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Friday, May 31, 2013

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News


New weapon in fight against cervical cancer

Posted: 30 May 2013 04:24 PM PDT

Scientists have found a way to target and destroy a key protein associated with the development of cervical and other cancers.

Sharks worth more in the ocean than on the menu

Posted: 30 May 2013 04:24 PM PDT

Sharks are worth more in the ocean than in a bowl of soup, according to researchers.

Good kidney health begins before birth

Posted: 30 May 2013 04:24 PM PDT

Researchers have found that conditions in the womb can affect kidney development and have serious health implications for the child not only immediately after birth, but decades later.

Probiotics prevent diarrhea related to antibiotic use, review shows

Posted: 30 May 2013 04:24 PM PDT

Probiotic supplements have the potential to prevent diarrhea caused by antibiotics, according to a new Cochrane systematic review. The authors studied Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infections in patients taking antibiotics and found symptoms of diarrhea were substantially reduced when patients were also treated with probiotics.

Quitting smoking: Licensed medications are effective

Posted: 30 May 2013 04:24 PM PDT

Nicotine replacement therapy and other licensed drugs can help people quit smoking, according to a new systematic review published in The Cochrane Library. The study supports the use of the smoking cessation medications that are already widely licensed internationally, and shows that another drug licensed in Russia could hold potential as an effective and affordable treatment.

Ketamine cousin rapidly lifts depression without side effects, study suggests

Posted: 30 May 2013 02:00 PM PDT

GLYX-13, a molecular cousin to ketamine, induces similar antidepressant results without the street drug side effects, reported a new study.

Healthy lifestyle choices mean fewer memory complaints

Posted: 30 May 2013 02:00 PM PDT

To examine the impact of these lifestyle choices on memory throughout adult life, researchers polled more than 18,500 individuals between the ages of 18 and 99. As expected, problems with memory were found to increase with age, but researchers were surprised by the percentage of younger adults who also reported memory difficulties.

Biologists take snapshot of fleeting protein process

Posted: 30 May 2013 02:00 PM PDT

Structural biologists have captured the first three-dimensional crystalline snapshot of a critical but fleeting process that takes place thousands of times per second in every human cell. The research sheds new light on a protein that was discovered more than 120 years ago and could prove useful in the study of cancer and other diseases.

Climate change threatens extinction for 82 percent of California native fish

Posted: 30 May 2013 02:00 PM PDT

Of 121 native fish species in California, researchers predict 82 percent are likely to be driven to extinction or very low numbers as climate change speeds the decline of already depleted populations.

TCE exposure linked to increased risk of some cancers

Posted: 30 May 2013 02:00 PM PDT

Trichloroethylene (TCE) exposure has possible links to increased liver cancer risk, and the relationship between TCE exposure and risks of cancers of low incidence and those with confounding by lifestyle and other factors need further study, according to a new study.

Innovative new nanotechnology stops bed bugs in their tracks - literally

Posted: 30 May 2013 01:58 PM PDT

Bed bugs now need to watch their step. Researchers have developed a safe, non-chemical resource that literally stops bed bugs in their tracks. This innovative new technology acts as a human-made web consisting of microfibers 50 times thinner than a human hair which entangle and trap bed bugs and other insects.

Croaking chorus of Cuban frogs make noisy new neighbors

Posted: 30 May 2013 01:58 PM PDT

Scientists have shown the adverse impact of invasive frog species' songs.

Researchers gain insight into key protein linked to cancers, neurodegenerative disorders

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:33 PM PDT

Researchers studying a key molecular player called Hsp70 that is responsible for protein homeostasis have uncovered how it binds together with another molecule responsible for intracellular energy transfer to enhance its overall activity and efficiency -- details that have previously not been well understood.

Novel approach to create red blood cells, platelets in vitro

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:33 PM PDT

A study led by Boston University School of Medicine has identified a novel approach to create an unlimited number of human red blood cells and platelets in vitro. In collaboration with Boston University School of Public Health and Boston Medical Center, the researchers differentiated induced pluripotent stem cells into these cell types, which are typically obtained through blood donations.

Study coaxes clays to make human bone

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:28 PM PDT

Whether damaged by injury, disease or age, your body as an adult can't create new bone, but maybe science can. Researchers are making strides in tissue engineering, designing scaffolds that may lead to ways to regenerate bone. Scientists have developed a novel method that uses nanosized clays to make scaffolds to mineralize bone minerals such as hydroxyapatite.

New technology modifies music hall acoustics

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:28 PM PDT

With the flick of a switch, inflatable sound absorbers can turn classical music halls into houses of rock.

New maps show how shipping noise spans the globe

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:28 PM PDT

Scientists have modeled shipping noise on a global scale.

Sensitive new microphone modeled on fly ear

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:28 PM PDT

Using the sensitive ears of a parasitic fly for inspiration, a group of researchers has created a new type of microphone that achieves better acoustical performance than what is currently available in hearing aids.

Secrets of the cicada's sound

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:28 PM PDT

Researchers are trying to make an artificial cicada for underwater communication.

Ultrasound ‘Making Waves’ for Enhancing Biofuel Production

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:28 PM PDT

Engineers are using high-frequency sound waves to break down plant materials in order to cook up a better batch of biofuel.

New speaker system for cars creates separate 'audio zones' for front and rear seats

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:28 PM PDT

A new approach achieves a significant level of isolation between the front and rear listening zones within a car.

Native Ohioans' speaking patterns help scientists decipher famous moon landing quote

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:28 PM PDT

Speech scientists and psychologists discuss a novel approach to deciphering Armstrong's famous moon landing quote.

NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale team assembles final observatory

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:23 PM PDT

On May 20, 2013, the Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., reached an unprecedented milestone. The team mated the instrument and spacecraft decks to form the fourth and final MMS observatory. This is the first time Goddard has simultaneously engineered this many observatories, or spacecraft, for a single mission.

Pebbly rocks testify to old streambed on Mars

Posted: 30 May 2013 12:05 PM PDT

Detailed analysis and review have borne out researchers' initial interpretation of pebble-containing slabs that NASA's Mars rover Curiosity investigated last year: They are part of an ancient streambed. The rocks are the first ever found on Mars that contain streambed gravels. The sizes and shapes of the gravels embedded in these conglomerate rocks -- from the size of sand particles to the size of golf balls -- enabled researchers to calculate the depth and speed of the water that once flowed at this location.

Radiation measured by NASA's Curiosity on voyage to Mars has implications for future human missions

Posted: 30 May 2013 11:59 AM PDT

Measurements taken by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission as it delivered the Curiosity rover to Mars in 2012 are providing NASA the information it needs to design systems to protect human explorers from radiation exposure on deep-space expeditions in the future.

Asteroid has its own moon, NASA radar reveals

Posted: 30 May 2013 11:53 AM PDT

A sequence of radar images of asteroid 1998 QE2 -- obtained by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif. -- reveals that it is a binary asteroid. In the near-Earth population, about 16 percent of asteroids that are about 655 feet (200 meters) or larger are binary or triple systems.

Asteroids provide sustainable resource, study finds

Posted: 30 May 2013 11:48 AM PDT

The prospects of a robotic manufacturing base operating off Earth is not as far-fetched as it used to be according to a study published by a team of NASA researchers. Because asteroids are loaded with minerals that are rare on Earth, near-Earth asteroids and the asteroid belt could become the mining centers for remotely operated excavators and processing machinery. In 20 years, an industry barely imagined now could be sending refined materials, rare metals and even free, clean energy to Earth from asteroids and other bodies.

Rounded stones on Mars evidence of flowing water

Posted: 30 May 2013 11:20 AM PDT

Observations by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity have revealed areas with gravel and pebbles that are characteristic of a former riverbed. Researchers have analyzed their shapes and sizes and the rounded pebbles clearly show that there has been flowing water on Mars.

One of the moon's mysteries solved: Origin of mascon basins

Posted: 30 May 2013 11:20 AM PDT

A mystery of the moon that imperiled astronauts and spacecraft on lunar missions has been solved. Large concentrations of mass lurk on the lunar surface that can change the gravity field and either pull a spacecraft in or push it off course. Scientists have determined the origin of these mass concentrations.

Scientists capture first images of molecules before and after reaction

Posted: 30 May 2013 11:20 AM PDT

Using atomic force microscopy, chemists for the first time can capture images of molecules before and after they react, which will allow them to better tune reactions to get the products they want. Chemists and physicists joined forces to develop the technique, which could help scientists study and improve catalytic reactions like those used widely in industry to make chemicals or crack oil.

Ancient streambed found on surface of Mars

Posted: 30 May 2013 11:20 AM PDT

Rounded pebbles on Mars represent the first on-site evidence of sustained water flows on the red planet, according to a new study.

Why animals compare the present with the past

Posted: 30 May 2013 11:20 AM PDT

Humans, like other animals, compare things. We care not only how well off we are, but whether we are better or worse off than others around us, or than we were last year. New research shows that such comparisons can give individuals an evolutionary advantage.

Atom by atom, bond by bond, a chemical reaction caught in the act

Posted: 30 May 2013 11:20 AM PDT

Scientists have produced remarkable images of carbon atoms and the bonds among them. Resembling glowing textbook diagrams, hydrocarbon molecules are shown in high resolution for the first time before and after bond-breaking, rearrangement, and reforming of bonds during a complex chemical reaction.

Genetic variants linked to educational attainment

Posted: 30 May 2013 11:19 AM PDT

A multi-national team of researchers has identified genetic markers that predict educational attainment by pooling data from more than 125,000 individuals in the United States, Australia, and 13 western European countries.

Human activity echoes through Brazilian rainforest

Posted: 30 May 2013 11:19 AM PDT

The disappearance of large, fruit-eating birds from tropical forests in Brazil has caused the region's forest palms to produce smaller, less successful seeds over the past century, researchers say. The findings provide evidence that human activity can trigger fast-paced evolutionary changes in natural populations.

Water-rock reaction may provide enough hydrogen 'food' to sustain life in ocean's crust or on Mars

Posted: 30 May 2013 10:25 AM PDT

A chemical reaction between iron-containing minerals and water may produce enough hydrogen "food" to sustain microbial communities living in pores and cracks within the enormous volume of rock below the ocean floor and parts of the continents, according to a new study.

Android antiviral products easily evaded

Posted: 30 May 2013 10:25 AM PDT

Think your antivirus product is keeping your Android safe? Think again. Ten of the top Android antiviral products are rendered useless by the simplest attacks.

Nerve stimulation helps with overactive bladder

Posted: 30 May 2013 10:25 AM PDT

New research finds that symptoms of overactive bladder, or OAB, were reduced in those who received tibial nerve stimulation. The three-year results show participants with urinary frequency, urgency and involuntary loss of urine maintained significant improvement in their symptoms.

Low doses of THC (cannabis) can halt brain damage, study suggests

Posted: 30 May 2013 10:25 AM PDT

Medical cannabis is often used by sufferers of chronic ailments, including cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder, to combat pain and other symptoms. Now a researcher says that the drug has neuroprotective qualities as well, protecting the brain from long-term cognitive damage in the wake of injury from lack of oxygen, seizures, or toxic drugs.

Global warming caused by CFCs, not carbon dioxide, researcher claims in controversial study

Posted: 30 May 2013 10:24 AM PDT

Chlorofluorocarbons are to blame for global warming since the 1970s and not carbon dioxide, a researcher claims in a controversial new study. CFCs are already known to deplete ozone, but in-depth statistical analysis now suggests that CFCs are also the key driver in global climate change, rather than carbon dioxide emissions, the researcher argues.

Cost of resiliency in kids uncovered

Posted: 30 May 2013 10:24 AM PDT

Children living in poverty who appear to succeed socially may be failing biologically. Students able to overcome the stress of growing up poor are labeled "resilient" because of their ability to overcome adversity, but researchers found this resiliency has health costs that last well into adulthood.

When friends create enemies: Facebook's mutual-friends feature may create security risks, privacy concerns

Posted: 30 May 2013 10:24 AM PDT

Often revered for bringing people together, the mutual-friends feature on Facebook actually creates myriad security risks and privacy concerns according to a new study.

Rainforests take the heat, paleontologists show

Posted: 30 May 2013 10:24 AM PDT

Rainforests thrived during previous global warming events, say paleontologists.

Scientists discover that turtles began living in shells much earlier than once thought

Posted: 30 May 2013 10:24 AM PDT

Unique among Earth's creatures, turtles are the only animals to form a shell on the outside of their bodies through a fusion of modified ribs, vertebrae and shoulder girdle bones. The turtle shell is a unique modification, and how and when it originated has fascinated and confounded biologists for more than two centuries. Scientists have recently discovered that the beginnings of the turtle shell started 40 million years earlier than previously thought.

How turtles got their shells: Fossil of extinct South African reptile provides clues

Posted: 30 May 2013 10:24 AM PDT

Through careful study of an ancient ancestor of modern turtles, researchers now have a clearer picture of how the turtles' most unusual shell came to be. The findings help to fill a 30- to 55-million-year gap in the turtle fossil record through study of an extinct South African reptile known as Eunotosaurus.

Brain makes its own version of Valium

Posted: 30 May 2013 10:24 AM PDT

Researchers have found that a naturally occurring protein secreted only in discrete areas of the mammalian brain may act as a Valium-like brake on certain types of epileptic seizures.

Soccer training improves heart health of men with type 2 diabetes

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:13 AM PDT

A new study demonstrates that soccer training improves heart function, reduces blood pressure and elevates exercise capacity in patients with type 2 diabetes. Soccer training also reduces the need for medication.

New single virus detection techniques for faster disease diagnosis

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:13 AM PDT

Two independent teams have developed new optics-based methods for determining the exact viral load of a sample by counting individual virus particles. These new methods are faster and cheaper than standard tests and they offer the potential to conduct the measurements in a medical office or hospital instead of a laboratory.

Comet ISON is hurtling toward uncertain destiny with Sun

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:13 AM PDT

A new series of images from Gemini Observatory shows Comet C/2012 S1 racing toward an uncomfortably close rendezvous with the Sun. In late November the comet could present a stunning sight in the twilight sky and remain easily visible, or even brilliant, into early December of this year.

New agent inhibits HCV replication in mouse models: No resistance seen

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:13 AM PDT

Treatments against hepatitis C virus have only been partially successful. A major problem is that antivirals generate drug resistance. Now scientists have developed agents that bind to the business end of a critical protein, disabling it so successfully that no resistance has arisen.

Interleukin-22 protects against post-influenza bacterial superinfection

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:13 AM PDT

Researchers have shown in a mouse model that interleukin-22 protects against bacterial superinfections that can arise following influenza.

Omega-3 fatty acids may help heal a broken heart

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:11 AM PDT

Procedures like angioplasty, stenting and bypass surgery may save lives, but they also cause excessive inflammation and scarring, which ultimately can lead to permanent disability and even death. A new research report shows that naturally derived compounds from polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3s) may reduce the inflammation associated with these procedures to help arteries more fully and completely heal.

New gene delivery method: Magnetic nanoparticles

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:11 AM PDT

Stent angioplasty saves lives, but comes with complications. A new nanoparticle gene delivery method will hopefully overcome limitations of gene therapy vectors and prevent complications associated with stenting. Stents are the platform for magnetically targeted gene delivery, where genes are moved to cells at arterial injury locations without side effects. These nanoparticles protect genes and help them reach their target in active form, a challenge in gene therapy.

New discovery permits rapid diagnosis and treatment of sepsis

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:11 AM PDT

Despite advances in treating infections and disease, effective treatments for sepsis remain elusive. New research could help health care providers predict who may or may not develop sepsis, and facilitate new therapies to address the root causes, rather than just managing the symptoms. This also may benefit patients suffering from viral infections, as well as chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Newly discovered hormone makes ovaries grow

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:11 AM PDT

A newly discovered hormone produced by the eggs of human females may improve the effectiveness of current fertility treatments for women and possibly lead to entirely new treatments altogether. Researchers have identified a new hormone called "R-spondin2" that promotes follicle development and stimulates ovary growth.

Billions worldwide suffer from major tooth decay

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:11 AM PDT

Billions of people across the globe are suffering from major untreated dental problems, according to a new report.

Why female loggerhead sea turtles always return to their place of birth

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:11 AM PDT

For a better protection of marine turtles, scientists are trying to understand why they return to their birthplace in order to reproduce after rather long distance migrations. Using molecular tools applied to turtles from the Cape Verde islands, scientists found females from different islands have different immune genes, suggesting that returning home to reproduce is linked to advantages in parasite resistance.

Rabbit wears contact lenses with light-emitting diode: New class of transparent, stretchable electrodes

Posted: 30 May 2013 08:09 AM PDT

Scientists have demonstrated that a live rabbit could wear contact lenses fitted with inorganic light-emitting diode with no side effects. This new class of hybrid transparent and stretchable electrode paves the way for flexible displays, solar cells, and electronics.

Mighty Eagle -- NASA's robotic prototype lander -- gets a new view

Posted: 30 May 2013 07:12 AM PDT

The Mighty Eagle, NASA's robotic prototype lander managed out of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, recently completed a test series to monitor its systems functionality after coming out of winter storage. This latest series included a test flight that was recorded by the Quad-Copter -- a small vehicle also developed at Marshall that was equipped with a video camera allowing for never-before-seen footage of the Mighty Eagle.

Land-based carbon offsets: False hope? Forest and soil carbon is important, but does not offset fossil fuel emissions

Posted: 30 May 2013 06:50 AM PDT

Leading world climate change experts have thrown cold water on the idea that planting trees can offset carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Land carbon sinks cannot solve the problem of atmospheric carbon emissions but they legitimize the ongoing use of fossil fuels.

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