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Did bacteria spark evolution of multicellular life?
New insight on managing fungal meningitis outbreak
Study explains connection between Hawaii’s dueling volcanoes
Don’t be so fast to judge a cat by its color, study warns
Tiny pores in graphene could give rise to membranes
Bullies more likely to have mental illnesses
Air pollution study clears the air on diesel versus gas emissions
Puppies don’t pick up on yawns
Stomach bug alters tumor suppressor
Neutron experiments give unprecedented look at quantum oscillations
Improving lipid analysis: With new mass spectrometer, researchers can grow knowledge of plants and environmental stress
Additive Restores Antibiotic Effectiveness Against MRSA

Did bacteria spark evolution of multicellular life?

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 07:01 AM PDT

Bacteria have a bad rap as agents of disease, but scientists are increasingly discovering their many benefits, such as maintaining a healthy gut.

A new study now suggests that bacteria may also have helped kick off one of the key events in evolution: the leap from one-celled organisms to many-celled organisms, a development that eventually led to all animals, including humans.

New insight on managing fungal meningitis outbreak

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 06:47 AM PDT

As the number of fungal meningitis cases continues to rise, physicians across the country are faced with how best to provide the early treatment that can save lives.

A University of Michigan Health System infectious disease expert is the lead author of a New England Journal of Medicine report detailing how the outbreak evolved and the complexities of providing anti-fungal treatments.

Study explains connection between Hawaii’s dueling volcanoes

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 11:57 AM PDT

A new Rice University-led study finds that a deep connection about 50 miles underground can explain the enigmatic behavior of two of Earth’s most notable volcanoes, Hawaii’s Mauna Loa and Kilauea. The study, the first to model paired volcano interactions, explains how a link in Earth’s upper mantle could account for Kilauea and Mauna Loa’s competition for the same deep magma supply and their simultaneous “inflation,” or bulging upward, during the past decade.

The study appears in the November issue of Nature Geoscience.

Don’t be so fast to judge a cat by its color, study warns

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 11:49 AM PDT

Just like humans, domestic cats are often judged by their color, and the media and folklore help perpetuate these stereotypes. Take the snobbish, aloof, white kitty who promotes Fancy Feast cat food, and spooky images of black cats, which can be associated with bad luck and witches, especially around Halloween.

Tiny pores in graphene could give rise to membranes

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 10:27 AM PDT

Much has been made of graphene’s exceptional qualities, from its ability to conduct heat and electricity better than any other material to its unparalleled strength: Worked into a composite material, graphene can repel bullets better than Kevlar. Previous research has also shown that pristine graphene — a microscopic sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern — is among the most impermeable materials ever discovered, making the substance ideal as a barrier film.

Bullies more likely to have mental illnesses

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 09:12 AM PDT

In a new study presented Oct. 22, 2012, at the national conference of the American Association of Pediatrics, public health graduate student Dr. Frances Turcotte-Benedict reports that children with diagnosed mental illness are three times more likely to bully than children without disorders.

Air pollution study clears the air on diesel versus gas emissions

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 09:08 AM PDT

Are gasoline-fueled cars or large diesel trucks the bigger source of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), a major component of smog? UC Berkeley researchers have stepped into this debate with a new study that says diesel exhaust contributes 15 times more than gas emissions per liter of fuel burned.

Diesel exhaust contributes more to a component of smog than gasoline-fueled cars, according to a new UC Berkeley study.

Puppies don’t pick up on yawns

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 08:43 AM PDT

Do you get tired when others yawn? Does your dog get tired when you yawn? New research from Lund University in Sweden establishes that dogs catch yawns from humans. But not if the dogs are too young. The study, published in Springer’s journal Animal Cognition, found that, like humans, dogs show a developmental trend in susceptibility to contagious yawning. While dogs above seven months of age catch human yawns, younger dogs are immune to yawn contagion.

Stomach bug alters tumor suppressor

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 08:36 AM PDT

The stomach-dwelling bacterium Helicobacter pylori infects about half of the world’s population and is a strong risk factor for gastric cancer. Emerging evidence suggests that during precancerous stages, H. pylori compromises the function of p53 – a tumor suppressor protein that responds to cellular stress and DNA damage.

Neutron experiments give unprecedented look at quantum oscillations

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 08:24 AM PDT

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have found that nitrogen atoms in the compound uranium nitride exhibit unexpected, distinct vibrations that form a nearly ideal realization of a physics textbook model known as the isotropic quantum harmonic oscillator.

Improving lipid analysis: With new mass spectrometer, researchers can grow knowledge of plants and environmental stress

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 08:18 AM PDT

A Kansas State University professor's research analyzing lipids is helping scientists around the world understand plant responses and develop better crops that can withstand environmental stress.

Additive Restores Antibiotic Effectiveness Against MRSA

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 08:00 AM PDT

Researchers from North Carolina State University have increased the potency of a compound that reactivates antibiotics against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an antibiotic-resistant form of Staphylococcus that is notoriously difficult to treat. Their improved compound removes the bacteria’s antibiotic resistance and allows the antibiotic to once again become effective at normal dosage levels.