ScienceDaily: Top News

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• NASA telescopes detect Jupiter-like storm on small star
• Suicide gene therapy kills prostate tumor cells
• Noise can't hide weak signals from this new receiver
• Cooperative catalysts offer unique route to alkenes
• New report calls for more consistent regulations for mobile app transportation
• New catalyst paves way for bio-based plastics, chemicals
• Treatment associated with changes in brain activity in borderline personality disorder
• Higher workloads can make freelance workers happier
• Healthy or sick? Tiny cell bubbles may hold the answer
• The days are getting longer
• New study finds nearly half of American Muslim doctors feel scrutinized on the job
• Analyzing options for increasing affordability of flood insurance
• Influence of Earth's history on the dawn of modern birds
• Poorer children nearly three times as likely to be obese, new study finds
• Assuring health for India's people: A call to action by leading academics
• Contraceptive implants, injections associated with repeat abortions
• Moderate drinking linked to reduced risk of death in early stage Alzheimer's disease
• Urban swans' genes make them plucky
• Active ingredient in magic mushrooms reduces anxiety, depression in cancer patients
• Sensation-seeking, reward sensitivity and early cannabis use
• Advanced thyroid cancer rate in some California counties is well above national average
• Plant compound found in spices, herbs increases brain connections
• LSD changes consciousness by reorganizing human brain networks

NASA telescopes detect Jupiter-like storm on small star Posted: 12 Dec 2015 04:57 AM PST Astronomers have discovered what appears to be a tiny star with a giant, cloudy storm, using data from NASA's Spitzer and Kepler space telescopes. The dark storm is akin to Jupiter's Great Red Spot: a persistent, raging storm larger than Earth.

Suicide gene therapy kills prostate tumor cells Posted: 12 Dec 2015 02:17 AM PST Results from a long-term clinical trial conducted by cancer researchers show that combining radiation treatment with 'suicide gene therapy' provides a safe and effective one-two punch against the disease.

Noise can't hide weak signals from this new receiver Posted: 11 Dec 2015 12:40 PM PST Electrical engineers have developed a receiver that can detect a weak, fast, randomly occurring signal. The study lays the groundwork for a new class of highly sensitive communication receivers and scientific instruments that can extract faint, non-repetitive signals from noise. The advance has applications in secure communication, electronic warfare, signal intelligence, remote sensing, astronomy and spectroscopy.

Cooperative catalysts offer unique route to alkenes Posted: 11 Dec 2015 12:40 PM PST Chemists have developed a new chemical approach to dehydrogenation, a reaction found in important processes such as the biosynthesis of essential fatty acids in the body and the commercial production of detergents, that combines the various advantages from existing methods.

New report calls for more consistent regulations for mobile app transportation Posted: 11 Dec 2015 12:40 PM PST Innovative transportation services such as car sharing, bike sharing, and transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft are changing mobility for millions of people, yet regulation of these services often varies greatly across geographic areas and industry segments.

New catalyst paves way for bio-based plastics, chemicals Posted: 11 Dec 2015 12:40 PM PST Researchers have developed a catalyst that easily converts bio-based ethanol to a widely used industrial chemical, paving the way for more environmentally friendly, bio-based plastics and products.

Treatment associated with changes in brain activity in borderline personality disorder Posted: 11 Dec 2015 11:51 AM PST According to newly published research, a specialized psychotherapy has been linked to changes in activation patterns in certain areas of the brain in patients with borderline personality disorder, suggesting its impact may go deeper than symptom change.

Higher workloads can make freelance workers happier Posted: 11 Dec 2015 11:51 AM PST As the hours of freelance or portfolio workers fluctuate, so does their well-being, finds a new study.

Healthy or sick? Tiny cell bubbles may hold the answer Posted: 11 Dec 2015 11:50 AM PST Scientists have uncovered biological pathways in the roundworm that provide insight into how tiny bubbles released by cells can have beneficial health effects, like promoting tissue repair, or may play a diabolical role and carry disease signals for cancer or neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

The days are getting longer Posted: 11 Dec 2015 11:50 AM PST Scientists are studying past changes in sea level in order to make accurate future predictions of this consequence of climate change, and they're looking down to Earth's core to do so. 'In order to fully understand the sea-level change that has occurred in the past century, we need to understand the dynamics of the flow in Earth's core' says one of the researchers.

New study finds nearly half of American Muslim doctors feel scrutinized on the job Posted: 11 Dec 2015 11:50 AM PST In a U.S. national survey of 255 Muslim American physicians, researchers found that nearly half of respondents felt greater scrutiny at work compared to their peers. Nearly one in four said workplace religious discrimination had taken place sometimes -- or more -- often during their career. The same percentage of Muslim American physicians believe they have been passed over for career advancement due to their religion.

Analyzing options for increasing affordability of flood insurance Posted: 11 Dec 2015 11:50 AM PST A new congressionally mandated report identifies an approach for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to evaluate policy options for making premiums through the National Flood Insurance Program more affordable for those who have limited ability to pay.

Influence of Earth's history on the dawn of modern birds Posted: 11 Dec 2015 11:50 AM PST The evolution of modern birds was greatly shaped by the history of our planet's geography and climate. New research finds that birds arose in what is now South America around 90 million years ago, and radiated extensively around the time of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction. The new research suggests that birds in South America survived this event and then moved around the world via multiple land bridges while diversifying during periods of global cooling.

Poorer children nearly three times as likely to be obese, new study finds Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:06 AM PST A new study has questioned why poorer children are at higher risk of obesity compared to their better-off peers. The link between relative poverty and childhood obesity turned out to be quite stark. At age 5, poor children were almost twice as likely to be obese compared with their better off peers. 6.6% of children from families in the poorest fifth of the sample were obese while the figure for the richest fifth is just 3.5%. By the age of 11 the gap has widened, nearly tripling to 7.9% of the poorest fifth are obese; for the best-off, the figure is 2.9%.

Assuring health for India's people: A call to action by leading academics Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:06 AM PST Experts call for a radical transformation in the architecture of India's healthcare delivery system, if the country is to achieve the government's vision of assuring health for all.

Contraceptive implants, injections associated with repeat abortions Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:06 AM PST Women who used contraceptive implants or injections after an initial termination were among those with an increased likelihood of a repeat abortion in the long term, finds a new study.

Moderate drinking linked to reduced risk of death in early stage Alzheimer's disease Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:06 AM PST Drinking two to three units of alcohol every day is linked to a reduced risk of death among people with early stage Alzheimer's disease, finds new research.

Urban swans' genes make them plucky Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:01 AM PST Swans' wariness is partly determined by their genes, new research shows. The research suggests that swans which are genetically predisposed to be timid are more likely to live in non-urban areas, and the findings could have important implications for releasing animals bred in captivity into the wild.

Active ingredient in magic mushrooms reduces anxiety, depression in cancer patients Posted: 10 Dec 2015 03:16 PM PST Psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms, decreased anxiety and depression in patients diagnosed with life-threatening cancer. New research shows that patients who received a psilocybin dose that altered perception and produced mystical-type experiences reported significantly less anxiety and depression compared with patients who received a low dose of the drug. The positive effects lasted 6 months.

Sensation-seeking, reward sensitivity and early cannabis use Posted: 10 Dec 2015 03:16 PM PST Sensation seeking, or the tendency to seek out exciting experiences, has been linked to addiction. Researchers have reported that sensation seeking is related to reward sensitivity in teens, and that a school-based intervention that targeted sensation seeking delays the onset of cannabis use, and slows the progression from light to heavy cannabis use in teens.

Advanced thyroid cancer rate in some California counties is well above national average Posted: 10 Dec 2015 11:51 AM PST There are several parts of California where, in a high percentage of people with thyroid cancer, the disease is already at an advanced stage by the time it is diagnosed, researchers report.

Plant compound found in spices, herbs increases brain connections Posted: 10 Dec 2015 11:49 AM PST Apigenin, a substance found in parsley, thyme, chamomile and red pepper, improves neuron formation and strengthens the connections between brain cells, new lab research demonstrates.

LSD changes consciousness by reorganizing human brain networks Posted: 10 Dec 2015 11:49 AM PST LSD alters consciousness, but the mechanism of how this happens has been elusive. Now researchers report that LSD interferes with the patterns of activation in brain networks that underlie human thought and behavior. The investigators used functional MRI scans and magnetoencephalography, and showed that LSD reduces connectivity within brain networks and reduces the extent to which separate networks remain distinct in their patterns of firing.

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