ScienceDaily: Top News

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• How can Lyme disease be prevented and controlled?
• Fish mimics octopus that mimics fish
• Benefits of statin therapy may extend beyond lowering lipids
• Salt water alone unlikely to halt Burmese python invasion
• New gene that regulates body weight discovered
• Fish oil during pregnancy does not protect against excessive adipose tissue development, study suggests
• Ecologists call for screening imported plants to prevent a new wave of invasive species
• No more free rides for 'piggy-backing' viruses
• Russian runoff freshening Canadian Arctic, NASA finds
• 'Nanowiggles:' Scientists discover graphene nanomaterials with tunable functionality in electronics
• inflammatory bowel disease emerges as a global disease
• Cancer-killing compound spares healthy cells
• New computer model explains lakes and storms on Saturn's moon Titan
• Experimental vaccine partially protects monkeys from HIV-like infection
• Leaping lizards and dinosaurs inspire robot design
• Magnetically levitated flies offer clues to future of life in space
• Flipped from head to toe: 100 years of continental drift theory
• Antiestrogen therapy may decrease risk for melanoma
• Dried licorice root fights the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease, study finds
• New materials remove carbon dioxide from smokestacks, tailpipes and even the air
• How male spiders use eavesdropping to one-up their rivals
• Protein that may represent new target for treating type 1 diabetes identified
• In ancient Pompeii, trash and tombs went hand in hand
• One of the most porous materials ever discovered
• A gene for depression localized
• Smoky pink core of Omega Nebula
• Relay race with single atoms: New ways of manipulating matter
• The Bechstein's bat, more Mediterranean than thought
• Major variation in bladder cancer subtype trends highlights need for focused research
• Climate change models may vasty underestimate extinctions

How can Lyme disease be prevented and controlled? Posted: 04 Jan 2012 02:48 PM PST A new article assesses the potential reasons for the continued lack of success in prevention and control of Lyme disease and identifies areas where additional knowledge could be used to improve Lyme disease prevention and control strategies.

Fish mimics octopus that mimics fish Posted: 04 Jan 2012 12:37 PM PST Nature's game of intimidation and imitation comes full circle in the waters of Indonesia, where scientists have recorded for the first time an association between the black-marble jawfish and the mimic octopus.

Benefits of statin therapy may extend beyond lowering lipids Posted: 04 Jan 2012 12:37 PM PST A new study has identified a molecular pathway that leads to abnormal cardiovascular blood clotting and turned it off using a popular class of cholesterol-lowering drugs, statins.

Salt water alone unlikely to halt Burmese python invasion Posted: 04 Jan 2012 12:37 PM PST Invasive Burmese python hatchlings from the Florida Everglades can withstand exposure to salt water long enough to potentially expand their range through ocean and estuarine environments.

New gene that regulates body weight discovered Posted: 04 Jan 2012 12:37 PM PST While studying a brain protein related to the involuntary body movements that are side effects of drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia, a pharmacy professor discovered that the protein also plays a role in regulating body weight.

Fish oil during pregnancy does not protect against excessive adipose tissue development, study suggests Posted: 04 Jan 2012 12:37 PM PST Is obesity in infants "programmed" in the womb? Previously, researchers assumed that consumption of "bad" fats during pregnancy contribute to excessive infant adipose tissue growth and that "good" omega-3 fatty acids prevent expansive adipose tissue development. A new study showed no evidence to support this "perinatal programming" theory.

Ecologists call for screening imported plants to prevent a new wave of invasive species Posted: 04 Jan 2012 12:37 PM PST A recent analysis suggests that climate change predicted for the United States will boost demand for imported drought- and heat-tolerant landscaping plants from Africa and the Middle East. This greatly increases the risk that a new wave of invasives will overrun native ecosystems in the way kudzu, Oriental bittersweet and purple loosestrife have in the past, members of the international team say.

No more free rides for 'piggy-backing' viruses Posted: 04 Jan 2012 12:37 PM PST Scientists have determined the structure of the enzyme endomannosidase, significantly advancing our understanding of how a group of devastating human viruses including HIV and Hepatitis C hijack human enzymes to reproduce and cause disease.

Russian runoff freshening Canadian Arctic, NASA finds Posted: 04 Jan 2012 11:21 AM PST A new study allays concerns that melting Arctic sea ice could be increasing the amount of freshwater in the Arctic enough to have an impact on the global "ocean conveyor belt" that redistributes heat around our planet. Researchers detected a previously unknown redistribution of freshwater during the past decade from the Eurasian half of the Arctic Ocean to the Canadian half. Yet despite the redistribution, they found no change in the net amount of freshwater in the Arctic that might signal a change in the conveyor belt.

'Nanowiggles:' Scientists discover graphene nanomaterials with tunable functionality in electronics Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:54 AM PST Scientists have used supercomputers to uncover the properties of a promising form of graphene, known as graphene nanowiggles. What they found was that graphitic nanoribbons can be segmented into several different surface structures called nanowiggles. Each of these structures produces highly different magnetic and conductive properties. The findings provide a blueprint that scientists can use to literally pick and choose a graphene nanostructure that is tuned and customized for a different task or device.

inflammatory bowel disease emerges as a global disease Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:54 AM PST The incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease are increasing with time and in different regions around the world.

Cancer-killing compound spares healthy cells Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:48 AM PST Lithocholic acid (LCA), naturally produced in the liver during digestion, has been seriously underestimated. A new study shows that LCA can kill several types of cancer cells, such as those found in some brain tumors and breast cancer.

New computer model explains lakes and storms on Saturn's moon Titan Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:48 AM PST Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is an alien world covered in a thick atmosphere with abundant methane. Titan boasts methane clouds and fog, as well as rainstorms and plentiful lakes of liquid methane. The origins of many of these features, however, remain puzzling to scientists. Now, researchers have developed a computer model of Titan's atmosphere and methane cycle that, for the first time, explains many of these phenomena in a relatively simple and coherent way.

Experimental vaccine partially protects monkeys from HIV-like infection Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:48 AM PST New vaccine research in monkeys suggests that scientists are homing in on the critical ingredients of a protective HIV vaccine and identifies new HIV vaccine candidates to test in human clinical trials.

Leaping lizards and dinosaurs inspire robot design Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:48 AM PST A new study of how lizards use their tails when leaping through the trees shows that they swing the tail upward to avoid pitching forward after a stumble. Theropod dinosaurs -- the ancestors of birds -- may have done the same. A robot model confirms the value of an actively controlled tail, demonstrating that adding a tail can stabilize robots on uneven terrain and after unexpected falls -- critical to successful search and rescue operations.

Magnetically levitated flies offer clues to future of life in space Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:32 AM PST Using powerful magnets to levitate fruit flies can provide vital clues to how biological organisms are affected by weightless conditions in space, researchers say.

Flipped from head to toe: 100 years of continental drift theory Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:31 AM PST Exactly 100 years ago Alfred Wegener presented his theory of continental drift to the public for the first time. Modern plate tectonics confirmed his ideas by flipping them upside down.

Antiestrogen therapy may decrease risk for melanoma Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:51 AM PST Women with breast cancer who take antiestrogen supplements may be decreasing their risk for melanoma, according to a new study.

Dried licorice root fights the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease, study finds Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:51 AM PST Scientists are reporting identification of two substances in licorice -- used extensively in Chinese traditional medicine -- that kill the major bacteria responsible for tooth decay and gum disease, the leading causes of tooth loss in children and adults. In a new study, they say that these substances could have a role in treating and preventing tooth decay and gum disease.

New materials remove carbon dioxide from smokestacks, tailpipes and even the air Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:51 AM PST Scientists are reporting discovery of an improved way to remove carbon dioxide -- the major greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming -- from smokestacks and other sources, including the atmosphere. The process achieves some of the highest carbon dioxide removal capacity ever reported for real-world conditions where the air contains moisture.

How male spiders use eavesdropping to one-up their rivals Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:50 AM PST Researchers have made a new discovery into the complex world of spiders that reflects what some might perceive as similar behavior in human society. As male wolf spiders go searching for a mate, it appears they eavesdrop, match and even try to outdo the mating dances of their successful rivals, a behavior seen mainly in vertebrate animals.

Protein that may represent new target for treating type 1 diabetes identified Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:50 AM PST Researchers have discovered a new protein that may play a critical role in how the human body regulates blood sugar levels. The research team says the protein may represent a new target for treating type 1 diabetes.

In ancient Pompeii, trash and tombs went hand in hand Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:50 AM PST Trash and tombs went hand in hand in ancient Pompeii. That's according to research that provides new insights into daily life of that city before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79.

One of the most porous materials ever discovered Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:19 AM PST The delivery of pharmaceuticals into the human body or the storage of voluminous quantities of gas molecules could now be better controlled, thanks to a new study. Chemists have posed an alternative approach toward building porous materials.

A gene for depression localized Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:19 AM PST Psychiatric disorders can be described on many levels, the most traditional of which are subjective descriptions of the experience of being depressed and the use of rating scales that quantify depressive symptoms. Over the past two decades, research has developed other strategies for describing the biological underpinnings of depression, including volumetric brain measurements using magnetic resonance imaging and the patterns of gene expression in white blood cells.

Smoky pink core of Omega Nebula Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:19 AM PST A new image of the Omega Nebula, captured by ESO's Very Large Telescope, is one of the sharpest of this object ever taken from the ground. It shows the dusty, rose-colored central parts of this famous stellar nursery and reveals extraordinary detail in the cosmic landscape of gas clouds, dust and newborn stars.

Relay race with single atoms: New ways of manipulating matter Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:17 AM PST A relay reaction of hydrogen atoms at a single-molecule level has been observed in real-space. This way of manipulating matter could open up new ways to exchange information between novel molecular devices in future electronics.

The Bechstein's bat, more Mediterranean than thought Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:17 AM PST The Bechstein's bat or Myotis bechsteinii lives in deciduous forests. It used to be very common in the Holocene era, but today there are only a few dispersed groups, despite the fact that a colony can be found almost anywhere in Europe. It has been rendered vulnerable by human interference and forest destruction. And this has even led to confusion about its origin.

Major variation in bladder cancer subtype trends highlights need for focused research Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:17 AM PST A major study of 128,000 patients has found significant differences between the most common cancer tumors growing inside and on the surface of the bladder. Papillary transitional cell carcinoma rose by 56% between 1973 and 2007 and non-papillary transitional cell carcinoma fell by 53% over the same period, suggest that they may be two disease entities with different causes. This significant finding underlines the importance of future research differentiating between these two subtypes.

Climate change models may vasty underestimate extinctions Posted: 03 Jan 2012 06:10 PM PST Predictions of the loss of animal and plant diversity around the world are common under models of future climate change. But a new study shows that because these climate models don't account for species competition and movement, they could grossly underestimate future extinctions.

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