ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines
for Friday, October 24, 2008
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Naturally Produced 'Rotten Egg' Gas Helps Control Blood Pressure In Body, Researchers Find (October 24, 2008) -- Anyone with a nose knows the rotten-egg odor of hydrogen sulfide, a gas generated by bacteria living in the human colon. Now scientists have discovered that cells inside the blood vessels of mice -- as well as in people, no doubt -- naturally make the gassy stuff, and that it controls blood pressure. Researchers have discover that hydrogen sulfide is a major regulator of blood pressure. ... > full story
First Gene For Clubfoot Identified (October 24, 2008) -- Clubfoot, one of the most common birth defects, has long been thought to have a genetic component. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have found the first gene linked to clubfoot in humans. ... > full story
When Under Attack, Plants Can Signal Microbial Friends For Help (October 24, 2008) -- Researchers have discovered that when the leaf of a plant is under attack by a pathogen, it can send out an S.O.S. to the roots for help, and the roots will respond by secreting an acid that brings beneficial bacteria to the rescue. ... > full story
Knocking The 'Sox' Off Cancer And Lymphatic Disorders (October 24, 2008) -- Researchers have identified a gene critical for the development of the lymphatic system in a discovery that will have implications for treatment of cancer and lymphatic disorders and other diseases. ... > full story
3-D Doppler Ultrasound Helps Identify Breast Cancer (October 24, 2008) -- Three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound helps radiologists distinguish between malignant and benign breast masses, according to a new study. ... > full story
Race And Insurance Status Associated With Death From Trauma (October 24, 2008) -- African American and Hispanic patients are more likely to die following trauma than white patients, and uninsured patients have a higher death risk when compared with those who have health insurance, according to a new report. ... > full story
Good Vibrations Of Nearby Stars: Satellite Data Sheds New Light On The Sun (October 24, 2008) -- Some of the first data collected by the CoRoT space telescope mission, launched in December 2006, provides valuable information about the physical vibrations and surface characteristics of nearby stars that are similar to our sun, researchers say. This novel information illustrates the great value of space-based observations, and provides astronomers with insights into the interior of our sun, other stars, and the overall evolution of our galaxy. ... > full story
New Way Of Inhibiting The Cell Cycle Shows Promise In Cancer Patients In A Phase I Clinical Trial (October 24, 2008) -- A new anti-cancer compound that works by blocking a part of the cell's machinery that is crucial for cell division has shown promising results in a phase I clinical trial in patients who have failed to respond to other treatments. ... > full story
Extinction Risks High For Social Species Such As The African Wild Dog (October 24, 2008) -- Because African wild dogs face bigger competitors like lions, whose larger stomachs handle large irregular meals, the African wild dog evolved a runner's metabolism (lithe, smaller stomachs) and formed large packs. In packs they reduce costs and ensure a regular supply of food. But in packs less than five, they end up in poverty traps, less well fed, less able to have pups, and spiral downward. This study reveals an extinction risk for social species. ... > full story
Getting To Grips With The Complexity Of Disease Proteins (October 24, 2008) -- New research into how proteins in human cells interact and 'talk' to each other is leading to a better understanding of how drug molecules work and should result in more effective therapies, according to scientist. ... > full story
Fisheries Management And Environmental Conditions: Win-win For Baltic Cod (October 24, 2008) -- Politics have played a critical role in the increase of the cod stock in the Baltic Sea, but environmental conditions are equally important. Only the synergies from these two factors have resulted in a stock increase that exceeds the sums of both factors. The study is highly relevant for the management decision on Baltic cod, which will be taken by the Council of Ministers on October 27th 2008. ... > full story
Overweight Women Find Health Care Access And Attitudes A Constant Struggle (October 24, 2008) -- Shame, embarrassment, distress, anger. Those are just some of the emotions overweight women expressed when they were asked to talk about their health care experiences. It's vital to tackle the issue, say researchers, as other studies show that when women have bad experiences they may avoid or delay health care. ... > full story
Voters Swayed By Candidates Who Share Their Looks, Researchers Say (October 23, 2008) -- Made up your mind who to vote for? Maybe it's because you like the looks of the candidate. Or maybe it's because the candidate looks a little like you, even if you don't realize it. In a new study, researchers say that people are subconsciously swayed by candidates who share their facial features. ... > full story
New Candidate Genes For Schizophrenia Identified (October 23, 2008) -- Researchers have identified three new candidate genes for schizophrenia that may contribute to a better understanding of how the disease evolves. ... > full story
Heart Valves That Grow With The Patient (October 23, 2008) -- Three scientists have developed and successful transplanted tissue-engineered biological cardiac valves for children that grow with the patients. ... > full story
Exercise Gives Longer Life For People With Heart Disease (October 23, 2008) -- Exercising once a week can help prolong life expectancy for people with heart disease, according to a new study. ... > full story
Unique Properties Of Boron Harnessed To Develop New Drugs And Diagnostics (October 23, 2008) -- Researchers are on the verge of unleashing the power of the element boron in a new generation of drugs and therapies, as decades of research begins to bear fruit. Boron has to date far been one of biology's best kept secrets, but is now attracting fast growing research interest and investment from the pharmaceutical industry in the quest for novel drugs to tackle cancer and infectious diseases, potentially overcoming limitations and side effects of current products. ... > full story
Extra Cash From Government Program Linked To Higher Risk Of Adult Obesity (October 23, 2008) -- Adults are not seeing the same benefits as children in a popular poverty-alleviation program that gives cash to impoverished families in exchange for participation in health-promoting activities, according to a new study. The study found that the cash component of the program, launched by the Mexican government and modeled worldwide, is linked to a greater risk of obesity and higher blood pressure in adults. ... > full story
Biologists Discover Gene Behind 'Plant Sex Mystery' (October 23, 2008) -- An enigma -- unique to flowering plants -- has been solved by researchers from the UK and South Korea. Scientists already knew that flowering plants require not one, but two sperm cells for successful fertilisation. The mystery of this 'double fertilization' process was how each single pollen grain could produce 'twin' sperm cells. ... > full story
Overweight Mums Have Chubby Babies, Study Suggests (October 23, 2008) -- Researchers have highlighted a link between childhood obesity and a mother's diet before and during pregnancy. The work in animals proves that overweight expectant mothers are more likely to have babies with more body fat, who are at greater risk of diabetes and lipid metabolic disorders later in life. ... > full story
Building A Better Bee (October 23, 2008) -- A researcher known for her honey bee line "New World Carniolans" has crossed her bees with their Old World counterparts to enhance their positive characteristics. ... > full story
Increased Rate Of Common Birthmarks Linked To Rise In Number Of Low Birth Weight Infants In US (October 23, 2008) -- Low birth weight is the most significant factor for the development of infantile hemangiomas, a common birthmark, according to a new study. ... > full story
Smart Fabrics Make Clever (Medical) Clothing (October 23, 2008) -- European researchers have developed a smart fabric that can monitor muscular overload and help prevent repetitive strain injury or RSI. But that is just the beginning. The team is also exploring a pregnancy belt to monitor baby's heartbeat, clothing to help coach hockey, and shirts that monitor muscle fatigue during training. ... > full story
'Dry Cleaning Effect' Explained By Forgetful Researcher (October 23, 2008) -- Researchers have described how dueling brain systems may explain why you forget to drop off the dry cleaning and may point to ways that substance abusers and people with obsessive compulsive disorder can overcome bad habits. ... > full story
World's Most Advanced Microscope Unveiled (October 23, 2008) -- The most advanced and powerful electron microscope on the planet -- capable of unprecedented resolution -- has been installed in the new Canadian Center for Electron Microscopy at McMaster University. It is so powerful it can probe the spaces between atoms. ... > full story
Individual's Gene Variations Linked To Likelihood Of Surviving Cancer (October 23, 2008) -- New research shows that certain genes can influence a person's likelihood to contract particular diseases, cancer for example. The finding demonstrates that genetic markers may also show a person's likelihood to survive the disease. ... > full story
Rare Corals Breed Their Way Out Of Trouble (October 23, 2008) -- Rare corals may be smarter than we thought. Faced with a dire shortage of mates of their own kind, new research suggests they may be able to cross-breed with certain other coral species to breed themselves out of a one-way trip to extinction. This finding has raised hopes for the ability of the world's corals to withstand the rigors of changing climates and human impacts. ... > full story
Skin Creams Can Make Skin Drier (October 23, 2008) -- Many people have noticed that as soon as you start using a skin cream, you have to continue with it; if you stop lubricating, your skin becomes drier than when you started. And now there is research to confirm for the first time that normal skin can become drier from creams. ... > full story
Nanomaterials May Have Large Environmental Footprint (October 23, 2008) -- Environmental gains derived from the use of nanomaterials may be offset in part by the process used to manufacture them, according to research published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology. ... > full story
Developing Depression After A Heart Attack Increases One’s Risk Of Death Or Readmission (October 23, 2008) -- Science has found many links between depression and other serious medical illnesses, such as cancer, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. For example, people who develop depression following a heart attack (myocardial infarction) or chest pain (angina) have an elevated risk of cardiac death or hospital readmission over the following year. ... > full story
Memories Selectively, Safely Erased In Mice (October 23, 2008) -- Targeted memory erasure is no longer limited to the realm of science fiction. A new study describes a method through which a selected set of memories can be rapidly and specifically erased from the mouse brain in a controlled and inducible manner. New and old memories have been selectively and safely removed from mice by scientists. ... > full story
Silencing A Protein Could Kill T-Cells, Reverse Leukemia (October 23, 2008) -- Blocking the signals from a protein that activates cells in the immune system could help kill cells that cause a rare form of blood cancer, according to physicists and oncologists who combined computer modeling and molecular biology in their discovery. ... > full story
Florida's 'Worm Grunters' Collect Bait Worms By Inadvertently Imitating Mole Sounds (October 23, 2008) -- Vanderbilt biologist Ken Catania has discovered the secret of "worm grunting" -- the Florida practice of driving a wooden stake into the ground and rubbing it with a long piece of steel to produce a grunting sounds that drives nearby earthworms to the surface where they can be collected for bait. The worm grunters are unknowingly mimicking the sounds that the worm's arch-enemy the mole causes while burrowing. ... > full story
Sugar Plays Key Role In How Cells Work (October 23, 2008) -- Scientists were dubious in the early 1980s when they stumbled on small sugar molecules lurking in the centers of cells; not only were they not supposed to be there, but they certainly weren't supposed to be repeatedly attaching to and detaching from proteins, effectively switching them on and off. ... > full story
Impacts Of Climate Change On Lakes (October 23, 2008) -- Climate change will have different effects on lakes in warmer and colder regions of the globe. This is the conclusion reached by Japanese and German researchers following studies of very deep caldera lakes in Japan. ... > full story
Been There, Done That: Brain Mechanism Predicts Ability To Generalize (October 23, 2008) -- A new study reveals how the brain can connect discrete but overlapping experiences to provide a rich integrated history that extends far beyond individually experienced events and may help to direct future choices. ... > full story
'Magnetic Death Star' Fossils: Earlier Global Warming Produced A Whole New Form Of Life (October 23, 2008) -- An international team of scientists has discovered microscopic, magnetic fossils resembling spears and spindles, unlike anything previously seen, among sediment layers deposited during an ancient global-warming event along the Atlantic coastal plain of the United States. ... > full story
New Genes Linked To Lung Cancer In Large-scale Genetic Study (October 23, 2008) -- A multi-institution team reports results of the largest effort to date to chart the genetic changes involved in the most common form of lung cancer, lung adenocarcinoma. The findings should help pave the way for more individualized approaches for detecting and treating the nation's leading cause of cancer deaths. ... > full story
Neural Probe Developed That Will Limit Damage To Cells And Biological Tissue (October 23, 2008) -- Engineering researchers have just developed a neural probe that demonstrates significantly greater electrical charge storage capacity than all other neural prosthetic devices to date. More charge storage capacity means the device can stimulate nerves and tissues with less damage and sense neural signals with better sensitivity. ... > full story
Seemingly Suicidal Stunt Is Normal Rite Of Passage For Immune Cells (October 23, 2008) -- Researchers have shown that self-induced breaks in the DNA of immune cells known as lymphocytes activate genes that cause the cells to travel from where they're made to where they help the body fight invaders. The new finding is the first to link such serious DNA damage to activation of genes not directly involved in the cells' attempts to either fix the harm or self-destruct to stop themselves from becoming cancerous. ... > full story
Memoirs Of A Qubit: Hybrid Memory Solves Key Problem For Quantum Computing (October 23, 2008) -- Scientists have performed the ultimate miniaturization of computer memory: storing information inside the nucleus of an atom. This breakthrough is a key step in bringing to life a quantum computer -- a device based on the fundamental theory of quantum mechanics which could crack problems unsolvable by current technology. ... > full story
Effective Anti-tobacco Ads Should Either Scare Or Disgust Viewers, Study Reveals (October 23, 2008) -- Researchers examined the effects of two types of content commonly used in anti-tobacco ads -- tobacco health threats that evoke fear and disturbing or disgusting images. The researchers found that ads focused on either fear or disgust increased attention and memory in viewers; however, ads that included both fear and disgust decreased viewers' attention and memory. ... > full story
Denser, More Powerful Computer Chips Possible With Plasmonic Lenses That 'Fly' (October 23, 2008) -- Engineers are reporting a new way of creating computer chips that could revitalize optical lithography, a patterning technique that dominates modern integrated circuits manufacturing. The researchers say this development could lead to ultra-high density disks that can hold 10 to 100 times more data than disks today. ... > full story
ADHD Appears To Increase Level Of Nicotine Dependence In Smokers (October 23, 2008) -- Young people with ADHD are not only at increased risk of starting to smoke cigarettes, they also tend to become more seriously addicted to tobacco and more vulnerable to environmental factors such as having friends or parents who smoke. The report also found that individuals with more ADHD-related symptoms, even those without the full syndrome, are at greater risk of becoming dependent on nicotine than those with fewer symptoms. ... > full story
Which Grass Is Greener? Study To Select Northeast Grasses That Can Power The Bioenergy Era (October 23, 2008) -- Talk about a field of dreams. Cornell bioenergy plant experts are learning which field grasses are the best candidates for "dedicated energy" crops in the Northeast, considering the region's climate and soil conditions. ... > full story
Why Past Oral Contraceptive Use Dramatically Lowers Risk Of Ovarian And Uterine Cancers (October 23, 2008) -- Researchers may be one step closer to understanding why past oral contraceptive use dramatically lowers the risk of ovarian and uterine cancers later in life. Birth control has a long-term effect on hormone exposure. ... > full story
LCDs Improved With 3-D Nanoimaging Process (October 23, 2008) -- Professors of physics and macromolecular science have developed a method of 3-D optical imaging of anisotropic fluids such liquid crystals, with volumetric resolution one thousand times smaller than existing techniques. ... > full story
Early-onset Depressive Disorders Predict The Use Of Addictive Substances In Adolescence (October 23, 2008) -- In a prospective study of over 1,800 interviewed young Finnish twins, early-onset depressive disorders at age 14 significantly predicted daily smoking, smokeless tobacco use, frequent illicit drug use, frequent alcohol use and recurrent intoxication three years later. ... > full story
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