ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Mobs rule for great tit neighbors
• Under 'dark halo' old galaxies have many more stars
• A woman’s intense interest in her partner shifts when grandchildren arrive
• Skeletons found at mass burial site in Oxford could be 10th-century Viking raiders
• Jurassic pain: Giant 'flea-like' insects plagued dinosaurs 165 million years ago
• Use of public and private dollars for scaling up clean energy needs a reality check, say scholars
• Environment key to preventing childhood disabilities
• Large-scale analysis finds majority of clinical trials don't provide meaningful evidence
• Chemist delivers cleaner air with novel carbon-capture technique
• Treating childhood obesity: A family affair
• 'Drivers' of sarcoma growth and survival identified
• Vitamin D blood level for reducing major medical risks in older adults identified, study suggests
• Novel radiation surveillance technology could help thwart nuclear terrorism
• Bigger gorillas better at attracting mates and raising young
• Potential 'dark side' to diets high in beta-carotene
• Thwarting the cleverest attackers: Even most secure-seeming computer is shockingly vulnerable to attack
• Global warming: New research blames economic growth
• Sports and energy drinks responsible for irreversible damage to teeth
• Geneticist develops tool to identify genes important in disease, tailoring individual treatment
• Resveratrol: Study resolves controversy on life-extending red wine ingredient, restores hope for anti-aging pill
• Important mechanism that affects the aging process identified
• Garlic compound fights source of food-borne illness better than antibiotics
• Computer use and exercise combo may reduce the odds of having memory loss
• Were dinosaurs undergoing long-term decline before mass extinction?
• Risks of mixing drugs and herbal supplements: What doctors and patients need to know
• Greater numbers of highly educated women are having children, bucking recent history
• When cells hit the wall: Engineers put the squeeze on cells to diagnose disease
• How illusions trick the brain: 'Rotating Snakes' appear to dance
• Inexpensive, abundant starch fibers could lead to ouchless bandages
• Website security: Spot a bot to stop a botnet
• Rare glimpse into great blue heron nest
• Longer sleep times may counteract genetic factors related to weight gain
• Excessive sleepiness may be cause of learning, attention and school problems
• Secondhand smoke continues to vex children with asthma
• Children with juvenile arthritis have higher rates of bacterial infection
• Venus to appear in once-in-a-lifetime event
• Next-generation 'epigenetic' cancer pill shown to be safe in phase I trial
• Faster-ticking clock indicates early solar system may have evolved faster than we thought
• Genetic systems disrupted in autistic brain
• High-powered microscopes reveal inner workings of sex cells
• 2012 football helmet ratings: Two more added to the 5 star mark, experts say
• Gene involved in sperm-to-egg binding is key to fertility in mammals
• A 100-gigabit highway for science: Researchers take a 'test drive' on ANI testbed

Mobs rule for great tit neighbors Posted: 01 May 2012 06:20 PM PDT Great tits are more likely to join defensive mobs with birds in nearby nests that are 'familiar neighbours' rather than new arrivals, new research has found.

Under 'dark halo' old galaxies have many more stars Posted: 01 May 2012 06:14 PM PDT Some of the oldest galaxies in the Universe have three times more stellar mass, and so many more stars, than all current models of galaxy evolution predict.

A woman’s intense interest in her partner shifts when grandchildren arrive Posted: 01 May 2012 06:00 PM PDT A new study suggests that a woman's most intense relationship in her 20s is with a member of the opposite sex, but after the age of 45 this relationship shifts to a much younger female who is likely to be her daughter. The researchers suggest that women are more strategically driven than men in how they invest their time and after finding a mate, they shift their attention to grandchildren.

Skeletons found at mass burial site in Oxford could be 10th-century Viking raiders Posted: 01 May 2012 05:48 PM PDT Thirty-seven skeletons found in a mass burial site in the grounds of St John's College may not be who they initially seemed, according to Oxford researchers studying the remains.

Jurassic pain: Giant 'flea-like' insects plagued dinosaurs 165 million years ago Posted: 01 May 2012 01:27 PM PDT It takes a gutsy insect to sneak up on a huge dinosaur while it sleeps, crawl onto its soft underbelly and give it a bite that might have felt like a needle going in -- but giant "flea-like" animals, possibly the oldest of their type ever discovered, probably did just that.

Use of public and private dollars for scaling up clean energy needs a reality check, say scholars Posted: 01 May 2012 01:27 PM PDT In a post-Solyndra, budget-constrained world, the transition to a decarbonized energy system faces great hurdles. Overcoming these hurdles will require smarter and more focused policies. Two writers outline their visions in a pair of high-profile analyses.

Environment key to preventing childhood disabilities Posted: 01 May 2012 01:27 PM PDT The United States government would get a better bang for its health-care buck in managing the country's most prevalent childhood disabilities if it invested more in eliminating socioenvironmental risk factors than in developing medicines. That's the key conclusion of a new article.

Large-scale analysis finds majority of clinical trials don't provide meaningful evidence Posted: 01 May 2012 01:27 PM PDT The largest comprehensive analysis of ClinicalTrials.gov finds that clinical trials are falling short of producing high-quality evidence needed to guide medical decision-making. The analysis found the majority of clinical trials is small, and there are significant differences among methodical approaches, including randomizing, blinding and the use of data monitoring committees.

Chemist delivers cleaner air with novel carbon-capture technique Posted: 01 May 2012 01:25 PM PDT Researchers are exploring an increasingly versatile class of materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOF). An emerging technology in the scientific community, MOF are porous crystalline polymers made up of metal ions or metal-containing components and organic ligands. Chemists are assembling MOF materials with a profound potential for providing for cleaner energy around the globe.

Treating childhood obesity: A family affair Posted: 01 May 2012 01:25 PM PDT With nearly one-third of American children being overweight or obese, doctors agree that there is an acute need for more effective treatments. In many weight management programs, the dropout rate can be as high as 73 percent, and even in successful programs, the benefits are usually short term.

'Drivers' of sarcoma growth and survival identified Posted: 01 May 2012 01:25 PM PDT To better understand the signaling pathways active in sarcomas, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center used state-of-the-art mass spectrometry-based proteomics to characterize a family of protein enzymes that act as "on" or "off" switches important in the biology of cancer. The tyrosine kinases they identified, the researchers said, could act as "drivers" for the growth and survival of sarcomas.

Vitamin D blood level for reducing major medical risks in older adults identified, study suggests Posted: 01 May 2012 11:50 AM PDT To resolve controversy over how much vitamin D is enough to protect older adults' health, researchers tested Cardiovascular Health Study blood samples. They sought links between each person's 25 (OH) D and first heart attack, cancer diagnosis, hip fracture or death. Risks rose when levels fell below 20ng/mL or 50 nmol/L. Results match the low threshold level set by the Institute of Medicine. Association with risk varied seasonally. Levels were lower, and disease event risk higher, in winter.

Novel radiation surveillance technology could help thwart nuclear terrorism Posted: 01 May 2012 11:50 AM PDT Researchers have developed a prototype radiation-detection system that uses rare-earth elements and other materials at the nanoscale. The system could be used to enhance radiation-detection devices used at ports, border crossings, airports and elsewhere.

Bigger gorillas better at attracting mates and raising young Posted: 01 May 2012 10:44 AM PDT Conservationists have found that larger male gorillas living in the rainforests of Congo seem to be more successful than smaller ones at attracting mates and even raising young.

Potential 'dark side' to diets high in beta-carotene Posted: 01 May 2012 10:44 AM PDT New research suggests that there could be health hazards associated with consuming excessive amounts of beta-carotene.

Thwarting the cleverest attackers: Even most secure-seeming computer is shockingly vulnerable to attack Posted: 01 May 2012 10:44 AM PDT Savvy hackers can steal a computer's secrets by timing its data storage transactions or measuring its power use. New research shows how to stop them.

Global warming: New research blames economic growth Posted: 01 May 2012 10:43 AM PDT It's a message no one wants to hear: to slow down global warming, we'll either have to put the brakes on economic growth or transform the way the world's economies work. That's the implication of an innovative study examining the evolution of atmospheric CO2, the most likely cause of climate change.

Sports and energy drinks responsible for irreversible damage to teeth Posted: 01 May 2012 10:43 AM PDT A recent study found that an alarming increase in the consumption of sports and energy drinks, especially among adolescents, is causing irreversible damage to teeth -- specifically, the high acidity levels in the drinks erode tooth enamel, the glossy outer layer of the tooth.

Geneticist develops tool to identify genes important in disease, tailoring individual treatment Posted: 01 May 2012 10:42 AM PDT Medical researchers have devised a technique for testing the consequence of variant human gene alleles (alternative sequences of a single gene) by moving them into yeast cells. Once swapped into yeast, colony growth can be compared to reveal functional differences.

Resveratrol: Study resolves controversy on life-extending red wine ingredient, restores hope for anti-aging pill Posted: 01 May 2012 10:42 AM PDT A new study appears to offer vindication for an approach to anti-aging drugs that has been at the center of heated scientific debate in recent years. The new findings show for the first time that the metabolic benefits of the red wine ingredient known as resveratrol evaporate in mice that lack the famed longevity gene SIRT1.

Important mechanism that affects the aging process identified Posted: 01 May 2012 10:42 AM PDT Scientists have identified a key mechanism of action for the TOR (target of rapamycin) protein kinase, a critical regulator of cell growth which plays a major role in illness and aging. This finding not only illuminates the physiology of aging but could lead to new treatments to increase lifespan and control age-related conditions, such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, and neurodegeneration.

Garlic compound fights source of food-borne illness better than antibiotics Posted: 01 May 2012 10:42 AM PDT A compound in garlic is 100 times more effective than two popular antibiotics at fighting the Campylobacter bacterium, one of the most common causes of intestinal illness. The discovery opens the door to new treatments for raw and processed meats and food preparation surfaces.

Computer use and exercise combo may reduce the odds of having memory loss Posted: 01 May 2012 10:42 AM PDT You think your computer has a lot of memory … if you keep using your computer you may, too. Combining mentally stimulating activities, such as using a computer, with moderate exercise decreases your odds of having memory loss more than computer use or exercise alone, a new study shows.

Were dinosaurs undergoing long-term decline before mass extinction? Posted: 01 May 2012 10:41 AM PDT Despite years of intensive research about the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs about 65.5 million years ago, a fundamental question remains: Were dinosaurs already undergoing a long-term decline before an asteroid hit at the end of the Cretaceous? A new study suggests that in general, large-bodied, "bulk-feeding" herbivores were declining during the last 12 million years of the Cretaceous. But carnivorous dinosaurs and mid-sized herbivores were not.

Risks of mixing drugs and herbal supplements: What doctors and patients need to know Posted: 01 May 2012 10:41 AM PDT Herbal, dietary, and energy or nutritional supplements may offer specific health benefits, but they can also have harmful and even life-threatening effects when combined with commonly used medications. Clinicians need to be aware of and educate their patients about the potential risks of mixing supplements and therapeutic agents, since their interaction can diminish or increase drug levels.

Greater numbers of highly educated women are having children, bucking recent history Posted: 01 May 2012 10:35 AM PDT A U.S. national study suggests that a significantly greater number of highly educated women in their late 30s and 40s are deciding to have children - a dramatic turnaround from recent history.

When cells hit the wall: Engineers put the squeeze on cells to diagnose disease Posted: 01 May 2012 07:01 AM PDT Bioengineering researchers have taken advantage of cell physical properties for the development of a new instrument that slams cells against a wall of fluid and quickly analyzes the physical response, allowing identification of cancer and other cell states without chemical tags. The deformability cytometer consists of a miniaturized microfluidic chip that sequentially aligns cells so that they hit a wall of fluid at rates of thousands per second.

How illusions trick the brain: 'Rotating Snakes' appear to dance Posted: 01 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT New research sheds light on why illusions trick our brains. The study explores the neural bases of illusory motion in Akiyoshi Kitaoka's striking visual illusion known as the "Rotating Snakes." The study shows that tiny eye movements and blinking can make a geometric drawing of "snakes" appear to dance. The results help explain the mystery of how the Rotating Snakes illusion tricks the brain.

Inexpensive, abundant starch fibers could lead to ouchless bandages Posted: 01 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT A process that spins starch into fine strands could take the sting out of removing bandages, as well as produce less expensive and more environmentally friendly toilet paper, napkins and other products, according to food scientists.

Website security: Spot a bot to stop a botnet Posted: 01 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT Computer scientists have developed a two-pronged algorithm that can detect the presence of a botnet on a computer network and block its malicious activities before it causes too much harm.

Rare glimpse into great blue heron nest Posted: 01 May 2012 06:59 AM PDT In a first for technology and for bird watching, thousands of people watched live this weekend as a tiny Great Blue Heron emerged from an egg in between its father's gigantic feet. Viewers around the world are now able to follow the surprising lives of herons, including rare views still little known to science.

Longer sleep times may counteract genetic factors related to weight gain Posted: 01 May 2012 05:57 AM PDT Toss out another old wives' tale: Sleeping too much does not make you fat. Sleeping more than nine hours a night may actually suppress genetic influences on body weight, says a new study examining sleep and body mass index (BMI) in 1,088 pairs of twins.

Excessive sleepiness may be cause of learning, attention and school problems Posted: 01 May 2012 05:57 AM PDT Children who have learning, attention and behavior problems may be suffering from excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), even though clinical tests show them sleeping long enough at night. Researchers studied 508 children and found that those whose parents reported EDS -- despite little indication of short sleep from clinical measurements -- were more likely to experience learning, attention/hyperactivity and conduct problems than children without EDS. Obesity, symptoms of inattention, depression and anxiety, asthma were among the culprits.

Secondhand smoke continues to vex children with asthma Posted: 01 May 2012 05:56 AM PDT Despite longstanding recommendations for children with asthma to avoid tobacco smoke, many youths are still exposed to secondhand smoke and their health suffers because of it, according to a newstudy.

Children with juvenile arthritis have higher rates of bacterial infection Posted: 01 May 2012 05:55 AM PDT Children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) have higher rates of hospitalized bacterial infection than children without JIA according to an observational study.

Venus to appear in once-in-a-lifetime event Posted: 01 May 2012 05:55 AM PDT On 5 and 6 June this year, millions of people around the world will be able to see Venus pass across the face of the Sun in what will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It will take Venus about six hours to complete its transit, appearing as a small black dot on the Sun's surface, in an event that will not happen again until 2117.

Next-generation 'epigenetic' cancer pill shown to be safe in phase I trial Posted: 01 May 2012 05:55 AM PDT Scientists have shown that a brand new type of cancer pill that exploits the emerging field of epigenetics is safe for human use, according to Phase I trial results.

Faster-ticking clock indicates early solar system may have evolved faster than we thought Posted: 01 May 2012 05:55 AM PDT Our solar system is four and a half billion years old, but its formation may have occurred over a shorter period of time than we previously thought, say researchers.

Genetic systems disrupted in autistic brain Posted: 01 May 2012 05:55 AM PDT Autism has a strong genetic basis, but so far efforts to identify the responsible genes have had mixed results. The reason for this is that autism is influenced by many different genes, and different genes are involved in different individuals, making it hard to find the common genetic ground between patients.

High-powered microscopes reveal inner workings of sex cells Posted: 01 May 2012 05:55 AM PDT Scientists using high-powered microscopes have made a stunning observation of the architecture within a cell – and identified for the first time how the architecture changes during the formation of gametes, also known as sex cells, in order to successfully complete  the process.

2012 football helmet ratings: Two more added to the 5 star mark, experts say Posted: 01 May 2012 05:53 AM PDT Virginia Tech released the results of its 2012 rating for adult football helmets that is designed to assess a helmet's ability to reduce the risk of concussion.A total of three helmets achieved a "5 star" mark, which is the highest rating awarded by the Virginia Tech Helmet Ratings™.

Gene involved in sperm-to-egg binding is key to fertility in mammals Posted: 30 Apr 2012 07:39 PM PDT Scientists looking at fertility in mice, have discovered for the first time that the gene, which makes a protein called PDILT, enables sperm to bind to an egg, a process essential to fertilization.

A 100-gigabit highway for science: Researchers take a 'test drive' on ANI testbed Posted: 30 Apr 2012 12:21 PM PDT Climate researchers are producing some of the fastest growing datasets in science. Five years ago, the amount of information generated for the Nobel Prize-winning United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report was 35 terabytes —- equivalent to the amount of text in 35 million books, occupying a bookshelf 248 miles (399 km) long. By 2014, when the next IPCC report is published, experts predict that 2 petabytes of data will have been generated for it—that's a 580 percent increase in data production. Because thousands of researchers around the world contribute to the generation and analysis of new data, a reliable, high-speed network is needed to transport the torrent of information. Fortunately, the Department of Energy's (DOE) ESnet (Energy Sciences Network) has laid the foundation for such a network -- not just for climate research, but for all data-intensive science.

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