ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Health benefits of exercise may depend on cellular degradation
• Elusive Z- DNA found on nucleosomes
• Why do smells make some people sick?
• Chemical in personal care products (phthalates) may contribute to child obesity
• Italian shipwreck threatens to create second disaster at sea
• Catching a comet death on camera
• Gene critical to sense of smell in fruit fly identified
• Biodiversity crisis is worse than climate change, experts say
• Researchers engineer a switch to tame aggressive cancers
• Novel iron source: Newly identified iron absorption mechanism suggests that legumes could provide key to treating iron deficiency worldwide
• Low temperatures enhance ozone degradation above the Arctic
• Speed limit for birds: Researchers find critical speed above which birds- and drones- are sure to crash
• 'Senior' runners never stop pushing their limits in marathons

Health benefits of exercise may depend on cellular degradation Posted: 20 Jan 2012 03:45 PM PST The health benefits of exercise on blood sugar metabolism may come from the body's ability to devour itself.

Elusive Z- DNA found on nucleosomes Posted: 20 Jan 2012 03:30 PM PST New research shows that left-handed Z-DNA, normally only found at sites where DNA is being copied, can also form on nucleosomes. The structure of DNA which provides the blueprint for life has famously been described as a double helix. To save space inside the nucleus, DNA is tightly wound around proteins to form nucleosomes which are then further wound and compacted into chromatin, which is further compacted into chromosomes. But this familiar image of a right handed coil (also called B-DNA) is not the only form of DNA. At sites where DNA is being copied into RNA (the messenger which is used as the instruction to make proteins) the DNA needs to unwind, and, in a process of negative supercoiling, can form a left-handed variety of the DNA double helix (Z-DNA).

Why do smells make some people sick? Posted: 20 Jan 2012 03:29 PM PST Do you get a headache from the perfume of the lady next to you at the table? Do cleaning solutions at work make your nose itch? If you have symptoms prompted by everyday smells, it does not necessarily mean you are allergic but rather that you suffer from chemical intolerance. This hypersensitivity can be the result of an inability to get used to smells.

Chemical in personal care products (phthalates) may contribute to child obesity Posted: 20 Jan 2012 03:27 PM PST Researchers have found an association between exposure to the chemical group known as phthalates and obesity in young children – including increased body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference.

Italian shipwreck threatens to create second disaster at sea Posted: 20 Jan 2012 03:27 PM PST An expert on the protection of threatened marine ecosystems has commented on the potential for ecological disaster posed by the 2,300 tons of fuel oil still aboard the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia.

Catching a comet death on camera Posted: 19 Jan 2012 10:06 PM PST On July 6, 2011, a comet was caught doing something never seen before: die a scorching death as it flew too close to the sun. That the comet met its fate this way was no surprise -- but the chance to watch it first-hand amazed even the most seasoned comet watchers.

Gene critical to sense of smell in fruit fly identified Posted: 19 Jan 2012 10:04 PM PST Researchers have discovered that a gene called distal-less is critical to the fly's ability to receive, process and respond to smells.

Biodiversity crisis is worse than climate change, experts say Posted: 19 Jan 2012 10:03 PM PST Biodiversity is declining rapidly throughout the world. The challenges of conserving the world's species are perhaps even larger than mitigating the negative effects of global climate change, experts say.

Researchers engineer a switch to tame aggressive cancers Posted: 19 Jan 2012 10:03 PM PST A new imaging platform provides insight into the exact moment when cancer cells turn deadly. The new approach can modulate and monitor how the effects of a particular protein can affect the entire tumor in real-time.

Novel iron source: Newly identified iron absorption mechanism suggests that legumes could provide key to treating iron deficiency worldwide Posted: 19 Jan 2012 09:35 PM PST A groundbreaking study reveals the existence of at least two independent mechanisms for iron absorption from non-meat sources -- and a potential treatment for iron deficiency, the most common nutrient deficiency worldwide. The discovery of an alternative mechanism for iron absorption from vegetables and legumes may provide the key to helping solve iron deficiency by providing an alternative, affordable, and readily available source of iron.

Low temperatures enhance ozone degradation above the Arctic Posted: 19 Jan 2012 10:37 AM PST Extraordinarily cold temperatures in the winter of 2010/2011 caused the most massive destruction of the ozone layer above the Arctic so far: The mechanisms leading to the first ozone hole above the North Pole have now been investigated.

Speed limit for birds: Researchers find critical speed above which birds- and drones- are sure to crash Posted: 19 Jan 2012 10:37 AM PST Researchers find critical speed above which birds -- and drones -- are sure to crash.

'Senior' runners never stop pushing their limits in marathons Posted: 19 Jan 2012 07:20 AM PST Researchers have analyzed changes in participation and performance of runners aged 20 to 80 in the New York marathon over the last 30 years. The results are largely unexpected: the best male marathon runners over 65 and the best female marathon runners over 45 have consistently improved their performance over the last 30 years.

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