ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Mental time-travel in birds
• Starburst captured: Students photograph exploding star in pinwheel galaxy
• Cellphones exceed U.S. FCC exposure limits by as much as double for children, study finds
• Heart disease linked to evolutionary changes that may have protected early mammals from trauma
• Two new bee species are mysterious pieces in the Panama puzzle
• Efficacy of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma vaccine demonstrated in dogs
• Evolution of a Stream: Plants and sea-life claim new territory as glaciers retreat in Glacier Bay, Alaska
• Skill triumphs over fish scarcity and draws experienced anglers back to overfished lakes
• iPhone turned into spiPhone: Smartphone senses nearby keyboard vibrations and deciphers sentences
• New, higher estimates of endangered humpback whales in the North Pacific
• Cells are crawling all over our bodies, but how?
• First-ever sequence and structure of biologically important carbohydrate
• Timing for clinical trials for stem cell therapy in spinal cord injuries is right, review suggests
• Optimal modulation of ion channels rescues neurons associated with epilepsy
• National health care scorecard: United States scores 64 out of 100
• Forgetting is part of remembering
• Whether we know it or not, we can 'see' through one eye at a time
• From tropics to poles: Study reveals diversity of life in soils
• Computing building blocks created from bacteria and DNA
• Why steroid treatment for COPD is ineffective
• Piecing together the priceless 'Cairo Genizah'
• Cyber war might never happen
• Seeing through walls: New radar technology provides real-time video of what’s going on behind solid walls
• Light dependency underlies beneficial jetlag in racehorses
• CSI-style investigation of meteorite hits on Earth
• Unknown species and larval stages of extremely long-legged beetles discovered by DNA test
• Medical researchers breath new life into fight against primary killer of premature infants
• New discovery in the fight against tuberculosis
• How the Milky Way killed off nearby galaxies
• Tricking resistant cancer cells into committing suicide
• Shift work in teens linked to increased multiple sclerosis risk
• Babies and toddlers should learn from play, not screens
• Simple nerve cells regulate swimming depth of marine plankton
• Premature babies at risk of ill health in later life, research suggests

Mental time-travel in birds Posted: 18 Oct 2011 07:09 PM PDT Some tropical birds collect their prey at army ant raids, where massive swarms of ants sweep through the forest and drive out insects. The behavior of interest is called bivouac checking; it allows these birds to track the cyclical raid activity of army ant colonies.

Starburst captured: Students photograph exploding star in pinwheel galaxy Posted: 18 Oct 2011 06:46 PM PDT In the Pinwheel Galaxy some 21 light years from Earth, a supernova beams brightly, out-shining its cosmic neighbors and causing a stir among starwatchers.

Cellphones exceed U.S. FCC exposure limits by as much as double for children, study finds Posted: 18 Oct 2011 06:26 PM PDT New research shows that cell phones used in the shirt or pants pocket exceed the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) exposure guidelines and that children absorb twice as much microwave radiation from phones as do adults.

Heart disease linked to evolutionary changes that may have protected early mammals from trauma Posted: 18 Oct 2011 06:13 PM PDT Can a bird have a heart attack? A new study suggests that cardiovascular disease may be an unfortunate consequence of mammalian evolution. The study demonstrates that the same features of blood platelets that may have provided an evolutionary advantage to early mammals now predispose humans to cardiovascular disease.

Two new bee species are mysterious pieces in the Panama puzzle Posted: 18 Oct 2011 12:52 PM PDT Scientists have discovered two new, closely related bee species: one from Coiba Island in Panama and another from northern Colombia. Both descended from of a group of stingless bees that originated in the Amazon and moved into Central America, the ancestors of Mayan honeybees.

Efficacy of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma vaccine demonstrated in dogs Posted: 18 Oct 2011 12:52 PM PDT An experimental vaccine is the first veterinary cancer vaccine of its kind that shows an increase in survival time for dogs with spontaneous non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The work shows for the first time the feasibility and therapeutic efficacy of this alternative cell-based vaccine, which could be employed in the treatment of a number of different cancer types.

Evolution of a Stream: Plants and sea-life claim new territory as glaciers retreat in Glacier Bay, Alaska Posted: 18 Oct 2011 12:41 PM PDT As tidewater glaciers beat a hasty retreat up Glacier Bay in southeast Alaska, they uncover rocky, barren landscapes and feed cold lakes and streams -- new habitat for life's hardy explorers. Researchers have now described the evolution and assembly of a stream ecosystem in newly de-glaciated terrain, from early insect and crustacean invaders to the arrival of migrating salmon.

Skill triumphs over fish scarcity and draws experienced anglers back to overfished lakes Posted: 18 Oct 2011 12:04 PM PDT Fishermen care about more than the quantity of fish in a pond. Access, beauty, distance from home and fishing regulations play into the choice of which lake to fish on a given Saturday. How deep into the woods will fishermen hike to find a lake brimming with fish? Do recreational fishermen avoid overfished lakes?

iPhone turned into spiPhone: Smartphone senses nearby keyboard vibrations and deciphers sentences Posted: 18 Oct 2011 10:13 AM PDT Engineers have discovered how to program a smartphone to sense nearby keyboard vibrations and decipher complete sentences with up to 80 percent accuracy.

New, higher estimates of endangered humpback whales in the North Pacific Posted: 18 Oct 2011 10:13 AM PDT Scientists have increased the estimate on the number of humpback whales in the North Pacific Ocean. The increase follows a refined statistical analysis of data compiled in 2008 from the largest whale survey ever undertaken to assess humpback whale populations throughout the North Pacific.

Cells are crawling all over our bodies, but how? Posted: 18 Oct 2011 10:13 AM PDT For better and for worse, human health depends on a cell's motility -- the ability to crawl from place to place. In every human body, millions of cells are crawling around doing mostly good deeds -- though if any of those crawlers are cancerous, watch out.

First-ever sequence and structure of biologically important carbohydrate Posted: 18 Oct 2011 09:18 AM PDT Scientists have been unable to determine the structure of a biologically important so-called GAG proteoglycan -- or even to agree whether these remarkably complex molecules have well-defined structures. Medical researchers have now, for the first time, determined the sequence and structure of a glycosaminoglycan, or GAG, proteoglycan.

Timing for clinical trials for stem cell therapy in spinal cord injuries is right, review suggests Posted: 18 Oct 2011 09:18 AM PDT Regenerative medicine in spinal cord injuries (SCI) is proving to help the human body create new cell and nerve connections that are severed during this type of injury. A new review provide evidence that supports researchers moving beyond the lab to conduct human clinical trials for stem cells.

Optimal modulation of ion channels rescues neurons associated with epilepsy Posted: 18 Oct 2011 09:18 AM PDT New research successfully reverses epilepsy-associated pathology by using a sophisticated single-cell modeling paradigm to examine abnormal cell behavior and identify the optimal modulation of channel activity. The study describes a procedure that may be useful for rescuing function in organs with excitable cells, such as the heart and pancreas.

National health care scorecard: United States scores 64 out of 100 Posted: 18 Oct 2011 09:18 AM PDT The US health-care system scored 64 out of 100 on key measures of performance, according to the third national scorecard report. The scorecard finds that -- despite pockets of improvement -- the US overall failed to improve when compared to best performers. There was significant erosion in access to care and affordability of care, as health care costs rose far faster than family incomes.

Forgetting is part of remembering Posted: 18 Oct 2011 08:19 AM PDT It's time for forgetting to get some respect, says a psychologist. "We need to rethink how we're talking about forgetting and realize that under some conditions it actually does play an important role in the function of memory," he says.

Whether we know it or not, we can 'see' through one eye at a time Posted: 18 Oct 2011 08:19 AM PDT Although portions of the visible world come in through one eye only, the brain instantaneously takes all that information and creates a coherent image. As far as we know, we "see" with both eyes at once. Now a new study suggests that the brain may know which eye is receiving information -- and can turn around and tell that eye to work even harder.

From tropics to poles: Study reveals diversity of life in soils Posted: 18 Oct 2011 08:19 AM PDT Microscopic animals that live in soils are as diverse in the tropical forests of Costa Rica as they are in the arid grasslands of Kenya, or the tundra and boreal forests of Alaska and Sweden.

Computing building blocks created from bacteria and DNA Posted: 18 Oct 2011 08:19 AM PDT Scientists have successfully demonstrated that they can build some of the basic components for digital devices out of bacteria and DNA, which could pave the way for a new generation of biological computing devices.

Why steroid treatment for COPD is ineffective Posted: 18 Oct 2011 07:27 AM PDT Corticosteroids do not improve survival nor alter the progression of COPD and may reduce lung symptoms as little as 20 percent. A new study found why corticosteroids do not work well for COPD patients and how additional treatment with sulforaphane -- an ingredient of broccoli and other vegetables -- can improve the effectiveness of corticosteroids.

Piecing together the priceless 'Cairo Genizah' Posted: 18 Oct 2011 07:27 AM PDT The Cairo Genizah is an irreplaceable repository for information about 1,000 years of human history. But the 350,000 fragments that make up the Genizah are scattered worldwide. Researchers are now putting all these pieces back together with a computer program based on facial recognition technology.

Cyber war might never happen Posted: 18 Oct 2011 07:27 AM PDT Cyber war, long considered by many experts within the defense establishment to be a significant threat, if not an ongoing one, may never take place according to one expert. He argues that cyber warfare has never taken place, nor is it currently doing so and it is unlikely to take place in the future.

Seeing through walls: New radar technology provides real-time video of what’s going on behind solid walls Posted: 18 Oct 2011 07:27 AM PDT The ability to see through walls is no longer the stuff of science fiction, thanks to new radar technology. Researchers have built a system that can see through walls from some distance away, giving an instantaneous picture of the activity on the other side.

Light dependency underlies beneficial jetlag in racehorses Posted: 18 Oct 2011 06:51 AM PDT A new study has shown that racehorses are extremely sensitive to changes in daily light and, contrary to humans, can adapt very quickly to sudden shifts in the 24-hour light-dark cycle, such as those resulting from a transmeridian flight, with unexpected benefits on their physical performance.

CSI-style investigation of meteorite hits on Earth Posted: 18 Oct 2011 06:51 AM PDT Volcanologists have forensically reconstructed the impact of a meteorite on Earth and how debris was hurled from the crater to devastate the surrounding region.

Unknown species and larval stages of extremely long-legged beetles discovered by DNA test Posted: 18 Oct 2011 06:51 AM PDT The unknown larval stages and a new species of the curious spider water beetles were described after their assignment by DNA sequences. These taxonomic works are groundwork for the development of water quality bioindicator systems in the tropics.

Medical researchers breath new life into fight against primary killer of premature infants Posted: 18 Oct 2011 06:23 AM PDT A new discovery might explain why some premature infants fail to respond to existing treatments for a deadly respiratory distress syndrome and offers clues for new ways to treat the breathing disorder.

New discovery in the fight against tuberculosis Posted: 18 Oct 2011 06:23 AM PDT New research may help in the ongoing fight against tuberculosis. Medical researchers have discovered a connection between the development of new lymphoid tissue within the lung and protection against the disease.

How the Milky Way killed off nearby galaxies Posted: 18 Oct 2011 06:21 AM PDT Researchers have revealed for the first time the existence of a new signature of the birth of the first stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. More than 12 billion years ago, the intense ultraviolet light from these stars dispersed the gas of our Galaxy's nearest companions, virtually putting a halt to their ability to form stars and consigning them to a dim future. Now astronomers have explained why some galaxies were killed off, while stars continued to form in more distant objects.

Tricking resistant cancer cells into committing suicide Posted: 18 Oct 2011 05:46 AM PDT Scientists have found a way to trick resistant cancer cells into committing suicide following oncolytic virus therapy.

Shift work in teens linked to increased multiple sclerosis risk Posted: 18 Oct 2011 05:46 AM PDT Researchers from Sweden have uncovered an association between shift work and increased risk of multiple sclerosis (MS). Those who engage in off-hour employment before the age of 20 may be at risk for MS due to a disruption in their circadian rhythm and sleep pattern.

Babies and toddlers should learn from play, not screens Posted: 18 Oct 2011 05:46 AM PDT A new policy from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping children under age two as "screen-free" as possible.

Simple nerve cells regulate swimming depth of marine plankton Posted: 18 Oct 2011 05:44 AM PDT As planktonic organisms the larvae of the marine annelid Platynereis swim freely in the open water. They move by activity of their cilia, thousands of tiny hair-like structures forming a band along the larval body and beating coordinately. With changing environmental conditions the larvae swim upward and downward to their appropriate water depth. Scientists have now identified some signalling substances in the larval nervous system regulating swimming depth of the larvae. These substances influence the ciliary beating and thus hold the larvae in the preferred water depth. The scientists discovered a very simple circuitry of nerve cells underlying this regulation, reflecting an early evolutionary state of the nervous system.

Premature babies at risk of ill health in later life, research suggests Posted: 18 Oct 2011 05:44 AM PDT Young adults who were born prematurely show multiple biological signs of risks to future health, new research has found. The scientists say that the research indicates that urgent work is now needed to monitor preterm babies into adulthood to improve the detection of early signs of disease.

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