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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for October 19, 2011:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Tiny battery is also a nanomotor- Eye on ionization: Visualizing and controlling bound electron dynamics in strong laser fields
- Youngest planet seen as it's forming
- Blue stragglers: Astronomers discover how mysterious stars stay so young
- Propensity for longer life span inherited non-genetically over generations, study says
- IQ can rise or fall significantly during adolescence, brain scans confirm
- Turning viruses into molecular Legos
- Mexican astronomers suggest Bonilla sighting might have been a very close comet breaking up
- New glass stamp may make cheaper, more precise biosensors
- IROS gets earful on Google's self-driving cars (w/ video)
- Scientists detect unusual 'quasiparticles' in tri-layer graphene
- Genes in place: New research shows location matters for evolution
- SideBySide projection system enables projected interaction between mobile devices
- New bacteria toxins against resistant insect pests
- Stranded dolphins exhibit bubbles, and ability to recover
Space & Earth news
Space Image: North American Nebula
This swirling landscape of stars is known as the North America Nebula. In visible light, the region resembles North America, but in this image infrared view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the continent disappears.
Bolivian natives enter La Paz after march from Amazon
Hundreds of indigenous people made a triumphal entry into La Paz Wednesday at the end of a two-month march from the Amazon to oppose the construction of a highway through their ancestral homeland.
US, Mexico to upgrade border quake system
(AP) -- The U.S. and Mexico will upgrade an earthquake monitoring system along the border between California and Baja California in order to better deal with temblors such as last year's magnitude-7.2 shock and to identify areas at greatest risk of shaking.
Firestation in space to open firehose of lightning data
(PhysOrg.com) -- When opportunity knocked, NASA heliophysicist Doug Rowland answered. He and his team recently secured another flight opportunity for a pint-sized instrument studying lightning in Earth's upper atmosphere and now are bracing for a veritable "fire hose" of data about a little-understood phenomenon first discovered by scientists nearly two decades ago.
NASA postpones climate satellite launch to Oct 28
NASA on Wednesday set October 28 for its planned launch of a satellite to help weather forecasters predict extreme storms and offer scientists a better view of climate change.
Home washing machines: Source of potentially harmful ocean 'microplastic' pollution
Scientists are reporting that household washing machines seem to be a major source of so-called "microplastic" pollution -- bits of polyester and acrylic smaller than the head of a pin -- that they now have detected on ocean shorelines worldwide. Their report describing this potentially harmful material appears in Environmental Science & Technology journal.
'Albedo effect' in forest disturbances can cause added warming, bonus cooling
Wildfire, insect outbreaks and hurricanes destroy huge amounts of forest every year and increase the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere, but scientists are now learning more about another force that can significantly affect their climate impact.
Researchers explain the formation of Scheila's unusual triple dust tails
(PhysOrg.com) -- A research team of planetary scientists and astronomers, primarily from Seoul National University, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), and Kobe University, has explained the formation of peculiar triple dust tails from the asteroid Scheila (asteroid #596). The researchers concluded that another asteroid about 20-50 meters in size impacted Scheila from behind on December 3, 2010 and accounted for its unusual brightness and form.
Fiery volcano offers geologic glimpse into land that time forgot
The first scientists to witness exploding rock and molten lava from a deep sea volcano, seen during a 2009 expedition, report that the eruption was near a tear in the Earth's crust that is mimicking the birth of a subduction zone.
Spiral arms hint at the presence of planets
A new image of the disk of gas and dust around a sun-like star has spiral-arm-like structures. These features may provide clues to the presence of embedded but as-yet-unseen planets.
VISTA finds new globular star clusters
(PhysOrg.com) -- Two newly discovered globular clusters have been added to the total of just 158 known globular clusters in our Milky Way. They were found in new images from ESO’s VISTA survey telescope as part of the Via Lactea (VVV) survey. This survey has also turned up the first star cluster that is far beyond the centre of the Milky Way and whose light has had to travel right through the dust and gas in the heart of our galaxy to get to us.
The landing-site specialist
(PhysOrg.com) -- Gale crater has been sitting just below the equator of Mars, minding its own business, for at least three and half billion years. But in August 2012, a capsule is going to come screaming out of the sky, then brake its fall by popping a parachute and engaging rocket thrusters. After that, the "sky crane" inside the capsule will activate to lower the subcompact-car-sized Curiosity rover on tethers, suspending it beneath the rest of the craft until the whole assembly descends onto a carefully chosen patch of ground at the northwestern end of the 96-mile-diameter crater.
Orion's belt lights up Cassini's view of Enceladus
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Cassini mission will take advantage of the position of two of the three stars in Orion's belt when the spacecraft flies by Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wed., Oct. 19. As the hot, bright stars pass behind the moon's icy jets, Cassini's ultraviolet imaging spectrograph will acquire a two-dimensional view of these dramatic plumes of water vapor and icy material erupting from the moon's southern polar region. This flyby is the mission's first-ever opportunity to probe the jets with two stars simultaneously, a dual stellar occultation.
How the Milky Way killed off its satellites
(PhysOrg.com) -- Two researchers from Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg have revealed for the first time the existence of a new signature of the birth of the first stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. More than 12 billion years ago, the intense ultraviolet light from these stars dispersed the gas of our Galaxy's nearest companions, virtually putting a halt to their ability to form stars and consigning them to a dim future. Now Pierre Ocvirk and Dominique Aubert, members of the Light in the Dark Ages of the Universe (LIDAU) collaboration, have explained why some galaxies were killed off, while stars continued to form in more distant objects. The two scientists publish their results in the October issue of the letters of the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Urban 'heat island' effect is a small part of global warming; white roofs don't reduce it
Cities release more heat to the atmosphere than the rural vegetated areas around them, but how much influence these urban "heat islands" have on global warming has been a matter of debate. Now a study by Stanford researchers has quantified the contribution of the heat islands for the first time, showing that it is modest compared with what greenhouse gases contribute to global warming.
Old German satellite hurtles toward Earth
A retired satellite is hurtling toward the atmosphere and pieces of it could crash into the Earth as early as Friday, the German Aerospace Center says.
New evidence found for the oldest oxygen-breathing life on land
New University of Alberta research shows the first evidence that oxygen-breathing bacteria occupied and thrived on land 100 million years earlier than previously thought.
Impact study: Princeton model shows fallout of a giant meteorite strike
(PhysOrg.com) -- Seeking to better understand the level of death and destruction that would result from a large meteorite striking the Earth, Princeton University researchers have developed a new model that can not only more accurately simulate the seismic fallout of such an impact, but also help reveal new information about the surface and interior of planets based on past collisions.
600 mysteries in the night sky
NASA's Fermi team recently released the second catalog of gamma-ray sources detected by their satellite's Large Area Telescope (LAT). Of the 1873 sources found, nearly 600 are complete mysteries. No one knows what they are.
Record-breaking photo reveals a planet-sized object as cool as the Earth
(PhysOrg.com) -- The photo of a nearby star and its orbiting companion -- whose temperature is like a hot summer day in Arizona -- will be presented by Penn State Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Kevin Luhman during the Signposts of Planets conference at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on 20 October 2011. A paper describing the discovery will be published in the Astrophysical Journal.
Youngest planet seen as it's forming
(PhysOrg.com) -- The first direct image of a planet in the process of forming around its star has been captured by astronomers who combined the power of the 10-meter Keck telescopes with a bit of optical sleight of hand.
Mexican astronomers suggest Bonilla sighting might have been a very close comet breaking up
(PhysOrg.com) -- Mexican astronomers Hector Javier Durand Manterola, Maria de la Paz Ramos Lara, and Guadalupe Cordero working out of National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, have uploaded a paper onto the prepress server arXiv, suggesting that objects Mexican astronomer José Bonilla recorded in 1883 passing in front of the sun and surrounded by a hazy mist, were in fact fragments of a comet as it came apart very near the earth.
Blue stragglers: Astronomers discover how mysterious stars stay so young
Mysterious "blue stragglers" are old stars that appear younger than they should be: they burn hot and blue. Several theories have attempted to explain why they don't show their age, but, until now, scientists have lacked the crucial observations with which to test each hypothesis.
Technology news
Apple employees to celebrate Jobs, stores to close
(AP) -- Apple is holding a private memorial service for employees to celebrate the life of company co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs.
US weighed cyber attack in Libya war: officials
The United States weighed launching a cyber-attack to disrupt Libyan air defenses before the start of an air campaign against Moamer Kadhafi's forces, officials said Tuesday.
Accident app to reduce motorist stress and combat insurance fraud
A new smartphone app that will help to guide stressed motorists through the trauma of a car accident, while potentially saving millions of pounds in fraudulent insurance claims has been recognised for its innovation.
Durham University spin-out company scoops an 'Oscar for innovation'
Reinnervate, an innovative biotechnology company founded by Professor Stefan Przyborski of Durham University's School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, has won a major international research and development award at the prestigious Annual R&D 100 Awards.
Apple employees celebrate Jobs, stores close
(AP) -- Apple Inc.'s famous penchant for secrecy remained intact Wednesday as the company's retail stores were curtained and employees were close-lipped about a private memorial service to celebrate the life of company co-founder Steve Jobs.
US requests website censoring details from China
(AP) -- The U.S. government has formally asked China to turn over details of its policies for censoring websites.
Cisco CEO's pay fell by third, same as share slump
(AP) -- Cisco Systems Inc. CEO John Chambers saw his pay package fall by nearly a third in the company's fiscal year that ended in July, a period when the company's shares dropped by about the same amount.
Venture investments grow in 3Q from last year
(AP) -- Venture capitalists invested more money in more U.S. startups in the third quarter than they did a year earlier - especially in the software industry.
Scientists hope to create robot strawberry pickers
Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK's Measurement Institute, have developed an imaging technology which can identify the ripeness of strawberries before they are picked. The developers now hope to work with the agricultural industry to turn it into fruit picking robots that will reduce food waste and improve productivity.
Samsung chief stresses 'fair' competition with Apple
Samsung Electronics will maintain its components partnership with US rival Apple, a top executive of the South Korean firm said Wednesday, despite their heated legal battles over patents.
Tiny new tool to track heart rate in real time on a smartphone (w/ video)
Thanks to an invention from two EPFL laboratories, patients and their doctors can now immediately be made aware of heart rate anomalies and can thus quickly take any necessary medical measures. The device is very small, non-invasive and equipped with long-lasting batteries.
Sweet innovation for citrus fruits
Researchers in Spain have developed sophisticated machines to sort citrus fruit before they reach consumers. The prototypes can detect and separate rotten oranges, and can classify mandarin segments. Citrus fruit field pickers can also use these machines to make their jobs a lot easier. The prototypes are presented in the journal Food and Bioprocess Technology.
The eyes have it: Computer-inspired creativity
Constraints on creativity imposed by computer-aided design (CAD) tools are being overcome, thanks to a novel system that incorporates eye-tracking technology.
Tiny US phone company is getting iPhone
(AP) -- Apple Inc. said Tuesday that C Spire Wireless, the country's eighth-largest phone company, will start selling the iPhone 4S in a few weeks.
Novell vs. Microsoft in Utah trial over Windows 95
A legal blame game between high-tech industry giants Novell Inc. and Microsoft Corp. is under way in a Salt Lake City federal court as the companies squabble over fair business practices.
Change needed to avoid 'dire' energy future: IEA
The world faces a "dire" future unless a complete change of course is made to deal with the huge problem of surging energy demand, the International Energy Agency warned on Wednesday.
Steve Jobs honored online and off
Steve Jobs was honored online and off Wednesday as tributes poured into a memorial website set up by Apple and the company's shops closed temporarily for workers to mourn his loss.
Thailand flooding smacks hard drive industry
(AP) -- The personal computer industry, already reeling from depressed demand, has been dealt another setback: Massive flooding in Thailand has curtailed production of a critical component - computer storage drives.
Symantec warns of new Stuxnet-like virus
US security firm Symantec has warned of a new computer virus similar to the malicious Stuxnet worm believed to have preyed on Iran's nuclear program.
German researchers break W3C XML encryption standard
Standards are supposed to guarantee security, especially in the WWW. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main force behind standards like HTML, XML, and XML Encryption. But implementing a W3C standard does not mean that a system is secure. Researchers from the chair of network and data security have found a serious attack against XML Encryption. "Everything is insecure", is the uncomfortable message from Ruhr-University Bochum researchers.
TapSense touchscreen technology distinguishes taps by parts of finger (w/ video)
Smartphone and tablet computer owners have become adept at using finger taps, flicks and drags to control their touchscreens. But Carnegie Mellon University researchers have found that this interaction can be enhanced by taking greater advantage of the finger's anatomy and dexterity.
SideBySide projection system enables projected interaction between mobile devices
Researchers at Disney Research, Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University have devised a system called SideBySide that enables animated images from two separate handheld projectors to interact with each other on the same surface.
Review: iCloud 'just works' for songs, so far
Syncing music from your iPhone or iPad across computers has got to be one of the least enjoyable experiences in Apple's computing ecosystem. The advent of iCloud was meant to lift the headaches of this cord-reliant process into the upper atmosphere and usher in what the late Apple guru Steve Jobs called the post-PC world.
IROS gets earful on Google's self-driving cars (w/ video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Lots of people now know about Google's self-driving car project. The latest stats find Google's fleet of robotic vehicles have done over 190,000 miles with only occasional human intervention. The company has welcomed favorable news inquiries, from mainstream TV interviews to newspaper reporters, that their self-driving cars can make it on their own on the roads, even in city traffic. How do the cars maintain safety amongst other vehicles, pedestrians, and traffic lights? What people generally know is that the vehicles are "cloud computing" cars that run along on sensors, cameras, artificial intelligence, and GPS.
Medicine & Health news
Male bowel cancer patients need more information about erectile dysfunction
Male bowel cancer patients are very likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction (ED) after treatment and yet the majority are not receiving adequate information about the condition, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal today.
Prime minister wrong to claim we support Health Bill, say public health experts
Public health experts writing in this week's BMJ say the prime minister was wrong to claim they support the government's health reforms.
Hospital heart attack death rates improving but very elderly still missing out
Despite substantial reductions in the hospital death rates for heart attack patients across all age groups, there are still worrying inequalities in heart attack management for the elderly, a new study has shown.
Study: Youths in residential treatment have high rates of health problems
The issues involving a number of youths who land in residential treatment programs such as Boys Town are familiar: They have histories of juvenile delinquency; they struggle in school; they come from unstable homes; they suffer from abuse.
Breastmilk a natural stem cell therapy
Human breastmilk has the potential to help people suffering from diseases including Parkinson's disease and diabetes, according to a researcher at The University of Western Australia.
Stigma adds to burden of psychosis
The stigma of psychosis can isolate carers and make them more reluctant to access crucial support, especially in migrant communities.
New aggression tool predicted violent patients in medical and surgical wards
Using a specially designed risk assessment tool was an effective way of identifying violent hospital patients in medical and surgical units, according to a study in the November issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing.
Canadian Journal of Cardiology publishes report on delayed vs. immediate coronary stenting
The Canadian Journal of Cardiology has published a paper on the timing of coronary stenting, a thought-provoking paper that challenges one of the dogmas of acute heart attack management today.
First report of increased safety using simultaneous techniques for cardiac testing published
Canadian Journal of Cardiology has published a paper on the safety of cardiac imaging methods. This study is important for patients worried about radiation exposure during X-ray based studies of the heart. X-ray based methods have greatly improved the diagnosis of heart disease, but they can produce significant levels of radiation exposure.
Adolescents sleeping more hours score higher in math
Adolescents sleeping more hours score higher on mathematics, while those who sleep between six and ten hours (ie. an average sleep pattern) got significantly better scores, as compared to those with a short (6 hours or less per night) or long (more than 9 hours per night) pattern sleep. Moreover, this difference is more prominent in physical education.
After pregnancy loss, Internet forums help women understand they are not alone
Nearly one in six pregnancies end in miscarriage or stillbirth, but parents' losses are frequently minimized or not acknowledged by friends, family or the community.
Health groups issue proposed cervical cancer screening guidelines
The American Cancer Society (ACS), the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP), and the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) have proposed new guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer. The proposed guidelines, which are now posted for public comment, generally advise that women reduce the number of tests they get over their lifetime to better ensure that they receive the benefits of testing while minimizing the risks. The proposed guidelines also include a preference for co-testing using the Pap test and HPV test for women age 30 and over. After a public comment period that begins immediately and a multi-stakeholder symposium in November to discuss the proposed recommendations among a broad group of experts, the recommendations will be revised and incorporated into a final guideline from the American Cancer Society, anticipated in mid-2012.
Interventional radiologists: Tough on liver cancer, kind to patients
Finding innovative, minimally invasive ways to treat liver cancer—and being able to tailor that treatment individually to patients—are hallmarks of interventional radiologists. Advances in yttrium-90 (Y-90) radioembolization for liver cancer, a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, are reported in studies in the October Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.
Study guides physicians using therapeutic cooling to treat cardiac arrest patients
Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the United States, and just 7 percent of victims survive that initial collapse. In addition, fewer than half of the small percentage of people whose hearts are restarted survive to leave the hospital, because they often suffer irreversible brain damage. A Mayo Clinic study published this month in the journal Neurology provides guidance to physicians using therapeutic cooling to treat sudden cardiac arrest patients.
Mental health relief efforts often overlooked in wake of disasters
Recent events such as the ten-year commemoration of September 11th just weeks ago, Hurricane Irene striking the east coast this past summer, three months of oil spills off of the Gulf Coast a year ago, and the tragic earthquakes that struck Chile and Haiti in early 2010, are constant reminders that tragedy and catastrophe can occur at any moment. But what kind of effects do these devastating disasters have on those involved and what can counselors and psychologists do to help them?
Age a big factor in prostate cancer deaths
Contrary to common belief, men age 75 and older are diagnosed with late-stage and more aggressive prostate cancer and thus die from the disease more often than younger men, according to a University of Rochester analysis published online this week by the journal, Cancer.
AAN releases updated guideline for treating essential tremor
The American Academy of Neurology is releasing an updated guideline on how to best treat essential tremor, which is the most common type of tremor disorder and is often confused with other movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease. The guideline is published in the October 19, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Care for mentally ill veterans is as good or better than in other health systems, study finds
Treating U.S. veterans with mental illness and substance use disorders is more expensive than caring for veterans with other medical conditions, costing more than $12 billion in 2007, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Study highlights issues faced by friends and family of the suicidal
A study focusing on the family and friends of people who were suicidal has highlighted the main challenges they face when trying to judge whether a person is in danger and decide what they should do about it.
High blood pressure in early pregnancy raises risk of birth defects, irrespective of medication
Women with high blood pressure (hypertension) in the early stages of pregnancy are more likely to have babies with birth defects, irrespective of commonly prescribed medicines for their condition, finds new research published in the British Medical Journal today.
Can breastfeeding reduce pain in preterm infants?
Poorly managed pain in the neonatal intensive care unit has serious short- and long-term consequences, causing physiological and behavioral instability in preterm infants and long-term changes in their pain sensitivity, stress arousal systems, and developing brains. In a study published in the November issue of PAIN, researchers report that breastfeeding during minor procedures mitigated pain in preterm neonates with mature breastfeeding behaviors.
Annual cancer screening tests urged less and less
Annual cancer tests are becoming a thing of the past. New guidelines out Wednesday for cervical cancer screening have experts at odds over some things, but they are united in the view that the common practice of getting a Pap test every year is too often and probably doing more harm than good.
Keep the beat say, rhythm researchers
Why we do move when we hear good music? Researchers at McMaster University have found that tapping to the beat measurably enriches the listening experience, broadening our capacity to understand timing and rhythm.
People have powerful appeal in photos
(Medical Xpress) -- College students looking at photographs spent more time gazing at the people in the pictures than the surrounding elements, even when those people were quite small or not centrally located, according to Penn State researchers. These findings could help the researchers develop better visual-scene displays (VSDs) -- computer-generated images that help people with disabilities learn to communicate.
Genetic variant, auto-antibodies linked to autism
(Medical Xpress) -- A study by researchers at UC Davis has found that pregnant women with a particular gene variation are more likely to produce auto-antibodies to the brains of their developing fetuses and that the children of these mothers are at greater risk of later being diagnosed with autism.
You're not so anonymous: Medical data sold to analytics firms might be used to track identities
When you visit a pharmacy to pick up antidepressants, cholesterol medication, or birth control pills, you might expect a certain measure of privacy. In reality, prescription information is routinely sold to analytics companies for use in research and pharmaceutical marketing.
Three factors could point to your fate after surgery
Duke University Medical Center researchers have verified data that suggest three medical factors appear to correlate with mortality for a patient who has been under anesthesia for an operation.
Older women still suffer from hot flushes and night sweats years after the menopause, finds study
Women still have hot flushes and night sweats years after the menopause finds a new study published today in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Too much undeserved self-praise can lead to depression
People who try to boost their self-esteem by telling themselves they've done a great job when they haven't could end up feeling dejected instead, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
Study links pollutants to a 450 percent increase in risk of birth defects
Pesticides and pollutants are related to an alarming 450 percent increase in the risk of spina bifida and anencephaly in rural China, according to scientists at The University of Texas at Austin and Peking University.
Double duty: Anti-HIV topical gel also protects against herpes virus
HIV infection is commonly associated with other sexual infections, such as herpes simplex virus (HSV). Infection with HSV facilitates the risk of HIV infection and negatively impacts the clinical course of HIV disease. Therefore, it would be highly beneficial to identify multi-faceted microbicide compounds that are efficient against HIV-1 and other sexually transmitted infections.
Unraveling the mysteries of the maternal brain: Odors influence the response to sounds
Motherhood is associated with the acquisition of a host of new behaviors that must be driven, at least in part, by alterations in brain function. Now, new research published by Cell Press in the October 20 issue of the journal Neuron provides intriguing insight into how neural changes associated with the integration of odors and sounds underlie a mother's ability to recognize and respond to distress calls from her pups.
Next-generation brain stimulation may improve treatment of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a devastating and incurable disease that causes abnormal poverty of movement, involuntary tremor, and lack of coordination. A technique called deep brain stimulation (DBS) is sometimes used to improve motor symptoms in patients with advanced disease. Now, a study published by Cell Press in the October 20 issue of the journal Neuron describes a new and more effective DBS paradigm that makes real-time adjustments in response to disease dynamics and progression and may be better for managing symptoms of advanced PD.
In US, many with severe depression go untreated
The United States is a world leader in rates of antidepressant use, but as many as two-thirds of Americans with severe depression are not on medication, said a government study released Wednesday.
Dirty packing plant blamed for killer cantaloupes
A dirty packing facility at a Colorado farm was the likely source of an outbreak of listeria in cantaloupes that killed 25 people in the US since August, health authorities said Wednesday.
New role for Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in regulating skin cancer stem cells
Skin squamous cell carcinomas are amongst the most frequent cancers in humans. Recent studies suggest that skin squamous cell carcinoma, like many other human cancers, contain particular cancer cells, known as cancer stem cells, that present increased self-renewal potential that sustain tumor growth. Little is known about the mechanisms that regulate cancer stem cell functions.
Turning up the heat to kill cancer cells: The 'Lance Armstrong effect'
The "Lance Armstrong effect" could become a powerful new weapon to fight cancer cells that develop resistance to chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments, scientists say in a report in the ACS journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.
Pre-term babies' exposure to steroids associated with impaired brain growth
Premature infants exposed after birth to drugs known as glucocorticoids are at increased risk for having impaired growth of the cerebellum, according to findings from a new UCSF-led study. The cerebellum is a region of the brain associated with balance, motor learning, language and behavior.
Computer games help people with Parkinson's disease
Playing computer-based physical therapy games can help people with Parkinson's disease improve their gait and balance, according to a new pilot study led by the UCSF School of Nursing and Red Hill Studios, a California serious games developer.
Haiti to test cholera vaccine
Haiti's health ministry is preparing to test a cholera vaccine on a hundred people, a year after an epidemic killed over 6,500 people, officials said Wednesday.
A new discipline emerges: The psychology of science
You've heard of the history of science, the philosophy of science, maybe even the sociology of science. But how about the psychology of science? In a new article in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, San Jose State University psychologist Gregory J. Feist argues that a field has been quietly taking shape over the past decade, and it holds great promise for both psychology and science.
Research could lead to new treatments for inflammatory bowel disease, viral infections
The intestinal ecosystem is even more dynamic than previously thought, according to two studies by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers published in the latest issue of Science.
Number of Facebook friends linked to size of brain regions, study suggests
Scientists funded by the Wellcome Trust have found a direct link between the number of 'Facebook friends' a person has and the size of particular brain regions. In a study published today, researchers at University College London (UCL) also showed that the more Facebook friends a person has, the more 'real-world' friends they are likely to have.
Study: Adults can't tell when children are intentionally lying or misinformed
(Medical Xpress) -- How well adults can detect if children are lying or reporting misinformation is no better than the odds of chance, reports a new Cornell study. The findings have implications for physical and sexual abuse investigations, which often rely heavily on children's eyewitness reports.
Remembering to forget: Destroying bad memories and breaking bad habits
(Medical Xpress) -- Retrieving a memory is crucial when trying to extinguish it completely, according to research published today by University of Birmingham scientists in the journal Nature Communications.
Neuroscientists find normal brain communication in people who lack connections between right, left hemispheres
(Medical Xpress) -- Like a bridge that spans a river to connect two major metropolises, the corpus callosum is the main conduit for information flowing between the left and right hemispheres of our brains. Now, neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have found that people who are born without that link—a condition called agenesis of the corpus callosum, or AgCC—still show remarkably normal communication across the gap between the two halves of their brains.
X-linked mental retardation protein is found to mediate synaptic plasticity in hippocampus
Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have solved part of a puzzle concerning the relationship between changes in the strength of synapses – the tiny gaps across which nerve cells in the brain communicate – and dysfunctions in neural circuits that have been linked with drug addiction, mental retardation and other cognitive disorders.
Research proposes common link between autism, diabetes
A review of the genetic and biochemical abnormalities associated with autism reveals a possible link between the widely diagnosed neurological disorder and Type 2 diabetes, another medical disorder on the rise in recent decades.
Major advance in the treatment of Hendra virus reported
A collaborative research team from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and Galveston National Laboratory (GNL), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), reports a breakthrough in the development of an effective therapy against a deadly virus, Hendra virus. The results of their research appear in Science Translational Medicine today.
Men win humor test (by a hair)
Men are funnier than women, but only just barely and mostly to other men. So says a psychology study from the University of California, San Diego Division of Social Sciences.
IQ can rise or fall significantly during adolescence, brain scans confirm
IQ, the standard measure of intelligence, can increase or fall significantly during our teenage years, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust, and these changes are associated with changes to the structure of our brains. The findings may have implications for testing and streaming of children during their school years.
Biology news
New photos reveal Taiwan shark fishing
A US-based environmental group on Wednesday expressed concern over new photos that seem to show the killing of large numbers of "biologically vulnerable" sharks by fishermen in Taiwan.
Lions, tigers, bears on the loose in rural Ohio
Dozens of animals, including lions, tigers, bears and wolves, were on the loose in the US state of Ohio Wednesday after apparently being released from an exotic farm, local media reported.
Improving training efficiency in horses
It is well known that hard training can lead to degradation of muscle protein. A number of nutritional strategies have been developed to counter this but surprisingly there has to date been very little attention paid to the situation in sport horses. Preliminary data showing that nutritional supplements given after exercise may also help prevent muscle breakdown in horses are now provided by René van den Hoven and colleagues in the Institute of Animal Nutrition at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna.
Gypsies, graveyards and mysterious plants
A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist has confirmed the identity of a strange grass-like sedge discovered in a Mississippi graveyard, and believes the appearance of the potentially invasive plant is linked to the final resting places of several members of a royal Gypsy family.
How learning more about mass nesting can help conserve sea turtles
Ecologists are a step closer to understanding one of nature's most extraordinary sights – the 'arribada' or synchronised mass nesting of female olive ridley sea turtles. The new study, published today in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology, is the first to combine three different approaches – genetics, demography and behaviour, and the results should help conserve these vulnerable marine creatures.
Researchers attack a stinker of a pest; iPhone users can help track the invader
A new hobo pest -- the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) -- is pigging out on many of North America's most important crops, posing an unprecedented threat to U.S. agriculture, say experts.
Herbivorous fish like eating meat
The grass carp, thought to be a strict vegetarian, seems to have a preference for amphipoda. NWO researcher Liesbeth Bakker made this discovery during her research into the food preferences of fish. The discovery turns our current understanding of the relationships between plants and animals on its head. Further, herbivorous fish do not seem to have equal preferences for all types of aquatic plants. This means that their grazing behaviour has an important impact on underwater vegetation.
Record number of jaguars uncovered in Bolivia
In a new camera trap survey in the world's most biologically diverse landscape, researchers for the Wildlife Conservation Society have identified more individual jaguars than ever before.
Genes in place: New research shows location matters for evolution
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new paper by researchers at the New England Complex Systems Institute reveals the limitations of evolutionary studies that ignore geography. They show that how individuals are arranged in space, and the patterns formed by living populations themselves, play a crucial role in evolution.
Explanation for glowing seas suggested
It has long been known that distinctive blue flashes -- a type of bioluminescence -- that are visible at night in some marine environments are caused by tiny, unicellular plankton known as dinoflagellates. However, a new study has, for the first time, detailed the potential mechanism for this bioluminesence.
In search of virus fossils
Here's a theory for a comedian to consider: dinosaurs done-in by avian flu. Silly as that may be, we imagine that viruses have been infecting organisms since life first appeared on Earth, but this is mostly just a hunch. New research is studying whether special environments (not related to dinosaurs) could potentially preserve vestiges of ancient viruses.
Wandering females give stags the slip
The fierce battles of rutting stags may be the most famous symbols of males competing over females in the animal kingdom. But it turns out the stags don't have things all their own way.
New bacteria toxins against resistant insect pests
Toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria (Bt toxins) are used in organic and conventional farming to manage pest insects. Sprayed as pesticides or produced in genetically modified plants, Bt toxins, used in pest control since 1938, minimize herbivory in crops, such as vegetables, maize or cotton. Since 1996, Bt producing transgenic crops have been grown, which successfully control pests like the European corn borer, the tobacco budworm, the Western corn rootworm, and the cotton bollworm. Over the years, Bt resistant insects have emerged in organic and conventional farming. Scientists have therefore modified the molecular structure of two Bt toxins, Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac, in order to overcome resistance. The novel toxins, Cry1AbMod and Cry1AcMod, are effective against five resistant insect species, such as the diamondback moth, the cotton bollworm, and the European corn borer. Cry1AbMod and Cry1AcMod can be used alone or in combination with other Bt toxins for plant protecti! on.
Stranded dolphins exhibit bubbles, and ability to recover
Scientists know that the blood and tissues of some deceased beaked whales stranded near naval sonar exercises are riddled with bubbles. It is also well know that human divers can suffer from bubbles-induced decompression sickness, also known as the bends. What researchers know comparatively little about is how living marine mammals handle the compression of lung gas as they dive deep and then resurface.
Turning viruses into molecular Legos
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have turned a benign virus into an engineering tool for assembling structures that mimic collagen, one of the most important structural proteins in nature. The process they developed could eventually be used to manufacture materials with tunable optical, biomedical and mechanical properties.
Propensity for longer life span inherited non-genetically over generations, study says
We know that our environment -- what we eat, the toxic compounds we are exposed to -- can positively or negatively impact our life span. But could it also affect the longevity of our descendants, who may live under very different conditions? Recent research from the Stanford University School of Medicine suggests this could be the case.
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