science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Τετάρτη 25 Ιουλίου 2012

Science News SciGuru.com

Computers may help patients restore movement after stroke
Social Networking Pays Off More in the U.S. than Germany
The more gray matter you have, the more altruistic you are
New method enables "smarter" analysis of individual cells
Researchers study joints at tissue, cellular levels
Bats use the sound of copulating flies as a cue for foraging

Computers may help patients restore movement after stroke

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 05:02 AM PDT

New research suggests that patients whose mobility has been limited by stroke may one day use their imagination and a computer link to move their hands.

In patients, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown they can detect the brain simply thinking about moving a partially or completely paralyzed hand. The half of the brain that normally thinks such thoughts and moves the hand can no longer do so because of stroke damage. Instead, the signal comes from the undamaged half of the brain.

Social Networking Pays Off More in the U.S. than Germany

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 04:55 AM PDT

New research from North Carolina State University shows that informal social networks play an important role when it comes to finding jobs in both the United States and Germany, but those networks are significantly more important for high-paying jobs in the United States – which may contribute to economic inequality.

The more gray matter you have, the more altruistic you are

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 04:48 AM PDT

The volume of a small brain region influences one’s predisposition for altruistic behavior. Researchers from the University of Zurich show that people who behave more altruistically than others have more gray matter at the junction between the parietal and temporal lobe, thus showing for the first time that there is a connection between brain anatomy, brain activity and altruistic behavior.

New method enables "smarter" analysis of individual cells

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 04:42 AM PDT

Only by viewing a Georges Seurat painting at close range can you appreciate the hidden complexities of pointillism - small, distinct dots of color applied to form an image from a distance. Similarly, biologists and geneticists have long sought to analyze profiles of genes at the single cell level but technology limitations have only allowed a view from afar. However, research published in Nature Biotechnology now shows that a novel genomic sequencing method called Smart-Seq can help scientists conduct in-depth analyses of clinically relevant single cells.

Researchers study joints at tissue, cellular levels

Posted: 24 Jul 2012 12:29 PM PDT

A Cleveland Clinic research team is developing virtual models of human knee joints to better understand how tissues and their individual cells react to heavy loads – virtual models that someday can be used to understand damage mechanisms caused by the aging process or debilitating diseases, such as osteoarthritis.

Bats use the sound of copulating flies as a cue for foraging

Posted: 24 Jul 2012 11:13 AM PDT

Mating at night does not necessarily lead to offspring, at least in flies: males produce a buzzing sound with their wings that can be perceived by bats. Stefan Greif from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, and colleagues, observed this in a long-term study on wild Natterer’s bats that eat the copulating flies in a double-sized meal. Flies that were just sitting or walking on the ceiling did not elicit a predatory response by the bats. This is the first experimental evidence how mating itself can be risky.