Dear Reader ,
Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for October 12, 2011:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Noted Physicist teams with anthropologist to create ancient linguistic tree- 'Dark matter' of the genome revealed through analysis of 29 mammals
- Wet and mild: Researchers take the temperature of Mars's past
- Researchers reconstruct genome of the Black Death
- Golden touch makes low-temperature graphene production a reality
- Self-replication process holds promise for production of new materials
- T. rex was bigger than thought: study
- Oldest fossil rodents in South America confirms animals from Africa
- Possible trigger for volcanic 'super-eruptions' found
- Naked mole genome sequenced
- Researchers discover new molecular target for diabetes treatment
- New gene therapy methods accurately correct mutation in patient's stem cells
- Review: It's not an iPhone 5, but so what?
- New discovery could make fuel, plastics production more energy efficient and cost effective
- Scientists find vitamin D crucial in human immune response to tuberculosis
Space & Earth news
Second Dutch nuclear rail shipment heads to France
A train carrying nuclear waste on Tuesday left the Netherlands bound for a recycling plant in France, the second such shipment that has sparked ire and protests of anti-nuclear activists.
NASA releases new interactive space communications game
NASA has released an interactive, educational video game called NetworKing that depicts how the Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) network operates. The release of the video game coincides with the close of World Space Week, Oct. 4-10.
Kepler mission - Themed corn maze attracts more than a thousand visitors
More than a thousand visitors turned out for the Kepler Mission-themed corn maze on Oct. 1, 2011, hosted by NASA and the Dell’Osso Family Farm of Lathrop, Calif.
EU moves to 'green' its farms in reform effort
The EU called for a greener, fairer farm policy on Wednesday as it moved to radically overhaul its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) by capping subsidies and tying them to environmental concerns.
Australian parliament passes divisive carbon tax
Australia's lower house on Wednesday passed a contentious new tax on carbon pollution to combat climate change which has angered many voters and threatens Prime Minister Julia Gillard's hold on power.
Oil-slick ship at risk of breaking up: NZealand PM
Fears grew Wednesday that a ship stuck on a New Zealand reef may break up and release a new tide of oil, as its captain was charged over the nation's worst maritime pollution disaster.
Beneficial bacteria can help keep Florida coral healthy, researchers report
(PhysOrg.com) -- Bacteria that could potentially help corals resist the devastating disease white pox have been found by researchers at the University of Florida and Mote Marine Laboratory.
Sunlight changes aerosols in clouds
(PhysOrg.com) -- Today's climate models regard organic aerosols as static carbon-based molecules, but scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of California, Irvine showed that the particles are very dynamic. Exposure to sunlight transforms the aerosol composition drastically. Changing the composition alters how the particles behave, a topic of interest to scientists and climate modelers. Artwork from this study graced the cover of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.
Indian-French satellite put into orbit
An Indian-French satellite that will study monsoon patterns and global warming was launched on Wednesday from a space centre in southern India.
China invests billions to avert water crisis
China is to invest up to 4 trillion yuan ($600 billion) over the next decade to overcome a huge water shortage that threatens the country's economic growth, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Mission to mysterious Uranus
Scientists want to send an orbiter and probe to the ice giant planet Uranus, but do the resources exist to support such an ambitious project?
Argonne team helps map Fukushima radiation release
(PhysOrg.com) -- As the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors unfolded in Japan, several employees at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory were lacing up their boots.
Snowball Earth hypothesis challenged
The hypothesis that the Earth was completely covered in ice 635 million years ago has received a serious blow. The atmospheric concentration of CO2 during that period was much lower than previously thought, according to a team of French researchers from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (CNRS, France), working in collaboration with scientists from Brazil and the US. Their work, which is published in the journal Nature on October 6, challenges part of the so-called Snowball Earth hypothesis and rekindles the debate about the origins of the deglaciation mechanism.
Jury still out on whether the Arctic ozone hole is an exception
Last winter, an unprecedented ozone hole appeared above the Arctic, five times the size of Germany. For ETH-Zurich professor Thomas Peter, the recently published study comes as no surprise. But it does raise many questions.
Metal shortages alert from leading geologists
Geologists are warning of shortages and bottlenecks of some metals due to an insatiable demand for consumer products.
German satellite hurtles towards Earth: officials
A German satellite around the size of a car is speeding towards Earth, officials said Wednesday, due to re-enter the atmosphere later this month but with little idea where fragments could land.
Spotty, strong convection seen in NASA imagery helps Irwin regain tropical storm status
Tropical Storm Irwin almost appeared down for the count, but spotty areas of flaring convection provided a clue to forecasters that he wasn't ready to give up yet. The cloud top temperatures were measured by a NASA instrument at a frigid -112 Fahrenheit, indicating they're very high and powerful.
New Saudi Arabias of solar energy: Himalaya Mountains, Andes, Antarctica
Mention prime geography for generation of solar energy, and people tend to think of hot deserts. But a new study concludes that some of the world's coldest landscapes -- including the Himalaya Mountains, the Andes, and even Antarctica -- could become Saudi Arabias of solar. The research appears in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Iran 'failed' with space monkey launch
Iran acknowledged as a failure on Wednesday its attempt to send a live monkey into space last month -- touted as its first step towards launching a man into space.
Feeding the world while protecting the planet
The problem is stark: One billion people on earth don't have enough food right now. It's estimated that by 2050 there will be more than nine billion people living on the planet.
NASA to launch weather-climate satellite Oct 27
A satellite that aims to help weather forecasters predict extreme storms and offer scientists a better view of climate change is being readied for launch this month, NASA said Wednesday.
Distant galaxies reveal the clearing of the cosmic fog
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have used ESO's Very Large Telescope to probe the early Universe at several different times as it was becoming transparent to ultraviolet light. This brief but dramatic phase in cosmic history occurred around 13 billion years ago. By studying some of the most distant galaxies, the team has been able to establish a timeline for reionisation for the first time. They have also demonstrated that this phase must have happened quicker than previously thought.
New mystery on Mars' forgotten plains
(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the supposedly best understood and least interesting landscapes on Mars is hiding something that could rewrite the planet's history. Or not. In fact, about all that is certain is that decades of assumptions regarding the wide, flat Hesperia Planum are not holding up very well under renewed scrutiny with higher-resolution, more recent spacecraft data.
Clearing the cosmic fog of the early universe: Massive stars may be responsible
The space between the galaxies wasn't always transparent. In the earliest times, it was an opaque, dense fog. How it cleared is an important question in astronomy. New observational evidence from the University of Michigan shows how high energy light from massive stars could have been responsible.
Bacterial communication could affect Earth's climate
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists have discovered that bacterial communication could have a significant impact on the planet's climate.
Wet and mild: Researchers take the temperature of Mars's past
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have directly determined the surface temperature of early Mars for the first time, providing evidence that's consistent with a warmer and wetter Martian past.
Possible trigger for volcanic 'super-eruptions' found
The "super-eruption" of a major volcanic system occurs about every 100,000 years and is considered one of the most catastrophic natural events on Earth, yet scientists have long been unsure about what triggers these violent explosions.
Technology news
Cold War's nuclear wastes pose challenges to science, engineering, society
Seven papers published in the current issue of Technology and Innovation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors report on efforts by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to ensure continued safe and secure storage and disposition of 50 years worth of spent nuclear fuel, surplus nuclear materials, and high-level wastes at DOE facilities.
PayPal to announce online shopping login service
(AP) -- PayPal, eBay's online payment service, plans to announce a new service Wednesday that aims to make it easier to shop online by cutting down on the number of accounts consumers have to create with various Web retailers.
Zynga builds social network as IPO looms
Zynga is building a game-themed social network in a move that promises to reduce its dependence on Facebook as it prepares for a billion-dollar debut in the stock market.
India's Infosys Q2 profit up near 10%, shares jump
Indian software giant Infosys on Wednesday said quarterly profit rose by nearly 10 percent, powering its shares upwards as investors ignored a warning about an uncertain global market.
Asia powers PC rebound in computer gaming industry
It looks like many other industrial buildings in Singapore with its squat form and grey exterior.
Countdown: America's No. 1 solar car ready to race the world
(PhysOrg.com) -- With a cutting-edge solar car, an advanced strategy and an intrepid 16-student race crew, the University of Michigan's national champion solar car team is ready for the upcoming World Solar Challenge. The 1,800-mile international contest starts on the north shore of Australia in Darwin on Oct. 16.
Car Talk: LISA develops smart cars to make safer drivers
Calling all gamers: If you like to play first-person racing games, you may be able to help campus researchers better understand typical driving behaviors. The objective is to develop “intelligent” technologies that will help reduce accidents on the road.
Overheating risk for 1.6mn Sony televisions
Japan's Sony said Wednesday that some 1.6 million of its Bravia flat panel televisions were at risk of overheating due to defective parts, but the electronics giant did not issue a recall.
Dutch tech company ASML posts profit rise
Dutch company ASML, a key global supplier of computer chip-making systems, said Wednesday net profits had jumped 32 percent in the third quarter and maintained its outlook to achieve record sales by the end of 2011.
Scientists develop new technology to detect deep sea gas leaks
A new ultra-sensitive technology which can monitor leaks from underwater gas pipelines has been developed by scientists at the University of Southampton.
Spreading like wildfire? Maybe not always
One of America's most costly natural disasters are wildland fires, and wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires rank among the worst of these. WUI is the threshold where wildfires consume not only the landscape, but also infrastructure. Once that threshold is crossed, flames can spread – well, like wildfire. In quick succession, when a racing fire crosses the WUI, houses first smolder, then burn, and finally fall like wooden dominoes. And it can happen very quickly, as we all know.
Intelligent cars alert each other to hazards
The largest field test for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication worldwide is about to get under way. Scientists, auto makers, communication companies and public-sector institutions have teamed up to develop a system that allows cars to share information on traffic conditions and impending hazards. Researchers from the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Germany, are currently devising the test scenarios that 120 vehicles will use to put the system dubbed simTD through its paces on Germany's roads next spring.
Thai floods disrupt computer hard drive production
(AP) -- Western Digital Corp., one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard drives for personal computers, said severe flooding has halted production at its crucial Thai factory.
Longtime Motorola CEO Robert Galvin dies at 89
(AP) -- Robert Galvin, who was Motorola's CEO for 29 years and took it from maker of police radios and TVs to one of the world's leading electronics companies, has died. He was 89.
FBI arrests suspect over hacking Hollywood stars
The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Wednesday the arrest of a suspect over the alleged hacking of Hollywood celebrities including Scarlett Johansson and Christina Aguilera.
Latest BlackBerry woes caused by email backlog
Three days of BlackBerry outages that spread to North America on Wednesday are being caused by a backlog of emails from Europe, the system's under-pressure owners said.
Web-radio specialists reel in traditional-radio clients
Like Levi Strauss, who got rich selling goods to immigrants during the Gold Rush, the founders of Triton Digital are making their fortune by providing the technology to radio companies wanting to mine digital gold.
Websites fail to protect personal data, researchers contend
By signing in to many of the Web's most popular sites, consumers send their names, email addresses or other personal information to other websites and data-collection companies, according to a Stanford University study that sparked new calls Tuesday for "do not track" laws.
Unauthorized access hits Sony PlayStation accounts
Sony said Wednesday intruders staged a massive attempt to access user accounts on its PlayStation Network and other online entertainment services in the second major attack on its flagship gaming site this year.
Google Dart debut sparks chatter of JavaScript coup
(PhysOrg.com) -- When the news appeared earlier this week that Google was unveiling a new programming language, Dart, for developers. tech blogs ignited with talk of how Google is staging a JavaScript coup. The assumption was that Google wants Dart, not JavaScript, as the eventual lingua franca for writing Web applications, a motive that Google's Dart team says is not accurate. JavaScript has been around and will continue to be, was their response.
BlackBerry outages persist into third day, spread to North America
BlackBerry users across the world were exasperated Wednesday as an outage of email, messaging and Internet services on the phones spread to the U.S. and Canada and stretched into the third day for Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa.
PayPal announces online shopping login service
PayPal, eBay's online payment service, announced a new service Wednesday that aims to make it easier to shop online by cutting down on the number of accounts consumers have to create with various Web retailers.
Talk to the virtual hands
Body language of both speaker and listener affects success in virtual reality communication game.
Medicine & Health news
Skin color matters when it comes to Canadians' health: study
A new University of British Columbia study finds that Black Canadians with darker skin are more likely to report poorer health than Black Canadians with lighter skin. The study also suggests that a mismatched racial identity can negatively affect health.
UBC-Providence Health research to examine new treatments for heroin addiction
A clinical trial to test better treatment options for chronic heroin addiction is expected to begin in Vancouver at the end of this year. Led by researchers from Providence Health Care and the University of British Columbia, it's the only clinical trial of its kind in North America.
Kids with blocked tear ducts at higher risk for 'lazy eye'
Amblyopia, sometimes referred to as "lazy eye," is a cause of poor vision in children. It occurs in about 1.6% to 3.6% of the general population. Early treatment is critical, as the first few years are the most important in the development of eyesight. If amblyopia is not treated in the first 6 to 10 years, poor vision becomes permanent and cannot be corrected.
BMC pediatricians find increase in SNAP benefits associated with healthier children
Pediatric researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC), in partnership with Children's HealthWatch investigators in Boston, Minneapolis, Little Rock, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, have found that higher benefit amounts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) protected the health and well-being of very young, low-income children during a period of great financial hardship for many families in America. These findings were released as a policy brief on Oct. 12.
Pain characteristics suggest higher benefit from gallbladder surgery
According to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, better understanding of a patient's abdominal pain could help physicians know which patients will benefit most from surgical removal of the gallbladder. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology is the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.
Increasing cardiovascular disease in China: Urgent need for prevention
At over 40%, the mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in China is amongst the highest in the world¹ and has been rightly described as an epidemic.
By reprogramming skin cells into brain cells, scientists gain new insights into mental disorders
For many poorly understood mental disorders, such as schizophrenia or autism, scientists have wished they could uncover what goes wrong inside the brain before damage ensues.
Nearly 1 in 4 people with psoriasis may have undiagnosed psoriatic arthritis
If you have psoriasis or a family history of psoriasis and you are experiencing joint pain and swelling, you could have psoriatic arthritis, a serious disease that may lead to joint destruction and disability.
Study compares narrow band imaging to chromoendoscopy for the detection of dysplasia in IBD patients
A new study from Spain finds that narrow band imaging appears to be a less time-consuming and equally effective alternative to chromoendoscopy for the detection of dysplasia (abnormal growths) in patients with long-standing inflammatory bowel disease. However, this study demonstrated higher miss rates for detection of lesions by narrow band imaging as compared with chromoendoscopy, and the authors concluded that narrow band imaging cannot be recommended as the standard technique. The study appears in the October issue of GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).
Survival disparities in African-American and white colo-rectal cancer patients
African-American patients with resected stage II and stage III colon cancer experienced worse overall and recurrence-free survival compared to whites, but similar recurrence-free intervals, according to a study published Oct. 12 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Interfacility helicopter ambulance transport of neurosurgical patients
Doctors may be sending too many patients by helicopter, an expensive choice that may not impact patient outcome
Study reveals 15-year increase in life expectancy for people with HIV in UK
People with HIV have a 15 years longer life expectancy thanks to improved treatments over the past 13 years, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal today.
Industry conflicts of interest are pervasive among medical guideline panel members
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that conflicts of interest (COI) are prevalent and potentially underreported among individuals participating in the development of clinical practice guidelines, which inform standards of patient care. The findings provide further evidence of the potential influence of industry on medical practice recommendations. The study is published online Oct. 12 in BMJ: The British Medical Journal.
Researchers develop new test for children with vision loss (w/ video)
(Medical Xpress) -- Technology developed at the University of Cambridge to detect peripheral visual field loss in young children will enable the earlier detection of brain tumours, potentially saving sight and lives.
Study shows acidic food and drink can damage teeth
(Medical Xpress) -- Eating fruit such as apples could be up to four times more damaging to teeth than carbonated drinks, according to a new study led by Professor David Bartlett at the King’s Dental Institute.
Kids with Down syndrome who bike ride are less sedentary overall
(Medical Xpress) -- Children with Down syndrome who learned to ride a two-wheel bike were less sedentary overall and had less body fat one year after learning to ride compared to those who did not participate, a University of Michigan study shows.
Different ages need different risk messages, research finds
(Medical Xpress) -- From emergency evacuation notices to how many vegetables to eat, people need good information to make good choices. Ineffective risk communication, such as the drug warning inserts in tiny type on paper folded over some 12 times, can cost lives, money and reputations.
Study shows bullying affects both bystanders and target
(Medical Xpress) -- Maybe it was the hefty eighth-grader pushing the skinny sixth-grader out of a seat on the bus, or perhaps it was a group of cheerleaders making fun of an overweight girl. Most of us can remember witnessing acts of bullying at school. But we may not realize that bullying in schools is detrimental not only to the kids who are the targets, but to the bystanders who observe it as well.
Scientists look to immune system to handle follicular lymphoma
University of Rochester Medical Center researchers found more evidence that T cells going awry in the microenvironment – or the tissue immediately surrounding the tumor – may play a role in the biology of follicular lymphoma (FL).
Falls prevention in Parkinson's disease
A study carried out by the Primary Care Research Group at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and NIHR PenCLAHRC, has analysed the results of an exercise programme to prevent falls in those with Parkinson's disease.
Second-hand smoke in china puts children at risk
The more Chinese children are exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke, the more they have symptoms like coughing at night, sneezing, phlegm without a cold, sneezing with itchy-watery eyes and impaired lung-function growth.
Sidewalks, crime affect women's physical activity throughout U.S.
Getting women to meet the U.S. federal government’s recommended level of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity remains a huge challenge. A large new study shows that where women live affects just how likely they are to exercise.
Smoking cigarettes simulates cystic fibrosis
If you smoke cigarettes, you have more in common with someone who has cystic fibrosis than you think. A new research report appearing online in the FASEB Journal shows that smoking cigarettes affects the lungs in a way that is very similar to cystic fibrosis, a life threatening disease affecting the lungs and other organs.
Scientists move closer to predicting who will and will not fight off severe infections
Why are some people prone to severe infections, while others handle them with less difficulty? A new research report appearing online in the FASEB Journal attempts to answer this question by shedding light on the genetic differences that influence our ability to fight off bacterial infections.
Sperm discoveries shed light on infertility and birth control
(Medical Xpress) -- For a sperm cell, a lot has to go right before it can fertilize an egg. And despite biblical stories of barren women and cultural traditions of blaming the female, fertility experts now estimate that male infertility — and sperm — figure into the equation for about half of couples who fail to conceive despite trying for a year or more.
How watching TV and their relationship to Mom affects teenagers' sexual attitudes
Can teenagers' relationship with their mother protect them from the negative effects that television has on their sexual attitudes? It depends on their gender, according to a new study by Laura Vandenbosch and Steven Eggermont, from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. For girls, a good relationship with mom is protective. For boys, however, a strong attachment to mom increases the likelihood that they will have stereotypical sexual attitudes, as portrayed on television. The work is published online in Springer's journal Sex Roles.
Researcher identifies autism employment resources, tips for people with autism spectrum disorders
Statistics show that the number of people diagnosed with autism has increased steadily over the past 30 years resulting in a surge in the number of adults with autism graduating from high school. However, preliminary employment studies indicate that this population may earn less and be employed at a lower rate compared to other people with disabilities. Now, an autism expert at the University of Missouri is identifying employment resources that are available for people with autism and steps employers can take to improve the workplace and hiring process for this population.
Transfusion not always best treatment for anemia, age of stored blood may play a role
University of Kentucky researchers, including lead author Samy Selim of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and the Saha Cardiovascular Research Center, have recently published a paper suggesting that transfusion may not always be the best treatment for hospitalized patients with anemia. Results suggest the age of stored blood may be a factor in negative effects of transfusion.
Violent games emotionally desensitizing
After excessively violent events, shoot 'em up games regularly come under scrutiny. In Norway, several first-person shooter games actually disappeared from the market for a while after the killings. Does intense fighting on a flat screen display also result in aggressive behavior in real life? Researchers from the University of Bonn found brain activity patterns in heavy gamers that differed from those of non-gamers. The study's results have just been published in the scientific journal Biological Psychology.
Study could help improve gene therapy for heart disease, cancer
A Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study could lead to improved gene therapies for conditions such as heart disease and cancer as well as more effective vaccines for tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases.
80 percent of US boys use condoms the first time
A surprising 80 percent of teenage boys say they are using condoms the first time they have sex, a government survey found in a powerful sign that decades of efforts to change young people's sexual behavior are taking hold.
Prostate testing's dark side: Men who were harmed
Terry Dyroff's PSA blood test led to a prostate biopsy that didn't find cancer but gave him a life-threatening infection.
Estrogen may prevent younger menopausal women from strokes: study
Estrogen may prevent strokes in premature or early menopausal women, Mayo Clinic researchers say. Their findings challenge the conventional wisdom that estrogen is a risk factor for stroke at all ages. The study was published in the journal Menopause.
Looking for a link between seizures and migraine after traumatic brain injury in soldiers
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects many Americans: high school athletes, drivers and passengers in motor vehicle accidents, and victims of domestic violence, to name a few. Some of the most striking effects of brain injury are seen in our soldiers and veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Two University of Utah researchers are teaming up with the Department of Defense to investigate the long-term effects of TBI in these returning soldiers. K.C. Brennan, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neurology, and Edward Dudek, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Physiology, are collaborating on the study.
US death toll from cantaloupe rises to 23
An outbreak of listeria in farm-grown cantaloupes has killed 23 people and sickened 116 more in the United States since late July, health authorities said Wednesday.
New buzzwords 'reduce medicine to economics'
Physicians who once only grappled with learning the language of medicine must now also cope with a health care world that has turned hospitals into factories and reduced clinical encounters to economic transactions, two Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physicians lament.
Testing protein leverage in lean humans: a randomised controlled experimental study
Proper protein intake crucial for moderating energy intake, keeping obesity at bay.
Women on Pill pick a dud in bed but a dude in the home
Women who take the Pill tend to choose as partners men who are less attractive and worse in bed but a sounder bet for a long-term relationship, according to an unusual study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Tuesday.
Recommendation against PSA test goes too far: expert
(Medical Xpress) -- A draft recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force calling for an end to routine PSA testing for healthy men age 50 and older goes too far, says a prostate cancer expert at the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
New gene therapy methods accurately correct mutation in patient's stem cells
For the first time, scientists have cleanly corrected a human gene mutation in a patient's stem cells. The result, reported in Nature on Wednesday 12 October, brings the possibility of patient-specific therapies closer to becoming a reality.
Researchers discover new molecular target for diabetes treatment
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a key molecular pathway responsible for the natural decrease in the proliferation of insulin-producing cells that occurs as a person ages. Artificially activating this pathway, which is normally not functional in adults, may be a new way to combat diabetes.
Electrical stimulation to help the blind see
(Medical Xpress) -- In people who have lost vision due to an injury or disease, the brain is still capable of "seeing." Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Cognitive and Brain Science Department are hoping to use this idea and the use of electrical stimulation to work to someday help restore vision to those who have lost it.
Scientists find vitamin D crucial in human immune response to tuberculosis
Not just important for building strong bones, an international team of scientists has found that vitamin D also plays an essential role in the body's fight against infections such as tuberculosis.
Study shows children's chest pains rarely a concern
(Medical Xpress) -- A new study published in Pediatrics shows that chest pains in children are rarely a cause for concern and are not usually a sign of an underlying heart condition. More often than not, the chest pains children experience are a result of strained muscles, asthma or even too much spicy food.
Does a bigger brain make for a smarter child in babies born prematurely?
New research suggests the growth rate of the brain's cerebral cortex in babies born prematurely may predict how well they are able to think, speak, plan and pay attention later in childhood. The research is published in the October 12, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of the brain covering the cerebrum, and is responsible for cognitive functions, such as language, memory, attention and thought.
Biology news
Warning signs can prevent deer-vehicle collisions, Canadian study shows
Collisions between wild deer and vehicles not only hinder conservation efforts but pose a serious danger to drivers. In new research, published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, Canadian scientists examined locations and time periods of high rates of deer vehicle collision to assess the effectiveness of warning signs to prevent fatalities.
Paternity of subordinates raises cooperative effort in cichlids
Cichlid male nannies help out, especially if they've been sneaking.
Murky future for giant Philippine crocodiles
Deep inside the Philippines' largest marshland, tribespeople who once revered crocodiles as mystical creatures say they now feel terrorised by them.
'Iron' fist proposed for Miami's giant snail problem
Huge, slimy snails from Africa have overrun a Miami-area town and the US government said Tuesday a potent pesticide is the best way to get rid of their exploding numbers.
Modern ecosystems feel ancient climate change effect
Earth's animals migrate to ensure their survival in suitable conditions. This is especially true when climate cycles switch between warm and cool periods. Now researchers in Denmark and the United Kingdom shed new light on how quickly species have had to migrate in the past in order to keep pace with the changing climate. Presented in the journal Science, the findings show how small-ranged species - which account for most of the planets biodiversity - have found a niche in areas where migration has not been intense.
Hawks to patrol Singapore shopping district: report
Businesses along Singapore's famous Orchard Road shopping street plan to deploy trained hawks to scare off thousands of birds whose droppings rain down on pedestrians' heads, a report said Wednesday.
Netherlands ok's killer whale move to Canary Island park
The Dutch government said on Wednesday it would move a killer whale that was found ailing off the coast last year to an animal park in the Canary Islands despite objections by animal rights groups.
Oil exploration would endanger the most biodiverse region in the western hemisphere, say scientists
An international team of scientists that includes two University of Texas at Austin researchers has found that Ecuador's Yasuní National Park, which sits on top of massive reserves of oil, is in the single most biodiverse region in the Western Hemisphere.
'Cute' chimps in ads may harm the species' survival
Television ads featuring cute chimpanzees wearing human clothes are likely to distort the public's perception of the endangered animals and hinder conservation efforts, according to a team of primatologists and a marketing professor at Duke University.
Naked mole genome sequenced
Scientists have sequenced the complete genome of the naked mole rat, a pivotal step to understanding the animal's extraordinarily long life and good health. A colony of more than 2,000 naked mole rats at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio contributed to the findings, published today in the journal Nature.
Bees, and similar nectar feeders, get sweeter juice with dipping tongues
A field of flowers may seem innocuous -- but for the birds and bees that depend on it for sustenance, that floral landscape can be a battlefield mined with predators and competitors. The more efficient a pollinator is in feeding, the less chance it has of becoming food itself.
Why many cells are better than one
Researchers from Johns Hopkins have quantified the number of possible decisions that an individual cell can make after receiving a cue from its environment, and surprisingly, it's only two.
Protein plays role in helping plants see light
Plants do not have eyes or legs, yet they are able to "see" and move toward and away from light. This ability, called phototropism, is controlled by a series of molecular-level signals between proteins inside and between plant cells. In a paper published in The Plant Cell, University of Missouri scientists report for the first time the elusive role a critical protein plays in this molecular signaling pathway that regulates phototropism in plants.
'Dark matter' of the genome revealed through analysis of 29 mammals
An international team of researchers has discovered the vast majority of the so-called "dark matter" in the human genome, by means of a sweeping comparison of 29 mammalian genomes. The team, led by scientists from the Broad Institute, has pinpointed the parts of the human genome that control when and where genes are turned on. This map is a critical step in interpreting the thousands of genetic changes that have been linked to human disease. Their findings appear online October 12 in the journal Nature.
Researchers reconstruct genome of the Black Death
led by researchers at McMaster University and the University of Tubingen in Germany -- has sequenced the entire genome of the Black Death, one of the most devastating epidemics in human history.
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