ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Hearing loss from loud blasts may be treatable
• Age affects how married couples handle conflict
• Brain differences seen in depressed preschoolers
• Head Start children and parents show robust gains in new intervention
• It's about time: Disrupted internal clocks play role in disease
• Astronomer uncovers the hidden identity of an exoplanet
• Cattle flatulence doesn't stink with biotechnology: Farmers could improve air quality by using hormones
• Biomedical research revealing secrets of cell behavior
• Removing nerves connecting kidney to the brain shown to reduce high blood pressure
• Controlling blood pressure, cholesterol may significantly cut heart disease risk
• A tick's spit leads to an entire lesson in blood clotting
• Vitamin C helps control gene activity in stem cells
• Mapping the benefits of our ecosystems
• Promising target found in treating deadly brain cancer
• Mixed results for acupuncture to improve in vitro fertilization rates
• Altitude sickness may hinder ethnic integration in the world's highest places
• Surprise superconductor
• Wiggling worms make waves in gene pool
• Breakthrough in El Nino forecasting
• Psychology influences markets
• Placental cells may prevent viruses from passing from mother to baby
• Identifying climate impact hotspots across sectors
• Improving crop yields in a world of extreme weather events
• Superconductor created from solvent
• Protein essential for cognition and mental health identified
• Calming your dog's anxiety during noisy Fourth of July
• Inactivation of taste genes causes male sterility
• Nuke test radiation can fight poachers who kill elephants, rhinos, hippos
• Pregnancy as window to future health
• Caterpillars attracted to plant SOS
• Nerve cells can work in different ways with same result
• Environmental policy: Tallying the wins and losses of policy
• Lack of immune cell receptor impairs clearance of amyloid beta protein from the brain
• Getting kids to eat their veggies: A new approach to an age-old problem
• Inner-city women's health issues to childhood traumas
• New way discovered to block inflammation
• After the shooting, political violence lives on in kids' behavior problems
• Gene mutations caused by a father's lifestyle can be inherited by multiple generations
• Scientists show how DHA resolves inflammation
• Breakthrough discovery into the regulation of a key cancer drug target
• How the body aids and abets the spread of cancer
• Cloud behavior expands habitable zone of alien planets
• Climbing the social ladder is strongly influenced by your grandparents' class
• New regulatory autism gene discovered
• NASA decommissions its galaxy hunter spacecraft
• Teaching a computer to play concentration advances security, understanding of the mind
• Too much of a good thing? Too many 'healing' cells delay wound healing
• Curious mix of precision and brawn in a pouched super-predator
• A calculator to estimate the likelihood of antidepressant response
• Discovery sheds light on why Alzheimer's drugs rarely help
• Place matters in analyzing students' performance
• Rate of temperature change along world's coastlines changed dramatically over past three decades
• Biochemical role of crucial TonB protein in bacterial iron transport and pathogenesis
• Transformational leadership has positive effects on employee well-being
• Climate change: Disequilibrium will become the norm in the plant communities of the future
• Aging stereotypes can hurt older adults' memory
• Long-term cannabis use may blunt the brain's motivation system
• New treatment for schizophrenia?
• DNA particles in the blood may help speed detection of coronary artery disease
• Can watching an avatar translate to real-life weight loss?

Hearing loss from loud blasts may be treatable Posted: 01 Jul 2013 02:21 PM PDT Long-term hearing loss from loud explosions, such as blasts from roadside bombs, may not be as irreversible as previously thought, according to a new study.

Age affects how married couples handle conflict Posted: 01 Jul 2013 02:21 PM PDT Arguing with your spouse about where to go on vacation or how to handle the kids? As you age, you may be more likely to handle such disagreements by changing the subject, according to new research. The study followed older couples over a 13-year period and found that as couples aged, both husbands and wives increased their tendency to avoid conflict, for example by changing the subject or diverting attention away from the conflict.

Brain differences seen in depressed preschoolers Posted: 01 Jul 2013 02:20 PM PDT A key brain structure that regulates emotions works differently in preschoolers with depression compared with their healthy peers, according to new research.

Head Start children and parents show robust gains in new intervention Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:39 PM PDT An eight-week intervention involving 141 preschoolers in a Head Start program and their parents produced significant improvements in the children's behavior and brain functions supporting attention and reduced levels of parental stress that, in turn, improved the families' quality of life.

It's about time: Disrupted internal clocks play role in disease Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:39 PM PDT Researchers have a possible explanation why some alcoholics develop liver disease: Disrupted circadian rhythms can push those vulnerable over the edge to disease. Mice whose internal clocks were out of sync with the light-dark cycle and mice with circadian disruption from a faulty gene were fed diets without and with alcohol. The results showed circadian rhythm disruption and alcohol is a destructive double hit that can lead to alcoholic liver disease.

Astronomer uncovers the hidden identity of an exoplanet Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:39 PM PDT Hovering about 70 light-years from Earth –- that's "next door" by astronomical standards –– is a star astronomers call HD 97658, which is almost bright enough to see with the naked eye. But the real "star" is the planet HD 97658b, not much more than twice the Earth's diameter and a little less than eight times its mass. HD 97658b is a super-Earth, a class of planet for which there is no example in our home solar system.

Cattle flatulence doesn't stink with biotechnology: Farmers could improve air quality by using hormones Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:39 PM PDT According to animal scientists, emerging biotechnologies can reduce the environmental impact of cattle production. Feed supplements and synthetic hormones will not affect humans, but they will increase food production. Efficient animals can produce more food for hungry people.

Biomedical research revealing secrets of cell behavior Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:38 PM PDT Scientists are using mathematical modeling and synthetic biology techniques to gain a closer look at what determines transitions of the body's cells from one state to another. For example how particular cells combine to produce multi-cellular organisms. A deeper comprehension of what drives this transformational process could reveal ways to bioengineering cells and gene networks that could fight diseases.

Removing nerves connecting kidney to the brain shown to reduce high blood pressure Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:38 PM PDT A new technique that involves removing the nerves connecting the kidney to the brain has shown to significantly reduce blood pressure and help lower the risk of stroke, heart and renal disease in patients.

Controlling blood pressure, cholesterol may significantly cut heart disease risk Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:38 PM PDT Controlling both your high blood pressure and high cholesterol may cut your risk for heart disease by half or more. Fewer than one in three patients had both conditions under control, in a national data review. Minorities, older people and those with diabetes may benefit most from managing both conditions.

A tick's spit leads to an entire lesson in blood clotting Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:38 PM PDT There really is such a thing as tick spit -- that is, the saliva of a tick. And there's something about it that might help fight heart disease and stroke.

Vitamin C helps control gene activity in stem cells Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:37 PM PDT Vitamin C affects whether genes are switched on or off inside mouse stem cells, and may thereby play a previously unknown and fundamental role in helping to guide normal development in mice, humans and other animals.

Mapping the benefits of our ecosystems Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:37 PM PDT We rely on our physical environment for many things -- clean water, land for crops or pastures, storm water absorption, and recreation, among others. Yet it has been challenging to figure out how to sustain the many benefits people obtain from nature -- so-called "ecosystem services" -- in any given landscape because an improvement in one may come at the cost of another.

Promising target found in treating deadly brain cancer Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:37 PM PDT Researchers have identified a promising target for treating glioblastoma, one that appears to avoid many of the obstacles that typically frustrate efforts to develop effective treatments for this deadliest of cancers.

Mixed results for acupuncture to improve in vitro fertilization rates Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:37 PM PDT Acupuncture, when used as a complementary or adjuvant therapy for in vitro fertilization may be beneficial depending on baseline pregnancy rates of a fertility clinic, according to new research.

Altitude sickness may hinder ethnic integration in the world's highest places Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:18 PM PDT Ethnic segregation -- and potential ethnic tension -- in nations straddling the world's steepest terrains may be reinforced by the biological tolerance different peoples have to altitude, according to one of the first studies to examine the effect of elevation on ethnic demographics.

Surprise superconductor Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:18 PM PDT Superconductivity is a rare physical state in which matter is able to conduct electricity -- maintain a flow of electrons -- without any resistance. This phenomenon can only be found in certain materials under specific low-temperature and high-pressure conditions. New research found unexpected superconductivity that could help scientists better understand the structural changes that create this rare phenomenon.

Wiggling worms make waves in gene pool Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:18 PM PDT Treating the movements of mutant worms as waveforms allowed for a detailed analysis of the gene networks that control their locomotion.

Breakthrough in El Nino forecasting Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:18 PM PDT Irregular warming of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, dubbed El Niño by Peruvian fishermen, can generate devastating impacts. Being the most important phenomenon of contemporary natural climate variability, it may trigger floods in Latin America, droughts in Australia, and harvest failures in India.

Psychology influences markets Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:16 PM PDT When it comes to economics versus psychology, score one for psychology. Economists argue that markets usually reflect rational behavior -- with the dominant players in a market, such as hedge-fund managers, almost always making well-informed and objective decisions. But psychologists say that markets are not immune from human irrationality. A new analysis supports the latter case, showing that markets are indeed susceptible to psychological phenomena.

Placental cells may prevent viruses from passing from mother to baby Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:16 PM PDT Cells of the placenta may have a unique ability to prevent viruses from crossing from an expectant mother to her growing baby and can transfer that trait to other kinds of cells. The findings could point to new approaches to combat viral infections.

Identifying climate impact hotspots across sectors Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:16 PM PDT One out of 10 people on Earth is likely to live in a climate impact hotspot by the end of this century, if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. Many more are put at risk in a worst-case scenario of the combined impacts on crop yields, water availability, ecosystems, and health, according to a new study.

Improving crop yields in a world of extreme weather events Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:16 PM PDT When plants encounter drought, they naturally produce abscisic acid (ABA), a stress hormone that helps them cope with the drought conditions. Specifically, the hormone turns on receptors in the plants. Botanists have identified an inexpensive synthetic chemical, quinabactin, that mimics ABA. Spraying ABA on plants improves their water use and stress tolerance, but the procedure is expensive. Quinabactin now offers a cheaper solution.

Superconductor created from solvent Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:16 PM PDT Researchers have turned a fairly common non-metallic solvent into a superconductor capable of transmitting electrical current with none of the resistance seen in conventional conductors.

Protein essential for cognition and mental health identified Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:15 PM PDT The ability to maintain mental representations of ourselves and the world -- the fundamental building block of human cognition -- arises from the firing of highly evolved neuronal circuits, a process that is weakened in schizophrenia. In a new study, researchers pinpoint key molecular actions of proteins that allow the creation of mental representations necessary for higher cognition that are genetically altered in schizophrenia.

Calming your dog's anxiety during noisy Fourth of July Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:14 PM PDT Have a dog with noise phobias, especially fireworks? A psychologist explains three main ways calm dogs' fears.

Inactivation of taste genes causes male sterility Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:14 PM PDT Scientists report the surprising finding that two proteins involved in oral taste detection also play a crucial role in sperm development. In addition, the human form of one protein is blocked by the lipid-lowering drug clofibrate, perhaps linking this and related compounds to the rising global incidence of human infertility.

Nuke test radiation can fight poachers who kill elephants, rhinos, hippos Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:14 PM PDT Researchers have developed a new weapon to fight poachers who kill elephants, hippos, rhinos and other wildlife. By measuring radioactive carbon-14 deposited in tusks and teeth by open-air nuclear bomb tests, the method reveals the year an animal died, and thus whether the ivory was taken illegally.

Pregnancy as window to future health Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:59 AM PDT The development of complications in pregnancy provides a new window of opportunity for early heart disease risk screening and intervention for women.

Caterpillars attracted to plant SOS Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:58 AM PDT Plants that emit an airborne distress signal in response to herbivory may actually attract more enemies, according to a new study.

Nerve cells can work in different ways with same result Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:58 AM PDT Epilepsy, irregular heartbeats and other conditions caused by malfunctions in the body's nerve cells, also known as neurons, can be difficult to treat. The problem is that one medicine may help some patients but not others. Doctors' ability to predict which drugs will work with individual patients may be influenced by recent University of Missouri research that found seemingly identical neurons can behave the same even though they are built differently under the surface.

Environmental policy: Tallying the wins and losses of policy Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:58 AM PDT In the past decade, China has sunk some impressive numbers to preserve its forests, but until now there hasn't been much data to give a true picture of how it has simultaneously affected both the people and the environment. Scientists now offer a complete picture of the environmental and socioeconomic effects of payments for ecosystem services programs.

Lack of immune cell receptor impairs clearance of amyloid beta protein from the brain Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:58 AM PDT Identification of a protein that appears to play an important role in the immune system's removal of amyloid beta protein from the brain could lead to a new treatment strategy for Alzheimer's disease.

Getting kids to eat their veggies: A new approach to an age-old problem Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:56 AM PDT Every parent has a different strategy for trying to get his or her kid to eat more vegetables, from growing vegetables together as a family to banning treats until the dinner plate is clean. New research suggests that teaching young children an overarching, conceptual framework for nutrition may do the trick.

Inner-city women's health issues to childhood traumas Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:55 AM PDT Researchers have traced chronic health problems of adult inner-city women to traumas from childhood abuse and neglect.

New way discovered to block inflammation Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:55 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a mechanism that triggers chronic inflammation in Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis and type-2 diabetes. The results suggest a common biochemical thread to multiple diseases and point the way to a new class of therapies that could treat chronic inflammation in these non-infectious diseases without crippling the immune system. Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis and type-2 diabetes -- diseases associated with aging and inflammation -- affect more than 100 million Americans.

After the shooting, political violence lives on in kids' behavior problems Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:55 AM PDT Even short-term exposure to political violence may have long-lasting effects on children's adjustment and behavior, says a new study.

Gene mutations caused by a father's lifestyle can be inherited by multiple generations Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:55 AM PDT Gene mutations caused by a father's lifestyle can be inherited by his children, even if those mutations occurred before conception. These findings show that mutations in the germ-line are present in all cells of the children, including their germ cells. This means that a father's lifestyle may affect the DNA of multiple generations and not just his immediate offspring.

Scientists show how DHA resolves inflammation Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:54 AM PDT Chronic inflammation is a major factor in problems from arthritis to cardiovascular disease, and DHA is known to help. New research in The FASEB Journal, explains why DHA is important in reducing inflammation, and provides an important lead to finding new drugs that will help bring people back to optimal health. Researchers found that macrophages use DHA to produce "maresins," which are the "switch" that turns inflammation off and switches on resolution.

Breakthrough discovery into the regulation of a key cancer drug target Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:54 AM PDT New research offers insights into how the genome is regulated by signalling molecules within human cells.

How the body aids and abets the spread of cancer Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:54 AM PDT The very system that is meant to protect the body from invasion may be a traitor. These new findings reveal that infection-fighting white blood cells play a role in activating cancer cells and facilitating their spread to secondary tumors. This research has significant implications for both the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Cloud behavior expands habitable zone of alien planets Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:51 AM PDT A new study that calculates the influence of cloud behavior on climate doubles the number of potentially habitable planets orbiting red dwarfs, the most common type of stars in the universe.

Climbing the social ladder is strongly influenced by your grandparents' class Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:51 AM PDT For the first time, a study has suggested that the position of grandparents in the British class system has a direct effect on which class their grandchildren belong to.

New regulatory autism gene discovered Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:50 AM PDT A new study reports that RORA, a novel candidate gene for autism discovered in a 2010 study, regulates a large number of other genes associated with autism.

NASA decommissions its galaxy hunter spacecraft Posted: 01 Jul 2013 08:06 AM PDT NASA has turned off its Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) after a decade of operations in which the venerable space telescope used its ultraviolet vision to study hundreds of millions of galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic time.

Teaching a computer to play concentration advances security, understanding of the mind Posted: 01 Jul 2013 07:08 AM PDT Computer science researchers have programmed a computer to play the game Concentration (also known as Memory). The work could help improve computer security -- and improve our understanding of how the human mind works.

Too much of a good thing? Too many 'healing' cells delay wound healing Posted: 01 Jul 2013 07:08 AM PDT New research shows that wound healing can be delayed because the body produces too many mast cells, which promote healing. Overabundance of these cells causes the overproduction of IL-10, preventing certain white blood cells from reaching the wound. The work may provide better treatments for the elderly with lower extremity skin ulcers, women with upper-extremity wounds following breast cancer surgery, and delayed healing in all skin wounds.

Curious mix of precision and brawn in a pouched super-predator Posted: 01 Jul 2013 07:08 AM PDT A bizarre, pouched super-predator that terrorized South America millions of years ago had huge sabre-like teeth but its bite was weaker than that of a domestic cat, new research shows. To achieve a kill Thylacosmilus atrox must have secured and immobilized large prey using its extremely powerful forearms, before inserting the sabre-teeth into the windpipe or major arteries of the neck -- a mix of brute force and delicate precision.

A calculator to estimate the likelihood of antidepressant response Posted: 01 Jul 2013 07:07 AM PDT As in any other field of medicine, when a depressed person visits a psychiatrist for treatment of depression, they like to be informed of the odds that they will respond to the medication they are prescribed. Unfortunately, there has been no precise way to predict antidepressant response in individual patients.

Discovery sheds light on why Alzheimer's drugs rarely help Posted: 01 Jul 2013 07:06 AM PDT New research reveals that the likely culprit behind Alzheimer's has a different molecular structure than current drugs' target -- perhaps explaining why current medications produce little improvement in patients.

Place matters in analyzing students' performance Posted: 01 Jul 2013 07:06 AM PDT Where a child lives makes a difference in how demographics and other factors influence algebra performance, and policies should take into account local variation, research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests.

Rate of temperature change along world's coastlines changed dramatically over past three decades Posted: 01 Jul 2013 07:05 AM PDT Locally, changes in coastal ocean temperatures may be much more extreme than global averages imply. New research highlights some of the distinct regional implications associated with global climate-change.

Biochemical role of crucial TonB protein in bacterial iron transport and pathogenesis Posted: 01 Jul 2013 07:05 AM PDT Scientists have discovered the role of the membrane protein TonB in bacteria that cause a wide variety of diseases, including typhoid fever, plague, meningitis and dysentery. Results may lead to new and improved human and animal antibiotics.

Transformational leadership has positive effects on employee well-being Posted: 01 Jul 2013 07:05 AM PDT A transformational leadership style -- valued for stimulating innovation and worker performance -- is also associated with increased well-being among employees, a new study finds.

Climate change: Disequilibrium will become the norm in the plant communities of the future Posted: 01 Jul 2013 05:11 AM PDT Global climate change will induce large changes to the plant communities on Earth, but these will typically occur with major time lags. Many plants will remain long after the climate has become unfavorable -- and many new species can take thousands of years to make an appearance. Humans will play a key role in such disequilibrium dynamics.

Aging stereotypes can hurt older adults' memory Posted: 01 Jul 2013 05:11 AM PDT Simply reminding older adults about stereotypes of aging and forgetfulness exacerbates real memory problems, reveals important new research from the USC Davis School of Gerontology. But the study also reveals a easy way to combat the problem.

Long-term cannabis use may blunt the brain's motivation system Posted: 01 Jul 2013 05:10 AM PDT Long-term cannabis users tend to produce less dopamine, a chemical in the brain linked to motivation, a study has found.

New treatment for schizophrenia? Posted: 01 Jul 2013 05:09 AM PDT Giving a very large dose of famotidine (200 mg daily), sufficient amounts of the drug are able to penetrate the so-called blood-brain barrier to affect the histamine system in the brain.

DNA particles in the blood may help speed detection of coronary artery disease Posted: 01 Jul 2013 05:09 AM PDT DNA fragments in your blood may someday help doctors quickly learn if chest pain means you have narrowed heart arteries, according to a new study.

Can watching an avatar translate to real-life weight loss? Posted: 01 Jul 2013 05:08 AM PDT An estimated two-thirds of all Americans are overweight or obese and many find it difficult to lose weight and keep it off. They've tried fad diets, exercise programs, diet pills and other methods but the battle continues. Now, a new study suggests that watching an avatar model weight-loss behavior in a virtual community might help some women shed pounds in the real world.

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