The EDGE: ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Sunday, June 24, 2012

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Sunday, June 24, 2012

Welcome to another edition of ScienceDaily's email newsletter. You can change your subscription options or unsubscribe at any time.

Lichen can survive in space: Space station research sheds light on origin of life; potential for better sunscreens (June 23, 2012) -- You can freeze it, thaw it, vacuum dry it and expose it to radiation, but still life survives. Research on the International Space Station is giving credibility to theories that life came from outer space -- as well as helping to create better sunscreens. ... > full story

Pasta made from green banana flour a tasty alternative for gluten-free diets (June 23, 2012) -- People with celiac disease struggle with limited food choices, as their condition makes them unable to tolerate gluten, found in wheat and other grains. Researchers have now developed a gluten-free pasta product from green banana flour, which tasters found more acceptable than regular whole wheat pasta. The product has less fat and is cheaper to produce than standard pastas. ... > full story

Predicting treatment response in central nervous system diseases: Simple way of avoiding dangerous side effects? (June 23, 2012) -- The commonly-used epilepsy drug, valproic acid (VPA), can have a highly beneficial effect on some babies born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the number one genetic killer during early infancy. But in about two-thirds of such cases it is either damaging or simply has no effect. Now, for the first time, researchers have found a way to identify which patients are likely to respond well to VPA prior to starting treatment. Their results have major implications, not just for SMA patients, but for other conditions treated with the drug such as migraine and epilepsy, and may even provide the conditions for turning VPA non-responders into responders, the researchers say. ... > full story

Is arm length the reason women need reading glasses sooner than men? (June 23, 2012) -- Studies have consistently reported that women require reading glasses or bifocal lenses earlier than men. According to a recent article, the gender difference is caused by factors other than focusing ability, such as arm length or preferred reading distance, which should be considered when prescribing readers or bifocals. ... > full story

Declining testosterone levels in men not part of normal aging (June 23, 2012) -- A new study finds that a drop in testosterone levels over time is more likely to result from a man’s behavioral and health changes than by aging. ... > full story

'Trust' hormone oxytocin found at heart of rare genetic disorder (June 23, 2012) -- The hormone oxytocin -- often referred to as the "trust" hormone for its role in stimulating emotional responses -- plays an important role in Williams syndrome, according to a new study. ... > full story

Novel animal reservoir for group of tick-borne diseases discovered -- and it lives in your backyard (June 23, 2012) -- A new assay that uses mitochondrial DNA that mutates faster than nuclear DNA has allowed scientists to identify one of the major animal reservoirs for the ehlichioses, STARI and other tick-borne diseases in the southeastern United States. The animal turned out to be the eastern gray squirrel. ... > full story

Foundational concept of ecology tested: Purple loosestrife altered life in nearby ponds (June 23, 2012) -- How strong are the links in food webs? An experiment demonstrates that they're strong enough for a disturbance to propagate across four trophic levels and two ecosystems. The experiment demonstrates that invasive species such as purple loosestrife could have broad effects on surrounding plant and animal communities, many of them cryptic. ... > full story

Forgotten star cluster now found useful in studies of Sun and hunt for Earth-like planets (June 23, 2012) -- A loose group of stars, known for over 180 years but never before studied in detail, has been revealed to be an important new tool in the quest to understand the evolution of stars like the Sun, and in the search for planets like Earth. The star cluster holds great promise for use as a standard gauge in fundamental stellar astrophysics. ... > full story

Is your leaf left-handed? (June 23, 2012) -- The spiral pattern of leaf formation from the point of growth affects the developing leaf's exposure to the plant hormone auxin; This exposure leads to measurable left-right asymmetry in leaf development, in species previously assumed to have symmetric leaves. ... > full story

New technique allows simulation of noncrystalline materials (June 23, 2012) -- Scientists have found a new mathematical approach to simulating the electronic behavior of noncrystalline materials, which may eventually play an important part in new devices including solar cells, organic LED lights and printable, flexible electronic circuits. ... > full story

Rio+20 Summit: Earth observation for us and our planet (June 23, 2012) -- The Rio+20 summit on promoting jobs, clean energy and a more sustainable use of our planet's resources closed today after three days of talks. During the summit, the role of Earth observation in sustainable development was highlighted. ... > full story