ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Impact of land use activity in the Amazon basin evaluated
• Unusual 'tulip' creature discovered
• Inventory lists 19,232 newly discovered species during latest count
• Computer simulations revealing how methane and hydrogen pack into gas hydrates could enlighten alternative fuel production and carbon dioxide storage
• Most distant dwarf galaxy detected
• Good intentions ease pain, add to pleasure
• Saving dogs with spinal cord injuries
• Ancient popcorn discovered in Peru
• Study maps destructive path from cigarette to emphysema
• Solving the mystery of an old diabetes drug that may reduce cancer risk
• Important gene-regulation proteins pinpointed by new method
• Climate balancing: Sea-level rise vs. surface temperature change rates
• Faster-than-fast Fourier transform
• Breast cancer cells targeted, then burned, by gold-filled silicon wafers
• 'Miracle tree' substance produces clean drinking water inexpensively and sustainably
• First link between potentially toxic PFCs in office air and in office workers' blood
• Contact lenses provide extended pain relief to laser eye surgery patients
• Lack of sleep makes your brain hungry
• Ulcer-causing bacteria baffled by mucus: Researchers discover impact of viscoelasticity on collective behavior of swimming microorganisms
• Extremely rare turtle is released into the wild
• Transparency limits on transparent conducting oxides identified
• Enhancing cognition in older adults also changes personality
• Does marriage really make people happier? Study finds few well-being advantages to marriage over cohabitation
• Scientists create novel RNA repair technology
• Polar growth at the bacterial scale reveals potential new targets for antibiotic therapy
• Mechanism by which newly approved melanoma drug accelerates secondary skin cancers uncovered
• New gene discovery unlocks mystery to epilepsy in infants
• Arctic plants face an uncertain future
• Anti-malaria drug synthesized with the help of oxygen and light
• Novel way to prevent drug-induced liver injury
• Good parents are predictable, at least when it comes to corn

Impact of land use activity in the Amazon basin evaluated Posted: 18 Jan 2012 02:37 PM PST Portions of the Amazon basin are experiencing a transition in energy and water cycles. Evidence suggests that the Amazon may also be transitioning from a net carbon sink to a net source. This research shows that although the Amazon is resilient to individual disturbances, such as drought, multiple disturbances override this, increasing the vulnerability of forest ecosystems to degradation. This review provides a framework for understanding the associations between natural variability and drivers of change.

Unusual 'tulip' creature discovered Posted: 18 Jan 2012 02:36 PM PST A bizarre creature that lived in the ocean more than 500 million years ago has emerged from the famous Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies. Officially named Siphusauctum gregarium, fossils reveal a tulip-shaped creature that is about the length of a dinner knife (approximately 20 centimeters or eight inches) and has a unique filter feeding system.

Inventory lists 19,232 newly discovered species during latest count Posted: 18 Jan 2012 02:32 PM PST More than half of the 19,232 species newly known to science in 2009, the most recent calendar year of compilation, were insects – 9,738 or 50.6 percent – according to the 2011 State of Observed Species.

Computer simulations revealing how methane and hydrogen pack into gas hydrates could enlighten alternative fuel production and carbon dioxide storage Posted: 18 Jan 2012 02:32 PM PST For some time, researchers have explored flammable ice for low-carbon or alternative fuel or as a place to store carbon dioxide. Now, a computer analysis of the ice and gas compound, known as a gas hydrate, reveals key details of its structure. The results show that hydrates can hold hydrogen at an optimal capacity of 5 weight-percent, a value that meets the goal of a U.S. Department of Energy standard and makes gas hydrates practical and affordable.

Most distant dwarf galaxy detected Posted: 18 Jan 2012 01:51 PM PST Scientists have long struggled to detect the dim dwarf galaxies that orbit our own galaxy. So it came as a surprise on Jan. 18 when a team of astronomers using Keck II telescope's adaptive optics has announced the discovery of a dwarf galaxy halfway across the universe.

Good intentions ease pain, add to pleasure Posted: 18 Jan 2012 01:51 PM PST A nurse's tender loving care really does ease the pain of a medical procedure, and grandma's cookies really do taste better, if we perceive them to be made with love -- suggests newly published research. The findings have many real-world applications, including in medicine, relationships, parenting and business.

Saving dogs with spinal cord injuries Posted: 18 Jan 2012 12:53 PM PST Dogs with spinal cord injuries may soon benefit from an experimental drug currently being tested by researchers — work that they hope will one day help people with similar injuries.

Ancient popcorn discovered in Peru Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:36 AM PST People living along the coast of Peru were eating popcorn 1,000 years earlier than previously reported and before ceramic pottery was used there, according to a new article.

Study maps destructive path from cigarette to emphysema Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:36 AM PST Scientists described the track the toxic smoke takes through the tissues and how they accomplish their destructive work.

Solving the mystery of an old diabetes drug that may reduce cancer risk Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:23 AM PST Researchers now report on how the diabetes drug metformin potentially reduces cancer risk.

Important gene-regulation proteins pinpointed by new method Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:23 AM PST A novel technique precisely pinpoints the location of proteins that read and regulate chromosomes. The order of these proteins determines whether a brain cell, a liver cell, or a cancer cell is formed. Until now, it has been exceedingly difficult to determine exactly where such proteins bind to the chromosome, and therefore how they work. The new technique has the potential to take high-resolution snapshots of proteins as they regulate or miss-regulate an entire genome.

Climate balancing: Sea-level rise vs. surface temperature change rates Posted: 18 Jan 2012 09:30 AM PST Engineering our way out of global climate warming may not be as easy as simply reducing the incoming solar energy, according to a climate scientists. Designing the approach to control both sea level rise and rates of surface air temperature changes requires a balancing act to accommodate the diverging needs of different locations.

Faster-than-fast Fourier transform Posted: 18 Jan 2012 09:30 AM PST Researchers have developed a new algorithm that, in a large range of practically important cases, improves on the fast Fourier transform. Under some circumstances, the improvement can be dramatic -- a tenfold increase in speed. The new algorithm could be particularly useful for image compression, enabling, say, smartphones to wirelessly transmit large video files without draining their batteries or consuming their monthly bandwidth allotments.

Breast cancer cells targeted, then burned, by gold-filled silicon wafers Posted: 18 Jan 2012 09:28 AM PST By shining infrared light on specially designed, gold-filled silicon wafers, scientists have successfully targeted and burned breast cancer cells. If the technology is shown to work in human clinical trials, it could provide patients a non-invasive alternative to surgical ablation, and could be used in conjunction with traditional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, to make those treatments more effective.

'Miracle tree' substance produces clean drinking water inexpensively and sustainably Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:20 AM PST A natural substance obtained from seeds of the "miracle tree" could purify and clarify water inexpensively and sustainably in the developing world, where more than 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water, scientists report.

First link between potentially toxic PFCs in office air and in office workers' blood Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:20 AM PST In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists are reporting that the indoor air in offices is an important source of worker exposure to potentially toxic substances released by carpeting, furniture, paint and other items. Their report documents a link between levels of these so-called polyfluorinated compounds in office air and in the blood of workers.

Contact lenses provide extended pain relief to laser eye surgery patients Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:20 AM PST Scientists are reporting development of contact lenses that could provide a continuous supply of anesthetic medication to the eyes of patients who undergo laser eye surgery -- an advance that could relieve patients of the burden of repeatedly placing drops of medicine into their eyes every few hours for several days.

Lack of sleep makes your brain hungry Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:17 AM PST New research shows that a specific brain region that contributes to a person's appetite sensation is more activated in response to food images after one night of sleep loss than after one night of normal sleep. Poor sleep habits can therefore affect people's risk of becoming overweight in the long run.

Ulcer-causing bacteria baffled by mucus: Researchers discover impact of viscoelasticity on collective behavior of swimming microorganisms Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:17 AM PST A new study demonstrates how introducing certain polymers—like those found in human mucus and saliva—into an aquatic environment makes it significantly more difficult for ulcer-causing bacteria and other microorganisms to coordinate.

Extremely rare turtle is released into the wild Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:17 AM PST Biologists have successfully released a Southern River terrapin (Batagur affinis) – one of the most endangered turtles on Earth – into the Sre Ambel River in Cambodia.

Transparency limits on transparent conducting oxides identified Posted: 18 Jan 2012 07:15 AM PST Computational materials researchers have used cutting-edge calculations to determine fundamental optical transparency limits in conducting oxide material tin oxide.

Enhancing cognition in older adults also changes personality Posted: 18 Jan 2012 07:15 AM PST A program designed to boost cognition in older adults also increased their openness to new experiences, researchers report, demonstrating for the first time that a non-drug intervention in older adults can change a personality trait once thought to be fixed throughout the lifespan.

Does marriage really make people happier? Study finds few well-being advantages to marriage over cohabitation Posted: 18 Jan 2012 07:13 AM PST Married couples experience few advantages for psychological well-being, health, or social ties compared to unmarried couples who live together, according to a new study. While both marriage and cohabitation provide benefits over being single, these reduce over time following a honeymoon period.

Scientists create novel RNA repair technology Posted: 17 Jan 2012 04:15 PM PST Scientists have identified a compound that can help repair a specific type of defect in RNA, a type of genetic material. The methods in the new study could accelerate the development of therapeutics to treat a variety of incurable diseases such as Huntington's disease, Spinocerebellar ataxia, and Kennedy disease.

Polar growth at the bacterial scale reveals potential new targets for antibiotic therapy Posted: 17 Jan 2012 04:14 PM PST Microbiologists have identified a new bacterial growth process -- one that occurs at a single end or pole of the cell instead of uniform, dispersed growth along the long axis of the cell -- that could have implications in the development of new antibacterial strategies.

Mechanism by which newly approved melanoma drug accelerates secondary skin cancers uncovered Posted: 17 Jan 2012 04:14 PM PST Patients with metastatic melanoma taking the recently approved drug vemurafenib (Zelboraf®) responded well to the twice daily pill, but some of them developed a different, secondary skin cancer. Now, researchers have elucidated the mechanism by which vemurafenib excels at fighting melanoma but also allows for the development of skin squamous cell carcinomas.

New gene discovery unlocks mystery to epilepsy in infants Posted: 17 Jan 2012 11:54 AM PST Researchers have come a step closer to unlocking a mystery that causes epileptic seizures in babies. Benign familial infantile epilepsy has been recognized for some time as infantile seizures, without fever, that run in families but the cause has so far eluded researchers. However, clinical researchers have now discovered a gene.

Arctic plants face an uncertain future Posted: 17 Jan 2012 11:37 AM PST New research shows that a warmer climate will have quite different consequences for plant species in the Arctic. While most species are expected to lose part of their current habitat, the genetic consequences will differ markedly among species. The research results will have major impact on future conservation efforts.

Anti-malaria drug synthesized with the help of oxygen and light Posted: 17 Jan 2012 11:37 AM PST In the future it should be possible to produce the best anti-malaria drug, artemisinin, more economically and in sufficient volumes for all patients.

Novel way to prevent drug-induced liver injury Posted: 15 Jan 2012 11:00 AM PST Investigators have developed a novel strategy to protect the liver from drug-induced injury and improve associated drug safety. The team reports that inhibiting a type of cell-to-cell communication can protect against damage caused by liver-toxic drugs such as acetaminophen.

Good parents are predictable, at least when it comes to corn Posted: 15 Jan 2012 10:59 AM PST According to a relatively new insight in plant research, there is no single gene strongly controlling growth. Nevertheless, in order to breed new varieties of corn with a higher yield faster than ever before, researchers are relying on a trick: early selection of the most promising parent plants based on their chemical and genetic makeup, as well as on new statistical analysis procedures.

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