ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines
for Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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Anthropologists Develop New Approach To Explain Religious Behavior (September 10, 2008) -- Without a way to measure religious beliefs, anthropologists have had difficulty studying religion. Now, two anthropologists from the University of Missouri and Arizona State University have developed a new approach to study religion by focusing on verbal communication, an identifiable behavior, instead of speculating about alleged beliefs in the supernatural that cannot actually be identified. ... > full story
Protein 'Switch' Suppresses Skin Cancer Development (September 10, 2008) -- The protein IKKalpha (IKK±) regulates the cell cycle of keratinocytes and plays a key role in keeping these specialized skin cells from becoming malignant, researchers report in Cancer Cell. ... > full story
Bottoms Up: Better Organic Semiconductors For Printable Electronics (September 10, 2008) -- Researchers have learned how to tweak a new class of polymer-based semiconductors to better control the location and alignment of the components of the blend. Their recent results could enable the design of practical, large-scale manufacturing techniques for a wide range of printable, flexible electronic displays and other devices. ... > full story
Antiangiogenic Drugs Impede Chemotherapy-stimulated Tumor Recovery (September 10, 2008) -- Scientists have gained new insight into a mechanism whereby chemotherapy may actually assist the rapid regrowth of tumors after treatment. ... > full story
Compost Heap Bacteria Could Provide 10% Of UK Transport Fuel Needs (September 10, 2008) -- Bacteria found in compost heaps able to convert waste plant fiber into ethanol could eventually provide up 10% of the UK's transport fuel needs, according to new research. ... > full story
Parenting Children With Disabilities Becomes Less Taxing With Time (September 10, 2008) -- Having a child with a disability takes a toll on parents' mental and physical health, yet new research suggests that, over time, parents learn to adapt to the challenges of caring for a disabled child. As these parents age, their health more closely mirrors the health of parents with children who don't have disabilities. ... > full story
Silent Streams? Escalating Endangerment For North American Freshwater Fish (September 10, 2008) -- Nearly 40 percent of freshwater fish species in North America are now in jeopardy, according to the most detailed evaluation of the conservation status of these fishes in the last 20 years. The 700 fishes now listed represent a staggering 92 percent increase over the 364 listed as "imperiled" in the previous 1989 study published by the American Fisheries Society. Researchers classified each of the 700 fishes listed as either vulnerable (230), threatened (190) or endangered (280). In addition, 61 fishes are presumed extinct. ... > full story
Diet May Eliminate Spasms For Infants With Epilepsy (September 10, 2008) -- Infantile spasms are a severe and potentially devastating epilepsy condition affecting children aged typically 4-8 months. In a new study appearing in Epilepsia, researchers have found that the ketogenic diet, a high fat, low carbohydrate diet more traditionally used for intractable childhood epilepsy, is an effective treatment for this condition before using drugs. The study is the first description of the ketogenic diet as a first-line therapy for infantile spasms. ... > full story
No-till Practices Show Extended Benefits On Wheat And Forage (September 10, 2008) -- With more than 3 million acres of wheat in north Texas, 50 percent or more of which is grazed by 1 to 2 million head of cattle, it is important to look at tillage practices and their effect on forage production. Research agronomists have been studying nitrogen response and forage production in relation to tillage practices. ... > full story
High Blood Pressure After Stroke Should Not Necessarily Rule Out Use Of Clot-busting Treatment (September 10, 2008) -- Patients who require therapy to lower their blood pressure following a stroke do not appear to be at a higher risk for bleeding or other adverse outcomes after receiving anti-clotting therapy, according to a report in the Archives of Neurology. ... > full story
Rail, Road Or Waterway? (September 10, 2008) -- Is road transport the best way to send oranges from Spain to northern Germany? Or would it be better to ship them by rail or waterway for part of the route? A new software package determines the cheapest, fastest or most environmentally compatible mode of transportation. ... > full story
Women In Crowded Homes Are More Likely To Be Depressed Than Men (September 10, 2008) -- Seeking to determine whether gender-specific responses to the stress of crowded living situations exist, sociologists have examined data from a survey of Toronto residents and analyzed levels of depression, aggression and withdrawal among men and women. ... > full story
Dogs And Cats Can Live In Perfect Harmony In The Home, If Introduced The Right Way (September 9, 2008) -- Thinking about adopting a perky little puppy as a friend for your fluffy cat, but worried that they'll fight -- well, like cats and dogs? Think again. New research has found a new recipe for success. ... > full story
Rattlesnake-type Poisons Used By Superbug Bacteria To Beat Our Defenses (September 9, 2008) -- Colonies of hospital superbugs can make poisons similar to those found in rattlesnake venom to attack our bodies' natural defenses, according to new research. ... > full story
Acupuncture May Hold Promise For Women With Hormone Disorder Who Experience Fertility Challenges (September 9, 2008) -- Researchers believe that acupuncture could be an important alternative, non-drug therapy for women with polycystic ovary syndrome, which causes a hormonal imbalance, interfering with ovulation and ultimately, fertility. ... > full story
Type 2 Diabetes Under Stress (September 9, 2008) -- Type 2 diabetes is caused by an inability of the beta-cells in the pancreas to produce enough of the hormone insulin to meet the body's needs. Central to this is a loss of beta-cell function and mass as a result of insulin resistance (the inability of cells in the body to respond appropriately to insulin). ... > full story
Hotline To The Cowshed (September 9, 2008) -- A wireless measuring system, consisting of sensors and transmission units, helps to keep livestock healthier with a minimum use of resources. ... > full story
How You Spend Affects How Much You Spend: Non-cash Purchases Found To Be Higher Than Cash Buys (September 9, 2008) -- There is fresh evidence that people spend less when paying cash than using credit, cash-equivalent scrip or gift certificates. They also spend less when they have to estimate expenses in detail. ... > full story
Astronomers Discover Missing Link For Origin Of Comets (September 9, 2008) -- Astronomers have found an unusual object whose backward and tilted orbit around the Sun may clarify the origins of certain comets. In the first discovery of its kind, researchers from Canada, France and the United States have discovered an object that orbits around the Sun backwards, and tilted at an angle of 104 degrees -- almost perpendicular to the orbits of the planets. ... > full story
'Healthy' Individuals May Be At Risk For Heart Disease (September 9, 2008) -- In the face of a growing obesity epidemic in the United States, researchers have new study results that indicate that how much fat a person has is not as important as where that fat is located when assessing risk for cardiovascular events and metabolic disease. ... > full story
Potential New Threat For Coral Reefs And Health Of Communities In The Tropics (September 9, 2008) -- Human activities bear a large part of the responsibility for coral reef degradation. Several threats hang over this complex ecosystem with its extraordinary biodiversity, whether in the form of anthropogenic effluents emitted at certain times or global warming which causes coral bleaching. ... > full story
Apples And Oranges: Tumor Blood Vessel Cells Are Remarkably Atypical (September 9, 2008) -- Contrary to a long-standing assumption that blood vessel cells in healthy tissues and those associated with tumors are similar, a new study unequivocally demonstrates that tumor blood vessel cells are far from normal. ... > full story
South America Holds Treasure Of Copper, Molybdenum, Gold And Silver (September 9, 2008) -- Deposits of undiscovered copper, molybdenum, gold and silver may be present in the Andes Mountains of South America, according to a new scientific assessment. ... > full story
Walk This Way? Masculine Motion Seems To Come At You, While Females Walk Away (September 9, 2008) -- You can tell a lot about people from the way they move alone: their gender, age and even their mood, earlier studies have shown. Now, researchers have found that observers perceive masculine motion as coming toward them, while a characteristically feminine walk looks like it's headed the other way. ... > full story
'Smart Water' May Help Boost Production From Oil Wells By 60 Percent (September 9, 2008) -- Researchers in Norway report that injecting a special type of seawater called "smart water" into certain low-yield oil wells may help boost oil extraction by as much as 60 percent. The study could help meet rising energy demands and provide consumers with some financial relief at the gas pump in the future, the scientists suggest. ... > full story
Living Sensor Can Warn Of Arsenic Pollution (September 9, 2008) -- Scientists studying arsenic pollution have discovered a living sensor that can spot contamination. They have also discovered new bacteria that can clean up arsenic spills even in previously untreatable cold areas. ... > full story
2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season Kicking Into High Gear (September 9, 2008) -- For the first time in the 2008 hurricane season, there were four tropical cyclones active in the Atlantic Ocean basin on one day (Sept. 2). September is considered the peak of the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season, and in the first week of September there were four tropical cyclones that forecasters were watching. ... > full story
Continuous Glucose Monitoring Improves Blood Sugar Control, Clinical Trial Demonstrates (September 9, 2008) -- Patients with type 1 diabetes who used a CGM devices to help manage their disease experienced significant improvements in blood sugar control, according to initial results of a major multicenter clinical trial funded by JDRF. Results from the study were presented today during the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting in Rome. ... > full story
How Bacteria Recycle Their Cell Wall: New Insights (September 9, 2008) -- A new paper provides important new insights into the process by which bacteria recycle their cell wall. ... > full story
Premature Children Four Times More Likely To Have Behavioral Disorders (September 9, 2008) -- Children born prematurely are four times more likely to have emotional problems or behavioral disorders, according to new research. ... > full story
'Water Bears' Able To Survive Exposure To Vacuum Of Space (September 9, 2008) -- Of all environments, space must be the most hostile: It is freezing cold, close to absolute zero, there is a vacuum, so no oxygen, and the amount of lethal radiation from stars is very high. New research shows that some animals -- the so-called tardigrades or "water bears" -- are able to do away with space suits and can survive exposure to open-space vacuum, cold and radiation. ... > full story
Memory Enhanced By Sports-cheat Drug (September 9, 2008) -- A drug used to increase blood production in both medical treatments and athletic doping scandals seems also to improve memory in those using it. New research shows that the memory enhancing effects of erythropoietin (EPO) are not related to its effects on blood production but due to direct influences on neurons in the brain. The findings may prove useful in the treatment of diseases affecting brain function, such as schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s. ... > full story
Discovery Challenges Fundamental Tenet Of Cancer Biology (September 9, 2008) -- Yale researchers have identified an unusual molecular process in normal tissues that causes RNA molecules produced from separate genes to be clipped and stitched together. The discovery that these rearranged products exist in normal as well as cancerous cells potentially complicates the diagnosis of some cancers and raises the possibility that anti-cancer drugs like Gleevec could have predictable side effects. ... > full story
Catching The Blood Cell Bus Gives Fatal Yeast Infection A Clean Getaway (September 9, 2008) -- Yeast fungus cells that kill thousands of AIDS patients every year escape detection by our bodies' defenses by hiding inside our own defense cells, and hitch a ride through our systems before attacking and spreading. ... > full story
Do No Harm To Humans: Real-life Robots Obey Asimov’s Laws (September 9, 2008) -- Researchers have developed technology enabling robots to obey Asimov’s golden rules of robotics: to do no harm to humans and to obey them. ... > full story
Fake News Shows Don't Teach Viewers Much About Political Issues, Study Finds (September 9, 2008) -- A new study suggests that entertainment news shows such as the Daily Show or the Colbert Report may not be as influential in teaching voters about political issues and candidates as was previously thought. But researchers have found reasons to discount how effective these shows are in informing the general public. ... > full story
Valley Networks On Mars Formed During Long Period Of Episodic Flooding (September 9, 2008) -- Ancient features on the surface of Mars called valley networks may well have been carved by recurrent floods during a long period when the martian climate may have been much like that of some arid or semiarid regions on Earth. An alternative theory that the valleys were carved by catastrophic flooding over a relatively short time is not supported by the new results. ... > full story
Gene Therapy For Blindness Improves Vision, Safety Study Indicates (September 9, 2008) -- No significant adverse effects were reported during a safety trial testing gene therapy on three patients with a type of hereditary blindness called Leber congenital amaurosis type 2. In addition, the subjects said the vision in their treated eyes was slightly improved in dim lighting conditions. ... > full story
Urbanization Reconfigures Surface Hydrology (September 9, 2008) -- What are the consequences of human-made tinkering with land cover and hydrology on surrounding native desert ecosystems and biodiversity? This question forms the backdrop for a case study published in the journal BioScience, which found that one of the most profound impacts of urbanization is the "reconfiguration of surface hydrology." ... > full story
Routine Use Of MRI Scans To Evaluate Breast Cancer Challenged (September 9, 2008) -- A new study suggests women with newly-diagnosed breast cancer who receive an MRI after their diagnosis face delays in starting treatment and are more likely to receive a mastectomy. The study also shows that despite lack of evidence of their benefit, the routine use of MRI scans in women newly diagnosed increased significantly between 2004 and 2005, and again in 2006. ... > full story
Putting The Squeeze On Nitrogen For High Energy Materials (September 9, 2008) -- Researchers from the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory report changes in the melting temperature of solid nitrogen at pressures up to 120 gigapascals and temperatures reaching 2,500° Kelvin. These results, plus observed changes in the structure of solid nitrogen at high pressures, could lead to new high energy nitrogen- or hydrogen-based fuels in the future. Hypothesized nitrogen polymers could form materials with higher energy content than any known non-nuclear material. ... > full story
Fluctuations In Serotonin Transport May Explain Winter Blues (September 9, 2008) -- In the first study of its kind in the living human brain, scientists have discovered greater levels of serotonin transporter in the brain in winter than in summer. These findings have important implications for understanding seasonal mood change in healthy people, vulnerability to seasonal affective disorders and the relationship of light exposure to mood. ... > full story
Childbirth Was Already Difficult For Neanderthals (September 9, 2008) -- Neanderthals had a brain at birth of a similar size to that of modern-day babies. However, after birth, their brain grew more quickly than it does for Homo sapiens and became larger too. Nevertheless, the individual lifespan ran just as slowly as it does for modern human beings. ... > full story
New Once-a-week Treatment For Type 2 Diabetes Developed (September 9, 2008) -- Researchers have reported that a new once-weekly treatment for type 2 diabetes could replace the more common twice-daily injection. ... > full story
Early Warning System For Cardiac Patients For Home Use (September 9, 2008) -- Heart disease is the number one cause of death in Europe and early diagnosis is essential to save lives. Monitoring the heart's rhythm and electrical activity in real time using an electrocardiogram (ECG) provides vital information about abnormalities and gives clues to the nature of a problem. ... > full story
Early Phase Breast Cancer Study Suggests New Approach Can Re-sensitize Tumors (September 9, 2008) -- Women with hormone-receptor positive, metastatic breast cancer may take medications for years to help keep their cancer at bay, but when the tumor becomes resistant to anti-hormonal drugs, treatment with chemotherapy becomes the only option. But a new study may change this approach. Early data suggests a new treatment approach can "re-sensitize" the tumor, allowing anti-hormonal drugs to do their job once again. ... > full story
Scientists Await Start-up Of Large Hadron Collider (September 9, 2008) -- The moment that James Pilcher has been waiting for since 1994 will arrive at 1:30 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, Sept. 10, when the world's largest scientific instrument is scheduled to begin operation. Physicists built the particle detector for the ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) experiment at LHC, with the search for the Higgs boson and supersymmetry in mind. Theoretically speaking, the long-sought Higgs boson is the particle that endows all objects in the universe with mass. Evidence of supersymmetric particles, meanwhile, could provide an understanding of the dark matter, which makes up about a quarter of the mass of the universe. ... > full story
Birds' Harmonious Duets Can Be 'Aggressive Audio Warfare,' Study Finds (September 9, 2008) -- Researchers have new insight into the motivating factors that drive breeding pairs of some tropical bird species to sing duets. Those duets can be so closely matched that human listeners often mistake them for solos. ... > full story
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