ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines
for Wednesday, October 8, 2008
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'Deadly Dozen' Reports Diseases Worsened By Climate Change (October 8, 2008) -- A new report lists 12 pathogens that could spread into new regions as a result of climate change, with potential impacts to both human and wildlife health and global economies. ... > full story
Scientists Trace A Novel Way Cells Are Disrupted In Cancer (October 8, 2008) -- A research team at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is clarifying a previously unappreciated way that cellular processes are disrupted in cancer. Following upon previous work showing that a splicing factor called SF2/ASF can induce tumors in cell cultures, the team now shows that the same splicing factor induces changes in proteins in a pathway called PI3K-mTOR well known for its involvement in cancers. ... > full story
NASA Spacecraft Ready To Explore Outer Solar System (October 8, 2008) -- The first NASA spacecraft to image and map the dynamic interactions taking place where the hot solar wind slams into the cold expanse of space is ready for launch Oct. 19. The two-year mission will begin from the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. ... > full story
Proteins Involved In Blood Vessel Dysfunction In Type 2 Diabetes Are Identified (October 8, 2008) -- Using precise microscopes, researchers are dissecting coronary microvessels and testing which proteins are responsible for inflammation that causes blood-vessel dysfunction. By identifying the proteins that play important roles in blood-vessel dysfunction, they hope to develop new treatments for blood-vessel dysfunction in people with type 2 diabetes. ... > full story
How Many Earthquakes Are There? (October 8, 2008) -- Authors explore how ground motion measures scale with magnitude and explore the question: How many earthquakes are there? ... > full story
Mentally Ill Smoke At 4 Times The Rate Of General Population, Study Suggests (October 8, 2008) -- Australians with mental illness smoke at four times the rate of the general population, according to a new study. ... > full story
Stars Stop Forming When Big Galaxies Collide (October 8, 2008) -- Astronomers studying new images of a nearby galaxy cluster have found evidence that high-speed collisions between large elliptical galaxies may prevent new stars from forming. ... > full story
C. Difficile And Antibiotics Not Necessarily Linked, Study Finds (October 8, 2008) -- A new study questions the assumption held by a vast majority of medical professionals that Clostridium difficile (C.difficile) infections are essentially always preceded by antibiotic use. The finding could have a major impact on how patients with diarrhea are evaluated upon their admission to the hospital. ... > full story
Bioengineers Fill Holes In Science Of Cellular Self-organization (October 8, 2008) -- The chemical and biological aspects of cellular self-organization are well-studied; less well understood is how cell populations order themselves biomechanically -- how their behavior and communication are affected by high density and physical proximity. Bioengineers and physicists have now begun to address these fundamental questions. ... > full story
Racial Differences For Brain Bleeds Suggest Stroke Risk Greater Than Thought For Blacks (October 8, 2008) -- Small, clinically silent areas of bleeding in the brain appear to be more common in black versus white stroke patients hospitalized for new brain bleeds, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center. These findings may help explain the higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke among the black population, especially in those who are medically underserved. ... > full story
Good News For Pig Breeders (October 8, 2008) -- There are currently two methods for artificial insemination: bull semen can be frozen to a temperature of -172 °C and may be stored indefinitely. However, pig semen must be diluted and stored liquid, and the storage capacity is only a few days. The window of opportunity for insemination is also limited. Striking the period when the sow is receptive is difficult and farmers need to inspect the animals regularly. ... > full story
ADHD Stimulant Treatment May Decrease Risk Of Substance Abuse In Adolescent Girls; Results Mirror Findings In Boys (October 8, 2008) -- Researchers have found that treatment with stimulant drugs does not increase and appears to significantly decrease the risk that girls with ADHD will begin smoking cigarettes or using alcohol or drugs. ... > full story
Mysterious Snippets Of DNA Withstand Eons Of Evolution (October 7, 2008) -- Small stretches of seemingly useless DNA harbor a big secret, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. There's one problem: We don't know what it is. Although individual laboratory animals appear to live happily when these genetic ciphers are deleted, these snippets have been highly conserved throughout evolution. ... > full story
Occasional Memory Loss Tied To Lower Brain Volume (October 7, 2008) -- People who occasionally forget an appointment or a friend's name may have a loss of brain volume, even though they don't have memory deficits on regular tests of memory or dementia, according to new study. ... > full story
Fishy Future Written In The Genes (October 7, 2008) -- The roadmap to the future of the gorgeously-decorated fish which throng Australia’s coral reefs may well be written in their genes. Of particular importance may be to protect ‘pioneer’ fish populations which are able to re-colonize regions of reef devastated by global warming and other impacts or settle new areas as the corals move south. ... > full story
Many Receptor Models Used In Drug Design May Not Be Useful After All (October 7, 2008) -- It may very well be that models used for the design of new drugs have to be regarded as impractical. Scientists have elucidated the structure of the adenosine A2A receptor, one of caffeine's main targets in the body and a key player in Parkinson's. ... > full story
Computer Hardware 'Guardians' Protect Users From Undiscovered Bugs (October 7, 2008) -- As computer processor chips grow faster and more complex, they are likely to make it to market with more design bugs. But that may be OK, according to researchers who have devised a system that lets chips work around all functional bugs, even those that haven't been detected. ... > full story
Presence Of Safety Measures Affects People's Trust In Safety Of Tourist Destinations (October 7, 2008) -- According to the asymmetry principle of trust, information on negative events decreases trust to a much higher extent than information on positive events increases trust. A new study examines whether this notion holds true with respect to trust in the safety of tourist destinations. ... > full story
NASA's MESSENGER Spacecraft Reveals Mercury As Never Seen Before (October 7, 2008) -- NASA's MESSENGER space probe has made its second swing past Mercury, just 125 miles (200 kilometers) above the cratered surface of our solar system's innermost planet, snapping hundreds of pictures and collecting a variety of other data. ... > full story
Red Wine May Lower Lung Cancer Risk (October 7, 2008) -- Moderate consumption of red wine may decrease the risk of lung cancer in men. The most substantial risk reduction was among smokers who drank one to two glasses of red wine per day. The researchers reported a 60 percent reduced lung cancer risk in these men. ... > full story
2008 Ozone Hole Larger Than Last Year (October 7, 2008) -- The 2008 ozone hole -- a thinning in the ozone layer over Antarctica -- is larger both in size and ozone loss than 2007 but is not as large as 2006. ... > full story
New Study Examines Effectiveness Of Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests (October 7, 2008) -- New findings from a decision analysis for the US Preventative Services Task Force suggest that routine colorectal cancer screenings can be stopped in patients over the age of 75. ... > full story
Helping People With Disabilities Make Use Of Public Transport (October 7, 2008) -- In an ideal world, all buses would be wheelchair friendly and train timetables would be available as audio recordings for the visually impaired. Reality has yet to catch up with that vision, so instead European researchers have developed a personal navigation aid to help disabled people make use of public transport. ... > full story
Why Current Publication Practices May Distort Science (October 7, 2008) -- The current system of publishing medical and scientific research provides "a distorted view of the reality of scientific data that are generated in the laboratory and clinic," says a team of researchers in PLoS Medicine. ... > full story
Spotless Sun: Blankest Year Of The Space Age (October 7, 2008) -- Astronomers who count sunspots have announced that 2008 is now the "blankest year" of the Space Age. An image taken on Sept. 27, 2008 by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) shows a solar disk completely unmarked by sunspots. For comparison, a SOHO image taken seven years earlier on Sept. 27, 2001, is peppered with colossal sunspots, all crackling with solar flares. ... > full story
New Prenatal Test For Down Syndrome Less Risky Than Amniocentesis, Scientists Say (October 7, 2008) -- Pregnant women worried about their babies' genetic health face a tough decision: get prenatal gene testing and risk miscarriage, or skip the tests and miss the chance to learn of genetic defects before birth. ... > full story
Cassini Flyby Of Saturn Moon Offers Insight Into Solar System History (October 7, 2008) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft is scheduled to fly within 16 miles of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Oct. 9 and measure molecules in its space environment that could give insight into the history of the solar system. ... > full story
Stool DNA Testing For Colorectal Cancer Has Potential, But Challenges Remain (October 7, 2008) -- The first generation of a stool DNA test to identify early colorectal cancer has limitations, according to a Mayo Clinic-led study published in the Oct. 7, 2008, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. ... > full story
Microwave Ovens Need Added Safety Controls, Researchers Advise (October 7, 2008) -- Curious toddlers and pre-schoolers are all-too-often scalded by foods heated in microwave ovens, but a locking mechanism could prevent these severe injuries that require hospitalization. Researchers investigated these cases as part of a three-year study of children in their burn unit and found that inadequate safeguards exist on microwave ovens. ... > full story
How And Why Some Children Become Chronically Abused By Peers (October 7, 2008) -- As soon as children are old enough to interact socially, some become entrenched in chronic and increasing patterns of victimization by their peers, according to a new report in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Children who are aggressive in infancy and are from families with harsh parenting styles and insufficient income appear more likely to be consistently victimized. ... > full story
Is It A Planet? Exotic Object Orbiting Star Stirs Exoplanet Classification Rethink (October 7, 2008) -- The European spacecraft COROT has discovered a massive planet-sized object orbiting its parent star closely, unlike anything ever spotted before. It is so exotic, that scientists are unsure as to whether this oddity is actually a planet or a failed star. ... > full story
Air Pollution May Increase Risk Of Appendicitis (October 7, 2008) -- Could there be a link between high levels of air pollution and the risk of appendicitis? New research suggests a novel connection. ... > full story
Impact Of Geology On The U.S. Civil War: War From The Ground Up (October 7, 2008) -- The connection between geology and the history of the Civil War has fascinated some researchers. Now they take history, military history in particular, a step deeper -- into the geology beneath the soldiers' feet. ... > full story
Metabolic Syndrome Ups Colorectal Cancer Risk (October 7, 2008) -- In a large US population-based study, metabolic syndrome patients had a 75 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer compared to those without metabolic syndrome. ... > full story
Gene That May Contribute To Improved Rice Yield Identified (October 7, 2008) -- Biologists have identified a gene in rice that controls the size and weight of rice grains. The gene may prove to be useful for breeding high-yield rice and, thus, may benefit the vast number of people who rely on this staple food for survival. ... > full story
Girls Have Harder Time Than Boys Adjusting In Language-learning Environment, Study Finds (October 7, 2008) -- Girls who don’t share a common language may have more difficulty adjusting socially than boys, according to surprising new research looking at language acquisition among young children. ... > full story
Discovery Of 'Broken Symmetry' At Subatomic Level Earns 2008 Nobel Prize In Physics (October 7, 2008) -- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2008 with one half to Yoichiro Nambu for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics, and the other half jointly to Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature. ... > full story
Oral Vitamin D May Help Prevent Some Skin Infections (October 7, 2008) -- A study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests that use of oral vitamin D supplements bolsters production of a protective chemical normally found in the skin, and may help prevent skin infections that are a common result of atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema. ... > full story
Receptor Could Halt Blinding Diseases, Stop Tumor Growth, Preserve Neurons After Trauma (October 7, 2008) -- Researchers have discovered what promises to be the on-off switch behind several major diseases. They report how the GPR91 receptor contributes to activate unchecked vascular growth that causes vision loss in common blinding diseases. These findings could also have wide-ranging and positive implications for brain tissue regeneration. ... > full story
Using A Fan During Sleep Associated With Lower Risk Of SIDS (October 7, 2008) -- Fan use appears to be associated with a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome in rooms with inadequate ventilation, according to a new report. ... > full story
Zooming Way In, Technique Offers Close-ups Of Electrons, Nuclei (October 7, 2008) -- Providing a glimpse into the infinitesimal, physicists have found a novel way of spying on some of the universe's tiniest building blocks. Their "camera" consists of a special "flaw" in diamonds that can be manipulated into sensitively monitoring magnetic signals from individual electrons and atomic nuclei placed nearby. ... > full story
Seeing Race And Seeming Racist? Whites Go Out Of Their Way To Avoid Talking About Race (October 7, 2008) -- White people -- including children as young as 10 -- may avoid talking about race so as not to appear prejudiced, according to new research. But that approach often backfires as blacks tend to view this "colorblind" approach as evidence of prejudice, especially when race is clearly relevant. ... > full story
Nerve Cell Actions Made Optically Visible In Mice (October 7, 2008) -- Thought processes made visible: Researchers have succeeded in optically detecting individual action potentials in the brains of living animals. The scientists introduced fluorescent indicator proteins into the brain cells of mice via viral gene vectors: the illumination of the fluorescent proteins indicates both when and which neurons are communicating with each other. ... > full story
Form Of Crohn's Disease Traced To Disabled Gut Cells (October 7, 2008) -- Scientists say that they have linked the health of specialized gut immune cells to a gene associated with Crohn's disease, an often debilitating and increasingly prevalent inflammatory bowel disorder. ... > full story
The Green Sahara, A Desert In Bloom (October 7, 2008) -- New North African climate reconstructions reveal three ‘green Sahara’ episodes during which the present-day Sahara Desert was almost completely covered with extensive grasslands, lakes and ponds over the course of the last 120.000 years. Reconstructing the climate of the past is an important tool for scientists to better understand and predict future climate changes that are the result of the present-day global warming. ... > full story
Metastatic Movements In 3-D (October 7, 2008) -- Scientists have discovered how the altered behavior of integrins can prompt metastatic movement in tumor cells. ... > full story
Scientists Take Off For Southeastern Pacific Climate Study (October 7, 2008) -- During October and November 2008, some 150 scientists from 40 institutions in eight nations will take part in an international field experiment designed to make observations of critical components of the climate system of the southeastern Pacific. ... > full story
Individuals With Social Phobia See Themselves Differently (October 7, 2008) -- Magnetic resonance brain imaging reveals that patients with generalized social phobia respond differently than others to negative comments about themselves, according to a new report. ... > full story
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