ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Cancer is a result of a default cellular 'safe mode,' physicist proposes
• Intergalactic magnifying glasses could help astronomers map galaxy centers
• Rocket-launched camera reveals highways and sparkles in the solar atmosphere
• El Nino unusually active in the late 20th century: Is it because of global warming?
• Different neuronal groups govern right-left alternation when walking
• Is that bacteria dead yet? Nano and laser technology packed into small device tests antibiotic treatment in minutes
• The quantum secret to alcohol reactions in space
• Link between fear and sound perception discovered
• Genomic atlas of gene switches in plants provides roadmap for crop research
• Diamond catalyst shows promise in breaching age-old barrier
• Liver protein crucial for pregnancy
• Cardiac patients given longer prescriptions at discharge more likely to continue taking medication

Cancer is a result of a default cellular 'safe mode,' physicist proposes Posted: 30 Jun 2013 07:54 PM PDT With death rates from cancer have remained largely unchanged over the past 60 years, a physicist is trying to shed more light on the disease with a very different theory of its origin that traces cancer back to the dawn of multicellularity more than a billion years ago.

Intergalactic magnifying glasses could help astronomers map galaxy centers Posted: 30 Jun 2013 07:52 PM PDT Astronomers may have found a new way to map quasars, the energetic and luminous central regions often found in distant galaxies.

Rocket-launched camera reveals highways and sparkles in the solar atmosphere Posted: 30 Jun 2013 07:52 PM PDT Using an innovative new camera on board a sounding rocket, an international team of scientists have captured the sharpest images yet of the Sun's outer atmosphere. The team discovered fast-track 'highways' and intriguing 'sparkles' that may help answer a long-standing solar mystery.

El Nino unusually active in the late 20th century: Is it because of global warming? Posted: 30 Jun 2013 11:50 AM PDT Reliable prediction of El Nino response to global warming is difficult, as El Nino varies naturally over decades and centuries. Instrumental records are too short to determine whether recent changes are natural or attributable to increased greenhouse gases. An international team of scientists now show that recent El Nino activity is the highest for the past 700 years, possibly a response to global warming.

Different neuronal groups govern right-left alternation when walking Posted: 30 Jun 2013 11:50 AM PDT Scientists have identified the neuronal circuits in the spinal cord of mice that control the ability to produce the alternating movements of the legs during walking. The study demonstrates that two genetically-defined groups of nerve cells are in control of limb alternation at different speeds of locomotion, and thus that the animals' gait is disturbed when these cell populations are missing.

Is that bacteria dead yet? Nano and laser technology packed into small device tests antibiotic treatment in minutes Posted: 30 Jun 2013 11:50 AM PDT Researchers have built a matchbox-sized device that can test for the presence of bacteria in a couple of minutes, instead of up to several weeks. This might be a crucial medical tool especially for resistant strains.

The quantum secret to alcohol reactions in space Posted: 30 Jun 2013 11:50 AM PDT Chemists have discovered that an 'impossible' reaction at cold temperatures actually occurs with vigor, which could change our understanding of how alcohols are formed and destroyed in space.

Link between fear and sound perception discovered Posted: 30 Jun 2013 11:50 AM PDT Researchers have discovered in an animal model how fear can increase or decrease the ability to discriminate among sounds depending on context, providing potential new insight into the distorted perceptions of victims of PTSD.

Genomic atlas of gene switches in plants provides roadmap for crop research Posted: 30 Jun 2013 11:49 AM PDT What allows certain plants to survive freezing and thrive in the Canadian climate, while others are sensitive to the slightest drop in temperature? Those that flourish activate specific genes at just the right time -- but the way gene activation is controlled remains poorly understood.

Diamond catalyst shows promise in breaching age-old barrier Posted: 30 Jun 2013 11:44 AM PDT In the world, there are a lot of small molecules people would like to get rid of, or at least convert to something useful. Think carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas most responsible for far-reaching effects on global climate. Nitrogen is another ubiquitous small-molecule gas that can be transformed into the valuable agricultural fertilizer ammonia. Plants perform the chemical reduction of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia as a matter of course, but for humans to do that in an industrial setting, a necessity for modern agriculture, requires subjecting nitrogen to massive amounts of energy under high pressure. Now a new method may make a big difference.

Liver protein crucial for pregnancy Posted: 30 Jun 2013 11:44 AM PDT A protein first shown to function in the liver plays a crucial role in pregnancy in mice and has a key role in the human menstrual cycle, according to researchers.

Cardiac patients given longer prescriptions at discharge more likely to continue taking medication Posted: 28 Jun 2013 11:45 AM PDT Elderly cardiac patients prescribed heart medications for 60 days or more after leaving hospital have four times the odds of adhering to the drug regime than patients prescribed the same medications for 30 days, according to researchers.

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