Science News SciGuru.com

---

• Climate Models Project Increase in U.S. Wildfire Risk
• NASA Opportunity Rover Finishes Walkabout on Mars Crater Rim
• DNA Analysis of Microbes in a Fracking Site Yields Surprises
• Study: Parents Key to Preventing Alcohol, Marijuana Use by Kids
• Diabetes drug may reduce brain damage after stroke
• Childhood trauma leaves mark on DNA of some victims

Climate Models Project Increase in U.S. Wildfire Risk Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:17 PM PST Scientists using NASA satellite data and climate models have projected drier conditions likely will cause increased fire activity across the United States in coming decades. Other findings about U.S. wildfires, including their amount of carbon emissions and how the length and strength of fire seasons are expected to change under future climate conditions, were also presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.   read more

NASA Opportunity Rover Finishes Walkabout on Mars Crater Rim Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:11 PM PST The latest work assignment for NASA's long-lived Mars rover Opportunity is a further examination of an area where the robot just completed a walkabout.   "If you are a geologist studying a site like this, one of the first things you do is walk the outcrop, and that's what we've done with Opportunity," said Steve Squyres, the mission's principal investigator at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.   read more

DNA Analysis of Microbes in a Fracking Site Yields Surprises Posted: 04 Dec 2012 08:09 AM PST Researchers have made a genetic analysis of the microbes living deep inside a deposit of Marcellus Shale at a hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” site, and uncovered some surprises. They expected to find many tough microbes suited to extreme environments, such as those that derive from archaea, a domain of single-celled species sometimes found in high-salt environments, volcanoes, or hot springs. Instead, they found very few genetic biomarkers for archaea, and many more for species that derive from bacteria. read more

Study: Parents Key to Preventing Alcohol, Marijuana Use by Kids Posted: 04 Dec 2012 08:02 AM PST New research from North Carolina State University, Brigham Young University and the Pennsylvania State University finds that parental involvement is more important than the school environment when it comes to preventing or limiting alcohol and marijuana use by children. read more

Diabetes drug may reduce brain damage after stroke Posted: 04 Dec 2012 07:57 AM PST In a study in mice, scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered a new potential therapy that may reduce brain damage following stroke in type 2 diabetic patients. The suggested drug is already approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. However, the scientists hope that this new results, presented in the scientific journal Diabetes, also opens up the possibility to decrease brain injury after stroke in other patient groups with a high stroke risk. read more

Childhood trauma leaves mark on DNA of some victims Posted: 04 Dec 2012 07:51 AM PST Abused children are at high risk of anxiety and mood disorders, as traumatic experience induces lasting changes to their gene regulation. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have now documented for the first time that genetic variants of the FKBP5 gene can influence epigenetic alterations in this gene induced by early trauma. In individuals with a genetic predisposition, trauma causes long-term changes in DNA methylation leading to a lasting dysregulation of the stress hormone system. read more

You are subscribed to email updates from Science News from SciGuru.com To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610