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• Using Less Effort to Think, Opinions Lean More Conservative
• One Compound - CLR14, Detects and Treats Malignant Tumors and Certain Cancer Stem Cells
• Scientists forecast forest carbon loss
• Salk scientists redraw the blueprint of the body's biological clock
• Oregon State University unveils new purple tomato, ‘Indigo Rose’
• Which plants will survive droughts, climate change?
• Women cannot rewind the ‘biological clock’
• Genetic variations in the vitamin D receptor and in CYP24A1 associated with an increase in breast cancer risk particularly for American women of African Ancestry
• Obese Patients Face Higher Radiation Exposure From CT Scans—But New Technology Can Help
• Nature and nurture: Discovery may help prevent congenital birth defects
• Normal Triglyceride Levels in People of African Descent May Hinder Diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome
• Detecting breast cancer’s fingerprint in a droplet of blood
• Researchers derive purified lung and thyroid progenitors from embryonic stem cells
• Stickleback genome holds clues to adaptive evolution
• Rapid detection of resistant tuberculosis, other pathogens on the horizon
• African Americans are more apt to blog than whites and Latinos
• Beanballs and the psychology of revenge
• Children perceive humanoid robot as emotional, moral being
• Autism mutations, scattered across genes, merge into network of interactions
• Cracking idea for egg shell recycling

Using Less Effort to Think, Opinions Lean More Conservative Posted: 06 Apr 2012 06:46 AM PDT When people use low-effort thought, they are more likely to endorse conservative ideology, according to psychologist Scott Eidelman of the University of Arkansas. Results of research by Eidelman and colleagues were published online in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. read more

One Compound - CLR14, Detects and Treats Malignant Tumors and Certain Cancer Stem Cells Posted: 06 Apr 2012 06:38 AM PDT More than a decade of laboratory research at the University of Wisconsin has proven that a single chemical compound may both detect and treat malignant tumors and certain cancer stem cells. In three posters presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Chicago, March 31-April 4, UW-Madison researchers describe exciting advances involving CLR1404, described as a "diapeutic" agent that can both image and destroy a wide range of malignant tumors and the one type of cancer stem cells examined so far. read more

Scientists forecast forest carbon loss Posted: 06 Apr 2012 05:19 AM PDT When most people look at a forest, they see walking trails, deer yards, or firewood for next winter. But scientists at the Harvard Forest and Smithsonian Institution take note of changes imperceptible to the naked eye -- the uptake and storage of carbon. What they've learned in a recent study is that an immense amount of carbon is stored in growing trees, but if current trends in Massachusetts continue, development would reduce that storage by 18 percent over the next half century. Forest harvesting would have a much smaller impact. read more

Salk scientists redraw the blueprint of the body's biological clock Posted: 05 Apr 2012 05:16 PM PDT The discovery of a major gear in the biological clock that tells the body when to sleep and metabolize food may lead to new drugs to treat sleep problems and metabolic disorders, including diabetes. Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, led by Ronald M. Evans, a professor in Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory, showed that two cellular switches found on the nucleus of mouse cells, known as REV-ERB-α and REV-ERB-β, are essential for maintaining normal sleeping and eating cycles and for metabolism of nutrients from food. read more

Oregon State University unveils new purple tomato, ‘Indigo Rose’ Posted: 05 Apr 2012 04:55 PM PDT The "Indigo Rose" tomato steps out this year as the first "really" purple variety to come from a program at Oregon State University that is seeking to breed tomatoes with high levels of antioxidants. The new variety is a novelty type intended for home gardens and the fresh market, and it is now available in seed catalogs, said Jim Myers, a professor in the OSU horticulture department. "It is the first improved tomato variety in the world that has anthocyanins in its fruit," he said. read more

Which plants will survive droughts, climate change? Posted: 05 Apr 2012 04:46 PM PDT New research by UCLA life scientists could lead to predictions of which plant species will escape extinction from climate change.   Droughts are worsening around the world, posing a great challenge to plants in all ecosystems, said Lawren Sack, a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and senior author of the research. Scientists have debated for more than a century how to predict which species are most vulnerable.   read more

Women cannot rewind the ‘biological clock’ Posted: 05 Apr 2012 01:38 PM PDT Many women do not fully appreciate the consequences of delaying motherhood, and expect that assisted reproductive technologies can reverse their aged ovarian function, Yale researchers reported in a study published in a recent issue of Fertility and Sterility.   read more

Genetic variations in the vitamin D receptor and in CYP24A1 associated with an increase in breast cancer risk particularly for American women of African Ancestry Posted: 05 Apr 2012 01:29 PM PDT American women of African ancestry are more likely than European Americans to have estrogen-receptor-negative (ER-negative) breast cancer. There continues to be discussion about the role of low levels of vitamin D in the development of breast cancer for these women. read more

Obese Patients Face Higher Radiation Exposure From CT Scans—But New Technology Can Help Posted: 05 Apr 2012 11:15 AM PDT Most medical imaging equipment is not designed with overweight and obese patients in mind. As a result, these individuals can be exposed to higher levels of radiation during routine X-ray and CT scans. A new study from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the first to calculate exactly how much additional radiation obese patients receive from a CT scan. Research results show the internal organs of obese men receive 62 percent more radiation during a CT scan than those of normal weight men. For obese women, it was an increase of 59 percent. read more

Nature and nurture: Discovery may help prevent congenital birth defects Posted: 05 Apr 2012 11:00 AM PDT Scientists have made a landmark discovery that could help women minimize or even avoid the risk of having a baby born with congenital birth defects. The study is published today in the prestigious international journal Cell. read more

Normal Triglyceride Levels in People of African Descent May Hinder Diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome Posted: 05 Apr 2012 10:42 AM PDT In most people, high blood levels of the fat known as triglycerides are an early warning sign of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, but in people of African descent these dangerous health conditions may go undiagnosed because triglyceride levels are not at the level used to diagnose metabolic syndrome (>150 mg/dL). read more

Detecting breast cancer’s fingerprint in a droplet of blood Posted: 05 Apr 2012 10:02 AM PDT One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime. The earlier cancer is detected, the better the chance of successful treatment and long-term survival. However, early cancer diagnosis is still challenging as testing by mammography remains cumbersome, costly, and in many cases, cancer can only be detected at an advanced stage. A team based in the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering at McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine has developed a new microfluidics-based microarray that could one day radically change how and when cancer is diagnosed. read more

Researchers derive purified lung and thyroid progenitors from embryonic stem cells Posted: 05 Apr 2012 09:56 AM PDT Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have derived a population of pure lung and thyroid progenitor cells in vitro that successfully mimic the developmental milestones of lung and thyroid tissue formation. read more

Stickleback genome holds clues to adaptive evolution Posted: 05 Apr 2012 09:45 AM PDT Scientists searching for genetic clues to vertebrate evolution have long been fascinated by the tiny marine stickleback fish, known for its ability to adapt and thrive in salty oceans or freshwater streams around the world. Now, a team of researchers from the Broad Institute and Stanford University has analyzed the entire genetic sequence of 21 threespine sticklebacks and identified which regions of the genome regulate their ability to adapt to such markedly different environments. The findings appear in the April 5 issue of Nature. read more

Rapid detection of resistant tuberculosis, other pathogens on the horizon Posted: 05 Apr 2012 09:40 AM PDT For patients with infectious diseases like tuberculosis, timing is critical. Tuberculosis is one of the most common causes of death from a curable disease, and cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis are on the rise. But determining if a patient carries an antibiotic-resistant strain can take weeks or months using current clinical diagnostics. During this period, patients are often treated with ineffective drugs and can continue to spread their illness as time slips away. read more

African Americans are more apt to blog than whites and Latinos Posted: 05 Apr 2012 09:27 AM PDT The blogging community is more racially diverse than one might think. Internet-connected African Americans are more likely to blog than their white and Hispanic counterparts, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley. Internet-savvy African Americans blog more than their white counterparts, study finds read more

Beanballs and the psychology of revenge Posted: 05 Apr 2012 09:18 AM PDT In a new study, baseball fans exhibit a high moral tolerance for a form of revenge not otherwise practiced in most of contemporary society: avenging a teammate who has been hit by a pitch by aiming a pitch at an opposing batter who was not previously involved. The research suggests that such systems of vicarious retribution, found throughout history, may not depend on an underlying assignment of moral responsibility. read more

Children perceive humanoid robot as emotional, moral being Posted: 05 Apr 2012 09:06 AM PDT Robot nannies could diminish child care worries for parents of young children. Equipped with alarms and monitoring capabilities to guard children from harm, a robot nanny would let parents leave youngsters at home without a babysitter. Sign us up, parents might say. Human-like robot babysitters are in the works, but it's unclear at this early stage what children's relationships with these humanoids will be like and what dangers lurk in this convenient-sounding technology. read more

Autism mutations, scattered across genes, merge into network of interactions Posted: 05 Apr 2012 09:02 AM PDT University of Washington researchers announced their findings from a major study looking into the genetic basis of autism spectrum disorders with an approach piloted at the UW. Their results are reported in the journal Nature. read more

Cracking idea for egg shell recycling Posted: 05 Apr 2012 08:54 AM PDT Scientists and food industry experts are hatching a plan this Easter to turn egg shells into plastics that could be used to manufacture anything from food packaging to construction materials. They also hope to extract material from egg shells that may prove valuable in the pharmaceutical industry. As Easter approaches, The Food and Drink iNet is revealing that it is funding a research project at the University of Leicester which is looking at eggs and egg shells in a new light. read more

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