ScienceDaily: Top News

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• NASA Mars rover targets unusual rock enroute to first destination
• Climate scientists put predictions to the test
• Arctic sea ice hits smallest extent in satellite era
• Misinformation: Why it sticks and how to fix it
• DNA barcoding can ID natural health products
• Ancient tooth may provide evidence of early human dentistry
• People change moral position without even realizing it
• Blind people develop accurate mental map by playing 'video' game
• Dyslexia cause may be different than previously thought
• Climate change to fuel northern spread of avian malaria: Malaria already found in birds in Alaska
• Promise of cell therapy for bowel disease
• Possible key to slow progression toward AIDS found
• Emotional neglect in children linked to increased stroke risk later in life
• Test can help make diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
• Protecting our harbors and ships with a robotic tuna fish
• Genetic mutation may have allowed early humans to migrate throughout Africa
• Tissue around tumor holds key to fighting triple negative breast cancer
• New cranial neural crest cell line developed
• The more people rely on their intuitions, the more cooperative they become
• Medication effective in treating social withdrawal in Fragile X and potentially autism patients
• Many parents believe that letting young children taste alcohol discourages later use
• Video games help patients and health care providers
• The 'slippery slope to slime': Overgrown algae causing coral reef declines
• Ultra-distant galaxy discovered amidst cosmic 'dark ages': May be oldest galaxy ever
• Efficacy of drugs boosted by using nanoparticles to target 'powerhouse of cells'
• Using a laser to 'see' the smallest world: Powerful laser breathes new life into an old technology for studying atomic-level structures
• How organisms evolve new functions: Evolution is as complicated as 1-2-3
• Odorant shape and vibration likely lead to olfaction satisfaction
• Oyster genome uncover the stress adaptation and complexity of shell formation
• Human brains share a consistent genetic blueprint and possess enormous biochemical complexity
• Explosions are the main cause of spine injuries to wounded military personnel
• New way proposed to save Africa's beleaguered soils
• Experiment corrects prediction in quantum theory
• Thermoelectric material is the best at converting heat waste to electricity
• Single-atom writer a landmark for quantum computing
• Genetically-engineered preclinical models predict pharmacodynamic response
• Diseases of aging map to a few 'hotspots' on the human genome
• CT scan and 3-D print help scientists reconstruct an ancient mollusk
• Your memory is like the telephone game, altered with each retelling
• Weight gain worry for stressed black girls
• Children with autism experience interrelated health issues
• Toward a better material for hip replacement and other joint implants
• Revolutionary ultrathin, flat lens: Smartphones as thin as a credit card?
• Carbon dioxide from water pollution, as well as air pollution, may adversely impact oceans
• Fighting melanoma's attraction to the brain
• Preemies' brains reap long-term benefits from Kangaroo Mother Care
• Neuroscientists investigate lotteries to study how the brain evaluates risk
• Autistic adults have unreliable neural responses, research team finds
• Improved brain tumor diagnosis
• Neuroscientists find promise in addressing Fragile X afflictions
• New airport system facilitates smoother take-offs and landings
• Major changes needed to protect Australia's species and ecosystems
• New screening method identifies 1,200 candidate refrigerants to combat global warming
• Did a 'forgotten' meteor have a deadly, icy double-punch?
• Warming ocean could start big shift of Antarctic ice
• Nanomaterials appearing in water run-off from surface treatments
• New study on relapse risk in alcoholics
• Nanomaterials in a heart beat: Nanomaterial may allow regeneration of cardiac cells
• Angling for gold: Alternative description of atomic level gold bonding
• Self-forming biological scaffolding: A model system that can interpret the role of cross-linking proteins

NASA Mars rover targets unusual rock enroute to first destination Posted: 19 Sep 2012 05:19 PM PDT NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has driven up to a football-size rock that will be the first for the rover's arm to examine. Curiosity is about 8 feet (2.5 meters) from the rock. It lies about halfway from the rover's landing site, Bradbury Landing, to a location called Glenelg. In coming days, the team plans to touch the rock with a spectrometer to determine its elemental composition and use an arm-mounted camera to take close-up photographs.

Climate scientists put predictions to the test Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:12 PM PDT A study has found that climate-prediction models are good at forecasting long-term climate patterns on a global scale but lose their edge when applied to time frames shorter than three decades and on smaller geographic scales. The goal of the research was to bridge the communities of climate scientists and weather forecasters, who sometimes disagree with respect to climate change.

Arctic sea ice hits smallest extent in satellite era Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:12 PM PDT The frozen cap of the Arctic Ocean appears to have reached its annual summertime minimum extent and broken a new record low on Sept. 16, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has reported. Analysis of satellite data showed that the sea ice extent shrunk to 1.32 million square miles (3.41 million square kilometers).

Misinformation: Why it sticks and how to fix it Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:12 PM PDT Childhood vaccines do not cause autism. Barack Obama was born in the United States. Global warming is confirmed by science. And yet, many people believe claims to the contrary. Why does that kind of misinformation stick? A new report explores this phenomenon, highlighting the cognitive factors that make certain pieces of misinformation so "sticky" and identifying techniques that may be effective in debunking erroneous beliefs.

DNA barcoding can ID natural health products Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:09 PM PDT DNA barcoding has proven up to 88 percent effective in authenticating natural health products, according to a new study.

Ancient tooth may provide evidence of early human dentistry Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:09 PM PDT Researchers may have uncovered new evidence of ancient dentistry in the form of a 6,500-year-old human jaw bone with a tooth showing traces of beeswax filling.

People change moral position without even realizing it Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:06 PM PDT Shortly after expressing a moral view about a difficult topic, people may easily endorse the opposite view and remain blind to the psychological mismatch, according to new research.

Blind people develop accurate mental map by playing 'video' game Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:06 PM PDT Researchers have developed a new "video" game for blind people that can help them learn about a new space using only audio cues.

Dyslexia cause may be different than previously thought Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:06 PM PDT Dyslexia may result from impairment of a different linguistic system than previously thought, according to new research.

Climate change to fuel northern spread of avian malaria: Malaria already found in birds in Alaska Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:06 PM PDT Malaria has been found in birds in parts of Alaska, and global climate change will drive it even farther north, according to a new study. The spread could prove devastating to arctic bird species that have no resistance to the disease, and may also help scientists understand the effects of climate change on the spread of human malaria.

Promise of cell therapy for bowel disease Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:01 PM PDT New research shows that a special population of stem cells found in cord blood has the innate ability to migrate to the intestine and contribute to the cell population there, suggesting the cells' potential to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Possible key to slow progression toward AIDS found Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:01 PM PDT Although the average time between HIV infection and AIDS in the absence of antiretroviral treatment is about 10 years, some individuals succumb within two years, while so-called slow progressors can stay healthy for 20 years or longer. Researchers already know that many slow progressors carry a gene called HLA-B*57 (B57), an immune gene variant that is found in less than 5 percent of the general population but in 40 to 85 percent of slow progressors. Yet even among those with the B57 gene, the speed of disease progression can vary considerably. Now, scientists may have uncovered the key to this variation.

Emotional neglect in children linked to increased stroke risk later in life Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:01 PM PDT Neurological researchers have found that people who were emotionally neglected as children may have a higher risk of stroke in later adulthood.

Test can help make diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:01 PM PDT A new guideline may help doctors in making the diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Protecting our harbors and ships with a robotic tuna fish Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:01 PM PDT For constricted and hard-to-reach underwater places where inspection and security is necessary, Homeland Security's BIOSwimmer is the perfect fish.

Genetic mutation may have allowed early humans to migrate throughout Africa Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:01 PM PDT A genetic mutation that occurred thousands of years ago might be the answer to how early humans were able to move from central Africa and across the continent in what has been called "the great expansion," according to new research.

Tissue around tumor holds key to fighting triple negative breast cancer Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:00 PM PDT A preclinical study found that decorin, a well-studied protein known to help halt tumor growth, induces a series of tumor suppressor genes in the surrounding tissue in triple negative breast cancer tumors to help stop metastasis.

New cranial neural crest cell line developed Posted: 19 Sep 2012 11:21 AM PDT Researchers have successfully developed a stable population of neural crest cells derived from mice that can be grown in large quantities in the laboratory and that demonstrates the potential to develop into many different cell types needed throughout the body.

The more people rely on their intuitions, the more cooperative they become Posted: 19 Sep 2012 11:21 AM PDT Researchers trying to answer an age-old question about human goodness have found evidence for a "cooperation reflex." They show that when self-interest goes up against the common good, our intuitions favor cooperation, while stopping to think leads to selfishness.

Medication effective in treating social withdrawal in Fragile X and potentially autism patients Posted: 19 Sep 2012 11:21 AM PDT An investigational compound that targets the core symptoms of fragile X syndrome is effective for addressing the social withdrawal and challenging behaviors characteristic of the condition, making it the first such discovery for fragile X syndrome and, potentially, the first for autism spectrum disorder, a study has found.

Many parents believe that letting young children taste alcohol discourages later use Posted: 19 Sep 2012 11:20 AM PDT One in four mothers believe that letting young children taste alcohol may discourage them from drinking in adolescence and 40 percent believe that not allowing children to taste alcohol will only make it more appealing, according to a new study. The finding is noteworthy, the study's authors say, because early introduction to alcohol is a primary risk factor for problem drinking during adolescence.

Video games help patients and health care providers Posted: 19 Sep 2012 11:20 AM PDT Video games can be therapeutic and are already beginning to show health-related benefits, new research shows.

The 'slippery slope to slime': Overgrown algae causing coral reef declines Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:54 AM PDT Researchers for the first time have confirmed some of the mechanisms by which overfishing and nitrate pollution can help destroy coral reefs -- it appears they allow an overgrowth of algae that can bring with it unwanted pathogens, choke off oxygen and disrupt helpful bacteria.

Ultra-distant galaxy discovered amidst cosmic 'dark ages': May be oldest galaxy ever Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:54 AM PDT With the combined power of NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes as well as a cosmic magnification effect, a team of astronomers has spotted what could be the most distant galaxy ever detected. Light from the young galaxy captured by the orbiting observatories shone forth when the 13.7-billion-year-old universe was just 500 million years old.

Efficacy of drugs boosted by using nanoparticles to target 'powerhouse of cells' Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:54 AM PDT Nanoparticles have shown great promise in the targeted delivery of drugs to cells, but researchers have refined the drug delivery process further by using nanoparticles to deliver drugs to a specific organelle within cells.

Using a laser to 'see' the smallest world: Powerful laser breathes new life into an old technology for studying atomic-level structures Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:54 AM PDT A high-powered laser has dramatically improved one of the tools scientists use to study the world at the atomic level. Scientists used an amped-up electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer to study the electron spin of free radicals and nitrogen atoms trapped inside a diamond.

How organisms evolve new functions: Evolution is as complicated as 1-2-3 Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:54 AM PDT Biologists have documented the step-by-step process in which organisms evolve new functions. The results are revealed through an in-depth, genomics-based analysis that decodes how E. coli bacteria figured out how to supplement a traditional diet of glucose with an extra course of citrate.

Odorant shape and vibration likely lead to olfaction satisfaction Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:53 AM PDT A new study lends support to a controversial theory of olfaction: Our noses can distinguish both the shape and the vibrational characteristics of odorant molecules. The study demonstrates the feasibility of the theory – first proposed decades ago – that the vibration of an odorant molecule's chemical bonds – the wagging, stretching and rocking of the links between atoms – contributes to our ability to distinguish one smelly thing from another.

Oyster genome uncover the stress adaptation and complexity of shell formation Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:53 AM PDT An international research team has completed the sequencing, assembly and analysis of Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) genome -- the first mollusk genome to be sequenced -- that will help to fill a void in our understanding of the species-rich but poorly explored mollusc family. The study reveals the unique adaptations of oysters to highly stressful environment and the complexity mechanism of shell formation.

Human brains share a consistent genetic blueprint and possess enormous biochemical complexity Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:53 AM PDT Human brains share a consistent genetic blueprint and possess enormous biochemical complexity, according to new research. The findings stem from the first deep and large-scale analysis of the vast data set publicly available in the Allen Human Brain Atlas.

Explosions are the main cause of spine injuries to wounded military personnel Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:53 AM PDT Spinal injuries are among the most disabling conditions affecting wounded members of the US military. Yet until recently, the nature of those injuries had not been adequately explored.

New way proposed to save Africa's beleaguered soils Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:53 AM PDT Researchers have made a case for a new type of agriculture that could restore the beleaguered soils of Africa and help the continent feed itself in the coming decades. Their system, which they call "perenniation," mixes food crops with trees and perennial plants, which live for two years or more.

Experiment corrects prediction in quantum theory Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:53 AM PDT Scientists are rewriting a page from the quantum physics rulebook using a laboratory once dubbed the coldest spot in the universe.

Thermoelectric material is the best at converting heat waste to electricity Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:53 AM PDT Scientists have developed a thermoelectric material that is the best in the world at converting waste heat to electricity. This is very good news once you realize nearly two-thirds of energy input is lost as waste heat. The material could signify a paradigm shift. With a very environmentally stable material that is expected to convert 15 to 20 percent of waste heat to useful electricity, thermoelectrics now could see more widespread adoption by industry.

Single-atom writer a landmark for quantum computing Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:53 AM PDT Engineers have created the first working quantum bit based on a single atom in silicon, opening the way to ultra-powerful quantum computers of the future. Scientists were able to both read and write information using the spin, or magnetic orientation, of an electron bound to a single phosphorus atom embedded in a silicon chip.

Genetically-engineered preclinical models predict pharmacodynamic response Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:57 AM PDT A new comparison of four different methodologies for pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic testing of the anti-melanoma agent carboplatin, demonstrates that genetically-engineered mouse models provide tumor delivery of drug most comparable to the response seen in melanoma patients.

Diseases of aging map to a few 'hotspots' on the human genome Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:57 AM PDT Researchers have long known that individual diseases are associated with genes in specific locations of the genome. Genetics researchers have now have shown definitively that a small number of places in the human genome are associated with a large number and variety of diseases. In particular, several diseases of aging are associated with a locus which is more famous for its role in preventing cancer.

CT scan and 3-D print help scientists reconstruct an ancient mollusk Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:57 AM PDT Using a combination of traditional and innovative model-building techniques, scientists have created a lifelike reconstruction of an ancient mollusk, a multiplacophoran, offering a vivid portrait of a creature that lived about 390 million years ago, and answering questions about its place in the tree of life.

Your memory is like the telephone game, altered with each retelling Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:57 AM PDT Your memory is a lot like the telephone game, according to a new study. Every time you remember an event from the past, your brain networks change in ways that can alter the later recall of the event. The next time you remember it, you might recall not the original event but what you remembered the previous time. The Northwestern study is the first to show this and has implications for witnesses in criminal cases.

Weight gain worry for stressed black girls Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:57 AM PDT Could the impact of chronic stress explain why American black girls are more likely to be overweight than white girls? Higher levels of stress over 10 years predict greater increases in body weight over time in both black and white girls. However, the experience of chronic stress appears to have a greater negative effect on black girls' weight.

Children with autism experience interrelated health issues Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:56 AM PDT A new study found that many children with ASD also experience anxiety, chronic gastrointestinal problems and atypical sensory responses, which are heightened reactions to light, sound or particular textures. These problems appear to be highly related and can have significant effects on children's daily lives, including their functioning at home and in school.

Toward a better material for hip replacement and other joint implants Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:56 AM PDT In an advance toward a new generation of improved hip and other joint replacements, scientists are describing development of a potential implant material that flexes more like natural bone, fosters the growth of bone that keeps implants firmly in place and is less likely to fail and require repeat surgery.

Revolutionary ultrathin, flat lens: Smartphones as thin as a credit card? Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:56 AM PDT Scientists are reporting development of a revolutionary new lens -- flat, distortion-free, so small that more than 1,500 would fit across the width of a human hair -- capable in the future of replacing lenses in applications ranging from cell phones to cameras to fiber-optic communication systems. The advance could lead to smart phones as thin as a credit card.

Carbon dioxide from water pollution, as well as air pollution, may adversely impact oceans Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:56 AM PDT Carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the oceans as a result of water pollution by nutrients -- a major source of this greenhouse gas that gets little public attention -- is enhancing the unwanted changes in ocean acidity due to atmospheric increases in CO2. The changes may already be impacting commercial fish and shellfish populations, according to new data and model predictions.

Fighting melanoma's attraction to the brain Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:56 AM PDT A researcher is delving deeper into the way the brain attracts cancer cells, and his breakthrough is giving scientists new hope for better therapies.

Preemies' brains reap long-term benefits from Kangaroo Mother Care Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:56 AM PDT Kangaroo Mother Care -- a technique in which a breastfed premature infant remains in skin-to-skin contact with the parent's chest rather than being placed in an incubator -- has lasting positive impact on brain development. Very premature infants who benefited from this technique had better brain functioning in adolescence -- comparable to that of adolescents born at term -- than did premature infants placed in incubators.

Neuroscientists investigate lotteries to study how the brain evaluates risk Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:53 AM PDT A new video article uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to characterize subjective risk assessment while subjects choose between different lotteries to play.

Autistic adults have unreliable neural responses, research team finds Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:53 AM PDT New research by neuroscientists takes the first step toward deciphering the connection between general brain function and the emergent behavioral patterns in autism. The study shows that autistic adults have unreliable neural sensory responses to visual, auditory and somatosensory, or touch, stimuli. This poor response reliability appears to be a fundamental neural characteristic of autism.

Improved brain tumor diagnosis Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:49 AM PDT New method of brain tumor diagnosis offers hope to tens of thousands of people.

Neuroscientists find promise in addressing Fragile X afflictions Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:48 AM PDT Neuroscientists have devised a method that has reduced several afflictions associated with Fragile X syndrome (FXS) in laboratory mice. Their findings offer new possibilities for addressing FXS, the leading inherited cause of autism and intellectual disability.

New airport system facilitates smoother take-offs and landings Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:48 AM PDT For airline passengers who dread bumpy rides to mountainous destinations, help is on the way. A new NCAR turbulence avoidance system has for the first time been approved for use at a U.S. airport and can be adapted for additional airports in rugged settings across the United States and overseas.

Major changes needed to protect Australia's species and ecosystems Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:36 AM PDT Climate change is likely to have a major impact on Australia's plants, animals and ecosystems that will present significant challenges to the conservation of Australia's biodiversity, experts say.

New screening method identifies 1,200 candidate refrigerants to combat global warming Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:36 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new computational method for identifying candidate refrigerant fluids with low "global warming potential" as well as other desirable performance and safety features.

Did a 'forgotten' meteor have a deadly, icy double-punch? Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:36 AM PDT When a huge meteor collided with Earth about 2.5 million years ago and fell into the southern Pacific Ocean it not only could have generated a massive tsunami but also may have plunged the world into the Ice Ages, a new study suggests.

Warming ocean could start big shift of Antarctic ice Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:36 AM PDT Fast-flowing and narrow glaciers have the potential to trigger massive changes in the Antarctic ice sheet and contribute to rapid ice-sheet decay and sea-level rise, a new study has found.

Nanomaterials appearing in water run-off from surface treatments Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:33 AM PDT Researchers reveal the emission of nanomaterials caused by water runoff on surfaces containing nanomaterials. These surface treatments are employed in numerous consumption and construction products, so evidences of the presence of engineered nanomaterials are beginning to appear in the environment. Concerns about their toxicity for human or the environment rose in the last years, so further studies are required. The results indicate that all the surface treatments analyzed in this work suffered from a loss of nanomaterials and properties in the surface treatments.

New study on relapse risk in alcoholics Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:33 AM PDT Scientists have succeeded in coming closer to determining the risk of relapse in detoxified alcohol-dependent patients. Using an imaging process (magnetic resonance tomography) it was shown that particular regions in the brain demonstrate structural as well as functional abnormalities in relapsed alcohol-dependent patients.

Nanomaterials in a heart beat: Nanomaterial may allow regeneration of cardiac cells Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:33 AM PDT Stem cell scientists have capitalized on the electrical properties of a widely used nanomaterial to develop cells which may allow the regeneration of cardiac cells.

Angling for gold: Alternative description of atomic level gold bonding Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:33 AM PDT A study on how gold atoms bond to other atoms using a model that takes into account bonds direction has been carried out by physicist Marie Backman from the University of Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues. These findings are a first step toward better understanding how gold binds to other materials through strong, so-called covalent, bonds.

Self-forming biological scaffolding: A model system that can interpret the role of cross-linking proteins Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:33 AM PDT A new model system of the cellular skeletons of living cells is akin to a mini-laboratory designed to explore how the cells' functional structures assemble. A new article presents one hypothesis concerning self-organization. It hinges on the findings that a homogeneous protein network, once subjected to stresses generated by molecular motors, compacts into highly condensed fibers.

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