ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Two volcanoes erupting in Alaska: Scientists are monitoring and providing alerts on Pavlof and Cleveland volcanoes
• Driving and hands-free talking lead to spike in errors
• Cosmic swirly straws: Galaxies fed by funnels of fuel
• Active or 'extremely active' Atlantic hurricane season predicted for 2013
• Facial-recognition technology proves its mettle
• Perfect skin: More touchy-feely robots
• Research effort deep underground could sort out cosmic-scale mysteries
• Promising strategy to help vaccines outsmart HIV
• Youth with type 2 diabetes at much higher risk for heart, kidney disease
• New fluorescent tools for cancer diagnosis
• Modulating the immune system to combat metastatic cancer
• Hormone levels may provide key to understanding psychological disorders in women
• Monkey teeth help reveal Neanderthal weaning
• Proteins in migration: New animal model provides important clues on mechanisms of Parkinson's disease
• Detection of the cosmic gamma ray horizon: Measures all the light in the universe since the Big Bang
• Cause of infantile amnesia revealed: New neuron formation could increase capacity for new learning, at expense of old memories
• New method for predicting cancer virulence
• Discovery of how a key enzyme of the spliceosome exerts its controlling function
• Researchers design photobioreactor to produce biofuel from algae
• Help at hand for schizophrenics
• A new strategy required in the search for Alzheimer's drugs?
• Immune cell activation in multiple sclerosis: New indicator molecules visualize activation of auto-aggressive T cells
• Nano-needles for cells: Tiny needles can force medicine into cells, even when they resist taking it
• New insights contradict promising Alzheimer's research
• New microsphere-based methods for detecting HIV antibodies
• Why early human ancestors took to two feet
• Infantile myofibromatosis: First drug targets in childhood genetic tumor disorder
• Consumers largely underestimating calorie content of fast food
• Statin use is linked to increased risk of developing diabetes, warn researchers
• Heart healthy lifestyle may cut kidney disease patients' risk of kidney failure
• Advanced biological computer developed
• Diabetes' genetic underpinnings can vary based on ethnic background
• New filtration material could make petroleum refining cheaper, more efficient

Two volcanoes erupting in Alaska: Scientists are monitoring and providing alerts on Pavlof and Cleveland volcanoes Posted: 24 May 2013 03:02 PM PDT Two of Alaska's most active volcanoes -- Pavlof and Cleveland -- are currently erupting. At the time of this post, their activity continues at low levels, but energetic explosions could occur without warning. Located close to the western end of the Alaska Peninsula, Pavlof is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc, having erupted more than 40 times since the late 1700's.

Driving and hands-free talking lead to spike in errors Posted: 24 May 2013 01:07 PM PDT A pilot study shows driving while talking on a hands-free cellular device leads to more driving errors than driving alone.

Cosmic swirly straws: Galaxies fed by funnels of fuel Posted: 24 May 2013 12:48 PM PDT Computer simulations of galaxies growing over billions of years have revealed a likely scenario for how they feed: a cosmic version of swirly straws. The results show that cold gas -- fuel for stars -- spirals into the cores of galaxies along filaments, rapidly making its way to their "guts." Once there, the gas is converted into new stars, and the galaxies bulk up in mass.

Active or 'extremely active' Atlantic hurricane season predicted for 2013 Posted: 24 May 2013 11:49 AM PDT In its 2013 Atlantic hurricane season outlook issued today, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is forecasting an active or extremely active season this year.

Facial-recognition technology proves its mettle Posted: 24 May 2013 11:25 AM PDT In a study that evaluated some of the latest in automatic facial recognition technology, researchers were able to quickly identify one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects from law enforcement video, an experiment that demonstrated the value of such technology.

Perfect skin: More touchy-feely robots Posted: 24 May 2013 10:43 AM PDT Robots could become a lot more 'sensitive' thanks to new artificial skins and sensor technologies. Leading to better robotic platforms that could one day be used in industry, hospitals and even at home.

Research effort deep underground could sort out cosmic-scale mysteries Posted: 24 May 2013 10:43 AM PDT Scientists have begun delivery of germanium-76 detectors to an underground laboratory in South Dakota in a team research effort that might explain the puzzling imbalance between matter and antimatter generated by the Big Bang.

Promising strategy to help vaccines outsmart HIV Posted: 24 May 2013 09:20 AM PDT New research highlights an ingenious method to ensure the body effectively reacts when infected with the highly-evasive HIV virus that causes AIDS. The method involves the use of cytomegalovirus as a vector to help a vaccine better instruct T cells how to identify and fight the virus.

Youth with type 2 diabetes at much higher risk for heart, kidney disease Posted: 24 May 2013 09:20 AM PDT The news about youth and diabetes keeps getting worse. The latest data shows that children with type 2 diabetes are at high risk to develop heart, kidney and eye problems faster and at a higher rate than adults with diabetes.

New fluorescent tools for cancer diagnosis Posted: 24 May 2013 09:20 AM PDT Researchers have developed a multicolor fluorescence labeling method that can be used to visualize miRNAs in tissue sections, such as those recovered from biopsies.

Modulating the immune system to combat metastatic cancer Posted: 24 May 2013 09:20 AM PDT Researchers have found that regulatory T cells that infiltrate tumors express proteins that can be targeted with therapeutic antibodies.

Hormone levels may provide key to understanding psychological disorders in women Posted: 24 May 2013 09:17 AM PDT Women at a particular stage in their monthly menstrual cycle may be more vulnerable to some of the psychological side-effects associated with stressful experiences, according to a study from UCL.

Monkey teeth help reveal Neanderthal weaning Posted: 24 May 2013 07:48 AM PDT Most modern human mothers wean their babies much earlier than our closest primate relatives. But what about our extinct relatives, the Neanderthals? A team of U.S. and Australian researchers reports that they can now use fossil teeth to calculate when a Neanderthal baby was weaned. The new technique is based in part on knowledge gained from studies of teeth from human infants and from monkeys.

Proteins in migration: New animal model provides important clues on mechanisms of Parkinson's disease Posted: 24 May 2013 07:48 AM PDT Scientists have developed a novel experimental model that reproduces for the first time this pattern of alpha-synuclein brain spreading and provides important clues on the mechanisms underlying this pathological process. They triggered the production of human alpha-synuclein in the lower rat brain and were able to trace the spreading of this protein toward higher brain regions. The new experimental paradigm could promote the development of ways to halt or slow down disease development in humans.

Detection of the cosmic gamma ray horizon: Measures all the light in the universe since the Big Bang Posted: 24 May 2013 07:46 AM PDT Radiation from all galaxies that ever existed suffuses the universe with a diffuse extragalactic background light (EBL). Measuring the EBL is as fundamental to cosmology as measuring heat from the Big Bang (cosmic microwave background) at radio wavelengths. Researchers describe the best measurement yet of the evolution of the EBL over the past 5 billion years, based on observations from radio waves to gamma rays from NASA spacecraft and ground-based telescopes.

Cause of infantile amnesia revealed: New neuron formation could increase capacity for new learning, at expense of old memories Posted: 24 May 2013 07:46 AM PDT New research presented today shows that formation of new neurons in the hippocampus -- a brain region known for its importance in learning and remembering -- could cause forgetting of old memories by causing a reorganization of existing brain circuits. Researchers argue this reorganization could have the positive effect of clearing old memories, reducing interference and thereby increasing capacity for new learning.

New method for predicting cancer virulence Posted: 24 May 2013 07:42 AM PDT A new way of tackling cancer and predicting tumor virulence are has been reported by a team of researchers. The scientists have shown that, in all cancers, an aberrant activation of numerous genes specific to other tissues occurs. For example, in lung cancers, the tumorous cells express genes specific to the production of spermatozoids, which should be silent.

Discovery of how a key enzyme of the spliceosome exerts its controlling function Posted: 24 May 2013 07:42 AM PDT To sustain life, processes in biological cells have to be strictly controlled both in time and in space. Researchers have elucidated a previously unknown mechanism that regulates one of the essential processes accompanying gene expression in higher organisms. In humans, errors in this control mechanism can lead to blindness.

Researchers design photobioreactor to produce biofuel from algae Posted: 24 May 2013 07:41 AM PDT Researchers have patented a new device that allows more efficiently to cultivate microalgae and can be used as raw material for biofuel or for other valuable substances in the agri-food or pharmaceutical industry.

Help at hand for schizophrenics Posted: 24 May 2013 07:41 AM PDT How can healthy people who hear voices help schizophrenics? Finding the answer for this is at the center of research conducted by a group of scientists in Norway.

A new strategy required in the search for Alzheimer's drugs? Posted: 24 May 2013 07:40 AM PDT In the search for medication against Alzheimer's disease, scientists have focused on -- among other factors -- drugs that can break down Amyloid beta (A-beta). After all, it is the accumulation of A-beta that causes the known plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. The starting point for the formation of A-beta is APP.

Immune cell activation in multiple sclerosis: New indicator molecules visualize activation of auto-aggressive T cells Posted: 24 May 2013 07:40 AM PDT Biological processes are generally based on events at the molecular and cellular level. To understand what happens in the course of infections, diseases or normal bodily functions, scientists would need to examine individual cells and their activity directly in the tissue. The development of new microscopes and fluorescent dyes in recent years has brought this scientific dream tantalizingly close. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now presented two studies introducing new indicator molecules which can visualize the activation of T cells. Their findings provide new insight into the role of these cells in the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS). The new indicators are set to be an important tool in the study of other immune reactions as well.

Nano-needles for cells: Tiny needles can force medicine into cells, even when they resist taking it Posted: 24 May 2013 07:40 AM PDT Nano-sized needles developed by researchers in Norway can force medicine into cells, even when the cell membranes offer resistance. The needles will make it easier to study the effects of medicines on cells.

New insights contradict promising Alzheimer's research Posted: 24 May 2013 07:40 AM PDT Approximately a year ago, the journal Science published an article about bexarotene as a potential Alzheimer's drug -- a significant breakthrough and an important starting point for further Alzheimer's research. Now other researchers have tested this candidate drug in various Alzheimer's animal test models. Their results were different, as were those of two American study groups. Therefore, they have recommended that bexarotene should not be tested on patients.

New microsphere-based methods for detecting HIV antibodies Posted: 24 May 2013 07:40 AM PDT Detection of HIV antibodies is used to diagnose HIV infection and monitor trials of experimental HIV/AIDS vaccines. New, more sensitive detection systems being developed use microspheres to capture HIV antibodies and can measure even small amounts of multiple antibodies at one time.

Why early human ancestors took to two feet Posted: 24 May 2013 07:40 AM PDT A new study by archaeologists challenges evolutionary theories behind the development of our earliest ancestors from tree dwelling quadrupeds to upright bipeds capable of walking and scrambling.

Infantile myofibromatosis: First drug targets in childhood genetic tumor disorder Posted: 24 May 2013 07:35 AM PDT Two mutations central to the development of infantile myofibromatosis (IM) -- a disorder characterized by multiple tumors involving the skin, bone, and soft tissue—may provide new therapeutic targets, according to researchers.

Consumers largely underestimating calorie content of fast food Posted: 23 May 2013 07:38 PM PDT People eating at fast food restaurants largely underestimate the calorie content of meals, especially large ones, according to a new article.

Statin use is linked to increased risk of developing diabetes, warn researchers Posted: 23 May 2013 07:38 PM PDT Treatment with high potency statins (especially atorvastatin and simvastatin) may increase the risk of developing diabetes, suggests a new article.

Heart healthy lifestyle may cut kidney disease patients' risk of kidney failure Posted: 23 May 2013 03:13 PM PDT Compared with kidney disease patients who had zero or one heart healthy lifestyle component in the ideal range, those with two, three, and four ideal factors had progressively lower risks for kidney failure over four years. No kidney disease patients with five to seven ideal factors developed kidney failure. Patients' risk of dying during the study followed a similar trend.

Advanced biological computer developed Posted: 23 May 2013 03:03 PM PDT Using only biomolecules, scientists have developed and constructed an advanced biological transducer, a computing machine capable of manipulating genetic codes, and using the output as new input for subsequent computations.

Diabetes' genetic underpinnings can vary based on ethnic background Posted: 23 May 2013 01:22 PM PDT Ethnic background plays a surprisingly large role in how diabetes develops on a cellular level, according to two new studies.

New filtration material could make petroleum refining cheaper, more efficient Posted: 23 May 2013 11:41 AM PDT A newly synthesized material might provide a dramatically improved method for separating the highest-octane components of gasoline.

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