ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Nanoscale pillars could radically improve conversion of heat to electricity

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 01:13 PM PST

Scientists have found a creative way to radically improve thermoelectric materials, a finding that could one day lead to the development of improved solar panels, more energy-efficient cooling equipment, and even the creation of new devices that could turn the vast amounts of heat wasted at power plants into more electricity.

Clinical opinion published on use of maternal oxygen during labor

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 11:17 AM PST

When a fetal heartbeat pattern becomes irregular during labor, many practitioners give oxygen to the mother. But questions remain whether this oxygen supplementation benefits the fetus or may actually be potentially harmful. A new article aims to make recommendations about the safety of the use of maternal oxygen supplementation in laboring women.

Zebrafish discovery may shed light on human kidney function

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 11:17 AM PST

Researchers say the discovery of how sodium ions pass through the gill of a zebrafish may be a clue to understanding a key function in the human kidney. In this research, the protein allows the sodium ions to be absorbed from the forming urine while at the same time discarding waste from normally functioning cells, thus keeping the body in balance and serving as an energy saving system. The researchers say the same NHE3 protein performs a similar function in the intestine, pancreas, liver, lungs and reproductive system.

Previous rapid thinning of Pine Island Glacier sheds light on future Antarctic ice loss

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 11:17 AM PST

The largest single contributor to global sea level rise, a glacier of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, may continue thinning for decades to come, new research suggests. Geologists found that Pine Island Glacier, which is rapidly accelerating, thinning and retreating, has thinned rapidly before. The team say their findings demonstrate the potential for current ice loss to continue for several decades yet.

Powerful artificial muscles made from fishing line and sewing thread

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 11:17 AM PST

Scientists have discovered that ordinary fishing line and sewing thread can be cheaply converted to powerful artificial muscles. The new muscles can lift a hundred times more weight and generate a hundred times higher mechanical power than the same length and weight of human muscle. Per weight, they can generate 7.1 horsepower per kilogram, about the same mechanical power as a jet engine.

Climate change: Unstable Atlantic deep ocean circulation may hasten 'tipping point'

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 11:16 AM PST

A new study looking at past climate change asks if these changes in the future will be spasmodic and abrupt rather than a more gradual increase in the temperature. Today, deep waters formed in the northern North Atlantic fill approximately half of the deep ocean globally. In the process, this helps moderate the effects of global warming. Changes in this circulation mode are considered a potential tipping point in future climate change that could have widespread and long-lasting impacts. Until now, this pattern of circulation has been considered relatively stable during warm climate states such as those projected for the end of the century. A new study suggests that Atlantic deep water formation may be much more fragile than previously realized.

Dismantling pancreas cancer's armor: Removing specialized immune suppressor cells from pancreas

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 11:16 AM PST

Pancreas cancer is notoriously impervious to treatment and resists both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It has also been thought to provide few targets for immune cells, allowing tumors to grow unchecked. But new research shows that pancreas cancer "veils" itself from the immune system by recruiting specialized immune suppressor cells. The research team also found that removing these cells quickly triggers a spontaneous anti-tumor immune response.

Study in fruitflies strengthens connection among protein misfolding, sleep loss, and age

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 10:25 AM PST

Pulling an "all-nighter" before a big test is practically a rite of passage in college. Usually, it's no problem: You stay up all night, take the test, and then crash, rapidly catching up on lost sleep. But as we age, sleep patterns change, and our ability to recoup lost sleep diminishes. New research demonstrates that pathways of aging and sleep intersect at the circuitry of a cellular stress response pathway, and by tinkering with those connections, it may be possible to alter sleep patterns in the aged for the better -- at least in fruit flies.

Enhancement of chemotherapy by prevention of tumor cell repair

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 10:25 AM PST

The body naturally tries to repair lesions in the DNA of tumor cells, and thus reduces the efficacy of chemotherapy. Blocking the mechanisms for DNA repair would help to potentiate chemotherapy by reducing the resistance of cells to treatment. A team of scientists has discovered a new drug that inhibits repair: spironolactone, which seems likely to be used in the very short term as an adjuvant to chemotherapy.

Compound improves cardiac function in mice with genetic heart defect, study finds

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 10:25 AM PST

Congenital heart disease is the most common form of birth defect. Researchers recently found success using a drug to treat laboratory mice with one form of congenital heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy -- a weakening of the heart caused by abnormally thick muscle. By suppressing a faulty protein, the researchers reduced the thickness of the mice's heart muscles and improved their cardiac functioning. Because of the role the protein plays in signaling heart growth, the authors believe the research could be translated in the future into improved treatments for other types of heart disease, such as damage caused by heart attack.

Roots to shoots: Hormone transport in plants deciphered

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 10:25 AM PST

The protein essential for relocating cytokinins from roots to shoots has now been identified. The regulating hormone distribution mechanisms in plants have been identified before, but there was a poor understanding of how they worked. This new research could lead to sustainable bioenergy crops with increased growth and reduced needs for fertilizer.

Dark matter search: New calibration confirms LUX dark matter results

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 10:24 AM PST

A new calibration of the Large Underground Xenon dark matter detector brought a 10-fold increase in calibration accuracy, confirming findings announced last October from the instrument's first 90-day run. If low-mass 'WIMP' particles had passed through the detector, Large Underground Xenon would have found them. Dark matter is thought to account for about 80 percent of the mass of the universe. Though it has not yet been detected directly, its existence is a near certainty among physicists.

Sustainable manufacturing system to better consider the human component

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 10:24 AM PST

Engineers have developed a new approach toward 'sustainable manufacturing' that begins on the factory floor and tries to encompass the totality of manufacturing issues -- including economic, environmental, and social impacts. It may help meet demands for higher corporate social responsibility.

Molecular 'cocktail' transforms skin cells into beating heart cells

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 10:22 AM PST

A new method has been devised that allows for the more efficient -- and, importantly, more complete -- reprogramming of skin cells into cells that are virtually indistinguishable from heart muscle cells. These findings, based on animal models, offer new-found optimism in the hunt for a way to regenerate muscle lost in a heart attack. Heart disease is the world's leading cause of death, but recent advances in science and medicine have improved the chances of surviving a heart attack. In the United States alone, nearly 1 million people have survived an attack, but are living with heart failure—a chronic condition in which the heart, having lost muscle during the attack, does not beat at full capacity. So, scientists have begun to look toward cellular reprogramming as a way to regenerate this damaged heart muscle.

Sound-sensing cells regenerated in ears of mice with hearing damage

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 10:21 AM PST

For years, scientists have thought that sound-sensing hair cells in the inner ear are not replaced once they're lost, but new research reveals that supporting cells in the ear can turn into hair cells in newborn mice. If the findings can be applied to older animals, they may lead to ways to help stimulate cell replacement in adults and to the design of treatment strategies for people suffering from deafness due to hair cell loss.

Human and dog brains both have dedicated 'voice areas'

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 10:21 AM PST

The first study to compare brain function between humans and any non-primate animal shows that dogs have dedicated voice areas in their brains, just as people do. Dog brains, like those of people, are also sensitive to acoustic cues of emotion, according to a new study.

The way a room is lit can affect the way you make decisions

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 10:20 AM PST

The next time you want to turn down the emotional intensity before making an important decision, you may want to dim the lights first. A new study shows that human emotion, whether positive or negative, is felt more intensely under bright light. under bright lights emotions are felt more intensely. In the brighter room participants wanted spicier chicken wing sauce, thought the fictional character was more aggressive, found the women more attractive, felt better about positive words and worse about negative words, and drank more of the "favorable" juice and less of the "unfavorable" juice.

Evidence mixed on the usefulness of echinacea for colds

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 10:13 AM PST

For people seeking a natural treatment for the common cold, some preparations containing the plant Echinacea work better than nothing, yet "evidence is weak," finds a new report.

Rise of the compliant machines: Sociable humanoids could help advance human-robot interaction

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 08:35 AM PST

Are we on the brink of a robotics revolution? That's what numerous media outlets asked last December when Google acquired eight robotics companies that specialize in such innovations as manipulation, vision, and humanoid robots.

Closing the 'free will' loophole: Using distant quasars to test Bell's theorem

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 08:25 AM PST

Astronomers propose an experiment that may close the last major loophole of Bell's inequality -- a 50-year-old theorem that, if violated by experiments, would mean that our universe is based not on the textbook laws of classical physics, but on the less-tangible probabilities of quantum mechanics. Such a quantum view would allow for seemingly counterintuitive phenomena such as entanglement, in which the measurement of one particle instantly affects another, even if those entangled particles are at opposite ends of the universe. Among other things, entanglement -- a quantum feature Albert Einstein skeptically referred to as "spooky action at a distance" -- seems to suggest that entangled particles can affect each other instantly, faster than the speed of light.

Meet your match: Using algorithms to spark collaboration between scientists

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 08:25 AM PST

Speed dating, in which potential lovers size each other up in brief 10 minute encounters before moving on to the next person, can be an awkward and time-wasting affair. Finding the perfect research partnership is often just as tough. Speed dating-style techniques are increasingly used at academics conferences, but can be equally frustrating -- with busy academics being pushed into too many pointless encounters. But now a group of scientists have constructed a system that could revolutionize conference speed dating -- by treating scientists like genes.

Crop species may be more vulnerable to climate change than we thought

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 08:24 AM PST

Scientists have overturned a long-standing hypothesis about plant speciation (the formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution), suggesting that agricultural crops could be more vulnerable to climate change than was previously thought.

Cavities are contagious, research shows

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 08:24 AM PST

Dental caries, commonly known as tooth decay, is the single most common chronic childhood disease. In fact, it is an infectious disease, new research demonstrates. Mothers with cavities can transmit caries-producing oral bacteria to their babies when they clean pacifiers by sticking them in their own mouths or by sharing spoons. Parents should make their own oral health care a priority in order to help their children stay healthy.

High cost of fruits, vegetables linked to higher body fat in young children

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 07:29 AM PST

High prices for fresh fruits and vegetables are associated with higher Body Mass Index in young children in low- and middle-income households, according new research. Research showed that when the prices of fruits and vegetables go up, families may buy less of them and substitute cheaper foods that may not be as healthy and have more calories. The study also identified a small association between higher-priced soft drinks and a lower likelihood of obesity among young children.

High potency statins linked to better outcome following heart attack

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 07:29 AM PST

Treatment with high-potency statins offers a significantly improved chance of survival compared to those taking normal statins, a study concludes after analyzing the data of thousands of patients who suffered heart attacks. The study also found a combination of statins and the drug ezetimibe showed no improved survival rate, although researchers caution this finding needs further testing.

Astronomers find solar storms behave like supernovae

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 07:29 AM PST

Researchers have studied the behavior of the Sun's coronal mass ejections, explaining for the first time the details of how these huge eruptions behave as they fall back onto the Sun's surface. In the process, they have discovered that coronal mass ejections have a surprising twin in the depths of space: the tendrils of gas in the Crab Nebula, which lie 6500 light-years away and are millions of times larger.

Cell behavior mapped in low oxygen conditions, may lead to cancer treatment

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 07:29 AM PST

Research has explained how cells behave when placed in a low oxygen environment, a development that could have implications for cancer patients and other serious illnesses. The findings open up the possibility of controlling the signals that keep cells alive, preventing the damages caused by ischemia -- a restriction of blood supply to tissues. It could also work to help destroy cancer cells.

Dermatologists prescribe steroids for psoriasis management, despite guidelines that discourage use

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 07:27 AM PST

A new study indicates that systemic corticosteroids are prescribed by dermatologists even though expert guidelines discourage their use for psoriasis treatment. Researchers found that systemic corticosteroids were prescribed at 650,000 of 21 million psoriasis visits. Of these prescriptions, 93 percent were from dermatologists. Corticosteroids were the second most commonly prescribed systemic medication for psoriasis, according to the study.

Remote Antarctic telescope reveals gas cloud where stars are born

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 06:50 AM PST

Using a telescope installed at the driest place on earth -- Ridge A in Antarctica -- astronomers have identified a giant gas cloud in our galaxy which appears to be in an early stage of formation. Giant clouds of molecular gas are the birthplaces of stars. The newly discovered gas cloud is about 200 light years in extent and ten light years across, with a mass about 50,000 times that of our sun.

What is El Niño Taimasa? Strong El Niño events leading to lower local sea levels

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 06:50 AM PST

During a very strong El Niño, sea level can drop in the tropical western South Pacific and tides remain below normal for up to a year, especially around Samoa. Scientists are studying the climate effects of this variation of El Niño, naming it 'El Niño Taimasa' after the wet stench of coral die-offs, called 'taimasa' by Samoans.

A new laser for a faster Internet

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 06:50 AM PST

A new laser holds the potential to increase by orders of magnitude the rate of data transmission in the optical-fiber network -- the backbone of the Internet. Light is capable of carrying vast amounts of information—approximately 10,000 times more bandwidth than microwaves, the earlier carrier of long-distance communications. But to utilize this potential, the laser light needs to be as spectrally pure -- as close to a single frequency -- as possible. The purer the tone, the more information it can carry, and for decades researchers have been trying to develop a laser that comes as close as possible to emitting just one frequency.

Rocks around the clock: Asteroids pound tiny star

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 06:50 AM PST

Scientists have found evidence that a tiny star called PSR J0738-4042 is being pounded by asteroids -- large lumps of rock from space. The environment around this star is especially harsh, full of radiation and violent winds of particles.

Aging men: More uplifts, fewer hassles until the age of 65-70

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 06:50 AM PST

How men approach their golden years, and how happy individuals are remains relatively stable for some 80 percent of the population, but perceptions of unhappiness -- or dealing with "hassles" -- tends to get worse once you are about 65-70 years old, shows a new study. Possible causes are health issues, cognitive decline or the loss of a spouse or friends. Aging is neither exclusively rosy nor depressing, researchers said, and how you react to hassles and uplifts as a 55- to 60-year-old may change as you enter what researchers call "the fourth age," from 75 to 100, based on your perceptions and/or your life experiences.

Researching Facebook business: The business of 'unfriending'

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 06:49 AM PST

Establishing and maintaining relationships online is becoming ever more important in the expanding global knowledge economy. But what happens to the relationship between business and consumer when a user 'unfriends'? Researchers have found that there are many online and offline reasons why a person might 'unfriend' another party. The team has examined these factors and offer insights into how virtual business relationships might be sustained and promoted.

New technique for repair work using experts from another location

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 06:48 AM PST

If problems occur at a company's complex plant, the local staff is often not able to solve them without external support. Frequently, experts must travel to the plant; this can be an expensive and time-consuming process. Computer scientists have now developed a platform to enable communication between specialists and the company. Thus, the experts can instruct the staff in what has caused the problem and how it can be fixed. At the same time, specialists can supervise the repair work and are able to intervene in case of emergency via live broadcasting.

Fast emergency department identification of sepsis speeds treatment

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 06:40 AM PST

Early identification of sepsis cases in the emergency department using a symptoms-based screening tool significantly decreased the time interval for administering life-saving antibiotic treatment, according to research. Early recognition and treatment of sepsis has proven to reduce mortality, and there is a need to more rapidly identify sepsis and septic shock patients in the emergency department. Elapsed time from triage to administration of antimicrobials is a major cause of mortality for patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.

Dishonesty and creativity: Two sides of the same coin?

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 05:33 AM PST

Lying about performance on one task may increase creativity on a subsequent task by making people feel less bound by conventional rules, according to new research.

Forest model predicts canopy competition: Airborne lasers help researchers understand tree growth

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 05:33 AM PST

Scientists use measurements from airborne lasers to gauge changes in the height of trees in the forest. Tree height tells them things like how much carbon is being stored. But what accounts for height changes over time -- vertical growth or overtopping by a taller tree? A new statistical model helps researchers figure out what's really happening on the ground.

Using computers to speed up drug discovery

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 05:32 AM PST

One of the major problems in today's society is the efficiency and cost of developing medicines to treat disease. The advancements in pharmaceutical science have been phenomenal, but the price of these advances remains prohibitively high for many pharmaceutical companies to venture into rare diseases. A large number of "neglected" diseases exist in which each disease has only a small number of patients in the world, yet the number is still significant. Researchers have now used a computational approach to identify proteins that will interact with potential drugs to speed up the process of drug discovery.

Space eye with 34 telescopes will investigate one million stars

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 05:32 AM PST

The exploration of planets around stars other than the Sun, known as extrasolar planets or 'exoplanets', is one of the most exciting topics of 21st century science. One of the key goals of this research is to discover and learn the properties of Earth-like worlds in the Sun's neighbourhood. The European Space Agency will do this in preparing a new space mission named PLATO.

Schizophrenia: Gathering clues to rare gene variants contributing to disease

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 05:31 AM PST

Schizophrenia has long been known to be highly heritable and is present in approximately 1% of the population. Researchers have been following two paths in their pursuit of identifying schizophrenia risk genes. Initially, they studied common gene variants that, individually, only increase the risk for schizophrenia by a few percent, perhaps increasing the likelihood of developing schizophrenia from a 10 out of a 1000 chance to an 11 or 12 out of a 1000 chance. More recently, research has identified gene variants that are rare in the population but, when present, more substantially increase the risk for developing schizophrenia. Results have been recently published in two new articles.

Seasonal flu vaccine may cut stroke risk

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 05:31 AM PST

Having the seasonal flu jab could reduce the risk of suffering a stroke by almost a quarter, researchers have found. Academics discovered that patients who had been vaccinated against influenza were 24% less likely to suffer a stroke in the same flu season. In 2010, the same research team showed a similar link between flu vaccination and reduced risk of heart attack. "Further experimental studies would be needed to better understand the relationship between flu vaccination and stroke risk. However, these findings reinforce the value of the U.K.'s national flu vaccination program with reduced risk of stroke appearing to be an added health benefit," the authors noted.

Involved parents raise slimmer adults

Posted: 20 Feb 2014 05:30 AM PST

Remember that slim kid in school -- the one with the cook-from-scratch mom? He's likely one of the fittest dudes at your high school reunion, according to new research. "One of the best safeguards against your children becoming overweight as adults is how involved you are with their lives," one of the researchers said.