ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• New understanding of asthma development: Transmission of respiratory viruses in utero
• New carnivorous dinosaur from Madagascar raises more questions than it answers
• Knee bracing can 'significantly' reduce pain of kneecap osteoarthritis, study suggests
• Engineer working to put more science behind bloodstain pattern analysis
• Slow walking speed linked with premature death in kidney disease patients
• Superstorm Sandy shook the U. S., literally
• High-salt diet and ulcer bug combine to increase risk of cancer
• New understanding of rare white shark movement around Hawai'i
• Topical use of arthritis drug provides relief for dry eye disease, study suggests
• New research holds promise for treatments for a range of women's health issues
• Fertility needs in high-yielding corn production
• Nanoparticles found in everyday items can inhibit fat storage: Gold nanoparticles accelerate aging
• Community gardens may produce more than vegetables
• 'First step' in addressing effects of climate change
• Weeding out ineffective biocontrol agents
• Risk factor for depression can be 'contagious'
• Remote-sensing study quantifies permafrost degradation in Arctic Alaskan wetlands
• Child's counting comprehension may depend on objects counted, study shows
• Smoking from hookah not a harmless alternative to cigarettes
• Three super-Earth-size planets found in 'habitable zone'
• New techniques allow discovery of smallest super-Earth exoplanets
• Cold winters freezing out breast cancer treatment
• Ethnicity may influence antibody genes: Immunity-related DNA sections could vary depending on ethnicity
• New solar-cell coating could enable a major boost in efficiency
• Sea-ice ecosystem possibly triggered evolution of baleen whales and penguins
• Learning disabilities affect up to 10 percent of children
• Neural activity in bats measured in-flight
• When it comes to survival of the fittest, stress is a good thing, squirrel study shows
• No 'silver bullet' for science standards
• Rats' and bats' brains work differently on the move
• New Earth-like planets found orbiting a Sun-like star
• Three mutations at BRCA1 gene responsible for breast and ovarian hereditary cancer identified
• Outpatients, hospital patients face growing, but different problems with antibiotic resistance
• First steps of synapse building is captured in live zebra fish embryos
• U.S. drought falls below 50 percent for first time in 10 months
• Anesthesia increases success rates of turning breech babies, reduces delivery costs
• Experts examine Mediterranean diet's health effects for older adults
• Distant blazar is a high-energy astrophysics puzzle
• Bursts of brain activity may protect against Alzheimer's disease
• More efforts needed to regulate dietary supplements, experts urge
• Evolving genes lead to evolving genes: Selection in European populations of genes regulated by FOXP2
• Big boost in drug discovery: New use for stem cells identifies a promising way to target ALS
• Learned helplessness in flies and the roots of depression
• Production of toxic protein causes common neurodegenerative disorder
• 'Health MOT' programme could uncover 440,000 new diabetes, heart or kidney patients per year
• Study to treat deadly form of thyroid cancer shows promise
• Hologram-like 3-D brain helps researchers decode migraine pain
• High levels of glutamate in brain may kick-start schizophrenia: Implications for early diagnosis and new treatment strategies
• Toxic protein made in unusual way may explain brain disorder
• Stem cell senescence drives aging, study suggests
• Discovery paves the way for ultrafast high-resolution imaging in real time
• Scientists throw new light on DNA copying process
• New algorithm helps evaluate, rank scientific literature
• Age matters to Antarctic clams: Age matters when it comes to adapting to the effects of climate change
• Dinosaur egg study supports evolutionary link between birds and dinosaurs: How Troodon likely hatched its young
• Robot hands gain a gentler touch: Tactile sensing technology builds on tiny barometer chips
• Pollution plumes in Paris air are richer in gaseous aromatic compounds than in Los Angeles
• 'Big data’ algorithm used to customize video game difficulty
• Role-playing game brings new life to a 'dead' language
• Student tracks Asian bird's migration patterns; recommends conservation strategies

New understanding of asthma development: Transmission of respiratory viruses in utero Posted: 18 Apr 2013 06:40 PM PDT The most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections in infants and young children, respiratory syncytial virus, can be transferred during pregnancy to an unborn baby, according to new research.

New carnivorous dinosaur from Madagascar raises more questions than it answers Posted: 18 Apr 2013 06:40 PM PDT The first new dinosaur named from Madagascar in nearly a decade, Dahalokely tokana was a carnivore measuring 9-14 feet long. Its fossils were found in 90-million-year-old rocks of northernmost Madagascar, from the time when Madagascar and India were a single isolated land mass. Dahalokely is potentially ancestral to later dinosaurs of both regions, and shortens a 95-million-year gap in Madagascar's dinosaur fossil record by 20 million years.

Knee bracing can 'significantly' reduce pain of kneecap osteoarthritis, study suggests Posted: 18 Apr 2013 06:39 PM PDT Wearing a knee brace has been shown to "significantly improve the pain and symptoms" of a type of osteoarthritis affecting the kneecap, according to a new study.

Engineer working to put more science behind bloodstain pattern analysis Posted: 18 Apr 2013 06:39 PM PDT Scientists are working to put more fluid dynamics behind the bloodstain pattern analysis used at crime scenes. They are developing instruments and methods to produce, study and analyze bloodstains.

Slow walking speed linked with premature death in kidney disease patients Posted: 18 Apr 2013 06:39 PM PDT Kidney disease patients who have slower walking speed on physical performance tests seem to be more burdened by their disease than patients who perform well on lower extremity physical performance tests, according to a new study. The findings indicate that measuring lower extremity physical performance may capture a complex set of skeletal muscle and neurologic impairments that develop in CKD patients and substantially affect their survival.

Superstorm Sandy shook the U. S., literally Posted: 18 Apr 2013 06:39 PM PDT When superstorm Sandy turned and took aim at New York City and Long Island last October, ocean waves hitting each other and the shore rattled the seafloor and much of the United States – shaking detected by seismometers across the country, researchers found.

High-salt diet and ulcer bug combine to increase risk of cancer Posted: 18 Apr 2013 01:23 PM PDT Numerous epidemiologic studies have shown that a diet high in salt is associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer. Now researchers have shown that high dietary salt combined with infection by the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori greatly increases the risk of cancer.

New understanding of rare white shark movement around Hawai'i Posted: 18 Apr 2013 01:23 PM PDT A new study sheds light on the relatively rare but occasionally recorded presence of white sharks in waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands, and suggests a new method to help distinguish between white sharks and close relatives, such as mako sharks.

Topical use of arthritis drug provides relief for dry eye disease, study suggests Posted: 18 Apr 2013 01:23 PM PDT An estimated nine million people in the United State alone suffer from significant dry eye disorder. Researchers have shown that topical anakinra (Kineret; Amgen Inc.), a recombinant version of human IL-1Ra approved for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, significantly reduced dry eye symptoms.

New research holds promise for treatments for a range of women's health issues Posted: 18 Apr 2013 01:23 PM PDT Natural lubricants play an important role in health, including helping prevent osteoarthritis in joints. Much is still unknown about their role and function in other areas of the body. Researchers for the first time have discovered that the surface of the eye produces "lubricin," the same substance that protects the joints, and have explained its role in this sensory organ.

Fertility needs in high-yielding corn production Posted: 18 Apr 2013 01:22 PM PDT Although advances in agronomy, breeding, and biotechnology have dramatically increased corn grain yields, soil test values indicate that producers may not be supplying optimal nutrient levels. Moreover, many current nutrient recommendations, developed decades ago using outdated agronomic management practices and lower-yielding, non-transgenic hybrids, may need adjusting.

Nanoparticles found in everyday items can inhibit fat storage: Gold nanoparticles accelerate aging Posted: 18 Apr 2013 01:21 PM PDT An increase in gold nanoparticles can accelerate aging and wrinkling, slow wound healing and cause the onset of diabetes.

Community gardens may produce more than vegetables Posted: 18 Apr 2013 01:21 PM PDT People who participate in community gardening have a significantly lower BMIs —- as well as lower odds of being overweight or obese -— than do their non-gardening neighbors, according to a new study.

'First step' in addressing effects of climate change Posted: 18 Apr 2013 12:44 PM PDT A new report on potential effects of climate change uses existing observations and science-based expectations to identify how climate change could affect habitats, plants and animals within the sanctuary and adjacent coastal areas.

Weeding out ineffective biocontrol agents Posted: 18 Apr 2013 12:44 PM PDT Biocontrol programs use an invasive plant's natural enemies (insects and pathogens) to reduce its population. Most biocontrol programs combine many different enemies. Some combinations of enemy species can actually end up competing or interfering with each other, instead of attacking the weed.

Risk factor for depression can be 'contagious' Posted: 18 Apr 2013 12:44 PM PDT A new study with college roommates shows that a particular style of thinking that makes people vulnerable to depression can actually "rub off" on others, increasing their symptoms of depression six months later.

Remote-sensing study quantifies permafrost degradation in Arctic Alaskan wetlands Posted: 18 Apr 2013 12:44 PM PDT Geoscientists has achieved unprecedented detail in quantifying subtle, long-period changes in the water levels of shallow lakes and ponds in hard-to-reach Arctic wetlands.

Child's counting comprehension may depend on objects counted, study shows Posted: 18 Apr 2013 12:44 PM PDT Psychologists have found that use of certain objects for counting have mixed results with preschoolers, particularly if those objects are rich in perceptual detail (bright and shiny).

Smoking from hookah not a harmless alternative to cigarettes Posted: 18 Apr 2013 12:43 PM PDT Smoking tobacco through a hookah is a pastime gaining popularity among the college crowd, but many of them mistakenly believe that using the fragrant water pipe is less harmful than smoking cigarettes.

Three super-Earth-size planets found in 'habitable zone' Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:29 AM PDT NASA's Kepler mission has discovered two new planetary systems that include three super-Earth-size planets in the "habitable zone," the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water. The Kepler-62 system has five planets; 62b, 62c, 62d, 62e and 62f. The Kepler-69 system has two planets; 69b and 69c. Kepler-62e, 62f and 69c are the super-Earth-sized planets.

New techniques allow discovery of smallest super-Earth exoplanets Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:24 AM PDT New research has perhaps the smallest super-earth planet in its host star habitable zone. Kepler 62f is a small, probably rocky planet orbiting a sun-like star in the Lyra constellation. The planet is about 1.4 times the size of Earth, receives about half as much solar flux, or heat and radiation, as Earth and circles its star in 267.3 (Earth) days.

Cold winters freezing out breast cancer treatment Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:23 AM PDT For women diagnosed with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, tamoxifen is an essential drug used in treatment and prevention. Currently, tamoxifen is used in a one-size-fits-all approach where the same dose is prescribed for every patient. New research has found that in addition to patient-specific genetic factors, lack of exposure to vitamin D during the long winter months affects the body's ability to metabolize the drug.

Ethnicity may influence antibody genes: Immunity-related DNA sections could vary depending on ethnicity Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:23 AM PDT Cracking the DNA code for a complex region of the human genome has helped scientists chart new territory in immunity research. They have discovered that a good number of our antibody genes and, potentially, what they fight off actually vary from person to person. After completely sequencing the immensely repetitive DNA in the human genome's immunoglobulin heavy-chain locus, they have also found ethnicity may influence immunity.

New solar-cell coating could enable a major boost in efficiency Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:23 AM PDT Throughout decades of research on solar cells, one formula has been considered an absolute limit to the efficiency of such devices in converting sunlight into electricity: Called the Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit, it posits that the ultimate conversion efficiency can never exceed 34 percent for a single optimized semiconductor junction. Now, researchers have shown that there is a way to blow past that limit as easily as today's jet fighters zoom through the sound barrier -- which was also once seen as an ultimate limit.

Sea-ice ecosystem possibly triggered evolution of baleen whales and penguins Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:23 AM PDT The origin of the unique plankton ecosystem of the circum-Antarctic Southern Ocean can be traced back to the emergence of the Antarctic ice sheets approximately 33.6 million years ago. This discovery shows that the development of the sea-ice ecosystem possibly triggered further adaptation and evolution of larger organisms such as baleen whales and penguins.

Learning disabilities affect up to 10 percent of children Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:23 AM PDT Up to 10 percent of the population are affected by specific learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, translating to 2 or 3 pupils in every classroom, according to a new review.

Neural activity in bats measured in-flight Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:23 AM PDT Scientists have, for the first time, measured the activity of place cells in the brains of bats as they navigated in three-dimensional space.

When it comes to survival of the fittest, stress is a good thing, squirrel study shows Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:23 AM PDT Researchers have shown for the first time how females' use social cues to correctly prepare their offspring for life outside the nest. The results confirm that red squirrel mothers boosted stress hormone production during pregnancy, which increased the size and the chances of survival of their pups.

No 'silver bullet' for science standards Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:23 AM PDT America's K-12 teachers are not fully prepared to meet a new set of science standards, an education scholar argues in Science.

Rats' and bats' brains work differently on the move Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:22 AM PDT A new study of brain rhythms in bats and rats challenges a widely-used model -- based on rodent studies -- of how animals navigate their environment. To get a clearer picture of processes in the mammal brain during spatial navigation, neuroscientists must study more species, say scientists involved in the study.

New Earth-like planets found orbiting a Sun-like star Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:09 AM PDT A team of scientists has discovered two Earth-like planets in the habitable orbit of a Sun-like star. Using observations gathered by NASA's Kepler Mission, the team found five planets orbiting a Sun-like star called Kepler-62. Four of these planets are so-called super-Earths, larger than our own planet, but smaller than even the smallest ice giant planet in our Solar System. These new super-Earths have radii of 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, and 1.9 times that of Earth. In addition, one of the five was a roughly Mars-sized planet, half the size of Earth.

Three mutations at BRCA1 gene responsible for breast and ovarian hereditary cancer identified Posted: 18 Apr 2013 10:41 AM PDT Researchers conducted a functional and structural study of seven missense variants of the BRCA1 gene concluding that three of these variants are pathogenic, linked to the risk of suffering breast or ovarian cancer.

Outpatients, hospital patients face growing, but different problems with antibiotic resistance Posted: 18 Apr 2013 10:41 AM PDT A new study concludes that problems with antibiotic resistance faced by outpatients may be as bad as those in hospitalized patients, and that more studies of outpatients are needed -- both to protect their health and to avoid inappropriate or unnecessary drug use.

First steps of synapse building is captured in live zebra fish embryos Posted: 18 Apr 2013 10:41 AM PDT Using spinning disk microscopy on barely day-old zebra fish embryos, scientists have gained a new window on how synapse-building components move to worksites in the central nervous system.

U.S. drought falls below 50 percent for first time in 10 months Posted: 18 Apr 2013 10:40 AM PDT The area of the contiguous United States in moderate drought or worse fell below 50 percent for the first time since last June, according to the latest edition of the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Anesthesia increases success rates of turning breech babies, reduces delivery costs Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:57 AM PDT A new study shows anesthesia is cost-effective in turning breech babies because it increases the likelihood the procedure will work.

Experts examine Mediterranean diet's health effects for older adults Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:57 AM PDT According to a new study, a baseline adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower risk of hyperuricemia, defined as a serum uric acid concentration higher than 7mg/dl in men and higher than 6mg/dl in women.

Distant blazar is a high-energy astrophysics puzzle Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:57 AM PDT Blazars are the brightest of active galactic nuclei, and many emit very high-energy gamma rays. New observations of the blazar known as PKS 1424+240 show that it is the most distant known source of very high-energy gamma rays, but its emission spectrum now appears highly unusual in light of the new data.

Bursts of brain activity may protect against Alzheimer's disease Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:57 AM PDT Scientists have found that bursts of electrical pulses applied to the brain can manipulate the balance of two proteins crucial to the development of Alzheimer's disease. It represents a major advance in understanding how not only genetic mutations but also physiological mechanisms affect the development of the disease.

More efforts needed to regulate dietary supplements, experts urge Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:49 AM PDT Dietary supplements accounted for more than half the Class 1 drugs recalled by the US Food and Drug Administration from 2004-12, meaning they contained substances that could cause serious health problems or even death, a new study has found.

Evolving genes lead to evolving genes: Selection in European populations of genes regulated by FOXP2 Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:49 AM PDT Researchers have designed a method that can universally test for evolutionary adaption, or positive (Darwinian) selection, in any chosen set of genes, using re-sequencing data such as that generated by the 1000 Genomes Project. The method identifies gene sets that show evidence for positive selection in comparison with matched controls, and thus highlights genes for further functional studies.

Big boost in drug discovery: New use for stem cells identifies a promising way to target ALS Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:49 AM PDT Using a new stem-cell based drug screening technology with the potential to reinvent and greatly reduce the cost of the way new pharmaceuticals are developed, researchers have found a compound more effective in protecting the neurons killed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis -- Lou Gehrig's disease -- than two drugs that failed in human clinical trials after hundreds of millions of dollars had been invested in them.

Learned helplessness in flies and the roots of depression Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:48 AM PDT When faced with impossible circumstances beyond their control, animals, including humans, often hunker down as they develop sleep or eating disorders, ulcers, and other physical manifestations of depression. Now, researchers show that the same kind of thing happens to flies.

Production of toxic protein causes common neurodegenerative disorder Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:48 AM PDT Researchers have recently discovered that an expansion of DNA in patients with the common neurodegenerative disorder Fragile X-associated tremor syndrome causes the production of an abnormal protein that is toxic to neurons. The findings suggest an unexpected process by which DNA expansions might lead to neurodegenerative diseases -- including Huntington's disease and ALS. This discovery reveals a common feature among these diseases that could be targeted to treat affected individuals.

'Health MOT' programme could uncover 440,000 new diabetes, heart or kidney patients per year Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:48 AM PDT Researchers believe a new health MOT-style program for over-40s is likely to uncover more diabetes, kidney or heart patients than expected.

Study to treat deadly form of thyroid cancer shows promise Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:48 AM PDT A combination of therapies may prove to be a promising advance for the treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer based on results of a phase I clinical trial, say researchers. Anaplastic thyroid cancer is one of the deadliest of all cancers. Nearly all patients diagnosed with this cancer die from it, and life expectancies are measured in weeks to a few months.

Hologram-like 3-D brain helps researchers decode migraine pain Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:46 AM PDT Wielding a joystick and wearing special glasses, a pain researcher rotates and slices apart a large, colorful, 3-D brain floating in space before him.

High levels of glutamate in brain may kick-start schizophrenia: Implications for early diagnosis and new treatment strategies Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:46 AM PDT An excess of the brain neurotransmitter glutamate may cause a transition to psychosis in people who are at risk for schizophrenia. The findings suggest a potential diagnostic tool for identifying those at risk for schizophrenia and a possible glutamate-limiting treatment strategy to prevent or slow progression of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.

Toxic protein made in unusual way may explain brain disorder Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:43 AM PDT A bizarre twist on the usual way proteins are made may explain mysterious symptoms in the grandparents of some children with mental disabilities. The discovery may lead to better treatments for older adults with a recently discovered genetic condition called Fragile X-associated Tremor Ataxia Syndrome.

Stem cell senescence drives aging, study suggests Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:43 AM PDT Declining levels of the protein BubR1 occur when both people and animals age, and contribute to cell senescence or deterioration, weight loss, muscle wasting and cataracts.

Discovery paves the way for ultrafast high-resolution imaging in real time Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:43 AM PDT Ultrafast high-resolution imaging in real time could be a reality thanks to a new discovery. Researchers have demonstrated that ultra short durations of electron bunches generated from laser-cooled atoms can be both very cold and ultra-fast.

Scientists throw new light on DNA copying process Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:43 AM PDT Scientists have thrown new light on the way breakdowns in the DNA copying process inside cells can contribute to cancer and other diseases.

New algorithm helps evaluate, rank scientific literature Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:43 AM PDT Keeping up with current scientific literature is a daunting task, considering that hundreds to thousands of papers are published each day. Now researchers have developed a computer program to help them evaluate and rank scientific articles in their field.

Age matters to Antarctic clams: Age matters when it comes to adapting to the effects of climate change Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:43 AM PDT A new study of Antarctic clams reveals that age matters when it comes to adapting to the effects of climate change. The research provides new insight and understanding of the likely impact of predicted environmental change on future ocean biodiversity.

Dinosaur egg study supports evolutionary link between birds and dinosaurs: How Troodon likely hatched its young Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:43 AM PDT A small, bird-like North American dinosaur incubated its eggs in a similar way to brooding birds -- bolstering the evolutionary link between birds and dinosaurs, researchers have found.

Robot hands gain a gentler touch: Tactile sensing technology builds on tiny barometer chips Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:42 AM PDT What use is a hand without nerves, that can't tell what it's holding? A hand that lifts a can of soda to your lips, but inadvertently tips or crushes it in the process? Scientists have now developed a very inexpensive tactile sensor for robotic hands that is sensitive enough to turn a brute machine into a dextrous manipulator.

Pollution plumes in Paris air are richer in gaseous aromatic compounds than in Los Angeles Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:42 AM PDT What is the origin of the volatile hydrocarbons, other than methane, present in city air? Mainly gasoline-powered vehicles, according to a new study. The study also shows that the proportion of gaseous aromatic compounds in hydrocarbon emissions is two to three times greater in pollution plumes in Paris than in Los Angeles, even though the total quantity of hydrocarbons emitted in Los Angeles remains considerably greater than in Paris.

'Big data’ algorithm used to customize video game difficulty Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:42 AM PDT Researchers have developed a computational model that can predict video game players' in-game performance and provide a corresponding challenge they can beat, leading to quicker mastery of new skills. The advance not only could help improve user experiences with video games but also applications beyond the gaming world.

Role-playing game brings new life to a 'dead' language Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:42 AM PDT In one Latin class, students learn Latin playing heroes from Graeco-Roman myth — bringing a 'dead' language to life through a role-playing game. The application of game theory in the classroom can be used to teach any foreign language.

Student tracks Asian bird's migration patterns; recommends conservation strategies Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:01 AM PDT Biologists have found that the Asian subspecies of great bustard, one of the heaviest birds capable of flight, covers migratory routes of more than 2,000 miles. The research study is the first of its kind to monitor the movement of this rarely studied subspecies through satellite telemetry and to connect a breeding population of Asian great bustards to their wintering grounds.

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