ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Breakthrough in creating invisibility cloaks, stealth technology
• Carbohydrate digestion and obesity strongly linked
• Daylight saving impacts timing of heart attacks
• In mapping feat, scientists pinpoint neurons where select memories grow
• Biologists use sound to identify breeding grounds of endangered whales
• Cancer treatment revolution potential with new drug
• Missing hormone in birds: Leptin found in mallard duck, peregrine falcon and zebra finch
• Disorder of neuronal circuits in autism is reversible, new study suggests

Breakthrough in creating invisibility cloaks, stealth technology Posted: 31 Mar 2014 08:44 AM PDT Scientists have managed to create artificial nanostructures called metamaterials that can 'bend light.' But the challenge has been making enough of the material to turn invisibility cloaks into a practical reality. New research, however, may have just cracked that barrier.

Carbohydrate digestion and obesity strongly linked Posted: 30 Mar 2014 12:13 PM PDT New research indicates that obesity in the general population may be genetically linked to how our bodies digest carbohydrates. People usually have two copies of the gene AMY1, but in some regions of our DNA there can be variability in the number of copies a person carries, which is known as copy number variation. The number of copies of AMY1 can be highly variable between people, and it is believed that higher numbers of copies of the salivary amylase gene have evolved in response to a shift towards diets containing more starch since prehistoric times.

Daylight saving impacts timing of heart attacks Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT Still feeling the residual effects of springing ahead for daylight saving time? The hour of sleep lost -- or gained -- may play a bigger, perhaps more dangerous role in our body's natural rhythm than we think. It seems moving the clock forward or backward may alter the timing of when heart attacks occur in the week following these time changes, according to research.

In mapping feat, scientists pinpoint neurons where select memories grow Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:01 AM PDT Memories are difficult to produce, often fragile, and dependent on any number of factors -- including changes to various types of nerves. In the common fruit fly -- a scientific doppelganger used to study human memory formation—these changes take place in multiple parts of the insect brain. Scientists have now been able to pinpoint a handful of neurons where certain types of memory formation occur.

Biologists use sound to identify breeding grounds of endangered whales Posted: 25 Mar 2014 12:42 PM PDT Biologists have confirmed what many conservationists fear -- that Roseway Basin, a heavily traveled shipping lane, off the coast of Nova Scotia, is a vital habitat area for the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Cancer treatment revolution potential with new drug Posted: 25 Mar 2014 07:27 AM PDT A revolution in cancer treatment could soon be underway following a breakthrough that may lead to a dramatic improvement in cancer survival rates. Commenting on the breakthrough, a study co-author said "The energy-producing machinery in cancer cells works to the limit as it attempts to keep up with quick proliferation and invasion. This makes cancer cells susceptible to minor changes in the cell 'power-house'. Our drug pushes cancer cells over the limit causing them to slow and shut down, whilst normal cells can cope with its effects."

Missing hormone in birds: Leptin found in mallard duck, peregrine falcon and zebra finch Posted: 24 Mar 2014 03:42 PM PDT How does the Arctic tern (a sea bird) fly more than 80,000 miles in its roundtrip North Pole-to-South Pole migration? How does the Emperor penguin incubate eggs for months during the Antarctic winter without eating? These physiological gymnastics would usually be influenced by leptin, the hormone that regulates body fat storage, metabolism and appetite. However, leptin has gone missing in birds -- until now.

Disorder of neuronal circuits in autism is reversible, new study suggests Posted: 14 Sep 2012 05:06 AM PDT People with autism suffer from a pervasive developmental disorder of the brain that becomes evident in early childhood. Medical researchers have identified a specific dysfunction in neuronal circuits that is caused by autism. They have also reversed these neuronal changes in an animal model. These findings are an important step in drug development for the treatment for autism.

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