ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

NASA’s BARREL mission launches 20 balloons

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:45:45 EDT

In Antarctica in January, 2013 -- the summer at the South Pole -- scientists released 20 balloons, each eight stories tall, into the air to help answer an enduring space weather question: when the giant radiation belts surrounding Earth lose material, where do the extra particles actually go?

NASA's IRIS mission readies for a new challenge

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:43:43 EDT

NASA is getting ready to launch a new mission, a mission to observe a largely unexplored region of the solar atmosphere that powers its dynamic million-degree outer atmosphere and drives the solar wind. In late June 2013, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. IRIS will advance our understanding of the interface region, a region in the lower atmosphere of the sun where most of the sun's ultraviolet emissions are generated. Such emissions impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate.

NASA launching experiment to examine the beginnings of the universe

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:40:40 EDT

When did the first stars and galaxies form in the universe? How brightly did they burn their nuclear fuel? Scientists will seek to gain answers to these questions with the launch of the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRIment (CIBER) on a Black Brant XII suborbital sounding rocket between 11 and 11:59 p.m. EDT, June 4 from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Radioactive nanoparticles target cancer cells

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:22:22 EDT

Researchers have found a way to create radioactive nanoparticles that target lymphoma tumor cells wherever they may be in the body.

Single-cell transfection tool enables added control for biological studies

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:22:22 EDT

Researchers have developed a novel tool for single-cell transfection, in which they deliver molecules into targeted cells through temporary nanopores in the cell membrane created by a localized electric field.

Poliovirus vaccine trial shows early promise for recurrent glioblastoma

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:21:21 EDT

An attack on glioblastoma brain tumor cells that uses a modified poliovirus is showing encouraging results in an early study to establish the proper dose level.

Aggressive behavior linked specifically to secondhand smoke exposure in childhood

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:21:21 EDT

Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke in early childhood are more likely to grow up to physically aggressive and antisocial, regardless of whether they were exposed during pregnancy or their parents have a history of being antisocial.

Finding a family for a pair of orphan receptors in the brain

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:15:15 EDT

Researchers have identified a protein that stimulates a pair of "orphan receptors" found in the brain, solving a long-standing biological puzzle and possibly leading to future treatments for neurological diseases.

Low population immunity to new bird flu virus H7N9 in humans

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:15:15 EDT

The level of immunity to the recently circulating H7N9 influenza virus in an urban and rural population in Vietnam is very low, according to the first population level study to examine human immunity to the virus, which was previously only found in birds. The study has implications for planning the public health response to this pandemic threat.

Origins of human culture linked to rapid climate change

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:14:14 EDT

Rapid climate change during the Middle Stone Age, between 80,000 and 40,000 years ago, sparked surges in cultural innovation in early modern human populations, according to new research.

Fourteen closely related crocodiles existed around 5 million years ago

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:13:13 EDT

Today, the most diverse species of crocodile are found in northern South America and Southeast Asia: As many as six species of alligator and four true crocodiles exist, although no more than two or three ever live alongside one another at the same time. It was a different story nine to about five million years ago, however, when a total of 14 different crocodile species existed and at least seven of them occupied the same area at the same time, paleontologists say.

Abundance and distribution of Hawaiian coral species predicted by model

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:57:57 EDT

Researchers have developed species distribution models of the six dominant Hawaiian coral species around the main Hawaiian Islands, including two species currently under consideration as threatened or endangered.

Visual search function: Where scene context happens in our brain

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:57:57 EDT

Though a seemingly simple and intuitive strategy, visual search function -- a process that takes mere seconds for the human brain -- is still something that a computer can't do as accurately. Over the millennia of human evolution, our brains developed a pattern of search based largely on environmental cues and scene context. It's an ability that has not only helped us find food and avoid danger in humankind's earliest days, but continues to aid us today. Where this -- the search for objects using scene and other objects -- occurs in the brain is little understood, and is for the first time discussed in a new paper.

Child maltreatment increases risk of adult obesity

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:57:57 EDT

Children who have suffered maltreatment are 36 percent more likely to be obese in adulthood compared to non-maltreated children, according to a new study. The authors estimate that the prevention or effective treatment of seven cases of child maltreatment could avoid one case of adult obesity.

A tiny programmable fly's eye

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:54:54 EDT

A novel curved artificial compound eye (CurvACE) has been created. Compared to single-lens eyes, compound eyes offer lower resolution, but significantly larger fields of view, thin package, and with negligible distortion.

Magnetic fingerprints of superfluid helium-3

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:54:54 EDT

Superconducting sensors have allowed for highly sensitive measurements of the nuclear magnetic resonance of thin helium-3 layers.

Soft matter offers new ways to study how materials arrange

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:52:52 EDT

A fried breakfast food popular in Spain provided the inspiration for the development of doughnut-shaped droplets that may provide scientists with a new approach for studying fundamental issues in physics, mathematics and materials.

How to best manage workaholics: New study offers insight

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:51:51 EDT

Workaholics tend to live in extremes, with great job satisfaction and creativity on the one hand and high levels of frustration and exhaustion on the other hand. Now, a new study offers managers practical ways to help these employees stay healthy and effective on the job.

How gold nanoparticles can help fight ovarian cancer

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:50:50 EDT

Positively charged gold nanoparticles are usually toxic to cells, but cancer cells somehow manage to avoid nanoparticle toxicity. Researchers found out why and determined how to make the nanoparticles effective against ovarian cancer cells.

Geochemist aids development of geologic time scale for study of Earth's history

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:49:49 EDT

The Geologic Time Scale 2012, or GTS2012, is the latest understanding of Earth's history, and the means by which geoscientists around the world investigate the rock record.

Early-life traffic-related air pollution exposure linked to hyperactivity

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:12:12 EDT

Early-life exposure to traffic-related air pollution was significantly associated with higher hyperactivity scores at age 7, according to new research.

'Whodunnit' of Irish potato famine solved

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:12:12 EDT

An international team of scientists reveals that a unique strain of potato blight they call HERB-1 triggered the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th century.

Resistance to last-line antibiotic makes bacteria resistant to immune system

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:12:12 EDT

Bacteria resistant to the antibiotic colistin are also commonly resistant to antimicrobial substances made by the human body, according to a new study. Cross-resistance to colistin and host antimicrobials LL-37 and lysozyme, which help defend the body against bacterial attack, could mean that patients with life-threatening multi-drug resistant infections are also saddled with a crippled immune response.

New NOAA report examines national oil pollution threat from shipwrecks

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:31:31 EDT

NOAA presented to the U.S. Coast Guard a new report that finds that 36 sunken vessels scattered across the U.S. seafloor could pose an oil pollution threat to the nation's coastal marine resources. Of those, 17 were recommended for further assessment and potential removal of both fuel oil and oil cargo.

NASA builds unusual testbed for analyzing X-ray navigation technologies

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:55:55 EDT

Pulsars have a number of unusual qualities. Like zombies, they shine even though they're technically dead, and they rotate rapidly, emitting powerful and regular beams of radiation that are seen as flashes of light, blinking on and off at intervals from seconds to milliseconds. A NASA team has built a first-of-a-kind testbed that simulates these distinctive pulsations.

The mammoth's lament: How cosmic impact sparked devastating climate change

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:55:55 EDT

Researchers have found evidence of a major cosmic event near the end of the Ice Age. The ensuing climate change forced many species to adapt or die.

Women who smoke during pregnancy increase the risk of both obesity and gestational diabetes in their daughters

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:54:54 EDT

Women who smoke during pregnancy increase the risk of both obesity and gestational diabetes, in their daughters.

Mediterranean diet seems to boost aging brain power

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:54:54 EDT

A Mediterranean diet with added extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts seems to improve the brain power of older people better than advising them to follow a low-fat diet, according to new research.

Bed sharing leads to fivefold increase in risk of crib death for babies whose parents do not smoke

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:54:54 EDT

Parents who share a bed with their breastfed baby could face a fivefold increase in the risk of crib death, even if the parents do not smoke, according to a new study.

NASA Mars rover Curiosity drills second rock target

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:32:32 EDT

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has used the drill on its robotic arm to collect a powdered sample from the interior of a rock called "Cumberland." Plans call for delivering portions of the sample in coming days to laboratory instruments inside the rover. This is only the second time that a sample has been collected from inside a rock on Mars.

Practice makes perfect? Not so much, new research finds

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:39:39 EDT

Turns out, that old "practice makes perfect" adage may be overblown. New research finds that a copious amount of practice is not enough to explain why people differ in level of skill in two widely studied activities, chess and music.

Human-like opponents lead to more aggression in video game players

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:39:39 EDT

Video games that pit players against human-looking characters may be more likely to provoke violent thoughts and words than games where monstrous creatures are the enemy, according to a new study.

Iron-platinum alloys could be new-generation hard drives

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:39:39 EDT

Researchers have found a convenient way to make layered iron-platinum alloys and tailor their properties, a promising material for a potential new generation of data storage media.

How bilinguals switch between languages

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:38:38 EDT

Individuals who learn two languages at an early age seem to switch back and forth between separate "sound systems" for each language, according to new research. The research addresses enduring questions in bilingual studies about how bilingual speakers hear and process sound in two different languages.

Parasitic wasps use calcium pump to block fruit fly immunity

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:37:37 EDT

Parasitic wasps switch off the immune systems of fruit flies by draining calcium from the flies' blood cells, a finding that offers new insight into how pathogens break through a host's defenses. Researchers say their findings have uncovered an important component of cellular immunity, one that parasites have learned to take advantage of.

Do salamanders' immune systems hold the key to regeneration?

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:37:37 EDT

Salamanders' immune systems are key to their remarkable ability to regrow limbs, and could also underpin their ability to regenerate spinal cords, brain tissue and even parts of their hearts, scientists have found. In new research, scientists have found that when immune cells known as macrophages were systemically removed, salamanders lost their ability to regenerate a limb and instead formed scar tissue.

Elusive search for biomarkers in Huntington's disease

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:36:36 EDT

While Huntington's disease (HD) is currently incurable, the HD research community anticipates that new disease-modifying therapies in development may slow or minimize disease progression. The success of HD research depends upon the identification of reliable and sensitive biomarkers to track disease and evaluate therapies, and these biomarkers may eventually be used as outcome measures in clinical trials. Biomarkers could be especially helpful to monitor changes during the time prior to diagnosis and appearance of overt symptomatology.

Non-wetting fabric that drains sweat invented

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:36:36 EDT

Waterproof fabrics that whisk away sweat could be the latest application of microfluidic technology developed by bioengineers.

New source of kidneys for transplant suggested

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:36:36 EDT

Nearly 20 percent of kidneys that are recovered from deceased donors in the U.S. are refused for transplant due to factors ranging from scarring in small blood vessels of the kidney’s filtering units to the organ going too long without blood or oxygen. But, what if instead of being discarded, these organs could be “recycled” to help solve the critical shortage of donor organs?

Gym class reduces probability of obesity, study finds for first time

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:36:36 EDT

Little is known about the effect of physical education on child weight, but a new study finds that increasing the amount of time that elementary schoolchildren spent in gym class reduces the probability of obesity.

Timing of cancer radiation therapy may minimize hair loss

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:36:36 EDT

Discovering that mouse hair has a circadian clock - a 24-hour cycle of growth followed by restorative repair - researchers suspect that hair loss in humans from toxic cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy might be minimized if these treatments are given late in the day.

Protein study suggests drug side effects are inevitable

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:36:36 EDT

A new study of both computer-created and natural proteins suggests that the number of unique pockets – sites where small molecule pharmaceutical compounds can bind to proteins – is surprisingly small, meaning drug side effects may be impossible to avoid.

Ant study could help future robot teams work underground

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:32:32 EDT

Future teams of subterranean search and rescue robots may owe their success to the lowly fire ant, a much-despised insect whose painful bites and extensive networks of underground tunnels are all-too-familiar to people living in the southern United States.

Less sleep associated with increased risk of crashes for young drivers

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:32:32 EDT

A new study suggests less sleep per night is associated with a significant increase in the risk for motor vehicle crashes for young drivers.

Compound in Mediterranean diet makes cancer cells 'mortal'

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:43:43 EDT

New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells' "superpower" to escape death.

Amazon River exhales virtually all carbon taken up by rainforest

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:43:43 EDT

Woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River. This tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river's breath. The finding has implications for global carbon models, and for the ecology of the Amazon and the world's other rivers. Until recently, people believed much of the rainforest's carbon floated down the Amazon River and ended up deep in the ocean.

Fastest measurements ever made of ion channel proteins

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:42:42 EDT

Engineers have used miniaturized electronics to measure the activity of individual ion-channel proteins with temporal resolution as fine as one microsecond, producing the fastest recordings of single ion channels ever performed. They designed a custom integrated circuit to perform these measurements, in which an artificial cell membrane and ion channel are attached directly to the surface of the amplifier chip.

Opening doors to foldable electronics with inkjet-printed graphene

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:42:42 EDT

Imagine a bendable tablet computer or an electronic newspaper that could fold to fit in a pocket. The technology for these devices may not be so far off, thanks to new research.

Coming into existence: Lab sets a new record for creating heralded photons

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:42:42 EDT

A new experiment establishes a heralding efficiency that might allow loopholes to be eliminated in the validation of spooky action-at-a-distance in quantum reality.

Premature birth interrupts vital brain development processes leading to reduced cognitive abilities in infants

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:42:42 EDT

Researchers have for the first time used a novel form of MRI to identify crucial developmental processes in the brain that are vulnerable to the effects of premature birth. This new study shows that disruption of these specific processes can have an impact on cognitive function.

Leading explanations for whooping cough's resurgence don't stand up to scrutiny

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:42:42 EDT

Whooping cough has exploded in the United States and some other developed countries in recent decades, and many experts suspect ineffective childhood vaccines for the alarming resurgence.

Intestinal bacteria protect against E. coli O157:H7

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:42:42 EDT

A cocktail of non-pathogenic bacteria naturally occurring in the digestive tract of healthy humans can protect against a potentially lethal E. coli infection in animal models according to new research.

Molecular trigger for Alzheimer's disease identified

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:42:42 EDT

Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease -- when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons in the brain.

Nanoantennas improve infrared sensing

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:29:29 EDT

Engineers have used a pattern of nanoantennas to develop a new way of turning infrared light into mechanical action, opening the door to more sensitive infrared cameras and more compact chemical-analysis techniques.

Not just blowing in the wind: Compressing air for renewable energy storage

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:28:28 EDT

A comprehensive study into the potential for compressed air energy storage in the Pacific Northwest has identified two locations in Washington state that could store enough Northwest wind energy combined to power about 85,000 homes each month.

Combined wood and tobacco smoke exposure increases risk and symptoms of COPD

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:27:27 EDT

People who are consistently exposed to both wood smoke and tobacco smoke are at a greater risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for experiencing more frequent and severe symptoms of the disease, as well as more severe airflow obstruction, than those who are exposed to only one type of smoke.

Prenatal exposure to traffic is associated with respiratory infection in young children

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:27:27 EDT

Living near a major roadway during the prenatal period is associated with an increased risk of respiratory infection developing in children by the age of 3, according to a new study.

Air pollution and noise pollution increase cardiovascular risk

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:27:27 EDT

Both fine-particle air pollution and noise pollution may increase a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to new research.

Breakup of physician, drug company relationship could improve health care, cut cost

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:37:37 EDT

A new report suggests that improved health care and significant reductions in drug costs might be attained by breaking up the age-old relationship between physicians and drug company representatives who promote the newest, more costly and often unnecessary prescription drugs.

Far-reaching, microvascular damage found in uninjured side of brain after stroke

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:37:37 EDT

An animal-model study finds far-reaching microvascular damage in the uninjured side of the brain after a stroke. The findings suggest repair of the protective blood-brain barrier may help prevent this breach in the days following the acute injury.