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Reconstructing the diet of African hominid `Australopithecus anamensis’
In search of the key word: Bursts of certain words within a text are what make them keywords
World Record: Scientists from Northern Germany Produce the Lightest Material in the World
Lab-Engineered Muscle Implants Restore Function in Animal Studies
Applying new rules is mentally taxing and costly
Human Eye Inspires Clog-free Ink Jet Printer Invented by MU Researcher
Deadly Liver Cancer May Be Triggered by Cells Changing Identity, UCSF Study Shows
Gene Therapy Treatment Extends Lives of Mice with Fatal Disease, MU Study Finds
Researchers extract multiple anodes from a single wafer for lithium-ion batteries
First detailed timeline established for brain’s descent into Alzheimer’s
Study Reveals Optimal Interval for Stomach Cancer Screening
Transmission of nerve signals is enhanced in the insects that eat less
Researchers Almost Double Light Efficiency in LC Projectors
Increase in RDA for vitamin C could help reduce heart disease, stroke, cancer

Reconstructing the diet of African hominid `Australopithecus anamensis’

Posted: 17 Jul 2012 06:06 AM PDT

The diet of Australopithecus anamensis, a hominid that lived in the east of the African continent more than 4 million years ago, was very specialized and, according to a scientific study whose principal author is Ferran Estebaranz, from the Department of Animal Biology at the UB, it included foods typical of open environments (seeds, sedges, grasses, etc.), as well as fruits and tubers.

In search of the key word: Bursts of certain words within a text are what make them keywords

Posted: 17 Jul 2012 05:52 AM PDT

Human beings have the ability to convert complex phenomena into a one-dimensional sequence of letters and put it down in writing. In this process, keywords serve to convey the content of the text. How letters and words correlate with the subject of a text is something Eduardo Altmann and his colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems have studied with the help of statistical methods. They discovered that what denotes keywords is not the fact that they appear very frequently in a given text.

World Record: Scientists from Northern Germany Produce the Lightest Material in the World

Posted: 17 Jul 2012 05:42 AM PDT

A network of porous carbon tubes that is three-dimensionally interwoven at nano and micro level – this is the lightest material in the world. It weights only 0.2 milligrams per cubic centimetre, and is therefore 75 times lighter than Styrofoam, but it is very strong nevertheless. Scientists of Kiel University (KU) and Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) have named their joint creation “Aerographite”. The scientific results were published as the title story in the scientific journal “Advanced Materials” on July, 3rd.

Lab-Engineered Muscle Implants Restore Function in Animal Studies

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 05:03 PM PDT

New research shows that exercise is a key step in building a muscle-like implant in the lab with the potential to repair muscle damage from injury or disease. In mice, these implants successfully prompt the regeneration and repair of damaged or lost muscle tissue, resulting in significant functional improvement.

Applying new rules is mentally taxing and costly

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 04:52 PM PDT

Can you teach an old dog (or human) new tricks? Yes, but it might take time, practice, and hard work before he or she gets it right, according to Hans Schroder and colleagues from Michigan State University in the US. Their work shows that when rules change, our attempts to control our actions are accompanied by a loss of attention to detail. Their work is published online in the Springer journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience.

Human Eye Inspires Clog-free Ink Jet Printer Invented by MU Researcher

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 04:45 PM PDT

Clogged printer nozzles waste time and money while reducing print quality. University of Missouri engineers recently invented a clog-preventing nozzle cover by mimicking the human eye.

“The nozzle cover we invented was inspired by the human eye,” said Jae Wan Kwon, associate professor in the College of Engineering. “The eye and an ink jet nozzle have a common problem: they must not be allowed to dry while, simultaneously, they must open. We used biomimicry, the imitation of nature, to solve human problems.”

Deadly Liver Cancer May Be Triggered by Cells Changing Identity, UCSF Study Shows

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 02:37 PM PDT

A rare type of cancer thought to derive from cells in the bile ducts of the liver may actually develop when one type of liver cell morphs into a totally different type, a process scientists used to consider all but impossible.

Gene Therapy Treatment Extends Lives of Mice with Fatal Disease, MU Study Finds

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 02:31 PM PDT

A team of University of Missouri researchers has found that introducing a missing gene into the central nervous system could help extend the lives of patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) – the leading genetic cause of infantile death in the world.

SMA is a rare genetic disease that is inherited by one in 6,000 children who often die young because there is no cure. Children who inherit SMA are missing a gene that produces a protein which directs nerves in the spine to give commands to muscles.

Researchers extract multiple anodes from a single wafer for lithium-ion batteries

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 01:58 PM PDT

Researchers at Rice University and Lockheed Martin reported this month that they’ve found a way to make multiple high-performance anodes from a single silicon wafer. The process uses simple silicon to replace graphite as an element in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, laying the groundwork for longer-lasting, more powerful batteries for such applications as commercial electronics and electric vehicles.

First detailed timeline established for brain’s descent into Alzheimer’s

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 01:46 PM PDT

Scientists have assembled the most detailed chronology to date of the human brain’s long, slow slide into full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.

The timeline, developed through research led by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appears July 11 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Study Reveals Optimal Interval for Stomach Cancer Screening

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 01:33 PM PDT

A new study has determined how often people should get screened for gastric or stomach cancer in high-risk regions of the world. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings could help reduce deaths from gastric cancer, which is the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality.

Although the incidence of gastric cancer has decreased substantially in the western part of the world, the disease is still common in areas such as Eastern Asia, including Korea, Japan, and China.

Transmission of nerve signals is enhanced in the insects that eat less

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 01:28 PM PDT

A novel technique for measuring tiny, rapid-fire secretions in the brains and mouthparts of fruit flies (drosophila) is providing insights into the beneficial effects of eating less — information that ultimately could help people suffering from neuromuscular disorders.

Using the method, researchers uncovered never-before-seen brain chemistry that helps explain why fruit flies genetically manipulated to mimic conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and myasthenia gravis are more vigorous and live longer when fed a restricted diet.

Researchers Almost Double Light Efficiency in LC Projectors

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 12:18 PM PDT

Researchers from North Carolina State University and ImagineOptix Corporation have developed new technology to convert unpolarized light into polarized light, which makes projectors that use liquid crystal (LC) technology almost twice as energy efficient. The new technology has resulted in smaller, lower cost and more efficient projectors, meaning longer battery life and significantly lower levels of heat.

Increase in RDA for vitamin C could help reduce heart disease, stroke, cancer

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 10:27 AM PDT

The recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, of vitamin C is less than half what it should be, scientists argue in a recent report, because medical experts insist on evaluating this natural, but critical nutrient in the same way they do pharmaceutical drugs and reach faulty conclusions as a result.