ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Antarctica could be headed for major meltdown
• Fat cells outlive skinny ones
• College psychology classes lack curriculum about disabilities
• Shrinking 3-D technology for comfortable smart phone viewing
• Underwater robots can be programmed to make independent decisions
• Clinical manual addresses how to approach organ donation after euthanasia
• Dodos might have been quite intelligent, new research finds
• Predicted impact of different alcohol taxation, pricing policies on health inequalities
• Health and development in infants after mefloquine antimalarial treatment during pregnancy
• Natural sugar may treat fatty liver disease
• Old data may provide new insights on honey bee populations
• Food-based proteins discovered as key to child malnutrition in developing countries
• New recipe for biofuel: Genetic diversity can lead to more productive growth
• Imaging technique may help discover Earth-like planets
• El Niño prolongs longest global coral bleaching event
• Visualizing the emotional power of music
• Urban soils release surprising amounts of carbon dioxide
• Science achievement gaps begin by kindergarten
• New surgical tool keeps orthopedic procedures on target
• Two forms of radiosurgery for brain metastases are equally effective
• New therapeutic pathway may keep cancer cells turned 'off'
• Everyday mindfulness linked to healthy glucose levels
• New study shows emotional cost for parents who put on a happy face for their children
• Researchers tune mechanical properties of radiation-sensitive material for biomedical use
• Controlling ultrafast electrons in motion
• Critical care resuscitation unit speeds up transfer of critically ill patients
• 'Fear itself' can help restore ecosystems, study suggests
• Childhood leukemia patients from high-poverty areas more likely to suffer early relapse
• What bats reveal about how humans focus attention
• Detecting hidden malicious ads
• Influenza viruses can hide from the immune system
• For weather forecasting, precise observations matter more than butterflies
• It's great to have siblings, but they're also hard work
• How sweet can you get? Plant-derived sweetener thaumatin becomes 1.7 times sweeter after amino acid swap
• New study finds our desire for 'like-minded others' is hard-wired
• Mystery of Dracula orchids' mimicry is unraveled with a 3-D printer
• Body's immune system may play larger role in Alzheimer's disease than thought
• New virus transmission route discovered in pigs
• Vaginal delivery doubles the risk of stress incontinence compared to caesarean section
• Identification of the mechanism by which cells interact with their milieu
• Subsurface carbon dioxide storage: Risks for biogeochemical cycles in the soil
• Nano - dangerously big
• How the microenvironment can guide secretory cavities into tubes by mechanical forces
• Marketing key to return on corporate social responsibility investment, study shows
• Survivors of sexual abuse find support in online 'anonymity'
• Temperature changes wreak ecological havoc in deforested areas, study finds
• Searing heat waves detailed in study of future climate
• Are lung cancer survivors getting too many costly scans for no reason? Study suggests so
• Physicists zoom in on gluons' contribution to proton spin
• Recombinase Brec1 trend-setting for future HIV therapy
• Stroke patients' speech loss linked to loss of brain interconnections
• Television exposure directly linked to a thin body ideal in women
• New reports show positive, negative effects of Louisiana school voucher program
• Gene linking sleep, seasonal affective disorder found
• Longer, intense rehabilitation boosts recovery after brain injury

Antarctica could be headed for major meltdown Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:36 AM PST In the early Miocene Epoch, temperatures were 10 degrees warmer and ocean levels were 50 feet higher -- well above the ground level of modern-day New York, Tokyo and Berlin. Now a geochemist reports finding striking similarities between climate change patterns today and millions of years ago.

Fat cells outlive skinny ones Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:33 AM PST Cells with higher fat content outlive lean cells, shows a new study. This study has implications for larger organisms, such as humans, as the results support the phenomenon known as the "obesity paradox." This concept shows that overweight people have the lowest all-cause mortality rates while fit people, oddly enough, have mortality rates comparable to those categorized as slightly obese.

College psychology classes lack curriculum about disabilities Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:33 AM PST Psychology classes are among the most popular courses on college campuses today, but new research shows that many of them lack important information about the largest single minority group in the US -- people with disabilities.

Shrinking 3-D technology for comfortable smart phone viewing Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:32 AM PST A new display with comfortable 3-D visual effects has been developed by researchers. The device is based on a 'super multi-view technique' which works to reduce viewer discomfort. It also greatly decreases the required number of microdisplays, which makes a compact design possible.

Underwater robots can be programmed to make independent decisions Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:31 AM PST Researchers have authored a paper on the advantage of linking multi-sensor systems aboard an AUV to enable the vehicle to synthesize sound data in real-time so that it can independently make decisions about what action to take next.

Clinical manual addresses how to approach organ donation after euthanasia Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:31 AM PST A new practical manual addresses the controversial topic of organ donation after euthanasia, providing guidance to clinicians whose patients have requested euthanasia and the desire to offer their organs to others in need.

Dodos might have been quite intelligent, new research finds Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:31 AM PST New research suggests that the dodo, an extinct bird whose name has entered popular culture as a symbol of stupidity, was actually fairly smart. The work finds that the overall size of the dodo's brain in relation to its body was on par with its closest living relatives: pigeons -- birds whose ability to be trained implies a moderate level of intelligence. The researchers also discovered that the dodo likely had an enhanced sense of smell.

Predicted impact of different alcohol taxation, pricing policies on health inequalities Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:31 AM PST Alcohol-content-based taxation or minimum unit pricing (MUP) are both predicted to reduce health inequalities more than taxation based on product value (ad valorem taxes) or alcohol tax increases under the current system (excise duty plus value added tax) in England, according to research.

Health and development in infants after mefloquine antimalarial treatment during pregnancy Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:31 AM PST Early development does not appear to be affected in children born to mothers who were treated with the antimalarial mefloquine during pregnancy compared to children of mothers treated with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, according to research.

Natural sugar may treat fatty liver disease Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:31 AM PST New research shows that a natural sugar called trehalose prevents fatty liver disease in mice. The study found that trehalose prevents the sugar fructose -- thought to be a major contributor to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease -- from entering the liver and triggers a cellular housekeeping process that cleans up excess fat buildup inside liver cells.

Old data may provide new insights on honey bee populations Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:28 AM PST There has been a lack of useful, long-term datasets on the size of honey bee populations, making it difficult to quantify actual changes in honey bee abundance, and to determine what causes population declines. But researchers have studied long-term datasets from the USDA and from US states to see how they can be used together.

Food-based proteins discovered as key to child malnutrition in developing countries Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:28 AM PST Contrary to popular belief among world relief workers, children in developing countries may not be eating enough protein, which could contribute to stunted growth, a study suggests.

New recipe for biofuel: Genetic diversity can lead to more productive growth Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:28 AM PST Large test plots of switchgrass crops are being grown by scientists with the farmer in mind. For the first time, researchers have mixed different genetic varieties of switchgrass on production-size plots, hypothesizing this could increase yield by extending the growing season, varying the size of the switchgrass plants to produce a fuller crop and potentially reducing the crop's vulnerability to weather fluctuations.

Imaging technique may help discover Earth-like planets Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:28 AM PST Regular telescopes are not good at detecting Earth-like planets because a host star's light generally drowns out the relatively dimmer light of a potential planet. A new development in space imaging may solve that vexing problem.

El Niño prolongs longest global coral bleaching event Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:27 AM PST Global warming and the intense El Niño now underway are prolonging the longest global coral die-off on record, according to scientists monitoring and forecasting the loss of corals from disease and heat stress due to record ocean temperatures.

Visualizing the emotional power of music Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:27 AM PST Musical styles and genres differ around the world, but the emotional power of music is universally felt. To understand this evocative force, researchers in many fields investigate music's underlying structure, examining features such as tone, timbre, and auditory and rhythmic features. Now a team of scientists has developed a new approach to analyzing musical structure. The new method overcomes many of the limits of previous tools.

Urban soils release surprising amounts of carbon dioxide Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:27 AM PST In the concrete jungle at the core of a city, carbon dioxide emissions are dominated by the fossil fuels burned by the dense concentrations of cars and buildings. Researchers now have shown, however, that in metropolitan areas surrounding the city core, plant roots and decomposing organic material in soil give off enough carbon dioxide , in a process termed 'soil respiration', to make an unexpectedly great contribution to total emissions.

Science achievement gaps begin by kindergarten Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:27 AM PST Large science achievement gaps at the end of eighth grade between white and racial/ethnic minority children and between children from higher-and lower-income families are rooted in large yet modifiable general knowledge gaps already present by the time children enter kindergarten, according to new research.

New surgical tool keeps orthopedic procedures on target Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:27 AM PST A new opto-electronic drilling system detects minute changes during orthopedic surgery, allowing surgeons to correct drilling trajectories during the procedure itself. The system eliminates guide-wire bending or breakage and significantly reduces operation time and enhances safety.

Two forms of radiosurgery for brain metastases are equally effective Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:25 AM PST While two advanced radiosurgery approaches -- Gamma Knife and RapidArc® -- offer different strengths, they are equally effective at eradicating cancer in the brain, report researchers.

New therapeutic pathway may keep cancer cells turned 'off' Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:25 AM PST A new study offers tangible evidence that it is possible to keep osteosarcoma lesions dormant using novel nanomedicines. Osteosarcoma is a cancer that develops in the bones of children and adolescents. It is one of the most aggressive cancers, with only a 15 per cent, five-year survival rate when diagnosed in an advanced metastatic stage.

Everyday mindfulness linked to healthy glucose levels Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:25 AM PST Researchers investigating how mindfulness may affect cardiovascular health have measured a significant association between a high degree of 'everyday' mindfulness and a higher likelihood of having normal, healthy glucose levels. Their analysis showed that a lower risk of obesity and greater sense of control among more mindful people may play mediating roles.

New study shows emotional cost for parents who put on a happy face for their children Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:25 AM PST Recent research suggests that parents' attempts to suppress negative and amplify positive emotions during child care can detract from their well-being and high-quality parent-child bonds.

Researchers tune mechanical properties of radiation-sensitive material for biomedical use Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:24 AM PST A composite material has been developed that emits light and heat when exposed to specific wavelengths of radiation and that can be customized to have specific mechanical characteristics. The composite holds promise for use in biomedical imaging, drug delivery and therapeutic treatments.

Controlling ultrafast electrons in motion Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:24 AM PST An international team has used the light produced by the Free Electron Laser FERMI at the research Centre Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste in the AREA Science Park to control the ultrafast movement of electrons. The experiment opens the way to the study of more complex processes which occur in nature on the scale of attoseconds (billionths of a billionth of a second), such as photosynthesis, combustion, catalysis and atmospheric chemistry.

Critical care resuscitation unit speeds up transfer of critically ill patients Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:24 AM PST A team of surgeons has developed a program that utilizes its Shock Trauma Center model to direct critically ill non-trauma patients to the appropriate treatment location and get them into an operating room and hospital intensive care unit bed as quickly as possible.

'Fear itself' can help restore ecosystems, study suggests Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:24 AM PST Lions, wolves and other large carnivores are frightening beasts that strike fear into humans and other animals. A new study demonstrates that the fear these top predators inspire can have cascading effects down the food chain critical to maintaining healthy ecosystems, making large carnivore conservation all the more valuable given the significant 'ecosystem service' the fear of them provides.

Childhood leukemia patients from high-poverty areas more likely to suffer early relapse Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:24 AM PST Among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common pediatric cancer, those from high-poverty areas are substantially more likely to suffer early relapse, despite having received the same treatment, according to research. The findings are significant because ALL that relapses early is more difficult to successfully treat. The study is among the first to explore possible factors contributing to outcome disparities among children who received uniform treatment.

What bats reveal about how humans focus attention Posted: 23 Feb 2016 07:53 AM PST You're at a crowded party, noisy with multiple conversations, music and clinking glasses. But when someone behind you says your name, you hear it and quickly turn in that direction. Researchers have now discovered how a bat's brain screens out sounds not worth paying attention to, and this this may provide clues to how humans do the same.

Detecting hidden malicious ads Posted: 23 Feb 2016 07:35 AM PST A new, dynamic detection system could prevent malicious ads from entering the market to protect smartphones, say experts. Mostly harmless, ads are a source of income for developers who often offer their apps for free. But as more and more people own smartphones, the number of malicious ads hidden in apps is growing -- tripling in just the past year.

Influenza viruses can hide from the immune system Posted: 23 Feb 2016 07:28 AM PST Influenza is able to mask itself, so that the virus is not initially detected by our immune system, a new study shows. The researchers behind the study hope that the discovery can be used to develop better treatment against influenza and chronic inflammation conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

For weather forecasting, precise observations matter more than butterflies Posted: 23 Feb 2016 07:28 AM PST Small disturbances, like the flapping of a butterfly's wings, don't really matter for weather forecasts. More important is boosting the accuracy of observations at larger scales, say experts.

It's great to have siblings, but they're also hard work Posted: 23 Feb 2016 07:28 AM PST Children love having brothers and sisters; but they can also be hard work, particularly when mum and dad are divorced and children have to get used to living with step-brothers and step-sisters, and when their parents are keen to create siblingships between them, concludes new research.

How sweet can you get? Plant-derived sweetener thaumatin becomes 1.7 times sweeter after amino acid swap Posted: 23 Feb 2016 07:28 AM PST Researchers have made a sweeter version of thaumatin, a natural sweetener commonly used in 'diet' beverages, gummy, and jelly candies. Thaumatin, a protein derived from the fruit of an African tropical plant, is the sweetener of choice when it comes to "diet" beverages and gummy and jelly candies boasting natural ingredients. Thaumatin also masks bitterness and helps enhance flavor.

New study finds our desire for 'like-minded others' is hard-wired Posted: 23 Feb 2016 07:28 AM PST A path-breaking new study on how we seek similarity in relationships upends the idea that 'opposites attract,' instead suggesting we're drawn to people who are like-minded. The study could lead to a fundamental change in understanding relationship formation -- and it sounds a warning for the idea that couples can change each other over time.

Mystery of Dracula orchids' mimicry is unraveled with a 3-D printer Posted: 23 Feb 2016 06:17 AM PST Scientists have unlocked the mystery of mimicry used by Dracula orchids to attract flies and ensure their survival. Researchers did it using a 3-D printer.

Body's immune system may play larger role in Alzheimer's disease than thought Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:49 AM PST Immune cells that normally help us fight off bacterial and viral infections may play a far greater role in Alzheimer's disease than originally thought, according to neurobiologists.

New virus transmission route discovered in pigs Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:48 AM PST Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus causes serious inflammation of the brain in people and fertility problems in pigs. Mosquitoes were previously the only known transmission route. However, the virus can also be spread from pig to pig by direct contact, and this could enable it to circulate in pigs during the mosquito-free winter season.

Vaginal delivery doubles the risk of stress incontinence compared to caesarean section Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:47 AM PST Vaginal delivery is associated with approximately twofold increase in the risk of stress urinary incontinence compared to cesarean section. However, avoiding one case of at least moderate stress incontinence would require about a dozen cesarean sections, according to an extensive meta-analysis.

Identification of the mechanism by which cells interact with their milieu Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:47 AM PST The cells of an organism interact not only with each other but with the extracellular matrix that surrounds them. Now, a mechanism through which the cells of an organism interact with their extracellular matrix has been discovered by researchers.

Subsurface carbon dioxide storage: Risks for biogeochemical cycles in the soil Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:47 AM PST The more clearly the dimensions of global warming become visible, the greater is the pressure to find possible ways to avoid a further increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But what would the impact and risks of the stripping and subterranean storage of this greenhouse gas, ask researchers in a new study.

Nano - dangerously big Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:45 AM PST Keywords such as nano-, personalized-, or targeted medicine sound like bright future. What most people do not know, is that nanomedicines can cause severe undesired effects for actually being too big. Those modern medicines easily achieve the size of viruses which the body potentially recognizes as foreign starting to defend itself against - a sometimes severe immune response unfolds.

How the microenvironment can guide secretory cavities into tubes by mechanical forces Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:45 AM PST The underlying mechanism revealed for the formation and growth of a fundamental type of tissue – epithelial tubes. Defects in the architecture of epithelial tubes lead to diseases such as cholestasis, atherosclerosis and polycystic kidney disease. The research findings contribute towards a deeper understanding of the principles that underline epithelial tube formation, and offer opportunities for developing better therapies for such diseases.

Marketing key to return on corporate social responsibility investment, study shows Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:42 AM PST The decision to give to charity or develop a more sustainable product should not depend solely on a corporation's bottom line, but it is certainly a factor. According to a new study, a strong marketing department is crucial to helping a firm leverage its efforts to be socially responsible.

Survivors of sexual abuse find support in online 'anonymity' Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:42 AM PST Survivors of sexual abuse who seek guidance and support in online forums may be doing so because they find comfort in the relative anonymity the forums provide, which allows them to speak candidly about their experience and be direct in asking for help, researchers say.

Temperature changes wreak ecological havoc in deforested areas, study finds Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:42 AM PST The newly-exposed edges of deforested areas are highly susceptible to drastic temperature changes, leading to hotter, drier and more variable conditions for the forest that remains, according to new research.

Searing heat waves detailed in study of future climate Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:42 AM PST Aggressive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions will translate into sizable benefits, starting in the middle of the century, for both the number and intensity of extreme heat events.

Are lung cancer survivors getting too many costly scans for no reason? Study suggests so Posted: 22 Feb 2016 07:10 PM PST Once you've made it through lung cancer treatment, you want to make sure you catch it early if it comes back again. But a new study suggests that one approach to watching for a cancer's return is being inappropriately used at many hospitals. And it isn't helping patients survive longer, the research shows.

Physicists zoom in on gluons' contribution to proton spin Posted: 22 Feb 2016 07:10 PM PST By analyzing the highest-energy proton collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a particle collider at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, nuclear physicists have gotten a glimpse of how a multitude of gluons that individually carry very little of the protons' overall momentum contribute to the protons' spin.

Recombinase Brec1 trend-setting for future HIV therapy Posted: 22 Feb 2016 07:08 PM PST Researchers have succeeded in developing a designer recombinase (Brec1) that is capable of specifically removing the provirus from infected cells of most primary HIV-1 isolates.

Stroke patients' speech loss linked to loss of brain interconnections Posted: 22 Feb 2016 07:08 PM PST When brain regions that control speech and reading comprehension are destroyed due to blockage of blood flow, patients are often unable to speak or comprehend spoken or written language. These difficulties with language, or 'aphasia,' are a common symptom in the aftermath of stroke. However, in a new study, researchers report that damage to the underlying connections among different areas of the brain can also affect the severity of aphasia.

Television exposure directly linked to a thin body ideal in women Posted: 22 Feb 2016 07:08 PM PST For the first time experts have been able to eliminate external factors and specifically pinpoint television as having a direct link with female body ideals.

New reports show positive, negative effects of Louisiana school voucher program Posted: 22 Feb 2016 07:08 PM PST A new report examines the impact of Louisiana's school voucher program on the achievement and non-cognitive skills of students offered vouchers, as well as racial segregation and the competitive effects on students in public schools.

Gene linking sleep, seasonal affective disorder found Posted: 22 Feb 2016 12:58 PM PST A newly discovered human gene mutation appears to contribute both to unusual sleep patterns and to heightened rates of seasonal depression, according to new research.

Longer, intense rehabilitation boosts recovery after brain injury Posted: 22 Feb 2016 12:58 PM PST Cognitive and functional recovery after a stroke or traumatic injury requires intense rehabilitative therapy to help the brain repair and restructure itself. New findings report that not only is rehabilitation vital but that a longer, even more intense period of rehabilitation may produce even greater benefit.

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