using a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to find a novel location within the MS4A gene cluster which is associated with Alzheimer's disease.
New research may lead to improved diagnosis of autism
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) may provide an early and objective indicator of autism, according to researchers at Columbia University in New York City, who used the technique to document language impairment in autistic children. Results of their study appear online and in the August issue of Radiology.
14 dead in Germany as cucumber crisis grows
Germany on Monday held crisis talks amid reports that at least 14 people have died and hundreds are ill in an outbreak of a highly virulent strain of bacteria found on imported cucumbers.
Nearly one in ten toys in China unsafe: watchdog
China's safety watchdog has found nearly one in ten toys in the domestic market is unsafe, highlighting widespread quality problems in the country's poorly regulated manufacturing industry.
More sick, dead, in European E. coli outbreak
(AP) -- Two new deaths linked to a mysterious bacterial outbreak in Europe blamed on tainted vegetables were reported Tuesday, including the first outside Germany, as the number of people falling ill continued to rise.
Private weight-loss surgery clinics shedding quality patient care
Private health clinics across Canada providing weight-loss surgeries are offering much shorter wait times but at a hefty cost and at the expense of quality patient care, according to a new study led by St. Michael's Hospital physician Dr. Chaim Bell.
Targeted testing offers treatment hope for ovarian cancer patients
Women with ovarian cancer could be helped by a new test that identifies the specific type of tumour they have, a conference will hear this week.
Obesity linked to decrease in physical activity in workplace
Warning: Your workplace may be making you fat.
Searching the web for dengue
Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Google.org have found web-based search data to be a viable source of information for early detection and monitoring of outbreaks of dengue, an emerging mosquito-borne virus found in tropical areas of the world. Because search data allows the capture of disease-related queries in near real time, it could help public health officials in the more than 100 countries affected by dengue respond more quickly to nascent epidemics.
Scientists discover how vitamins and minerals may prevent age-related diseases
Severe deficiency of the vitamins and minerals required for life is relatively uncommon in developed nations, but modest deficiency is very common and often not taken seriously. A new research published online in the FASEB Journal, however, may change this thinking as it examines moderate selenium and vitamin K deficiency to show how damage accumulates over time as a result of vitamin and mineral loss, leading to age-related diseases.
Antibodies successful in the treatment of the hemolytic-uremic syndrome from EHEC
In the online version of the New England Journal of Medicine, physicians and scientists in Heidelberg, Montreal, and Paris reported on the successful treatment of three young children who were suffering from a severe hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) after an infection with enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). The infections occurred in 2010. EHEC are the bacteria that cause the current wave of infections that have already claimed ten lives in Germany. The number of suspected and confirmed cases of EHEC has now reached 700.
Scientists 'see' the early cellular cause of dry eye disease for the first time
If you are one of the millions of people around the world who struggle with dry eye disease, good news is on the way. A new research discovery published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology offers hope for new drugs that treat the cellular cause of the disease rather than its symptoms. That's because the research is the first to identify natural killer (NK) cells, a type of cell that provides innate immunity to the eyes, as promoting the inflammation that plays a critical role in the development of dry eye disease.
Long-term study data supports association between childhood ADHD and substance abuse risk
Analysis of data from two long-term studies of the impact of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on the development of psychiatric disorders in young adults confirms that ADHD alone significantly increases the risk of cigarette smoking and substance abuse in both boys and girls. The report from a team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators will appear in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and has been released online.
Study finds dangerous bacteria on cell phones of hospital patients
Cell phones used by patients and their visitors were twice as likely to contain potentially dangerous bacteria as those of healthcare workers (HCW), according to a study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
Scientists find key mechanism in transition to alcohol dependence
A team of Scripps Research Institute scientists has found a key biological mechanism underpinning the transition to alcohol dependence. This finding opens the door to the development of drugs to manage excessive alcohol consumption.
Gene change identifies brain cancer patients that respond better to treatment
New research proves that a change in a particular gene can identify which patients with a specific kind of brain cancer will respond better to treatment. Testing for the gene can distinguish patients with a more- or less-aggressive form of glioblastoma, the most common and an often-fatal type of primary brain cancer, and help guide therapy, the researchers say.
European food contamination kills 16, sickens 1150
(AP) -- A massive and unprecedented outbreak of bacterial infections linked to contaminated vegetables claimed two more lives in Europe on Tuesday, driving the death toll to 16. The number of sick rose to more than 1,150 people in at least eight nations.
Kids who bully, are aggressive are twice as likely to have sleep problems
Children who are bullies or have conduct problems at school, are more likely to be sleepy during the day according to University of Michigan Medical School researchers.
Sleep loss lowers testosterone in healthy young men
Cutting back on sleep drastically reduces a healthy young man's testosterone levels, according to a study published in the June 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
US reviews birth control pill safety over clot risk
The US Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it is reviewing recently published studies which have pointed to an increased blood clot risk associated with a certain type of birth control pill.
Vaccine increases disease-free survival for follicular lymphoma patients
A lymphoma vaccine uniquely tailored for each patient extends disease-free survival by 14 months, with signs of an even better response for patients with a specific biological marker, a team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported today in the online version of Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Association between biomarkers and disease often overstated, researcher finds
More than two dozen widely cited studies linking genes or other "biomarkers" to specific diseases vastly overstate the association, according to new research from an expert in scientific study design at the Stanford University School of Medicine. As a result, clinicians may be making decisions for their patients based on inaccurate conclusions not supported by other, larger studies.
Why childhood obesity? It's so much more than what kids eat
University of Illinois scientists from a variety of disciplines have teamed up to examine the factors that contribute to childhood obesity. Why? Because individual researchers have found that the problem is too complicated for any of them to tackle alone.
Drug can reverse overgrown hearts to help prevent heart failure
A promising cancer treatment drug can restore function of a heart en route to failure from high blood pressure, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
Link found between environment, genetics in triggering multiple sclerosis
Environmental and inherited risk factors associated with multiple sclerosis – previously poorly understood and not known to be connected – converge to alter a critical cellular function linked to the chronic neurologic disease, researchers with the UC Irvine Multiple Sclerosis Research Center have discovered.
Non-invasive wireless near-infrared device provides reliable diagnosis of bladder dysfunction
(Medical Xpress) -- A cell phone-sized, wireless near-infrared device is as reliable as the current "gold standard" invasive tests in determining bladder disease, according to a study by researchers at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver Coastal Health and the Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI).
Energy and sports drinks not for kids: study
(Medical Xpress) -- In a recent study published in Pediatrics, Dr. Holly Benjamin from the American Academy of Pediatrics, urged parents and pediatricians to keep sports drinks and energy drinks away from children and adolescents. Citing that the drinks contain caffeine, other stimulants, and sugar, they state that they are not recommended or nutritional for children and can be contributing to childhood obesity.
Blood test can instantly diagnose depression
(Medical Xpress) -- Backed by the medical research group Human Metabolome Technologies (HMT), researchers at Keio University have developed a test which measures the concentration of phosphoric acid in the blood as an indicator of depression.
Origins of XMRV deciphered, undermining claims for a role in human disease
Delineation of the origin of the retrovirus known as XMRV from the genomes of laboratory mice indicates that the virus is unlikely to be responsible for either prostate cancer or chronic fatigue syndrome in humans, as has been widely published. The virus arose because of genetic recombination of two mouse viruses. Subsequent infection of lab experiments with XMRV formed the basis of the original association.
Bilingualism no big deal for brain, researcher finds
How do people who speak more than one language keep from mixing them up? How do they find the right word in the right language when being fluent in just one language means knowing about 30,000 words?
Researchers uncover how the brain processes faces
Each time you see a person that you know, your brain rapidly and seemingly effortlessly recognizes that person by his or her face.
Experts say cellphones are 'possibly carcinogenic'
(AP) -- A respected international panel of experts says cellphones are possible cancer-causing agents, putting them in the same category as the pesticide DDT, gasoline engine exhaust and coffee.
Potential new drug candidate found for Alzheimer's disease
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, the Medical University of South Carolina and American Life Science Pharmaceuticals of San Diego have demonstrated that oral administration of a cysteine protease inhibitor, E64d, not only reduces the build-up of β-amyloid (Aβ) in the brains of animal models for Alzheimer's disease, but also results in a substantial improvement in memory deficit.
Mouse virus erroneously linked to chronic fatigue syndrome, study finds
Two years ago, a widely publicized scientific report plucked an old mouse virus out of obscurity and held it up as a possible cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. According to a new study published today by a group of researchers in California, Wisconsin and Illinois, that report was wrong.
Biology news
Plant biology meets up with computational wizardry
Over time, plants have evolved to adapt to a constantly changing, often hostile, environment. Unfortunately, they are facing a new and difficult challenge ahead.
Researchers begin effort to reduce crop loss from parasitic weed attacking Africa's crops
Scientists based in Nigeria and Kenya have begun a major push against parasitic weeds that have spread across much of sub-Saharan Africa, causing up to US$1.2 billion in damage every year to the maize and cowpea crops of tens of millions of small farmers.
Good guy or bad guy? Diagnosing stomach disease in pet reptiles
Indigestion is surprisingly common in pet snakes and other reptiles. It frequently results from a parasitic infection known as cryptosporidiosis, to which reptiles seem especially prone. Cryptosporidiosis is highly contagious and often fatal but unfortunately diagnosis is extremely difficult. Scientists at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, have developed a test for the identification of the parasites in question. The results are published in the current issue of the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation.
Egg cartons not accurate in reporting animal welfare claims
If you think that you're using humanely produced eggs for your omelets or deviled eggs, think again. Egg companies recognize that most Americans care about the welfare of farmed animals and many market their eggs with labels claiming the hens were treated well. But a Rutgers–Camden law professor warns that many of the animal welfare claims on egg cartons aren't all that they're cracked up to be.
Sturgeon's death highlights threat to ancient fish
(AP) -- Alas, poor Harald. Wired up to a satellite transmitter, he had much to teach science about the life of the great sturgeons of the Danube River and Black Sea.
Researchers discover how plants control the formation of wood cells
An international research group headed by Professor and Research Director Yrjo Helariutta has discovered the genetic process that controls the development of wood cells in the roots of plants. Wood is the vascular tissue that transports water and nutrients upward from the root, also contributing to the formation of the woody element in the stem. The work, published in the online version of the prestigious Current Biology journal, presents a potential method for engineering plants to produce more wood.
Parental conflict in plants: Maternal factors silence paternal genes
In flowering plants, the beginning of embryogenesis is almost exclusively governed by maternal gene activity. Maternal factors regulate the development of the embryo and silence paternal genes during early stages of development. This finding – obtained using next generation sequencing technology – was reported by an international team of researchers including plant geneticists from the University of Zurich. This newly uncovered mechanism may be involved in the maintenance of species boundaries and could play an important role in the development of novel crop varieties.
Similarities cause protein misfolding
A large number of illnesses stem from misfolded proteins, molecules composed of amino acids. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now studied protein misfolding using a special spectroscopic technique. Misfolding, as they report in Nature, is more frequent if the sequence of the amino acids in the neighboring protein domains is very similar.
New endemic beetles discovered in Iberian Peninsula
A European research team, with Spanish participation, has described two new beetle species measuring two millimetres in length. The coleoptera (beetles) were found in streams in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees mountains (from Gipuzkoa to Girona) and in the Sierra de la Demanda mountains (Burgos). Experts had previously thought that they belonged to another European species.
UN aims for biodiversity treaty by July 2012
A global treaty on the harvesting of genetic resources will probably be ratified by July 2012, the UN executive secretary on biological diversity said Tuesday.
Big city holds empty promise for bats
In the treeless, flat Prairie, you'd think a city would provide a good home for bats who like to snuggle up and roost in trees and buildings. But researchers at the University of Calgary made the surprising discovery that the urban landscape is far from ideal for these animals.
Storing seeds for a rainy day -- or in this case, a fire
As mountain pine beetles march across the forests of western North America, these insects may kill millions of pine trees during a single outbreak. A rise in overall temperatures over the past several years has increased the range of mountain pine beetles, resulting in an epidemic and possibly making this mountain pine beetle infestation the largest forest-insect blight to occur in North America.
A mammoth task -- sorting out mammoth evolution
Mammoths were a diverse genus that roamed across Eurasia and North America during the Pleistocene era. In continental North America, at least two highly divergent species have long been recognized – woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) and Columbian mammoths (M. columbi). But new genetic evidence published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology suggests that these species may have been closely related enough to mate when they had the chance.
On a wild goose chase after the world's highest migrant
(PhysOrg.com) -- The remarkable achievements of the world’s highest flying geese have been revealed by researchers from Bangor University and are reported in the prestigious American scientific journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Scientists crack the spiders' web code
(PhysOrg.com) -- Decorative white silk crosses are an ingenious tactic used by orb-weaving spiders to protect their webs from damage, a new study from the University of Melbourne has revealed.
Climate change allows invasive weed to outcompete local species
Yellow starthistle already causes millions of dollars in damage to pastures in western states each year, and as climate changes, land managers can expect the problem with that weed and others to escalate.
Study: Eastern wolves are hybrids with coyotes
Wolves in the eastern United States are hybrids of gray wolves and coyotes, while the region's coyotes actually are wolf-coyote-dog hybrids, according to a new genetic study that is adding fuel to a longstanding debate over the origins of two endangered species.
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