Παρασκευή 29 Μαρτίου 2013

ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

ScienceDaily: Most Popular News


New vaccine-design approach targets viruses such as HIV

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 01:14 PM PDT

Scientists have unveiled a new technique for vaccine design that could be particularly useful against HIV and other fast-changing viruses.

Even graphene has weak spots

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 11:24 AM PDT

Less-than-perfect sheets of atom-thick graphene show unexpected weakness, according to researchers.

Biological transistor enables computing within living cells

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 11:24 AM PDT

Bioengineers have taken computing beyond mechanics and electronics into the living realm of biology. Scientists have used a biological transistor made from genetic material -- DNA and RNA -- in place of gears or electrons. The team calls its biological transistor the "transcriptor."

Mate choice in mice is heavily influenced by paternal cues, mouse study shows

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 09:53 AM PDT

Hybrid offspring of different house mice populations show a preference for mating with individuals from their father's original population.

Swarming robots could be the servants of the future

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 09:53 AM PDT

Swarms of robots acting together to carry out jobs could provide new opportunities for humans to harness the power of machines.

Brain scans might predict future criminal behavior

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 09:53 AM PDT

A portable MRI was used to assess anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activity in 96 adult male inmates who were then followed for up to four years after their release from prison. Those who re-offended were more likely to have lower ACC activity, indicating impulsivity and anti-social behavior.

Proximity to coal-tar-sealed pavement raises risk of cancer, study finds

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 09:52 AM PDT

People living near asphalt pavement sealed with coal tar have an elevated risk of cancer, according to a new study. Much of this calculated excess risk results from exposures in children, age six or younger, to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the sealant.

Declaring a truce with our microbiological frenemies

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 09:52 AM PDT

Managing bacteria and other microorganisms in the body, rather than just fighting them, may be lead to better health and a stronger immune system, according to a biologist.

Brain's 'molecular memory switch' identified

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 09:52 AM PDT

Scientists have identified a key molecule responsible for triggering the chemical processes in our brain linked to our formation of memories. The findings reveal a new target for therapeutic interventions to reverse the devastating effects of memory loss.

How diabetes drug delays aging in worms

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 09:51 AM PDT

A widely prescribed type 2 diabetes drug slows down the aging process by mimicking the effects of dieting, according to a study using worms to investigate how the drug works.

Sprial galaxy: Hidden depths of Messier 77 revealed

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 09:51 AM PDT

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this vivid image of spiral galaxy Messier 77, one of the most famous and well-studied galaxies in the sky. The patches of red across this image highlight pockets of star formation along the pinwheeling arms, with dark dust lanes stretching across the galaxy's energetic center.

Opposites attract: How cells and cell fragments move in electric fields

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 09:51 AM PDT

Like tiny crawling compass needles, whole living cells and cell fragments orient and move in response to electric fields -- but in opposite directions, scientists have found. Their results could ultimately lead to new ways to heal wounds and deliver stem cell therapies.

Large robotic jellyfish could one day patrol oceans

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 09:48 AM PDT

Researchers have unveiled Cyro, a life-like, autonomous robotic jellyfish the size and weight of a grown man, 5 foot 7 inches in length and weighing 170 pounds.

How herpesvirus invades nervous system

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 06:17 AM PDT

Scientists have identified a component of the herpesvirus that "hijacks" machinery inside human cells, allowing the virus to rapidly and successfully invade the nervous system upon initial exposure.

America: Time to shake the salt habit?

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 06:17 AM PDT

Medical researchers have written a review paper summarizing data linking excessive sodium intake to increased rates of hypertension, stroke and cardiovascular disease. Is it time for national policy?

What attracts people to violent movies?

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 06:17 AM PDT

Why are audiences attracted to bloodshed, gore and violence? A recent study found that people are more likely to watch movies with gory scenes of violence if they felt there was meaning in confronting violent aspects of real life.

Common gene variants explain 42% of antidepressant response

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 06:17 AM PDT

Antidepressants are commonly prescribed for the treatment of depression, but many individuals do not experience symptom relief from treatment. New research found that only approximately one-third of patients responded within their initial medication trial and approximately one-third of patients did not have an adequate clinical response after being treated with several different medications.

Seeing happiness in ambiguous facial expressions reduces aggressive behavior

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 05:05 AM PDT

Encouraging young people at high-risk of criminal offending and delinquency to see happiness rather than anger in facial expressions results in a decrease in their levels of anger and aggression, according to a new study.

Multiple moves found harmful to poor young children

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 05:02 AM PDT

Poor children who move three or more times before age five have more behavior problems than their peers, according to a longitudinal, representative study of children born in 20 large US cities between 1998 and 2000. Children who moved three or more times exhibited more attention problems, anxiousness, and aggressiveness at age 5.

Prekindergarten program boosts children's skills

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 05:02 AM PDT

Boston Public Schools' prekindergarten program is substantially improving children's readiness to start kindergarten, according to a new study of more than 2,000 children enrolled there. The program uses research-based curricula and teacher coaching, is taught primarily by masters-level teachers, and is open to any child. This study suggests that efforts to increase the enrollment of underrepresented Latino children in high-quality prekindergarten programs, such as the one studied here, may be beneficial.

Marital conflict causes stress in children, may affect cognitive development

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 05:02 AM PDT

Marital conflict is a significant source of environmental stress for children. Witnessing such conflict may harm their stress response systems, affecting their mental and intellectual development. Research findings suggest that stress from marital conflict can hinder children's development of cognitive ability.

Teens' struggles with peers forecast long-term adult relationships

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 05:02 AM PDT

Teens' struggles to connect with their peers in early adolescence while not succumbing to negative peer influences predict their capacity to form strong friendships and avoid serious problems. In a longitudinal study, researchers followed 150 teens over a 10-year period to learn about the lasting effects of peer struggles in early adolescence. They found establishing social competence in early adolescence involves negotiating conflicting goals between peer acceptance and autonomy with regard to negative peer influences.

Prebiotics: Do supplements in baby formula help prevent allergies?

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 04:57 AM PDT

Prebiotic supplements in infant formula may help to prevent eczema, according to a systematic review. However, the review highlights a lack of high quality evidence for the effects of prebiotics in preventing allergies.

Eating disorders, muscle dysmorphia, and self perceived masculinity

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 04:57 AM PDT

Self perceived masculinity is higher in men with muscle dysmorphia, popularly called 'bigorexia', than other gym users, while male patients with anorexia nervosa had elevated association with feminine stereotypes, finds new research.

Getting under the shell of the turtle genome

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 04:57 AM PDT

The genome of the western painted turtle, one of the most widespread, abundant and well-studied turtles in the world, has been sequenced. The data show that, like turtles themselves, the rate of genome evolution is extremely slow; turtle genomes evolve at a rate that is about a third that of the human genome and a fifth that of the python, the fastest lineage analyzed.

Cold cities less sustainable than warm cities, research suggests

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 04:57 AM PDT

Living in colder climates in the US is more energy demanding than living in warmer climates. Scientists have calculated that climate control in the coldest large metropolitan area in the country – Minneapolis – is about three-and-a-half times more energy demanding than in the warmest large metropolitan area – Miami.

Scientists propose revolutionary laser system to produce the next LHC

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 04:57 AM PDT

An international team of physicists has proposed a revolutionary laser system, inspired by the telecommunications technology, to produce the next generation of particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider.

Child development: Early walker or late walker of little consequence

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 04:57 AM PDT

On average, children take the first steps on their own at the age of 12 months. Many parents perceive this event as a decisive turning point. However, the timing is really of no consequence. Children who start walking early turn out later to be neither more intelligent nor more well-coordinated.

Only fifteen minutes of fame? Not so

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 04:55 AM PDT

True fame isn't fleeting, according to new research. They studied all the names mentioned in over 2,000 English-language newspapers from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. over a period of several decades. What they found was that, contrary to popular belief (and scholarly research up to now), the people who become truly famous stay famous for decades.

Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:

Δημοσίευση σχολίου