ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Monday, August 15, 2011 ~ techdeck

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Monday, August 15, 2011

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Scientists have new help finding their way around brain's nooks and crannies (August 15, 2011) -- Like explorers mapping a new planet, scientists probing the brain need every type of landmark they can get. Each mountain, river or forest helps scientists find their way through the intricacies of the human brain. Researchers have now developed a new technique that provides rapid access to brain landmarks formerly only available at autopsy. Better brain maps will result, speeding efforts to understand how the brain works. ... > full story

In quest for new therapies, clinician-scientist team unlocks hidden information in human genome (August 15, 2011) -- Researchers created a model resource that not only identifies but also outlines the function of some of the most common mutations in the human genome. At a time when research linking genetic mutations to disease risk is booming, scientists are pursuing what they think is an even more significant path: They are zeroing in on how certain mutations work, information they believe will guide the development of new treatment options. ... > full story

Shifting Atlantic mackerel distribution linked to environmental factors, changing climate (August 15, 2011) -- Scientists have found that environmental factors have changed the distribution patterns of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus), a marine species found in waters from Cape Hatteras to Newfoundland, shifting the stock northeastward and into shallower waters. Atlantic mackerel migrate great distances on a seasonal basis to feed and spawn, and are sensitive to changes in water temperature. These findings could have significant implications for US commercial and recreational mackerel fisheries that mostly occur during late winter and early spring. ... > full story

Seeing a neurologist helps people with Parkinson's live longer, study suggests (August 15, 2011) -- People with Parkinson's disease who go to a neurologist for their care are more likely to live longer, less likely to be placed in a nursing home and less likely to break a hip than people who go to a primary care physician, according to a new study. ... > full story

An octave spanning chip-based optical ruler: Scientists develop octave-spanning frequency comb with a microresonator (August 15, 2011) -- Developed moore than a decade ago, the frequency comb technique has stimulated fundamental research as well as laser development and its applications because it gave rise to a major increase in the accuracy of measuring optical frequencies. Already a couple of years ago, a team of scientists succeeded for the first time in generating optical frequency combs using chip-based quartz glass toroids with diameters on the micrometer scale. Now the scientists have made a big step further: their new microresonators produce light over a range of more than an octave and are at the same time precisely tunable ... > full story

How do consumers revise their unreachable goals? (August 15, 2011) -- Most consumers spend their lives setting -- and revising -- goals. Authors of a new study have unveiled a new model that captures the dynamics of goal revision. ... > full story

How butterflies copy their neighbors to fool birds (August 15, 2011) -- The mystery of how a butterfly changes its wing patterns to mimic neighboring species and avoid being eaten by birds has been solved. Scientists located and sequenced the chromosomal region responsible for the wing patterns in an Amazonian butterfly. They found that three versions of the same chromosome coexist in this species, each version controlling distinct wing-pattern forms. This has resulted in butterflies that look completely different from one another, despite having the same DNA. ... > full story

Arthritis sufferers' increased risk of heart disease due to disease-related inflammation and other factors, study finds (August 15, 2011) -- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) sufferers are at an increased risk of dying due to cardiovascular disease. A new five-year study showed that the risk of cardiovascular disease for people with RA is due to disease-related inflammation as well as the risk factors which affect the general population. Treatment of arthritis with disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs also reduced the patient's risk of heart disease. ... > full story

How fatty diets cause diabetes (August 15, 2011) -- Scientists show that dietary fats interfere with an enzyme called GnT-4a glycosyltransferase, which is required for proper retention of glucose transporters in pancreatic beta cell membranes. Without functioning GnT-4a, clinical signs of diabetes emerged in mice fed a high-fat diet. The team is now considering methods to augment the enzyme's activity in humans, as a means to prevent or treat type 2 diabetes. ... > full story

Trastuzumab raises risk of heart problems in the elderly with history of heart disease or diabetes, study suggests (August 15, 2011) -- The first study to investigate the effect of the breast cancer drug trastuzumab (Herceptin) on heart and vascular function in elderly patients has found that it increases the risk of heart problems, particularly in women with a history of heart disease, diabetes or both. ... > full story

Rural road maintenance may accidentally push spread of invasive plants (August 15, 2011) -- Road maintenance may accidentally spread the seeds of invasive plants, according to new research. ... > full story

When you can recite a poem but not remember who asked you to learn it a few days earlier (August 15, 2011) -- Memory is not a single process but is made up of several sub-processes relying on different areas of the brain. Episodic memory, the ability to remember specific events such as what you did yesterday, is known to be vulnerable to brain damage involving the hippocampus. The question is, what happens when damage to the hippocampus occurs very early in life? Clinical neuropsychologists have now reported that a child can develop normally despite severe damage to the hippocampus resulting from lack of oxygen in the first days of life. This supports the theory that the different aspects of memory rely on distinct areas of the brain. ... > full story

Like humans, chimps are born with immature forebrains (August 14, 2011) -- In both chimpanzees and humans, portions of the brain that are critical for complex cognitive functions, including decision-making, self-awareness and creativity, are immature at birth. But there are important differences, too. Baby chimpanzees don't show the same dramatic increase in the volume of prefrontal white matter in the brain that human infants do. ... > full story

New treatment option for advanced prostate cancer (August 14, 2011) -- Prostate cancer that has become resistant to hormone treatment and that does not respond to radiation or chemotherapy requires new methods of treatment. By attacking stem cell-like cells in prostate cancer, researchers are working on a project to develop a new treatment option. ... > full story

Hubble offers dazzling Necklace Nebula (August 14, 2011) -- A giant cosmic necklace glows brightly in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. The object, aptly named the Necklace Nebula, is a recently discovered planetary nebula, the glowing remains of an ordinary, Sun-like star. The nebula consists of a bright ring, measuring 12 trillion miles wide, dotted with dense, bright knots of gas that resemble diamonds in a necklace. ... > full story

New experimental vaccine against chikungunya virus created (August 14, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a new candidate vaccine to protect against chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne pathogen that produces an intensely painful and often chronic arthritic disease that has stricken millions of people in India, Southeast Asia and Africa. ... > full story

Catalyst that makes hydrogen gas breaks speed record (August 14, 2011) -- Looking to nature for their muse, researchers have used a common protein to guide the design of a material that can make energy-storing hydrogen gas. The synthetic material works 10 times faster than the original protein found in water-dwelling microbes, the researchers clocking in at 100,000 molecules of hydrogen gas every second. ... > full story

Schoolchildren can also learn complex subject matters on their own, researchers find (August 14, 2011) -- Self-directed learning has long been heralded as the key to successful education. Yet until now, there has been little research into this theory. Educational researchers in Germany have now shown that schoolchildren can independently develop strategies for solving complex mathematical tasks, with weaker students proving just as capable as their stronger classmates. ... > full story

Searching for spin liquids: Much-sought exotic quantum state of matter can exist (August 14, 2011) -- The world economy is becoming ever more reliant on high tech electronics such as computers featuring fingernail-sized microprocessors crammed with billions of transistors. For progress to continue, for Moore's Law -- according to which the number of computer components crammed onto microchips doubles every two years, even as the size and cost of components halves -- to continue, new materials and new phenomena need to be discovered. Researchers have now discovered a "kaleidoscope" of phases, which represent the lowest-energy states that are allowed given the magnetic interactions. ... > full story

New non-invasive technology shows promise in shrinking liver tumors (August 14, 2011) -- A potential new option is beginning to emerge for patients with the fastest growing form of cancer in the United States, according to new research. ... > full story

Biodiversity key to Earth's life-support functions in a changing world (August 14, 2011) -- The biological diversity of organisms on Earth is not just something we enjoy when taking a walk through a blossoming meadow in spring; it is also the basis for countless products and services provided by nature, including food, building materials, and medicines as well as the self-purifying qualities of water and protection against erosion. New findings indicate that much more biodiversity is necessary to keep ecosystems functioning in a world that is changing ever faster. The protection of diversity is thus a crucial factor in maintaining Earth's life-support functions. ... > full story

Higher estrogen production in the breast could confer greater cancer risk than thought (August 14, 2011) -- Could some women who naturally produce excess aromatase in their breasts have an increased risk of developing breast cancer? Investigators say their mice study shows that overproduction of aromatase, which converts testosterone into estrogen, in breast tissue is even more important in pushing breast cancer development than excess production of the estrogen receptor that the hormone uses to activate mammary cells. ... > full story

Virtual rats to help researchers study disease (August 14, 2011) -- Most lab rats have to be housed, fed and bred. But not the group one researcher has in mind for his new systems biology center. They'll be virtual. ... > full story

How the visual system constructs moving objects: One by one (August 14, 2011) -- Although our eyes record the word as millions of pixels, "the visual system is fantastic at giving us a world that looks like objects, not pixels," says psychologist Steven L. Franconeri. It does this by grouping areas of the world with similar characteristics, such as color, shape, or motion. ... > full story

Hidden Baja undersea park is the world's most robust marine reserve (August 13, 2011) -- A thriving undersea wildlife park tucked away near the southern tip of Mexico's Baja peninsula has proven to be the world's most robust marine reserve in the world, according to a new study. The most striking finding is that fish communities at a depleted site can recover up to a level comparable to remote, pristine sites that have never been fished by humans. ... > full story

Scientists highlight link between stress and appetite (August 13, 2011) -- Researchers have uncovered a mechanism by which stress increases food drive in rats. This new discovery could provide important insight into why stress is thought to be one of the underlying contributors to obesity. ... > full story

If fat dogs are cool, could fat people be, too? (August 13, 2011) -- Fat dogs are cool. And obese people may be, too. That's what new research suggests. ... > full story

Study sheds light on late phase of asthma attacks (August 13, 2011) -- New research explains why around half of people with asthma experience a "late phase" of symptoms several hours after exposure to allergens. ... > full story

Physicists explore the key energy transport process underlying solar energy harvesting (August 13, 2011) -- Physicists have developed an imaging technique that makes it possible to directly observe light-emitting excitons as they diffuse in rubrene, a new material being explored for its extraordinary electronic properties. ... > full story

Social acceptance and rejection: The sweet and the bitter (August 13, 2011) -- For proof that rejection, exclusion, and acceptance are central to our lives, look no farther than the living room, says a psychologist. "If you turn on the television set, and watch any reality TV program, most of them are about rejection and acceptance," he says. ... > full story

Arctic ice melt could pause for several years, then resume again (August 12, 2011) -- Although Arctic sea ice appears fated to melt as the climate continues to warm, the ice may temporarily stabilize or somewhat expand at times over the next few decades, new research indicates. ... > full story

Lasers stimulate stem cells and reduce heart scarring after heart attack, study suggests (August 12, 2011) -- New research shows that "shining" bone marrow stem cells with a laser encourages these cells to migrate to the heart to facilitate the healing process. If applied to these cells a few hours after a heart attack, the scarring that weakens the heart muscle can be reduced by up to 80 percent. ... > full story

NASA's asteroid photographer beams back science data (August 12, 2011) -- The Dawn spacecraft has completed a graceful spiral into the first of four planned science orbits during the spacecraft's yearlong visit to Vesta. The spacecraft started taking detailed observations on Aug. 11 at 9:13 a.m. PDT (12:13 a.m. EDT), which marks the official start of the first science-collecting orbit phase at Vesta, also known as the survey orbit. ... > full story

Drug development in the blink of an eye (August 12, 2011) -- The development of drugs for brain-related conditions is not an efficient process. A key reason for this is a lack of preclinical tests that accurately predict drug efficacy and detect unwanted side effects. But now, researchers have developed a new preclinical approach that they hope can be used alongside current strategies to guide more efficient drug development for brain-related conditions. ... > full story

New anti-censorship scheme could make it impossible to block individual Web sites (August 12, 2011) -- A radical new approach to thwarting Internet censorship would essentially turn the whole Web into a proxy server, making it virtually impossible for a censoring government to block individual Web sites. ... > full story

Possible therapeutic target for depression and addiction identified (August 12, 2011) -- Researchers have identified an important part of the pathway through which stress affects mood and motivation for drugs. The finding may prove useful in humans by providing new potential targets for drugs to treat problems related to stress. ... > full story

Darkest known exoplanet: Alien world is blacker than coal (August 12, 2011) -- Astronomers have discovered the darkest known exoplanet -- a distant, Jupiter-sized gas giant known as TrES-2b. Their measurements show that TrES-2b reflects less than one percent of the sunlight falling on it, making it blacker than coal or any planet or moon in our solar system. ... > full story

Low vitamin D linked to earlier first menstruation (August 12, 2011) -- A study links low vitamin D in young girls with early menstruation, which is a risk factor for a host of health problems for teen girls as well as women later in life. ... > full story

Rats control appetite for poison: How rodents survive arms race with toxic plants they eat (August 12, 2011) -- Life is tough for woodrats in deserts of the US Southwest. There are few plants for food, and those plants produce poison to deter rodents, insects and other animals. A new study shows how certain woodrats put themselves on a diet to avoid poisoning: They sample a smorgasbord of toxic plants, eat smaller meals, increase time between meals and drink more water if it is available. ... > full story

Human-cell-derived model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis provides a new way to study the majority of cases (August 12, 2011) -- For decades, scientists have studied a laboratory mouse model that develops signs of the paralyzing disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as they age. Researchers have now developed a new model of ALS, one that mimics sporadic ALS, which represents about 90 percent of all cases. ... > full story

Bilayer graphene: Another step towards graphene electronics (August 12, 2011) -- The Nobel Prize winning scientists Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov have taken a huge step forward in studying the wonder material graphene and revealing its exciting electronic properties for future electronic applications. ... > full story

Resistance training can help smokers kick the habit, according to study (August 12, 2011) -- Resistance training, or weight lifting, can do more than just build muscle: it may also help smokers kick the habit, say researchers. ... > full story

Research reveals genetic link to human intelligence (August 12, 2011) -- New research provides the first direct biological evidence for a genetic contribution to people's intelligence. Previous studies on twins and adopted people suggested that there is a substantial genetic contribution to thinking skills, but this new study is the first to find a genetic contribution by testing people's DNA for genetic variations. ... > full story

'Good fat' most prevalent in thin children (August 12, 2011) -- Researchers have shown that a type of "good" fat known as brown fat occurs in varying amounts in children -- increasing until puberty and then declining -- and is most active in leaner children. ... > full story

Polar climate change may lead to ecological change (August 12, 2011) -- Ice and frozen ground at the North and South Poles are affected by climate change induced warming, but the consequences of thawing at each pole differ due to the geography and geology, according to a hydrologist. ... > full story

Combination of existing safety checks could greatly reduce radiotherapy errors, study suggests (August 12, 2011) -- A combination of several well-known safety procedures could greatly reduce patient-harming errors in the use of radiation to treat cancer, according to a new study. ... > full story

Engineered bacteria mop up mercury spills (August 12, 2011) -- Thousands of tons of toxic mercury are released into the environment every year. Much of this collects in sediment where it is converted into toxic methyl mercury, and enters the food chain ending up in the fish we eat. New research showcases genetically engineered bacteria which are not only able to withstand high levels of mercury but are also able to mop up mercury from their surroundings. ... > full story

Increased light may moderate fearful reactions (August 12, 2011) -- Biologists and psychologists know that light affects mood, but a new study indicates that light may also play a role in modulating fear and anxiety. ... > full story

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