السبت، 17 مارس 2012

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Icarus experiment measures neutrino speed: Even neutrinos are not faster than light

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 05:47 PM PDT

The ICARUS experiment at the Italian Gran Sasso laboratory has reported a new measurement of the time of flight of neutrinos from CERN to Gran Sasso. The ICARUS measurement, using last year's short pulsed beam from CERN, indicates that the neutrinos do not exceed the speed of light on their journey between the two laboratories. This is at odds with the initial measurement reported by OPERA last September.

Fundamental steps needed now in global redesign of Earth system governance, experts say

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 04:53 PM PDT

Some 32 social scientists and researchers from around the world have concluded that fundamental reforms of global environmental governance are needed to avoid dangerous changes in the Earth system. The scientists argued in the journal Science that the time is now for a "constitutional moment" in world politics.

NASA sees cyclone Lua strengthening for March 17 landfall

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 03:57 PM PDT

Northern Australia's Pilbara coast is under warnings, alerts and watches as powerful Cyclone Lua nears for a landfall. NASA's Aqua satellite has been providing infrared, visible and microwave data on Lua that have shown forecasters the storm is strengthening on its approach to land.

Common virus can lead to life-threatening conditions in children

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 02:51 PM PDT

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a common virus that infects the lungs and breathing passage ways. Though it may only produce minor cold symptoms in adults, it can lead to serious illness in young children and those with compromised immune systems.

Ultracold experiments heat up quantum research

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 02:51 PM PDT

Physicists have experimentally demonstrated for the first time that atoms chilled to temperatures near absolute zero may behave like seemingly unrelated natural systems of vastly different scales, offering potential insights into links between the atomic realm and deep questions of cosmology.

Using virtual worlds to 'soft control' people's movements in the real one

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 12:38 PM PDT

Computer science researchers have developed a way to exert limited control on how people move, pushing them out of their regular travel patterns. The key: tapping into some of their cell phone applications. The findings could elicit a broader range of user-collected data by driving foot traffic to under-utilized areas.

Past in monsoon changes linked to major shifts in Indian civilizations

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 11:58 AM PDT

A fundamental shift in the Indian monsoon has occurred over the last few millennia, from a steady humid monsoon that favored lush vegetation to extended periods of drought, researchers report. Their study has implications for our understanding of the monsoon's response to climate change.

Who wouldn't pay a penny for a sports car? The right strategy doesn't guarantee advantage in auctions, real estate or stock market

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 11:57 AM PDT

In a study of lowest unique bid auctions, researchers asked: Who wins these auctions, the strategic gambler or the lucky one? The answer is the lucky. But, ironically, it's a lucky person using a winning strategy. The researchers found that all players intuitively use the right strategy, and that turns the auction into a game of pure chance. The findings provide insight into playing the stock market, real estate market and other gambles.

Nanopills release drugs directly from the inside of cells

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 11:57 AM PDT

Researchers in Spain have created nanoparticles which can release drugs directly from the cells' interior. The technology, which has been named "nanopills," was licensed to a firm that has verified its tolerance by administering it in vivo.

Sharing patents with competitors may encourage innovation as probability for market success increases, study suggests

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 11:57 AM PDT

Firms that make a previously patented innovation accessible to competitors increase overall likelihood of improving upon that breakthrough while also raising profits for the original innovator and market welfare, according to a new study.

Gambling addictions expert warns of dangers of internet gambling, especially on youth

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 11:56 AM PDT

Participating in an online March Madness bracket or fantasy sport league is harmless fun for most people, but for someone with a gambling addiction, it can be a dangerous temptation. "Now, with states entertaining the possibility of increasing revenue through legalizing internet gambling, it is even more important to pay attention to groups that may be vulnerable to problem gambling, particularly youth," says Renee Cunningham-Williams, a gambling addictions expert. "Internet gambling provides youth with increased opportunities to gamble, which is particularly concerning because this generation is arguably the most technologically savvy of any generation in history."

Highly exposed to phthalates as fetuses, female mice have altered reproductive lives

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:26 AM PDT

Many environmental and public health officials are concerned about the potential health effects of phthalates, which are common chemicals used to make plastics softer and more pliable. In the first study to examine what effect in utero doses of phthalates have on the reproductive system of mice, toxicologists found that extremely high doses were associated with significant changes, such as a shortened reproductive lifespan and abnormal cell growth in mammary glands.

Live cells 'printed' using standard inkjet printer

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:26 AM PDT

Researchers have found a way to create temporary holes in the membranes of live cells using a standard inkjet printer. Creating temporary pores allow researchers to put molecules inside of cells that wouldn't otherwise fit, and study how the cells react.

Glacier-fed river systems threatened by climate change

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:26 AM PDT

As glaciers vanish due to global warming, so will those species dependent upon the icy runoff.

Checking off symptoms online affects our perceptions of risk

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:26 AM PDT

You've been feeling under the weather. You Google your symptoms. A half-hour later, you're convinced it's nothing serious -- or afraid you have cancer. More than 60 percent of Americans get their health information online, and a majority of those decide whether to see a doctor based on what they find. "Wow, this is an era of self-diagnosis," thought Arizona State University psychologist Virginia Kwan, learning that statistic. Psychologists have asked how might online information affect individual health decisions?

Increase in Arctic shipping is risk to marine mammals

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:25 AM PDT

A rapid increase in shipping in the formerly ice-choked waterways of the Arctic poses a significant increase in risk to the region's marine mammals and the local communities that rely on them for food security and cultural identity, according to experts.

Early spring drives butterfly population declines: 'Ahead-of-time' snowmelt triggers chains of events in the Mormon Fritillary butterfly

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 07:16 AM PDT

Early snowmelt caused by climate change in the Colorado Rocky Mountains snowballs into two chains of events: a decrease in the number of flowers, which, in turn, decreases available nectar. The result is decline in a population of the Mormon Fritillary butterfly, Speyeria mormonia.

Straintronics: Engineers create piezoelectric graphene

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:45 AM PDT

By depositing atoms on one side of a grid of the "miracle material" graphene, researchers ave engineered piezoelectricity into a nanoscale material for the first time. The implications could yield dramatic degree of control in nanotechnology.

Brain imaging study finds evidence of basis for caregiving impulse

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:45 AM PDT

Distinct patterns of activity -- which may indicate a predisposition to care for infants -- appear in the brains of adults who view an image of an infant face -- even when the child is not theirs, according to a study by an international team of researchers.

Nano rescues skin: Shrimp shell nanotech for wound healing and anti-aging face cream

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:44 AM PDT

Nanoparticles containing chitosan have been shown to have effective antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Escherichia coli. The materials could be used as a protective wound-healing material to avoid opportunistic infection as well as working to facilitate wound healing.

Lyme disease surge predicted for Northeastern US: Due to acorns and mice, not mild winter

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:44 AM PDT

The northeastern US should prepare for a surge in Lyme disease this spring. And we can blame fluctuations in acorns and mouse populations, not the mild winter.

First step taken to image ultra-fast movements in chemical reactions

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:40 AM PDT

Researchers have fired ultra-fast shots of light at oxygen, nitrogen and carbon monoxide molecules as part of a development aimed at mapping the astonishingly quick movements of atoms within molecules, as well as the charges that surround them. The ultra-short laser that spans only a few hundred attoseconds – an attosecond is equivalent to one quintillionth of a second – was fired in a sample of molecules and could pave the way towards imaging the movement of atoms and their electrons as they undergo a chemical reaction – one of the holy grails of chemistry research.

Glittering Jewels of Messier 9

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:40 AM PDT

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced the so far most detailed image so far of Messier 9, a globular star cluster located close to the centre of the galaxy. This ball of stars is too faint to see with the naked eye, yet Hubble can see over 250 000 individual stars shining in it.

Australian saltwater crocodiles are world’s most powerful biters

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:34 AM PDT

Marine biologists have been pondering a particularly painful-sounding question: How hard do alligators and crocodiles bite? The answer is a bite force value of 3,700 pounds for a 17-foot saltwater crocodile (as well as tooth pressures of 350,000 pounds per square inch). That's the highest bite force ever recorded.

New technique lights up the creation of holograms

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:34 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a unique way to create full-color holograms with the aid of surface plasmons.

White rice increases risk of Type 2 diabetes

Posted: 15 Mar 2012 07:57 PM PDT

The risk of Type 2 diabetes is significantly increased if white rice is eaten regularly, claims a new study.

European grasslands challenge rainforests as the most species-rich spaces on Earth

Posted: 15 Mar 2012 07:57 PM PDT

The city of Manila holds the human world record for the most densely populated space and now an international team of ecologists are seeking the natural equivalent, the most species rich area on earth. The team's findings reveal the record is contested between South America's tropical rainforests and Central European meadows.

Deprived of sex, jilted flies drink more alcohol

Posted: 15 Mar 2012 11:50 AM PDT

Scientists have discovered that a tiny molecule in the fly's brain called neuropeptide F governs this behavior—as the levels of the molecule change in their brains, the flies' behavior changes as well.

Suppressing feelings of compassion makes people feel less moral

Posted: 15 Mar 2012 08:04 AM PDT

It's normal to not always act on your sense of compassion -- for example, by walking past a beggar on the street without giving them any money. Maybe you want to save your money or avoid engaging with a homeless person. But even if suppressing compassion avoids these costs, it may carry a personal cost of its own, according to a new study.
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