ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

---

• NASA Cassini spacecraft provides new view of Saturn and Earth
• Why timing of bird migration is changing
• Evidence of 3.5-billion-year-old bacterial ecosystems found in Australia
• New guideline for management of blood cholesterol: Focuses on lifestyle, statin therapy for patients who most benefit
• Thin, active invisibility cloak demonstrated for first time
• Taking a new look at carbon nanotubes
• A nano-sized sponge made of electrons
• New paradigm for solar cell construction demonstrated
• Botany: The secret of short stems
• The truth about the Greenwich Pensioners: New source shines light on sailors' lives
• Altering surface textures in 'counterintuitive manner' may lead to cooling efficiency gains
• Canadian researchers call for changes to help adults with developmental disabilities
• Controlling liquid crystals: Another tool in the directed assembly toolkit
• Conscientious people more likely to provide good customer service
• A longitudinal study of grapheme-color synesthesia in childhood
• More research needed into substitution principle and regulation of potentially hazardous chemical materials, experts urge
• Men support cracking glass ceiling
• Die-hard sports fans view ads associated with rival teams negatively, regardless of the message
• Biomaterial-delivered chemotherapy could provide final blow to brain tumors
• New discovery on early immune system development
• Tailored pre-transplant therapy boosts survival rate in rare immune deficiency
• The secrets of a bug's flight
• Researcher calls for halt of U.S. health care spending spiral
• Politicization of US health care preventing real changes to out-of-control system, researchers suggest
• Ticks kill sheep
• Obtaining data from the 'brains' of cars
• Culture clash impacts on bottom line in industry, Norwegian example shows
• Prosthetic hands viewed as eerie by the public, new study shows
• Endangered limpets (sea snail) change sex to improve their chances of survival
• Fungus kills ticks
• Scientists launch world's first evacuation software to simulate realistic human behaviour associated with lift evacuation
• Tackling large challenge for new modes of drug delivery
• Working towards personalized cancer treatment
• Stepparents not always evil: Parents' strategy to love children depends on more than blood
• Scientists find 'missing link' in important tumor suppression mechanism
• News media reinforce sexual exploitation stereotypes
• Study analyzes sharp rise in U.S. drug poisoning deaths by county
• Teen athletes at risk for medication misuse
• Research may improve early detection of dementia
• Evolution of bitter taste sensitivity
• Global precipitation linked to global warming
• Marine biology: Feast and famine on the abyssal plain
• Higher dietary acid load increases risk of diabetes, study says
• High tungsten levels double stroke risk, study says
• Swine flu pandemic media with pharma links more likely to talk up risks, promote drugs
• Understanding ourselves by studying animal kingdom
• Crucial clumping of diabetes-causing proteins identified
• The doctor will text you now: Post-ER follow-up that works
• An intersection of math and biology: Clams and snails inspire robotic diggers and crawlers
• New method gives accurate picture of gas storage by microscopic cages
• Putting Lupus in permanent remission
• Bacteria may allow animals to send quick, voluminous messages
• Problem-solving education reduces parental stress after child autism diagnosis
• Study examines amyloid deposition in patients with traumatic brain injury
• Overweight, obese are risks for heart disease regardless of metabolic syndrome
• Obese older women at higher risk for death, disease, disability before age 85
• Mathematical analysis helps untangle bacterial chromosomes
• Device may help doctors diagnose lethal heart rhythm in womb
• Of hurricanes, fungus and Parkinson's disease
• Specific brain areas, mechanisms associated with depression, anxiety

NASA Cassini spacecraft provides new view of Saturn and Earth Posted: 12 Nov 2013 08:52 PM PST NASA has released a natural-color image of Saturn from space, the first in which Saturn, its moons and rings, and Earth, Venus and Mars, all are visible. The new panoramic mosaic of the majestic Saturn system taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows the view as it would be seen by human eyes. Cassini's imaging team processed 141 wide-angle images to create the panorama. The image sweeps 404,880 miles (651,591 kilometers) across Saturn and its inner ring system.

Why timing of bird migration is changing Posted: 12 Nov 2013 05:06 PM PST Researchers have found out why birds are migrating earlier and earlier each year. Experts have long suspected climate change is somehow driving this advancing migration pattern. But new research reveals that individual birds migrate like clockwork -- arriving at the same time each year. However, climate warming is resulting in earlier nesting and hatching earlier each year, and this appears to be linked to the advancing migration.

Evidence of 3.5-billion-year-old bacterial ecosystems found in Australia Posted: 12 Nov 2013 01:32 PM PST Reconstructing the rise of life during the period of Earth's history when it first evolved is challenging. Earth's oldest sedimentary rocks are not only rare, but also almost always altered by hydrothermal and tectonic activity. A new study has revealed the well-preserved remnants of a complex ecosystem in a nearly 3.5 billion-year-old sedimentary rock sequence in Australia.

New guideline for management of blood cholesterol: Focuses on lifestyle, statin therapy for patients who most benefit Posted: 12 Nov 2013 01:32 PM PST The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association have released a new clinical practice guideline for the treatment of blood cholesterol in people at high risk for cardiovascular diseases caused by atherosclerosis, or hardening and narrowing of the arteries, that can lead to heart attack, stroke or death. The guideline identifies four major groups of patients for whom cholesterol-lowering HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, or statins, have the greatest chance of preventing stroke and heart attacks. The guideline also emphasizes the importance of adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle to prevent and control high blood cholesterol.

Thin, active invisibility cloak demonstrated for first time Posted: 12 Nov 2013 10:26 AM PST Invisibility cloaking is no longer the stuff of science fiction: scientists have demonstrated an effective invisibility cloak that is thin, scalable and adaptive to different types and sizes of objects. Professor George Eleftheriades and PhD student Michael Selvanayagam have designed and tested a new approach to cloaking—by surrounding an object with small antennas that collectively radiate an electromagnetic field. The radiated field cancels out any waves scattering off the cloaked object. Their paper 'Experimental demonstration of active electromagnetic cloaking' appears today in the journal Physical Review X.

Taking a new look at carbon nanotubes Posted: 12 Nov 2013 09:39 AM PST Two of the biggest challenges in carbon nanotube research have been met with the development of a technique that can be used to identify the structure of an individual carbon nanotube and characterize its electronic and optical properties in a functional device.

A nano-sized sponge made of electrons Posted: 12 Nov 2013 09:38 AM PST During chemical reactions, ceria nanoparticles behave in a completely different way than previously thought: the electrons absorbed and released during the reaction are not bound to individual atoms but, like a cloud, distribute themselves over the whole nanoparticle. Scientists have found far-reaching consequences for optimizing the current and future use of these nanoparticles and for assessing the limits of their safe use.

New paradigm for solar cell construction demonstrated Posted: 12 Nov 2013 09:38 AM PST Researchers have experimentally demonstrated a new paradigm for solar cell construction which may ultimately make them less expensive, easier to manufacture and more efficient at harvesting energy from the sun.

Botany: The secret of short stems Posted: 12 Nov 2013 09:37 AM PST Arabidopsis plants that only reach half their normal height have a mutation in the biosynthesis of the plant growth factor gibberellin.

The truth about the Greenwich Pensioners: New source shines light on sailors' lives Posted: 12 Nov 2013 09:37 AM PST The lives of 18th century naval pensioners in the Greenwich Hospital hold several surprises, according to new research carried out at the university.

Altering surface textures in 'counterintuitive manner' may lead to cooling efficiency gains Posted: 12 Nov 2013 09:33 AM PST Researchers across the globe are racing to find ways to improve the cooling of hot surfaces -- for technologies ranging from small electronics to nuclear power plants. Zeroing in on the physics at play underlying surface phenomena, researchers made a significant breakthrough. Although somewhat counterintuitive, they discovered that by creating sparsely packed textures on surfaces rather than densely packed ones, they were able to hold droplets in place and enable cooling.

Canadian researchers call for changes to help adults with developmental disabilities Posted: 12 Nov 2013 07:53 AM PST Adults with developmental disabilities such as autism and Down syndrome are having a harder time accessing health care in Ontario, even though they have more health issues than people without developmental disabilities..

Controlling liquid crystals: Another tool in the directed assembly toolkit Posted: 12 Nov 2013 07:53 AM PST Scientists have already developed a technique for controlling liquid crystals by means of physical templates and elastic energy, rather than the electromagnetic fields that manipulate them in televisions and computer monitors. They envision using this technique to direct the assembly of other materials, such as nanoparticles. Now, they have added another tool to this directed assembly toolkit.

Conscientious people more likely to provide good customer service Posted: 12 Nov 2013 07:50 AM PST Conscientious people are more likely to provide good customer service, according to a new study.

A longitudinal study of grapheme-color synesthesia in childhood Posted: 12 Nov 2013 07:50 AM PST In the first long-term study on grapheme-color synesthesia, researchers followed 80 children, including 8 synesthetes, to determine when and how associations between graphemes and colors develop.

More research needed into substitution principle and regulation of potentially hazardous chemical materials, experts urge Posted: 12 Nov 2013 07:49 AM PST Scientists say the substitution principle is not the "white knight" as described by a number of regulatory agencies and NGOs and proposes that chemical substitution can only work effectively on a case-by-case basis.

Men support cracking glass ceiling Posted: 12 Nov 2013 07:00 AM PST Male workers appear to support women becoming CEOs even more than female workers do, finds new research on the proverbial glass ceiling and job satisfaction in six formerly socialist countries.

Die-hard sports fans view ads associated with rival teams negatively, regardless of the message Posted: 12 Nov 2013 07:00 AM PST A new study concludes that it doesn't matter how compelling an advertisement may be, most die-hard Oregon State Beavers fans will simply not purchase a product associated with the Oregon Ducks.

Biomaterial-delivered chemotherapy could provide final blow to brain tumors Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:58 AM PST A polymer originally designed to help mend broken bones could be successful in delivering chemotherapy drugs directly to the brains of patients suffering from brain tumors, researchers have discovered.

New discovery on early immune system development Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:58 AM PST Researchers have shed light on how and when the immune system is formed, raising hope of better understanding various diseases in children, such as leukemia.

Tailored pre-transplant therapy boosts survival rate in rare immune deficiency Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:53 AM PST Chronic Granulomatous Disease is a rare immune deficiency that is life-threatening. Tailored doses of the pre-transplant drug therapy boosts survival rates to over 90%.

The secrets of a bug's flight Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:53 AM PST Researchers have identified some of the physics that may explain how insects can so quickly recover from a midflight stall -- unlike conventional fixed wing aircraft, where stalls often lead to crash landings. The analysis, in which the researchers studied the flow around a rotating model wing, improves the understanding of how insects fly and informs the design of small flying robots built for intelligence gathering, surveillance, search-and-rescue, and other purposes.

Researcher calls for halt of U.S. health care spending spiral Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:53 AM PST In order to evoke a true transformation, the U.S. health care system needs an audacious goal, one equivalent to President Kennedy's call for a man on the moon in 1962, says one researcher. He recommends limiting the rate of per capita health care cost increases to that of the U.S. economy as a whole as measured by the growth of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).

Politicization of US health care preventing real changes to out-of-control system, researchers suggest Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:53 AM PST Over the last decade, the biggest driver of the high health care costs in the United States has been neither the aging of the population nor the large numbers of tests and treatments being prescribed. Rather, it is the politicization of health care, and the increasing prices of drugs, medical devices and hospital costs.

Ticks kill sheep Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:10 AM PST In some lamb herds, a mortality rate of 30 percent has been recorded, with no predators involved in these losses. The situation is so serious that the sheep industry could be under threat. It is therefore crucial to identify the causes and implement preventative measures. The answer may be found somewhere within the genetics of the sheep and the course of the disease, assessment and control of tick populations and biological control of ticks.

Obtaining data from the 'brains' of cars Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:10 AM PST For the first time, a car manufacturer has opened the way for Norwegian research scientists to log data directly from the innermost systems of cars. If this practice becomes widespread, the transport industry will have a tool enabling vital decision-making at a national level.

Culture clash impacts on bottom line in industry, Norwegian example shows Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:10 AM PST Flat organizations confuse foreign workers, and this in turn reduces Norwegian industrial efficiency.

Prosthetic hands viewed as eerie by the public, new study shows Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:10 AM PST Members of the public would prefer to look at human hands or robotic hands rather than prosthetic hands which they view as eerie, a new study has shown.

Endangered limpets (sea snail) change sex to improve their chances of survival Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:10 AM PST The Ribbed Mediterranean Limpet is one of the most endangered invertebrates of the Mediterranean Sea and is classed as being in danger of extinction. Researchers have discovered their reproductive strategy, consisting in changing sex from male to female and vice versa, which improves their ability to adapt to changes in their environment.

Fungus kills ticks Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:10 AM PST Ticks may be facing a dangerous fate. In Norway, research efforts are hoping to determine whether fungus can kill ticks in sheep pastures. This would also benefit future hikers, and benefit the sheep population, which is threatened by ticks.

Scientists launch world's first evacuation software to simulate realistic human behaviour associated with lift evacuation Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:08 AM PST Scientists have released the next generation of the world's most advanced evacuation and crowd simulation software, buildingEXODUS. Version 6.0 incorporates capabilities to simulate human behavior associated with the use of lifts/elevators for both evacuation and circulation.  This new capability is based on data collected from an international survey involving 468 people from 23 countries, which revealed that in the event of an emergency people are less willing to wait for a lift then previously assumed.

Tackling large challenge for new modes of drug delivery Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:08 AM PST Research being carried out by academics could result in new more effective drug treatments for prostate cancer, Multiple Sclerosis and cystic fibrosis.

Working towards personalized cancer treatment Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:08 AM PST Extensive statistical analyses of the mutation distribution in several thousand cancerous tumors make it possible to find cures for types of cancer that cannot be treated today.

Stepparents not always evil: Parents' strategy to love children depends on more than blood Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:08 AM PST Contrary to common belief, parents do not generally treat their stepchildren less favorably than their own. Until now, many researchers believed in the so-called "Cinderella effect." It states that it is biologically inevitable that parents care less for stepchildren because they do not spread their genes. However, research challenges that belief.

Scientists find 'missing link' in important tumor suppression mechanism Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:08 AM PST Novel discovery relating to the function of RUNX3 gene provides new insights on human defence mechanism against early stages of lung cancer development.

News media reinforce sexual exploitation stereotypes Posted: 11 Nov 2013 09:35 PM PST News stories about sexually exploited youth in Canada perpetuate unhelpful stereotypes, according to new research.

Study analyzes sharp rise in U.S. drug poisoning deaths by county Posted: 11 Nov 2013 09:34 PM PST Research demonstrates that there may be a link between geographic patterns and death rates from drug poisoning.

Teen athletes at risk for medication misuse Posted: 11 Nov 2013 09:34 PM PST Male adolescents who participate in organized sports are more likely to be prescribed opioid medications and misuse them than male teens that don't play sports, finds a new study.

Research may improve early detection of dementia Posted: 11 Nov 2013 09:34 PM PST Using scores obtained from cognitive tests, researchers think they have developed a model that could help determine whether memory loss in older adults is benign or a stop on the way to Alzheimer's disease.

Evolution of bitter taste sensitivity Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:55 PM PST People often have strong negative reactions to bitter substances, which, though found in healthful foods like vegetables, can also signify toxicity. For this reason, the ability to sense bitterness likely played an important role in human evolution. A new study suggests that a genetic mutation that makes certain people sensitive to the taste of a bitter compound appears to have been advantageous for certain human populations in Africa.

Global precipitation linked to global warming Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:55 PM PST A new study shows that observed changes in global (ocean and land) precipitation are directly affected by human activities and cannot be explained by natural variability alone.

Marine biology: Feast and famine on the abyssal plain Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:55 PM PST Marine biologists have long been puzzled by the fact that marine snow does not supply enough food to support all the animals and microbes living in deep-sea sediments. A new article shows that blooms of algae or animals near the sea surface can deliver as much food to deep-sea organisms as would normally arrive over years or even decades.

Higher dietary acid load increases risk of diabetes, study says Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:55 PM PST A study of more than 60,000 women has shown that higher overall acidity of the diet, regardless of the individual foods making up that diet, increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. The study is the first large prospective study to demonstrate these findings.

High tungsten levels double stroke risk, study says Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:55 PM PST Using data from a large US health survey, a study has shown that high concentrations of tungsten -- as measured in urine samples -- is strongly linked with an increase in the occurrence of stroke, roughly equal to a doubling of the odds of experiencing the condition.

Swine flu pandemic media with pharma links more likely to talk up risks, promote drugs Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:55 PM PST Academics with links to the pharmaceutical industry were more likely to talk up the risks of the 2009-10 British swine flu pandemic in the media and promote the use of drugs than those without these ties, finds research.

Understanding ourselves by studying animal kingdom Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:55 PM PST Research reveals a new model for a genetic eye disease, and shows how animal models -- from fruit flies to armadillos and monkeys -- can yield valuable information about the human brain.

Crucial clumping of diabetes-causing proteins identified Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:52 PM PST Subtle differences in the shape of proteins protect some and endanger others. All mammals make this same protein called amylin, and it only differs a little bit from species to species. In the mammals that get type 2 diabetes, the amylin proteins aggregate in the pancreas into plaque that kills the cells around them, thereby ceasing all insulin production.

The doctor will text you now: Post-ER follow-up that works Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:15 PM PST Diabetic patients treated in the emergency department who were enrolled in a program in which they received automated daily text messages improved their level of control over their diabetes and their medication adherence, according to a study.

An intersection of math and biology: Clams and snails inspire robotic diggers and crawlers Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:15 PM PST Engineering has always taken cues from biology. Natural organisms and systems have done well at evolving to perform tasks and achieve objectives within the limits set by nature and physics. That is one of the reasons engineers are studying snails. Snails can move in any direction -- horizontally, vertically, and upside down -- on various surfaces, be it sand, shells, tree barks or slick walls and smooth glass. One of the reasons for this is the sticky substance on their underbellies, which acts as a powerful lubricant and reduces friction during movement.

New method gives accurate picture of gas storage by microscopic cages Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:15 PM PST Researchers accurately calculate the uptake of gas molecules by synthetic zeolites. The work may help more rapid development of materials for hydrogen storage, catalysis, environmental remediation and molecular sieves.

Putting Lupus in permanent remission Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:15 PM PST Scientists have successfully tested a nontoxic therapy that suppresses Lupus in blood samples of people with the autoimmune disease.

Bacteria may allow animals to send quick, voluminous messages Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:15 PM PST Twitter clips human thoughts to a mere 140 characters. Animals' scent posts may be equally as short, relatively speaking, yet they convey an encyclopedia of information about the animals that left them. Researcher now show that the detailed scent posts of hyenas are, in part, products of symbiotic bacteria, microbes that have a mutually beneficial relationship with their hosts.

Problem-solving education reduces parental stress after child autism diagnosis Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:14 PM PST A cognitive-behavioral intervention known as problem-solving education may help reduce parental stress and depressive symptoms immediately after their child is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, according to a study.

Study examines amyloid deposition in patients with traumatic brain injury Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:14 PM PST Patients with traumatic brain injury had increased deposits of ²-Amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer Disease, in some areas of their brains, a new study has found.

Overweight, obese are risks for heart disease regardless of metabolic syndrome Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:14 PM PST Being overweight or obese are risk factors for myocardial infarction (heart attack) and ischemic heart disease regardless of whether individuals also have the cluster of cardiovascular risk factors known as metabolic syndrome, which includes high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood sugar, according to a new study.

Obese older women at higher risk for death, disease, disability before age 85 Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:14 PM PST Obesity and a bigger waist size in older women are associated with a higher risk of death, major chronic disease and mobility disability before the age of 85, according to a study.

Mathematical analysis helps untangle bacterial chromosomes Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:14 PM PST A team of researchers has analyzed how tangled DNA is unknotted and unlinked during the process of E. coli cell division, an understanding that could improve human health by leading to the design of better antibacterial drugs.

Device may help doctors diagnose lethal heart rhythm in womb Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:14 PM PST A device that records the natural magnetic activity of the heart helped researchers identify abnormal heart rhythms in unborn babies. It's the first sizable study to document the electrical aspects of long QT syndrome in the womb. The condition is a common cause of sudden death in early life and stillbirth.

Of hurricanes, fungus and Parkinson's disease Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:14 PM PST Researchers trying to understand the link between volatile organics and illness discovered a link between one such compound and Parkinson's-like symptoms.

Specific brain areas, mechanisms associated with depression, anxiety Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:14 PM PST Research reveals new mechanisms and areas of the brain associated with anxiety and depression, presenting possible targets to understand and treat these debilitating mental illnesses.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Latest Science News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610