The EDGE: ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Saturday, August 25, 2012

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Saturday, August 25, 2012

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Ancestral link places Mexican-Americans at greater risk for metabolic disease (August 24, 2012) -- Mexican-Americans with an ancestral link to Amerindian tribes were found to have higher insulin resistance levels, which is an indication of several chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, according to new research. ... > full story

Sunbathing helps these bugs stay healthy (August 24, 2012) -- Sunbathing may be healthy -- at least for one group of North American insects, the Western boxelder bug -- that apparently uses the activity to fight off germs. The bugs are known to group together in sunlit patches and release monoterpenes, strong-smelling chemical compounds that help protect the bugs by killing germs on their bodies. ... > full story

Good diet, proper exercise help protect astronauts’ bones (August 24, 2012) -- Eating right and exercising hard in space helps protect International Space Station astronauts' bones, a finding that may help solve one of the key problems facing future explorers heading beyond low Earth orbit. ... > full story

New non-invasive method for diagnosing epilepsy (August 24, 2012) -- Biomedical engineers have outlined how a new type of non-invasive brain scan taken immediately after a seizure gives additional insight into possible causes and treatments for epilepsy patients. The new findings could specifically benefit millions of people who are unable to control their epilepsy with medication. ... > full story

Only two percent of Canadians deny climate change (August 24, 2012) -- A new survey shows that only two percent of Canadians deny climate change. ... > full story

Microwave ovens may help produce lower cost solar energy technology (August 24, 2012) -- The same type of microwave oven technology that most people use to heat up leftover food has found an important application in the solar energy industry, providing a new way to make thin-film photovoltaic products with less energy, expense and environmental concerns. ... > full story

Boston subway system to be used to test new sensors for biological agents (August 24, 2012) -- The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate has scheduled a series of tests in the Boston subways to measure the real-world performance of new sensors recently developed to detect biological agents within minutes. ... > full story

New strain of hand, foot and mouth virus worries parents, pediatricians (August 24, 2012) -- Your child goes to bed in perfect health. The next morning she wakes up with high fever, malaise and bright red blisters erupting all over her body. Dermatologists say the disturbing scenario has become quite common in the last few months, sending scared parents to their pediatrician’s office or straight to the emergency room. ... > full story

Superior fuel cell material developed (August 24, 2012) -- Using a mixture of gold, copper and platinum nanoparticles, researchers have developed a more powerful and longer lasting fuel cell material. ... > full story

Most mutations come from dad: New insights into age, height and sex reshape views of human evolution (August 24, 2012) -- Humans inherit more than three times as many mutations from their fathers as from their mothers, and mutation rates increase with the father's age but not the mother's, researchers have found in the largest study of human genetic mutations to date. ... > full story

Survival statistics show hard fight when malignant brain tumors appear at multiple sites (August 24, 2012) -- When aggressive, malignant tumors appear in more than one location in the brain, patient survival tends to be significantly shorter than when the disease starts as a single tumor, even though patients in both groups undergo virtually identical treatments, according to new research. ... > full story

Flat lens offers a perfect image (August 24, 2012) -- Applied physicists have created an ultrathin, flat lens that focuses light without imparting the distortions of conventional lenses. It operates at telecom wavelengths -- i.e., those used for fiber-optics -- and is scalable to a wider range. ... > full story