ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Asteroid lutetia: Primitive body from solar system's planet-forming period
• New hybrid technology could bring 'quantum information systems'
• Obese people regain weight after dieting due to hormones
• Scientists chart gene expression in the brain across lifespan
• Seven billion people are not the issue: Human development is what counts
• Human-caused climate change major factor in more frequent Mediterranean droughts
• Scientists measure dream content for the first time: Dreams activate the brain in a similar way to real actions
• Highly efficient oxygen catalyst found: Rechargeable batteries and hydrogen-fuel production could benefit
• Fertility chip measures concentration and motility of semen
• Novel strategy stymies SARS and other viruses: Versatile inhibitor prevents viral replication
• New findings contradict dominant theory in Alzheimer's disease
• New method in spectral analysis: Measuring the distance of processes
• Meningitis may be eradicated. New vaccine brings hope
• Regular aspirin intake halves cancer risk, study finds
• Malaria mosquitoes putting up resistance
• Ocean water salinity and color herald El Niño events
• Tropical rainforests original generators of biodiversity
• Planets smashed into dust near supermassive black holes
• Different paths to drug resistance in Leishmania: Evolution by changes in gene, region and chromosome number, not by mutation in genes
• Vaccine for cattle offers hope to poorest farmers
• Predicting how cancers will respond to chemo: New test determines whether tumor cells are already 'primed' for death
• Printed protection: Low-cost paper-based wireless sensor could help detect explosive devices
• How major signaling pathways are wired to our genome gives new insight into disease processes
• Childhood diet lower in fat and higher in fiber may lower risk for chronic disease in adulthood
• Older men with higher testosterone levels lose less muscle mass as they age

Asteroid lutetia: Primitive body from solar system's planet-forming period Posted: 28 Oct 2011 11:40 AM PDT The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft has revealed asteroid Lutetia to be a primitive body, left over as the planets were forming in our Solar System. Results from Rosetta's fleeting flyby also suggest that this mini-world tried to grow a metal heart.

New hybrid technology could bring 'quantum information systems' Posted: 28 Oct 2011 11:25 AM PDT The merging of two technologies under development - plasmonics and nanophotonics - is promising the emergence of new "quantum information systems" far more powerful than today's computers.

Obese people regain weight after dieting due to hormones Posted: 28 Oct 2011 11:25 AM PDT Worldwide, there are more than 1.5 billion overweight adults, including 400 million who are obese. Although restriction of diet often results in initial weight loss, more than 80 per cent of obese dieters fail to maintain their reduced weight. Obese people may regain weight after dieting due to hormonal changes, a new study has shown.

Scientists chart gene expression in the brain across lifespan Posted: 28 Oct 2011 09:17 AM PDT The "switching on" of specific genes in the human genome is what makes each human tissue and each human being unique. A new study found that many gene expression changes that occur during fetal development are reversed immediately after birth. Reversals of fetal expression changes are also seen again much later in life during normal aging of the brain. Additionally, the team observed the reversal of fetal expression changes in Alzheimer's disease findings reported in other studies.

Seven billion people are not the issue: Human development is what counts Posted: 28 Oct 2011 09:12 AM PDT As the global media speculate on the number of people likely to inhabit the planet on October 31 an international team of population and development experts argue that it is not simply the number of people that matters but more so their distribution by age, education, health status and location that is most relevant to local and global sustainability.

Human-caused climate change major factor in more frequent Mediterranean droughts Posted: 28 Oct 2011 08:53 AM PDT Wintertime droughts are increasingly common in the Mediterranean region, and human-caused climate change is partly responsible, according to a new analysis. In the last 20 years, 10 of the driest 12 winters have taken place in the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

Scientists measure dream content for the first time: Dreams activate the brain in a similar way to real actions Posted: 28 Oct 2011 08:36 AM PDT The ability to dream is a fascinating aspect of the human mind. However, how the images and emotions that we experience so intensively when we dream form in our heads remains a mystery. Up to now it has not been possible to measure dream content. Scientists in Germany have now succeeded, for the first time, in analyzing the activity of the brain during dreaming.

Highly efficient oxygen catalyst found: Rechargeable batteries and hydrogen-fuel production could benefit Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:50 AM PDT A team of researchers has found one of the most effective catalysts ever discovered for splitting oxygen atoms from water molecules -- a key reaction for advanced energy-storage systems, including electrolyzers, to produce hydrogen fuel and rechargeable batteries. This new catalyst liberates oxygen at more than 10 times the rate of the best previously known catalyst of its type.

Fertility chip measures concentration and motility of semen Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:33 AM PDT Scientists have developed a "fertility chip" that can accurately count sperm and measure their motility. The chip can be inserted into a compact device for one-off use. A home test kit will soon make it possible for men to test their sperm in a familiar environment. As a result, there is a greater chance of obtaining a correct diagnosis, also the method is simple and inexpensive.

Novel strategy stymies SARS and other viruses: Versatile inhibitor prevents viral replication Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:32 AM PDT Broad-spectrum antiviral drugs are urgently needed but have so far eluded discovery. Researchers have now identified a new point of attack. Moreover, they show that targeting of this molecule inhibits the growth of a wide range of viruses, including the SARS virus – at least in cell culture.

New findings contradict dominant theory in Alzheimer's disease Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:32 AM PDT For decades the amyloid hypothesis has dominated the research field in Alzheimer's disease. The theory describes how an increase in secreted beta-amyloid peptides leads to the formation of plaques, toxic clusters of damaged proteins between cells, which eventually result in neurodegeneration. Scientists have now presented a study that turns this premise on its head. The research group's data offers an opposite hypothesis, suggesting that it is in fact the neurons' inability to secrete beta-amyloid that is at the heart of pathogenesis in Alzheimer's disease.

New method in spectral analysis: Measuring the distance of processes Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:32 AM PDT A milestone in the description of complex processes -- for example the ups and downs of share prices -- has been reached by mathematicians. Researchers have developed a new method in spectral analysis, which allows a classical mathematical model assumption, so-called stationarity, to be precisely measured and determined for the first time. The approach also makes it possible to construct statistical tests that are considerably better and more accurate than previous methods.

Meningitis may be eradicated. New vaccine brings hope Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:32 AM PDT Outbreaks of meningitis can quickly reach epidemic proportions across a number of African countries, afflicting tens of thousands of people. Now a new vaccine appears capable of completely eradicating the disease. The new and improved vaccine, MenAfriVac, costs no more than USD 0.50 per dose.

Regular aspirin intake halves cancer risk, study finds Posted: 28 Oct 2011 05:27 AM PDT Scientists have discovered that taking regular aspirin halves the risk of developing hereditary cancers. The study -- which followed nearly 1,000 patients, in some cases for over 10 years -- found that those who had been taking a regular dose of aspirin had 50 per cent fewer incidents of hereditary cancer compared with those who were not taking aspirin.

Malaria mosquitoes putting up resistance Posted: 28 Oct 2011 05:21 AM PDT After a significant fall in malaria in Africa over recent years, the disease is making a disquieting return. The deployment of new, highly effective treatments and distribution of millions of insecticide treated bednets have helped check this terrible disease's progress. However, scientists have observed a new leap in the number of cases since the end of 2010 in the village of Dielmo, Senegal.

Ocean water salinity and color herald El Niño events Posted: 28 Oct 2011 05:21 AM PDT El Niño and La Niña, the climate's two 'enfants terribles,' arise with the onset of eastward migration of the tropical western Pacific's immense warm-water reservoir, the "warm pool". Researchers recently found two parameters useful for observing the way this pool moves: water salinity and color.

Tropical rainforests original generators of biodiversity Posted: 28 Oct 2011 05:21 AM PDT The tropical rainforests harbor a multitude of living resources. Where, when and how did this wealth of biodiversity appear? To find answers to these fundamental questions, biologists have realized the first evolutionary history of a family of plants characteristic of this ecosystem: palms (Arecaceae or Palmae).

Planets smashed into dust near supermassive black holes Posted: 28 Oct 2011 05:20 AM PDT Fat doughnut-shaped dust shrouds that obscure about half of supermassive black holes could be the result of high speed crashes between planets and asteroids, according to a new theory from an international team of astronomers.

Different paths to drug resistance in Leishmania: Evolution by changes in gene, region and chromosome number, not by mutation in genes Posted: 27 Oct 2011 02:35 PM PDT Two remarkable discoveries have been revealed by researchers into genome analysis of Leishmania parasites. These results uncovered a surprising level of variation at the genome structure level.

Vaccine for cattle offers hope to poorest farmers Posted: 27 Oct 2011 02:35 PM PDT A new approach to vaccinating cattle could help farmers worldwide, research suggests. Scientists have developed a technique using a harmless parasite, which lives in cows but has no effect on their health, to carry medicines into the animals' bloodstream.

Predicting how cancers will respond to chemo: New test determines whether tumor cells are already 'primed' for death Posted: 27 Oct 2011 11:58 AM PDT Challenging a half-century-old theory about why chemotherapy agents target cancer, scientists have devised a test that can predict how effective the drugs will be by determining whether tumor cells are already "primed" for death. The discovery suggests it may be possible to predict which cancer patients are most likely to benefit from chemotherapy, as well as to make chemotherapy drugs more effective by pushing tumor cells closer to the point of suicide.

Printed protection: Low-cost paper-based wireless sensor could help detect explosive devices Posted: 27 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT Researchers have developed a prototype wireless sensor capable of detecting trace amounts of a key ingredient found in many explosives. The device, which employs carbon nanotubes, is printed on paper or paper-like material.

How major signaling pathways are wired to our genome gives new insight into disease processes Posted: 27 Oct 2011 09:51 AM PDT Scientists have determined that master transcription factors determine the genes regulated by key signaling pathways. In this way, signaling pathways are targeted to genes that are most relevant to each cell type and tailor gene expression to control cell state, growth, differentiation, and death. By manipulating signaling pathways, scientists may find new therapies for cancer and other diseases or ways to push cells into more specialized states, such as neurons to treat nerve damage or insulin-producing beta cells for diabetes.

Childhood diet lower in fat and higher in fiber may lower risk for chronic disease in adulthood Posted: 27 Oct 2011 05:30 AM PDT A recent study has found that a childhood behavioral intervention to lower dietary intake of total fat and saturated fat and increase consumption of foods that are good sources of dietary fiber resulted in significantly lower fasting plasma glucose levels and lower systolic blood pressure when study participants were re-evaluated in young adulthood.

Older men with higher testosterone levels lose less muscle mass as they age Posted: 27 Oct 2011 05:30 AM PDT A recent study found that higher levels of testosterone were associated with reduced loss of lean muscle mass in older men, especially in those who were losing weight. In these men, higher testosterone levels were also associated with less loss of lower body strength.

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