ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines
for Friday, September 26, 2008
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New Nanoscale Process Will Help Computers Run Faster And More Efficiently (September 26, 2008) -- Smaller. Faster. More efficient. These are the qualities that drive science and industry to create new nanoscale structures that will help to speed up computers. Scientists have made a major contribution to this field by designing a new nanotechnology that will ultimately help make computers smaller, faster, and more efficient. ... > full story
Cochlear Implants In Children A Safe Procedure, Study Suggests (September 26, 2008) -- In the six decades since French and American surgeons implanted the first cochlear hearing devices, the procedure in children has become reliable, safe, and relatively free of severe complications, according to new research. ... > full story
Are Fires More Important Than Rain For The Savannah Ecosystem? (September 26, 2008) -- Natural grass fires are evidently more important for the ecology of savannahs than has previously been assumed. This is the finding of a study carried out in Etosha National Park in the north of Namibia. It is the first study to have investigated the complex interplay of the factors fire, competition, moisture and seed availability in relation to a grass species. ... > full story
Young Women With Early Form Of Breast Cancer No More Likely To Experience Recurrence Than Older Women (September 26, 2008) -- Young women with DCIS, a common form of early breast cancer that arises in and is confined to the mammary ducts, are presumed more likely to have recurrences than older women with the same diagnosis. But a new study from Fox Chase Cancer Center rebuffs this conventional thinking. ... > full story
New Protein Encyclopedia Looks At Life As It Is Organized In Body, At Molecular Level (September 26, 2008) -- This new protein encyclopedia looks at life as it is really organized in our body at the molecular level. ... > full story
Coming Soon: Self-guided, Computer-based Depression Treatment (September 26, 2008) -- Depression is a problem that could affect astronauts during long-duration spaceflights. Scientists are now developing a self-guided, multimedia program that will assist astronauts in recognizing and effectively managing depression and other psychosocial problems. In addition to protecting astronaut health, the system could have applications for health care on Earth, especially in rural locations where access to professional help is limited. ... > full story
Growing Up Too Fast May Mean Dying Young In Honey Bees (September 26, 2008) -- New study shows that transitions to aerobically-expensive behaviors in organisms living free in nature can have important consequences affecting the pace of aging. ... > full story
Antioxidant Deficiency Linked To Pulmonary Hypertension (September 26, 2008) -- A recent study shows that a loss of antioxidants in the endothelial cells that line blood vessels in the lungs contributes to the loss of vasodilator effects and, ultimately, to the development of pulmonary hypertension. The findings appear in Clinical and Translational Science. ... > full story
Better Understanding Of Blood Vessel Constrictor Needed To Harness Its Power For Patients (September 26, 2008) -- To harness endothelin-1's power to constrict blood vessels and help patients manage high blood pressure or heart failure, scientists must learn more about how endothelin functions naturally and in disease states, says a Medical College of Georgia researcher. ... > full story
Increasing General Practice Opening Hours Could Prevent Recurrent Strokes (September 26, 2008) -- Increasing general practice opening hours would improve the opportunity for assessment and urgent referral to specialist care of patients with a transient ischaemic attack or minor stroke, which could prevent over 500 recurrent strokes a year in England alone, concludes a new study. ... > full story
Myanmar After Cyclone Nargis (September 26, 2008) -- Improved agricultural productivity can help developing countries reduce their reliance on international emergency food relief following natural disasters. ... > full story
Hospital Residents Report Patient-handoff Problems Common, Can Lead To Patient Harm (September 26, 2008) -- A significant percentage of resident physicians report that patient handoffs -- transfer of responsibility for a hospitalized patient from one resident to another -- contributed to incidents in which harm was done to patients. A new study identifies situations in which problematic handoffs are more likely to occur and factors that may interfere with the smooth transfer of crucial information. ... > full story
Plants In Forest Emit Aspirin Chemical To Deal With Stress; Discovery May Help Agriculture (September 25, 2008) -- Plants in a forest respond to stress by producing a chemical form of aspirin, scientists have discovered. The finding opens up new avenues of research into the behavior of plants, and it has the potential to give farmers an early warning signal about crops that are failing. ... > full story
American Kids Most Medicated (September 25, 2008) -- American children are approximately three times more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medication than children in Europe. A new study published in the journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health claims that the differences may be accounted for by regulatory practices and cultural beliefs about the role of medication in emotional and behavioral problems. ... > full story
Hawaiian Scientists Take Their Test Tubes Surfing (September 25, 2008) -- Chemists have traded their white coats for swim shorts at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu -- they've shunned the lab so they can swim out to the breakers with a test-tube built into a boogie-board. ... > full story
New Laboratory Technique Improves Success In 'Highly Sensitized' Kidney Transplants (September 25, 2008) -- Kidney transplant specialists have developed innovative laboratory techniques to improve opportunities and success rates for kidney transplant candidates who are at high risk of organ rejection because of previous exposure to donor antigens, according to a new article. ... > full story
New Technology Paves The Way For Future Of Identifying Proteins Inside Cells (September 25, 2008) -- A new technology enables scientists to identify proteins by making a map of the energy flow inside the protein. ... > full story
Emotional People Likely To Move Away, But Not Likely To Move Often (September 25, 2008) -- The results suggest that personality traits determine not only where people relocate to, but also how often they move and how far away they move. People who are very emotional are more likely to move away from home, but do not migrate very far and do not move very often. People with very social personalities are more inclined to leave rural settings for urban areas and are more likely to migrate over long distances. ... > full story
NASA Identifies Carbon-rich Molecules In Meteors As The ‘Origin Of Life’ (September 25, 2008) -- Tons, perhaps tens of tons, of carbon molecules in dust particles and meteorites fall on Earth daily. Meteorites are especially valuable to astronomers because they provide relatively big chunks of carbon molecules that are easily analyzed in the laboratory. In the past few years, researchers have noticed that most meteorite carbon are molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are very stable compounds and are survivors. ... > full story
Bladder Cancer Detected Via Amplified Gene In Cells Found In Urine (September 25, 2008) -- Counting the copies of a specific gene in cells gathered from a urine sample may provide a simple, noninvasive way to detect bladder cancer, researchers report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ... > full story
Hubble Spies Galaxy Silhouettes (September 25, 2008) -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a rare alignment between two spiral galaxies. The outer rim of a small, foreground galaxy is silhouetted in front of a larger background galaxy. Skeletal tentacles of dust can be seen extending beyond the small galaxy's disk of starlight. ... > full story
Aspirin And Atherosclerosis: Mechanism Uncovered (September 25, 2008) -- Researchers have uncovered the mechanism that may explain aspirin's ability to prevent arterial plaque buildup and atherosclerosis. ... > full story
Researcher Working On Destruction Of Chemical Weapons (September 25, 2008) -- America's war on terror includes fighting the dark side of deadly chemical agents, chemists are helping with the fight by developing an enzyme that might neutralize one such chemical agent, the organophosphates. ... > full story
What To Do With Leftover Embryos In Fertility Clinics? (September 25, 2008) -- The majority of infertility patients are in favor of using left-over embryos for stem cell research and would also support selling left-over embryos to other couples, according to a recent survey. ... > full story
America's Smallest Dinosaur Uncovered (September 25, 2008) -- An unusual breed of dinosaur that was the size of a chicken, ran on two legs and scoured the ancient forest floor for termites is the smallest dinosaur species found in North America, according to a researcher who analyzed bones found during the excavation of an ancient bone bed near Red Deer, Alberta, in 2002. ... > full story
Epilepsy, Autism, Schizophrenia: Master Switch That 'Balances The Brain' Found (September 25, 2008) -- Neuroscientists have identified the first known "master switch" to orchestrate the formation and maintenance of inhibitory synapses on neurons, essential for proper brain function. The switch, called Npas4, regulates more than 200 genes that calm over-excited cells, restoring a balance that is thought to go askew in neurologic disorders like epilepsy, autism and schizophrenia. Inhibitory connections are also required to launch critical periods, when the brain can readily rewire and learn. ... > full story
Unique Dark-energy Probe To Measure More Than A Million Galaxies And Quasars (September 25, 2008) -- A unique dark-energy probe called BOSS, the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, is a crucial component of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's third program. Led by physicists at the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BOSS will use the Sloan 2.5-meter, wide-field telescope in New Mexico to collect and measure more than a million galaxies and quasars. ... > full story
Statins Increase Risk Of Postoperative Delirium In Elderly Patients, Study Suggests (September 25, 2008) -- The use of statins is associated with a 28 percent increased risk of postoperative delirium in elderly patients, scientists found in a retrospective cohort analysis involving more than 280 000 patients. ... > full story
Study Merges Decade Of Arctic Data As Ice Collapses Into The Sea (September 25, 2008) -- The Markham Ice Shelf, a massive 19-square-mile platform of ice, broke away from Ellesmere Island in early August and is adrift in the Arctic Ocean. More than half of the nearby Serson Ice Shelf -- about 47 square miles -- also recently broke away into the sea. ... > full story
Burden Of Neglected Tropical Diseases In Latin America And Caribbean May Exceed That Of HIV/AIDS, TB And Malaria (September 25, 2008) -- According to a new analysis, neglected tropical diseases as a group may have surpassed HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as the most prevalent infectious diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean. ... > full story
Artificial Meteorite Shows Martian Impactors Could Carry Traces Of Life (September 25, 2008) -- An artificial meteorite designed by the European Space Agency has shown that traces of life in a martian meteorite could survive the violent heat and shock of entry into the Earth's atmosphere. The experiment's results also suggest that meteorite hunters should widen their search to include white rocks if we are to find traces of life in martian meteorites. ... > full story
Stopping Cancer Cells Before They Start? Inhibitor Of Gene Regulator Discovered (September 25, 2008) -- A chemist has discovered a molecule that can potentially stop the production of cancer cells at the very beginning of the process by switching off the gene regulators responsible for turning healthy cells into cancer cells. The discovery could lead to the development of drugs that can treat some of the deadliest forms of cancer, including brain cancer. ... > full story
Serious Disease In Pet Lizards Caused By New Bacteria (September 25, 2008) -- Skin infections are common in pet lizards and can lead to fatal organ disease and septicaemia. The cause of these diseases has been unclear but now researchers in Belgium have discovered a new bacterium responsible for dermatitis in desert lizards. According to newly published research, the discovery could help control the disease and protect endangered species. ... > full story
Whole Brain Radiation Increases Risk Of Learning And Memory Problems In Cancer Patients (September 25, 2008) -- Cancer patients who receive stereotactic radiosurgery and whole brain radiation therapy for the treatment of metastatic brain tumors have more than twice the risk of developing learning and memory problems than those treated with SRS alone, according to new research. ... > full story
'Chemical Equator' Discovery Will Aid Pollution Mapping (September 25, 2008) -- Scientists have discovered a 'chemical equator' that divides the polluted air of the Northern Hemisphere from the largely uncontaminated atmosphere of the Southern hemisphere. Researchers found evidence for an atmospheric chemical equator around 50 km wide in cloudless skies in the Western Pacific. Their findings show for the first time that the chemical and meteorological boundaries between the two air masses are not necessarily the same. ... > full story
Ban On Betting Would Boost Ailing Economy, Gambling Critic Says (September 25, 2008) -- Congress should resurrect the nationwide gambling ban that existed through most of the 20th century to help soothe a fragile US economy shaken by the worst credit and financial crisis in decades, a professor and national gambling critic says. ... > full story
Global Solar Wind Plasma Output At 50-Year Low, Ulysses Spacecraft Reveals (September 25, 2008) -- Data from the Ulysses spacecraft, a joint NASA-European Space Agency mission, show the sun has reduced its output of solar wind to the lowest levels since accurate readings became available. The sun's current state could reduce the natural shielding that envelops our solar system. ... > full story
Obesity Surgery Performed Through Vagina, U.S. First (September 25, 2008) -- Surgeons have performed the nation's first gastrectomy, a partial removal of the stomach, through the vagina. This new "natural orifice" technique may be an attractive alternative for the 200,000 U.S. patients who undergo surgery for the treatment of obesity each year. ... > full story
Severe Climate Change Costs Forecast For Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, North Dakota, And Other U.S. States (September 25, 2008) -- The economic impact of climate change will cost a number of US states billions of dollars, and delaying action will raise the price tag, concludes the latest series of reports produced by the University of Maryland's Center for Integrative Environmental Research. The new reports project specific long-term direct and ripple economic effects on North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. In most cases, the price tag could run into billions of dollars. ... > full story
New Instrument Can Quickly Examine Multiple Proteins In A Single Cancer Sample (September 25, 2008) -- Researchers have demonstrated a new instrument that makes it possible to detect and quantify multiple different clinically important proteins in a single tumor sample using conventional staining. Currently, pathologists usually need a separate tissue slice for each protein they want to examine, making it impossible to see how molecules interact within individual cells. ... > full story
New European Record Efficiency For Solar Cells Achieved: 39.7% (September 25, 2008) -- At 39.7% efficiency for a multi-junction solar cell, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems have exceeded their own European record of 37.6% which they achieved just a short time ago. III-V semiconductor multi-junction solar cells are used in photovoltaic concentrator technology for solar power stations. ... > full story
Political Conservatives Fear Chaos; Liberals Fear Emptiness (September 25, 2008) -- Political conservatives operate out of a fear of chaos and absence of order while political liberals operate out of a fear of emptiness, a new study finds. Social scientists long have assumed that liberals are more rational and less fearful than conservatives, but new research finds that both groups view the world as "a dangerous place." To better understand the differences, researchers asked 128 socially active churchgoers: what if there were no God? ... > full story
Missing Link Of Neutron Stars? Bizarre Hibernating Stellar Magnet Discovered (September 25, 2008) -- Astronomers have discovered a most bizarre celestial object that emitted 40 visible-light flashes before disappearing again. It is most likely to be a missing link in the family of neutron stars, the first case of an object with an amazingly powerful magnetic field that showed some brief, strong visible-light activity. ... > full story
New Virus Is Culprit, Not Bystander, In Deadly Skin Cancer (September 25, 2008) -- Scientists are uncovering more evidence that a virus they recently discovered is the cause of Merkel cell carcinoma, an aggressive and deadly form of skin cancer. The findings put to rest the possibility that MCV infects tumors that already have formed. If that were the case, the virus would be a passenger rather than the driver of the disease. ... > full story
Impact Of Beetle Kill On Rocky Mountain Weather, Air Quality (September 25, 2008) -- By killing large swaths of forests in the Rocky Mountains, mountain pine beetles may be altering local weather patterns and air quality. Scientists are exploring how the loss of trees and other vegetation influences rainfall, temperatures, smog, and other aspects of the atmosphere. ... > full story
Study Of 'Big Eaters' Could Lead To Better Asthma Treatments (September 25, 2008) -- A new study into the role of a particular immune cell in the lungs could lead to better treatments for the 5 million people in the UK affected by asthma. ... > full story
Ocean Floor Geysers Warm Flowing Sea Water (September 25, 2008) -- Earth scientists have reported movement of warmed sea water through the flat, Pacific Ocean floor off Costa Rica. The movement is greater than that off midocean volcanic ridges. The finding suggests possible marine life in a part of the ocean once considered barren. ... > full story
Caffeine Experts Call For Warning Labels For Energy Drinks (September 25, 2008) -- Scientists who have spent decades researching the effects of caffeine report that a slew of caffeinated energy drinks now on the market should carry prominent labels that note caffeine doses and warn of potential health risks for consumers. ... > full story
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