The EDGE: ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Monday, June 4, 2012

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Monday, June 4, 2012

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Expanding the genetic alphabet may be easier than previously thought (June 3, 2012) -- A new study suggests that the replication process for DNA -- the genetic instructions for living organisms that is composed of four bases (C, G, A and T) -- is more open to unnatural letters than had previously been thought. An expanded "DNA alphabet" could carry more information than natural DNA, potentially coding for a much wider range of molecules and enabling a variety of powerful applications, from precise molecular probes and nanomachines to useful new life forms. ... > full story

A different drummer: Engineers discover neural rhythms drive physical movement (June 3, 2012) -- In a significant departure from earlier models, neural engineers and neuroscientists have developed a new model for the brain activity underlying arm movements. Motor neurons do not represent external-world parameters as previously thought, but rather send a few basic rhythmic patterns down the spine to drive movement. The finding has implications in prosthetics, the understanding of motor disorders and other uses yet to be discovered. ... > full story

Scientists complete most comprehensive genetic analysis yet of corn (June 3, 2012) -- Scientists have completed the most comprehensive analysis to date of the corn genome. The team expects the achievement to speed up development of improved varieties of one of the world's most important agricultural commodities. The results should boost international efforts to increase yields, expand areas where corn can be cultivated and produce varieties better equipped to resist pests and disease. ... > full story

Wallflowers of the Earth system (June 3, 2012) -- In cities, the presence of algae, lichens, and mosses is not considered desirable and they are often removed from roofs and walls. It is, however, totally unfair to consider these cryptogamic covers, as the flat growths are referred to in scientific terms, just a nuisance. Scientists have discovered that these mostly inconspicuous looking growths take up huge amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide and nitrogen and fix it at the earth’s surface. Cryptogamic covers are responsible for about half of the naturally occurring nitrogen fixation on land and they take up as much carbon dioxide as is released yearly from biomass burning. These new findings will help to improve global flux calculations and climate models, in which up to now the carbon and nitrogen balance of the cryptogamic covers have been neglected. ... > full story

Intermittent hormone therapy for prostate cancer inferior to continuous therapy (June 3, 2012) -- An international randomized study finds intermittent androgen-deprivation therapy has some quality-of-life benefits, but overall survival times don’t measure up to those seen with continuous therapy. ... > full story

For advanced prostate cancer, new drug slows disease (June 2, 2012) -- A new medication proved effective in slowing the spread of metastatic prostate cancer, while helping to maintain the quality of life, in patients with advanced disease. The Phase 3 study was unblinded midway, allowing patients receiving the placebo to instead take the drug because of the favorable results. ... > full story

Cancer therapy that boosts immune system ready for wider testing (June 2, 2012) -- Scientists are testing experimental drugs aimed at restoring the immune system’s ability to spot and attack cancer, have shown promising early results in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, and kidney cancer. More than 500 patients were treated in two new studies of two drugs that target the same immune-suppressive pathway, and the investigators say there is enough evidence to support wider testing in larger groups of patients. ... > full story

Novel way to treat drug-resistant brain tumor cells (June 1, 2012) -- New research explains why the incurable brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is highly resistant to current chemotherapies. ... > full story

Computer-designed proteins programmed to disarm variety of flu viruses (June 1, 2012) -- Proteins found in nature, but that do not normally bind the flu, can be engineered to act as broad-spectrum antiviral agents against many flu virus strains, including H1N1 pandemic influenza. One engineered protein has a flu-fighting potency that rivals several monoclonal antibodies. The proteins are constructed via computer modeling to fit neatly onto a nano-sized target on flu viruses, and prevent that part of the virus from changing shape to infect cells. ... > full story

Venus Transit: June 5-6, 2012 (June 1, 2012) -- On June 5, 2012, at 6:03 PM EDT, the planet Venus will do something it has done only seven times since the invention of the telescope: cross in front of the sun. This transit is among the rarest of planetary alignments and it has an odd cycle. Two such Venus transits always occur within eight years of each other and then there is a break of either 105 or 121 years before it happens again. ... > full story

Where have all the hummingbirds gone? (June 1, 2012) -- The glacier lily as it's called, is a tall, willowy plant that graces mountain meadows throughout western North America. It flowers early in spring, when the first bumblebees and hummingbirds appear. ... > full story

Not all patients will pay for genetic testing, study suggests (June 1, 2012) -- More than one-fifth of people who have received referrals to test for cancer-causing genes say they will only undergo testing if their insurance covers the cost -- just as more insurers are instituting cost-sharing for medical services like genetic testing, according to new findings. ... > full story

Northern Lights process like untangling twisted strands of spaghetti? (June 1, 2012) -- Scientists have reached a milestone in describing how the northern lights work by way of a process called "magnetic reconnection." The process is best imagined as untangling twisted strands of spaghetti. ... > full story

Altitude training: Study puts some data behind conventional wisdom (June 1, 2012) -- With altitude training, coaches of elite runners generally fall into two camps when determining when their runners should compete after coming back from altitude, even though little research has been conducted on this question. A study by exercise physiologists finds that both camps might be right. ... > full story

Skeleton key: Diverse complex networks have similar skeletons (June 1, 2012) -- Researchers have discovered that very different complex networks -- ranging from global air traffic to neural networks -- share very similar backbones. By stripping each network down to its essential nodes and links, they found each network possesses a skeleton and these skeletons share common features, much like vertebrates do. The findings could be particularly useful in understanding how something -- a disease, a rumor or information -- spreads across a network. ... > full story

American teens are less likely than European teens to use cigarettes and alcohol, but more likely to use illicit drugs (June 1, 2012) -- The U.S. had the second-lowest proportion of students who used tobacco and alcohol compared to their counterparts in 36 European countries, a new report indicates. ... > full story

Frog embryos may yield secrets of cancer cell migration (June 1, 2012) -- Developmental biologists are investigating craniofacial development in a frog model to better understand genetic control of cell migration. The work is expected to advance knowledge of how cancer cells migrate away from primary tumors to cause metastatic disease in new sites, among other processes. ... > full story

Plants previously thought to be 'stable' found to be responding to climate change (June 1, 2012) -- Many wild plant species thought to be "stable" in the face of climate change are actually responding to global warming, say researchers. ... > full story

Prototype device translates sign language (June 1, 2012) -- The hearing impaired may soon have an easier time communicating with those who do not understand sign language due to a new device. During the past semester, students in engineering technology and industrial design programs teamed up to develop the concept and prototype for MyVoice, a device that reads sign language and translates its motions into audible words. ... > full story

New combination of two previously approved FDA drugs treat lung cancer (June 1, 2012) -- Researchers have discovered a previously unrecognized signaling network disrupted in lung cancer that can be turned back on by a novel combination of two previously approved FDA drugs. The drug combination targets a pathway to treat advanced/late stage lung cancer. The work highlights how understanding the basic mechanisms regulating cancer development and progression can lead to new uses for existing FDA approved drugs in the treatment of cancer. ... > full story

Alcohol may trigger serious palpitations in heart patients (June 1, 2012) -- The term “holiday heart syndrome” was coined in a 1978 study to describe patients with atrial fibrillation who experienced a common and potentially dangerous form of heart palpitation after excessive drinking, which can be common during the winter holiday season. The symptoms usually went away when the revelers stopped drinking. Now new research builds on that finding, establishing a stronger causal link between alcohol consumption and serious palpitations in patients with atrial fibrillation, the most common form of arrhythmia. ... > full story

Unmanned NASA storm sentinels set for hurricane study (June 1, 2012) -- Ah, June. It marks the end of school, the start of summer ... and the official start of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, which got off to an early start in May with the formation of Tropical Storms Alberto and Beryl. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasters are calling for a near-normal hurricane season this year. But whether the season turns out to be wild or wimpy, understanding what makes these ferocious storms form and rapidly intensify is a continuing area of scientific research, and is the focus of the NASA-led Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) airborne mission that kicks off this summer. ... > full story

Venus: Planetary portrait of inner beauty (June 1, 2012) -- A Venus transit across the face of the sun is a relatively rare event -- occurring in pairs with more than a century separating each pair. There have been all of 53 transits of Venus across the sun between 2000 B.C. and the last one in 2004. On Wednesday, June 6 (Tuesday, June 5 from the Western Hemisphere), Earth gets another shot at it -- and the last for a good long while. But beyond this uniquely celestial oddity, why has Venus been an object worthy of ogling for hundreds of centuries? ... > full story

Saturn's geyser moon Enceladus provides a new kind of plasma laboratory (June 1, 2012) -- Recent findings from NASA's Cassini mission reveal that Saturn's geyser moon Enceladus provides a special laboratory for watching unusual behavior of plasma, or hot ionized gas. In these recent findings, some Cassini scientists think they have observed "dusty plasma," a condition theorized but not previously observed on site, near Enceladus. Data from Cassini's fields and particles instruments also show that the usual "heavy" and "light" species of charged particles in normal plasma are actually reversed near the plume spraying from the moon's south polar region. ... > full story

Sierra Nevada 200-year megadroughts confirmed (June 1, 2012) -- The culmination of a comprehensive high-tech assessment of Fallen Leaf Lake -- a small moraine-bound lake at the south end of the Lake Tahoe Basin -- shows that stands of pre-Medieval trees in the lake suggest the region experienced severe drought at least every 650 to 1,150 years during the mid- and late-Holocene period. ... > full story

New compound could become 'cool blue' for energy efficiency in buildings (June 1, 2012) -- A new type of durable, environmentally-benign blue pigment has also been found to have unusual characteristics in reflecting heat -- it's a "cool blue" compound that could become important in new approaches to saving energy in buildings. ... > full story

Some butterfly species particularly vulnerable to climate change (June 1, 2012) -- A recent study of the impact of climate change on butterflies suggests that some species might adapt much better than others, with implications for the pollination and herbivory associated with these and other insect species. ... > full story

Unique approach to materials allows temperature-stable circuits (June 1, 2012) -- Scientists have developed a unique materials approach to multilayered, ceramic-based, 3-D microelectronics circuits, such as those used in cell phones. The approach compensates for how changes due to temperature fluctuations affect something called the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency, a critical property of materials used in radio and microwave frequency applications. ... > full story

Quantum computers will be able to simulate particle collisions (June 1, 2012) -- Quantum computers are still years away, but a trio of theoretical physicists can already make the claim "there's an app for that." The theorists have developed a mathematical algorithm that will be used by a future quantum computer to study the inner workings of the universe in ways that are far beyond the reach of even the most powerful conventional supercomputers. ... > full story

Plate tectonics cannot explain dynamics of Earth and crust formation more than three billion years ago (June 1, 2012) -- The current theory of continental drift provides a good model for understanding terrestrial processes through history. However, while plate tectonics is able to successfully shed light on processes up to three billion years ago, the theory isn't sufficient in explaining the dynamics of Earth and crust formation before that point and through to the earliest formation of planet, some 4.6 billion years ago. ... > full story

Astronomers discover faintest distant galaxy (June 1, 2012) -- Astronomers have found an exceptionally distant galaxy, ranked among the top 10 most distant objects currently known in space. Light from the recently detected galaxy left the object about 800 million years after the beginning of the universe, when the universe was in its infancy. The team of astronomers identified the remote galaxy after scanning a moon-sized patch of sky with an instrument on the Magellan Telescopes at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. ... > full story

Even early human hands left prominent ecological footprints (June 1, 2012) -- Early human activity has left a greater footprint on today's ecosystem than previously thought, say researchers. ... > full story

How Does Exercise Affect Nerve Pain? (June 1, 2012) -- Exercise helps to alleviate pain related to nerve damage (neuropathic pain) by reducing levels of certain inflammation-promoting factors, suggests an experimental study. ... > full story

Magnets May Help Prevent Rare Complication of Spinal Anesthesia (June 1, 2012) -- An simple technique using local anesthetic mixed with magnetized "ferrofluids" may provide a new approach to preventing a rare but serious complication of spinal anesthesia. ... > full story

Open-fire cooking may affect child cognitive development (June 1, 2012) -- Children exposed to open-fire cooking in developing countries experience difficulty with memory, problem-solving and social skills. Research in the past decade has identified numerous health risks to children who are exposed regularly to smoke from open fires used in cooking. But until now, no one has associated smoke from cooking fires with deficits in cognitive development. ... > full story

New method for picking the 'right' egg in IVF (June 1, 2012) -- Medical researchers have identified the chromosomal make-up of a human egg. This discovery may soon allow them to avoid using abnormal -- or aneuploid -- eggs during infertility treatments, and instead to pick eggs that are healthy enough for a successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle. ... > full story

Integrated sensors handle extreme conditions (June 1, 2012) -- Engineers have designed and fabricated integrated amplifier circuits that operate under extreme temperatures -- up to 600 degrees Celsius. The silicon carbide amplifiers have applications in both aerospace and energy industries. ... > full story

Potential new approach to regenerating skeletal muscle tissue (June 1, 2012) -- An innovative strategy for regenerating skeletal muscle tissue using cells derived from the amniotic fluid is outlined in new research. The article shows that damaged muscle tissues can be treated with cells derived from the fluids which surround the fetus during development, leading to satisfactory regeneration and muscle activity. ... > full story

Why is it so difficult to trace the origins of food poisoning outbreaks? (June 1, 2012) -- As illustrated by the 2011 E. coli outbreak in Germany, any delay in identifying the source of food poisoning outbreaks can cost lives and cause considerable political and economical damage. Scientists have now shown that difficulties in finding the sources of contamination behind food poisoning cases are inevitable due to the increasing complexity of a global food traffic network where food products are constantly crossing country borders, generating a worldwide network. ... > full story

All proteins that bind to RNA, including 300 new ones, catalogued (June 1, 2012) -- Scientists have cataloged all proteins that bind to RNA, finding 300 previously unknown to do so. The study could help to explain the role of genes that have been linked to diseases like diabetes and glaucoma. ... > full story

'Jack Spratt' diabetes gene identified (June 1, 2012) -- It has long been hypothesized that Type 2 diabetes in lean people is more "genetically driven." A new study has for the first time demonstrated that lean Type 2 diabetes patients have a larger genetic disposition to the disease than their obese counterparts. The study has also identified a new genetic factor associated only with lean diabetes sufferers. ... > full story

Nunavik sled dogs need first aid and care too (June 1, 2012) -- In Nunavik, there are many dogs – sled dogs, pets, and strays – but no veterinarian, so a veterinary student is designing and delivering a first aid guide for dogs in northern Quebec. ... > full story

Neuroscientists reach major milestone in whole-brain circuit mapping project (June 1, 2012) -- Neuroscientists have just reached an important milestone, publicly releasing the first installment out of 500 terabytes of data so far collected in their pathbreaking project to construct the first whole-brain wiring diagram of a vertebrate brain, that of the mouse. ... > full story

Silkmoth inspires novel explosive detector (June 1, 2012) -- Imitating the antennas of the silkmoth, Bombyx mori, researchers have designed a system for detecting explosives with unparalleled performance. Made up of a silicon microcantilever bearing nearly 500,000 aligned titanium dioxide nanotubes, this device is capable of detecting concentrations of trinitrotoluene (TNT) of around 800 ppq (1) (i.e. 800 molecules of explosive per 10^15 molecules of air), thereby improving one thousand-fold the detection limit attainable until now. This innovative concept could also be used to detect drugs, toxic agents and traces of organic pollutants. ... > full story

Non-invasive brain stimulation shown to impact walking patterns (June 1, 2012) -- Kennedy Krieger researchers believe tool has potential to help patients relearn to walk after brain injury. ... > full story

Producing artificial bones from fish scales (June 1, 2012) -- Scientists have developed technology for producing artificial bones from fish scales and apatite. ... > full story

Catching solar particles infiltrating Earth's atmosphere (May 31, 2012) -- On May 17, 2012, an M-class flare exploded from the sun. They caused a shower of particles to cascade down toward Earth's surface. The shower created what's called a ground level enhancement (GLE). ... > full story

Chemical substitution: On early Earth, iron may have performed magnesium's RNA folding job (May 31, 2012) -- Researchers have used experiments and numerical calculations to show that iron, in the absence of oxygen, can substitute for magnesium in RNA binding, folding and catalysis. The findings suggest that three billion years ago, on the early Earth, iron did the chemical work now done by magnesium. ... > full story