ScienceDaily: Top News

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• How forests thrive after fires and volcanoes
• Brain signal IDs responders to fast-acting antidepressant
• Extreme plasma theories put to the test
• Decision-making brain activity in patients with hoarding disorder
• Growth hormone-releasing hormonen appears to aid cognitive functioning
• Weight training linked to reduced risk of type 2 diabetes
• Behavioral intervention can reduce tics in adults with Tourette syndrome
• More education, socioeconomic benefits equals longer life
• Researchers unlock secret of the rare 'twinned rainbow'
• Microbes, sponges, and worms add to coral reef woes
• Forensic tools for catching poachers
• Preschool children who can pay attention more likely to finish college: Early reading and math not predictive of college completion
• Seafood, wild or farmed? The answer may be both
• Possible muscle disease therapeutic target found
• Limits of microbial life in an undersea volcano: Third of Earth's organisms live in rock and sediments
• Correlation between injection wells and small earthquakes discovered
• Major breakthrough in macular degeneration
• Epilepsy drug reverses memory loss in animal model of Alzheimer's disease
• Researchers peek at the early evolution of sex chromosomes
• Black drink: Evidence of ritual use of caffeinated brew at Cahokia
• New study defines the genetic map of the Jewish diasporas
• NASA's Curiosity rover caught in the act of landing
• Increased productivity, not less energy use, results from more efficient lighting
• Infants of overweight mothers grow more slowly
• New bird species discovered in 'cloud forest' of Peru
• Airborne technology helps manage elephants
• New approaches needed for uncovering, identifying, and treating buried chemical warfare material
• New Hampshire leads contiguous United States in percent tree cover
• Ecology and phylogenetics together offer new views of Earth's biodiversity
• Proteins may point way to new prostate cancer drug targets
• Seeing through walls: Laser system reconstructs objects hidden from sight
• Research links extreme summer heat events to global warming
• Novel inflammatory protein function discovered
• Quantum physics: New insights into the remote control of quantum systems
• Researchers discover blood biomarker for Lou Gehrig's disease, could lead to new treatments
• Virtual nanoscopy: Like 'Google Earth' for cell biologists
• Anti-angina drug shows protective effects from carbon monoxide
• Vaginal delivery as safe as Cesarean for most early preterm births, study suggests
• Touch your philodendron and control your computer: Technology turns any plant into an interactive device
• Lying less linked to better health
• Cyberbullying less frequent than traditional bullying
• Growing up grateful gives teens multiple mental health benefits
• Brain's stem cells 'eavesdrop' to find out when to act
• Hydraulic fracturing poses substantial water pollution risks, analysts say
• Microswimmers: Micron-scale swimming robots could deliver drugs and carry cargo using simple motion
• Scientists predict impact of ocean acidification on shellfish
• Information advantage gained from surprising quantum source
• Pupil dilation reveals sexual orientation in new study
• NASA's new Mars rover sends higher-resolution image

How forests thrive after fires and volcanoes Posted: 06 Aug 2012 02:13 PM PDT Forests hammered by windstorms, avalanches and wildfires may appear blighted, but a researcher says such disturbances can be key to maximizing an area's biological diversity. In fact land managers can alter their practices to enhance such diversity, creating areas with a wide variety of species, including rare and endangered plants and animals, experts say.

Brain signal IDs responders to fast-acting antidepressant Posted: 06 Aug 2012 02:13 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a biological marker that may help to identify which depressed patients will respond to an experimental, rapid-acting antidepressant. The brain signal, detectable by noninvasive imaging, also holds clues to the agent's underlying mechanism, which are vital for drug development. The signal is among the latest of several such markers recently uncovered, including factors detectable in blood, genetic markers, and a sleep-specific brain wave.

Extreme plasma theories put to the test Posted: 06 Aug 2012 02:13 PM PDT The first controlled studies of extremely hot, dense matter have overthrown the widely accepted 50-year-old model used to explain how ions influence each other's behavior in a dense plasma. The results should benefit a wide range of fields, from research aimed at tapping nuclear fusion as an energy source to understanding the inner workings of stars.

Decision-making brain activity in patients with hoarding disorder Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:18 PM PDT Patients with hoarding disorder exhibited abnormal activity in regions of the brain that was stimulus dependent when deciding what to do with objects that did or did not belong to them.

Growth hormone-releasing hormonen appears to aid cognitive functioning Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:18 PM PDT Treatment with growth hormone-releasing hormone appears to be associated with favorable cognitive effects among both adults with mild cognitive impairment and healthy older adults.

Weight training linked to reduced risk of type 2 diabetes Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:18 PM PDT Men who do weight training regularly -- for example, for 30 minutes per day, five days per week -- may be able to reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes by up to 34 percent, according to a new study. And if they combine weight training and aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking or running, they may be able to reduce their risk even further -- up to 59 percent.

Behavioral intervention can reduce tics in adults with Tourette syndrome Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:18 PM PDT Specially designed comprehensive behavioral therapy is more effective than sessions offering patient support and education in helping adults with Tourette syndrome manage their tics according to a new study.

More education, socioeconomic benefits equals longer life Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:17 PM PDT Despite advances in health care and increases in life expectancy overall, Americans with less than a high school education have life expectancies similar to adults in the 1950s and 1960s.

Researchers unlock secret of the rare 'twinned rainbow' Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:14 PM PDT Scientists have yet to fully unravel the mysteries of rainbows, but a group of researchers have used simulations of these natural wonders to unlock the secret to a rare optical phenomenon known as the twinned rainbow.

Microbes, sponges, and worms add to coral reef woes Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:14 PM PDT Microbes, sponges, and worms -- the side effects of pollution and heavy fishing -- are adding insult to injury in Kenya's imperiled reef systems, according to a recent study.

Forensic tools for catching poachers Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:14 PM PDT The trade in ivory was largely outlawed in 1989, but poaching continues and remains a serious threat to the African elephant. Seizures of large amounts of ivory, sometimes over a ton, continue to occur. Scientists have now found a way to determine just where the ivory comes from.

Preschool children who can pay attention more likely to finish college: Early reading and math not predictive of college completion Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:14 PM PDT Young children who are able to pay attention and persist on a task have a 50 percent greater chance of completing college, according to a new study. Surprisingly, achievement in reading and math did not significantly predict whether or not the students completed college. And the good news for parents and educators, the researchers said, is that attention and persistence skills are malleable and can be taught.

Seafood, wild or farmed? The answer may be both Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:14 PM PDT Most people think of seafood as either wild or farmed, but in fact both categories may apply to the fish you pick up from your grocery store. An article recommends that when a combination of seafood production techniques are used, this be acknowledged in the marketplace.

Possible muscle disease therapeutic target found Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT The study of muscular system protein myostatin has been of great interest to researchers as a potential therapeutic target for people with muscular disorders. Although much is known about how myostatin affects muscle growth, there has been disagreement about what types of muscle cells it acts upon. New research narrows down the field to one likely type of cell.

Limits of microbial life in an undersea volcano: Third of Earth's organisms live in rock and sediments Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT By some estimates, a third of the Earth's organisms by mass live in our planet's rocks and sediments, yet their lives and ecology are almost a complete mystery. Microbiologists have just revealed the first detailed data about a group of methane-exhaling microbes that live deep in the cracks of hot undersea volcanoes.

Correlation between injection wells and small earthquakes discovered Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT Most earthquakes in the Barnett Shale region of north Texas occur within a few miles of one or more injection wells used to dispose of wastes associated with petroleum production such as hydraulic fracturing fluids, according to new research. None of the quakes identified in the two-year study were strong enough to pose a danger to the public.

Major breakthrough in macular degeneration Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT Researchers have made an exciting finding in the "dry" form of age-related macular degeneration known as geographic atrophy (GA). GA is an untreatable condition that causes blindness in millions of individuals due to death of retinal pigmented epithelial cells.

Epilepsy drug reverses memory loss in animal model of Alzheimer's disease Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT Scientists have discovered that an FDA-approved anti-epileptic drug reverses memory loss and alleviates other Alzheimer's-related impairments in an animal model of the disease.

Researchers peek at the early evolution of sex chromosomes Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT Two new studies offer insight into sex chromosome evolution by focusing on papaya, a multimillion dollar crop plant with a sexual problem (as far as growers are concerned) and a complicated past.

Black drink: Evidence of ritual use of caffeinated brew at Cahokia Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT People living 700 to 900 years ago in Cahokia, a massive settlement near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, ritually used a caffeinated brew made from the leaves of a holly tree that grew hundreds of miles away, researchers report.

New study defines the genetic map of the Jewish diasporas Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:11 PM PDT A new genetic analysis focusing on Jews from North Africa has provided an overall genetic map of the Jewish Diasporas. The findings support the historical record of Middle Eastern Jews settling in North Africa during Classical Antiquity, proselytizing and marrying local populations, and, in the process, forming distinct populations that stayed largely intact for more than 2,000 years.

NASA's Curiosity rover caught in the act of landing Posted: 06 Aug 2012 11:19 AM PDT An image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the Curiosity rover still connected to its 51-foot-wide (almost 16 meter) parachute as it descended towards its landing site at Gale Crater.

Increased productivity, not less energy use, results from more efficient lighting Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:51 AM PDT Improvements in lighting -- from candles to gas lamps to electric bulbs -- historically have led to increased light consumption rather than lower overall energy use by society, researchers argue in a new article.

Infants of overweight mothers grow more slowly Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:51 AM PDT Babies born to overweight mothers gain less weight and grow more slowly than those born to normal-weight mothers, a new study has found. But they do catch up, meaning that pediatricians should refrain from boosting their nutrition, which could make matters worse, experts say.

New bird species discovered in 'cloud forest' of Peru Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:51 AM PDT A colorful, fruit-eating bird with a black mask, pale belly and scarlet breast – never before described by science – has been discovered following an expedition to the remote Peruvian Andes.

Airborne technology helps manage elephants Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT For years, scientists have debated how big a role elephants play in toppling trees in South African savannas. Tree loss is a natural process, but it is increasing in some regions, with cascading effects on the habitat for many other species. Using high resolution 3-D mapping, scientists have for the first time quantitatively determined tree losses across savannas of Kruger National Park. They found that elephants are the primary agents.

New approaches needed for uncovering, identifying, and treating buried chemical warfare material Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT The current approach for identifying and destroying buried chemical munitions and related chemical warfare materials uncovered during environmental remediation projects is neither reliable enough nor has the capability to efficiently tackle large-scale projects, says a new report.

New Hampshire leads contiguous United States in percent tree cover Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT Tree cover in the nation's Lower 48 states covers 659 million acres, more than one-third of the nation, according to a US Forest Service study of national tree cover and impervious surfaces. New Hampshire leads the nation in percent tree cover (89 percent), followed by Maine (83 percent) and Vermont (82 percent). Percent tree cover is highest in Connecticut (67 percent) and lowest in Nevada (10 percent).

Ecology and phylogenetics together offer new views of Earth's biodiversity Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT Scientists are taking a new look at Earth patterns, studying the biodiversity of yard plants in the US and that of desert mammals in Israel, studying where flowers and bees live on the Tibetan plateau and how willow trees in America's Midwest make use of water.

Proteins may point way to new prostate cancer drug targets Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT Two proteins that act in opposing directions -- one that promotes cancer and one that suppresses cancer -- regulate the same set of genes in prostate cancer, researchers have found.

Seeing through walls: Laser system reconstructs objects hidden from sight Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT Researchers combined bouncing photons with advanced optics to enable them to "see" what's hidden around the corner.

Research links extreme summer heat events to global warming Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:05 AM PDT A new statistical analysis by NASA scientists has found that Earth's land areas have become much more likely to experience an extreme summer heat wave than they were in the middle of the 20th century.

Novel inflammatory protein function discovered Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:05 AM PDT A scientists has described the function of a previously un-characterized protein that dramatically influences inflammation.

Quantum physics: New insights into the remote control of quantum systems Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:05 AM PDT Physicists shine new light on the question of the resources required for achieving quantum information processing. The scientists demonstrate that less demanding resources, which are easier to prepare and to control, can be used for quantum-enhanced technologies. In the experiment, researchers achieve remote quantum state preparation without requiring entanglement as a resource.

Researchers discover blood biomarker for Lou Gehrig's disease, could lead to new treatments Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:05 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that changes in monocytes (a type of white blood cell) are a biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. The findings open doors to possible new treatments.

Virtual nanoscopy: Like 'Google Earth' for cell biologists Posted: 06 Aug 2012 09:59 AM PDT Just as users of Google Earth can zoom in from space to a view of their own backyard, researchers can now navigate biological tissues from a whole embryo down to its subcellular structures thanks to recent advances in electron microscopy and image processing.

Anti-angina drug shows protective effects from carbon monoxide Posted: 06 Aug 2012 07:22 AM PDT Scientists have found that a common anti-angina drug could help protect the heart against carbon monoxide poisoning.

Vaginal delivery as safe as Cesarean for most early preterm births, study suggests Posted: 06 Aug 2012 07:21 AM PDT Vaginal delivery for early preterm fetuses presenting head first, or vertex presentation, had a high rate of success with no difference in neonatal mortality compared to cesarean delivery, a new study reports. For breech births, however, the failure rate of vaginal delivery was high and planned cesarean delivery was associated with significantly lower neonatal mortality.

Touch your philodendron and control your computer: Technology turns any plant into an interactive device Posted: 06 Aug 2012 06:40 AM PDT Any houseplant -- real or artificial -- could control a computer or any digital device with new technology, called Botanicus Interactus.

Lying less linked to better health Posted: 06 Aug 2012 06:39 AM PDT Telling the truth when tempted to lie can significantly improve a person's mental and physical health, according to a new study.

Cyberbullying less frequent than traditional bullying Posted: 06 Aug 2012 06:39 AM PDT Traditional in-person bullying is far more common than cyberbullying among today's youth and should be the primary focus of prevention programs, according to new research.

Growing up grateful gives teens multiple mental health benefits Posted: 06 Aug 2012 06:39 AM PDT Grateful teens are more likely than their less grateful peers to be happy, less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol and less likely to have behavior problems at school, according to new research.

Brain's stem cells 'eavesdrop' to find out when to act Posted: 06 Aug 2012 06:39 AM PDT Working with mice, researchers say they have figured out how stem cells found in a part of the brain responsible for learning, memory and mood regulation decide to remain dormant or create new brain cells. Apparently, the stem cells "listen in" on the chemical communication among nearby neurons to get an idea about what is stressing the system and when they need to act.

Hydraulic fracturing poses substantial water pollution risks, analysts say Posted: 06 Aug 2012 06:39 AM PDT Researchers find multiple potential threats to water sources posed by hydraulic fracturing as the jobs-producing practice expands.

Microswimmers: Micron-scale swimming robots could deliver drugs and carry cargo using simple motion Posted: 06 Aug 2012 06:39 AM PDT Researchers have used complex computational models to design micro-swimmers that could overcome the challenges of swimming at the micron scale. These autonomous micro-robots could carry cargo and navigate in response to stimuli such as light.

Scientists predict impact of ocean acidification on shellfish Posted: 06 Aug 2012 05:52 AM PDT An international study will help us to understand and predict the likely impact of ocean acidification on shellfish and other marine organisms living in seas from the tropics to the poles.

Information advantage gained from surprising quantum source Posted: 06 Aug 2012 05:51 AM PDT New research lends hope that a phenomenon called quantum discord could be harnessed to bring quantum technologies within easier reach than expected.

Pupil dilation reveals sexual orientation in new study Posted: 06 Aug 2012 05:45 AM PDT For the first time, researchers used a specialized infrared lens to measure pupillary changes to participants watching erotic videos. Pupils were highly telling: they widened most to videos of people who participants found attractive, thereby revealing where they were on the sexual spectrum from heterosexual to homosexual.

NASA's new Mars rover sends higher-resolution image Posted: 06 Aug 2012 04:44 AM PDT About two hours after landing on Mars and beaming back its first image, NASA's Curiosity rover transmitted a higher-resolution image of its new Martian home, Gale Crater. Mission Control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., received the image, taken by one of the vehicle's lower-fidelity, black-and-white Hazard Avoidance Cameras -- or Hazcams.

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