ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Video games could dramatically streamline educational research

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 06:01 PM PDT

Scientists have figured out a dramatically easier and more cost-effective way to do research on science curriculum in the classroom -- and it could include playing video games. Called 'computational modeling,' it involves a computer 'learning' student behavior and then 'thinking' as students would. It could revolutionize the way educational research is done.

Unique waste cleanup for rural areas developed

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 06:01 PM PDT

A unique method has been developed to use microbes buried in pond sediment to power waste cleanup in rural areas. The first microbe-powered, self-sustaining wastewater treatment system could lead to an inexpensive and quick way to clean up waste from large farming operations and rural sewage treatment plants while reducing pollution.

Tree rings used to determine history of geological features, arroyos

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 06:00 PM PDT

A new study uses tree rings to document arroyo evolution along the lower Rio Puerco and Chaco Wash in northern New Mexico, USA. By determining burial dates in tree rings from salt cedar and willow, investigators were able to precisely date arroyo sedimentary beds 30 cm thick or greater. They then combined this data with aerial imagery, LiDAR, longitudinal profiles, and repeat surveys to reconstruct the history of these arroyos. Arroyos are deep, oversized channels that have vertical or steeply cut walls made up of silt, clay, or sand.

Spouse's personality influences career success, study finds

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 05:59 PM PDT

As much as we might try to leave personal lives at home, the personality traits of a spouse have a way of following us into the workplace, exerting a powerful influence on promotions, salaries, job satisfaction and other measures of professional success, new research suggests.

Exercise boosts tumor-fighting ability of chemotherapy, team finds

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 01:23 PM PDT

Study after study has proven it true: exercise is good for you. But new research suggests that exercise may have an added benefit for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Their work, performed in a mouse model of melanoma, found that combining exercise with chemotherapy shrunk tumors more than chemotherapy alone.

Microplastic pollution discovered in St. Lawrence River sediments

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 01:23 PM PDT

Microplastics have been discovered widely distributed across the bottom of the St. Lawrence River, the first time such pollutants have been found in freshwater sediments. The microbeads likely originate from cosmetics, household cleansers, or industrial cleansers, to which they are commonly added as abrasives. Owing to their small size and buoyancy, they may readily pass through sewage treatment plants. Microplastics are a global contaminant in the world's oceans, but have only recently been detected in the surface waters of lakes and rivers.

No sedative necessary: Scientists discover new 'sleep node' in the brain

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 01:23 PM PDT

A sleep-promoting circuit located deep in the primitive brainstem has revealed how we fall into deep sleep. This is only the second 'sleep node' identified in the mammalian brain whose activity appears to be both necessary and sufficient to produce deep sleep.

Sensing neuronal activity with light

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 01:23 PM PDT

For years, neuroscientists have been trying to develop tools that would allow them to clearly view the brain's circuitry in action -- from the first moment a neuron fires to the resulting behavior in an organism. To get this complete picture, neuroscientists are working to develop a range of new tools to study the brain. Researchers have now developed one such tool that provides a new way of mapping neural networks in a living organism.

Miranda: An icy moon deformed by tidal heating

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 01:22 PM PDT

Miranda, a small, icy moon of Uranus, is one of the most visually striking and enigmatic bodies in the solar system. Despite its relatively small size, Miranda appears to have experienced an episode of intense resurfacing that resulted in the formation of at least three remarkable and unique surface features -- polygonal-shaped regions called coronae.

Benefits of telecommuting greater for some workers, study finds

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 12:09 PM PDT

Telecommuting is positively associated with improvement in two important employee measures: task-based performance and organizational citizenship behavior, including one's contributions toward creating a positive, cooperative and friendly work environment, an expert says.

VIP: New way to prevent spread of devastating diseases

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 12:09 PM PDT

Researchers around the country are adopting a technique to try to guard against infection. The method, called VIP, was originally designed to trigger an immune response to HIV, and because of its success with HIV is now being studied, in mice, for protection against influenza, malaria, hepatitis C, and tuberculosis.

New insights on an ancient plague could improve treatments for infections

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 12:08 PM PDT

Dangerous new pathogens such as the Ebola virus invoke scary scenarios of deadly epidemics, but even ancient scourges such as the bubonic plague are still providing researchers with new insights on how the body responds to infections.

Small, fast, and crowded: Mammal traits amplify tick-borne illness

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:15 AM PDT

In the U.S., some 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease annually. Thousands also suffer from babesiosis and anaplasmosis, tick-borne ailments that can occur alone or as co-infections with Lyme disease. In our struggle to manage the ever-growing list of tick-borne diseases, we need to understand which animals magnify human disease risk. New results suggest when generalist pathogens emerge, small mammals with large populations and a fast pace of life warrant careful monitoring.

A new quality control pathway in the cell

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:15 AM PDT

Researchers have described a new protein quality control system in the inner nuclear membrane. The new system has two main functions, to eliminate misfolded proteins and to protect the nucleus from accumulating mislocalized or ectopic proteins. This may be especially relevant in non-dividing cells such as neurons.

Pupil size shows reliability of decisions, before information on decision is presented

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:15 AM PDT

The precision with which people make decisions can be predicted by measuring pupil size before they are presented with any information about the decision, according to a new study.

A more efficient, lightweight and low-cost organic solar cell: Researchers broke the 'electrode barrier'

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:14 AM PDT

For decades, polymer scientists and synthetic chemists working to improve the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells were hampered by the inherent drawbacks of commonly used metal electrodes, including their instability and susceptibility to oxidation. Now for the first time, researchers have developed a more efficient, easily processable and lightweight solar cell that can use virtually any metal for the electrode, effectively breaking the 'electrode barrier.'

How epigenetic memory is passed through generations: Sperm and eggs transmit memory of gene repression to embryos

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:14 AM PDT

A growing body of evidence suggests that environmental stresses can cause changes in gene expression that are transmitted from parents to their offspring, making 'epigenetics' a hot topic. Epigenetic modifications do not affect the DNA sequence of genes, but change how the DNA is packaged and how genes are expressed. Now, scientists have shown how epigenetic memory can be passed across generations and from cell to cell during development.

World population to keep growing this century, hit 11 billion by 2100

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:14 AM PDT

The chance that world population in 2100 will be between 9.6 billion and 12.3 billion people is 80 percent, according to the first such United Nations forecast to incorporate modern statistical tools.

Changes in coastal upwelling linked to temporary declines in marine ecosystem

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:14 AM PDT

In findings of relevance to both conservationists and the fishing industry, new research links short-term reductions in growth and reproduction of marine animals off the California Coast to increasing variability in the strength of coastal upwelling currents -- currents which historically supply nutrients to the region's diverse ecosystem.

How pneumonia bacteria can compromise heart health

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:14 AM PDT

Bacterial pneumonia in adults carries an elevated risk for adverse cardiac events (such as heart failure, arrhythmias, and heart attacks) that contribute substantially to mortality -- but how the heart is compromised has been unclear. A study now demonstrates that Streptococcus pneumoniae, the bacterium responsible for most cases of bacterial pneumonia, can invade the heart and cause the death of heart muscle cells.

Technique to model infections shows why live vaccines may be most effective

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:14 AM PDT

Vaccines against Salmonella that use a live, but weakened, form of the bacteria are more effective than those that use only dead fragments because of the particular way in which they stimulate the immune system, according to new research.

New insights into the world of quantum materials

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:12 AM PDT

A team of physicists has experimentally observed how the anisotropic properties of particles deform the Fermi surface in a quantum gas. The work provides the basis for future studies on how the geometry of particle interactions may influence the properties of a quantum system.

New molecule allows for up to 10-fold increase in stem cell transplants

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:11 AM PDT

A new molecule, the first of its kind, allows for the multiplication of stem cells in a unit of cord blood. Umbilical cord stem cells are used for transplants aimed at curing a number of blood-related diseases, including leukemia, myeloma and lymphoma. For many patients this therapy comprises a treatment of last resort.

Scientists discover 'dimmer switch' for mood disorders

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:11 AM PDT

Researchers have identified a control mechanism for an area of the brain that processes sensory and emotive information that humans experience as "disappointment." The discovery may provide be a neurochemical antidote for feeling let-down.

Human sense of fairness evolved to favor long-term cooperation, primate study suggests

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:11 AM PDT

The human response to unfairness evolved in order to support long-term cooperation, according to a new research. Fairness is a social ideal that cannot be measured, so to understand the evolution of fairness in humans scientists have studied the behavioral responses to equal versus unequal reward division in other primates.

Toward quantum computing, spintronic memory, better displays: Nuclear spins control current in plastic LED

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:11 AM PDT

Physicists read "spins" in hydrogen nuclei and used the data to control current in a cheap, plastic LED – at room temperature and without strong magnetic fields. The study brings physics a step closer to practical "spintronic" devices: superfast computers, more compact data storage and plastic or organic LEDs, more efficient than those used today in display screens for cell phones, computers and televisions.

Fortune 500 employees can expect to pay more for health insurance

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 10:09 AM PDT

A new survey is the first factual collection of data on how firms have been impacted by PPACA and how they are responding to the rising costs they report. More than 200 responded to this year's survey, providing a definitive look at how medium and large-sized firms have been affected by the changes to the health insurance and health care system and how companies have responded.

Reliable and highly efficient method for making stem cells

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 10:09 AM PDT

Scientists have found a way to boost dramatically the efficiency of the process for turning adult cells into so-called pluripotent stem cells by combining three well-known compounds, including vitamin C.

CASIS research set for launch aboard SpaceX mission to space station

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 10:05 AM PDT

This fall marks another commercial cargo flight to the International Space Station. In September, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to blast off to the orbital laboratory carrying supplies and investigations as part of the company's fourth contracted mission to the complex.

NASA HS3 instrument views two dimensions of clouds

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 10:03 AM PDT

NASA's Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) instrument, flying aboard an unmanned Global Hawk aircraft in this summer's Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel, or HS3, mission, is studying the changing profile of the atmosphere in detail to learn more about how hurricanes form and strengthen.

NASA Ames to launch science experiments to space station on SpaceX rocket

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:28 AM PDT

NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, will launch four life science experiments to the International Space Station aboard NASA's next commercial cargo resupply flight of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The research missions include a microbiology study of yeast, a fruit fly study designed and built by students, a plant biology investigation and the maiden voyage of NASA's new rodent research system.

Everything in moderation: Micro-8 to study regulating pathogens in space

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:26 AM PDT

Candida albicans, an opportunistic yeast pathogen and model organism for research, is common and usually doesn't damage our healthy personal ecosystem. However, when our immune system is stressed on Earth or in space, such as during long-duration space travel, C. albicans can grow out of control and potentially cause infections. Scientists want to address controlling these outbreaks with the next round of cellular growth experiments on the International Space Station -- Micro-8.

Dawn spacecraft operating normally after safe mode triggered

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:24 AM PDT

The Dawn spacecraft has resumed normal ion thrusting after the thrusting unexpectedly stopped and the spacecraft entered safe mode on September 11. That anomaly occurred shortly before a planned communication with NASA's Deep Space Network that morning. The spacecraft was not performing any special activities at the time.

NASA Mars spacecraft ready for Sept. 21 orbit insertion

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:22 AM PDT

NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft is nearing its scheduled Sept. 21 insertion into Martian orbit after completing a 10-month interplanetary journey of 442 million miles (711 million kilometers).

Flu vaccine for expectant moms a top priority, experts say

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:14 AM PDT

All pregnant women and those planning to become pregnant should receive a flu shot because the normal changes to a pregnant woman's immune system, heart and lungs put moms-to-be at increased risk of the harmful effects of flu infection, experts say. Also, babies born to mothers who got their flu shot while pregnant were protected from serious illness from influenza during their first six months of life, research shows.

Smartphone app reveals users' mental health, performance, behavior

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:14 AM PDT

Researchers have built the first smartphone app that automatically reveals college students' mental health, academic performance and behavioral trends. In other words, your smartphone knows your state of mind -- even if you don't -- and how that affects you. The StudentLife app, which compares students' happiness, stress, depression and loneliness to their academic performance, also may be used in the general population -- for example, to monitor mental health, trigger intervention and improve productivity in workplace employees.

New high-resolution satellite image analysis: 5 of 6 Syrian World Heritage sites 'exhibit significant damage'

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:14 AM PDT

In war-torn Syria, five of six World Heritage sites now 'exhibit significant damage' and some structures have been 'reduced to rubble,' according to new high-resolution satellite image analysis by the nonprofit, nonpartisan American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Gambling with confidence: Are you sure about that?

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:14 AM PDT

Confidence determines much of our path through life, but what is it? Most people would describe it as an emotion or a feeling. In contrast, scientists have found that confidence is actually a measurable quantity, and not reserved just for humans. The team has identified a brain region in rats whose function is required to for the animals to express confidence in their decisions.

Single dose of antidepressant changes the brain

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:14 AM PDT

A single dose of antidepressant is enough to produce dramatic changes in the functional architecture of the human brain. Brain scans taken of people before and after an acute dose of a commonly prescribed serotonin reuptake inhibitor reveal changes in connectivity within three hours, say researchers.

Stem cells use 'first aid kits' to repair damage

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:13 AM PDT

Neural stem cells -- master cells that can develop into any type of nerve cell -- are able to generate mini "first aid kits" and transfer them to immune cells, according to a new study.

Gene linked to increased dendritic spines -- a signpost of autism

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:13 AM PDT

Knocking out the gene NrCAM increases the number of dendritic spines on excitatory pyramidal neurons, researchers have discovered. Other studies have confirmed that the overabundance of dendritic spines allows for too many synaptic connections – a phenomenon strongly linked to autism.

Newer tests clarify hereditary risk of cancer

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:13 AM PDT

Not all genetics tests that screen for cancer risk are the same, says a genetics counselor. While knowing you are at a higher genetic risk for cancer is stressful, that knowledge can guide how you manage your health going forward. For instance, you might be more likely to stay on top of health screenings or choose to have preventative surgery, which can be a difficult choice, she outlines.

Germanium tin could mean better and cheaper infrared cameras in smartphones, and faster computer chips

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:13 AM PDT

Researchers have fabricated a new semiconductor material that can be used to build better and less expensive infrared cameras for smartphone and automobiles.

Pulse of a dead star powers intense gamma rays

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:08 AM PDT

NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, is helping to untangle the mystery of what powers high-energy gamma rays emanating from supernova. The observatory's high-energy X-ray eyes were able to peer into a particular site of powerful gamma rays and confirm the source: A spinning, dead star called a pulsar.

NASA's wind-watching ISS-RapidScat ready for launch

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:04 AM PDT

The fourth SpaceX cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract, carrying the ISS-RapidScat scatterometer instrument designed and built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is scheduled to launch Saturday, Sept. 20, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The one-day adjustment in the launch date was made to accommodate preparations of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and was coordinated with the station's partners and managers.

Comet landing mission: 'J' marks the spot for Rosetta's lander

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 09:00 AM PDT

The European Space Agency's Rosetta's lander, Philae, will target Site J, an intriguing region on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko that offers unique scientific potential, with hints of activity nearby, and minimum risk to the lander compared to the other candidate sites. The 220-pound (100-kilogram) lander is scheduled to reach the surface on November 11, where it will perform in-depth measurements to characterize the nucleus. Rosetta is an international mission spearheaded by the European Space Agency with support and instruments provided by NASA.

August and June-August global temperatures each reach record high, driven largely by record warm global oceans

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 08:19 AM PDT

According to NOAA scientists, the globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for August 2014 was the highest for August since record keeping began in 1880. It also marked the 38th consecutive August with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The last below-average global temperature for August occurred in 1976.

Mysterious volcanic eruption of 1808 described

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 08:12 AM PDT

New light has been shed on one of the biggest volcanic eruptions in the last 500 years -- the so-called 'Unknown eruption' -- thanks to an unusual collaboration between a historian and a team of earth scientists.

Tolerating, not fighting, viruses a viable survival strategy

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 08:12 AM PDT

In ecology, disease tolerance is defined as a host strategy not to fight a pathogen tooth and nail, but rather tolerate it to live (and survive) better in the long term. One key feature of tolerance is that the disease only progresses very slowly -- if at all -- even if the host carries a high pathogen load. In some HIV sufferers, this approach is evident. A research team has now determined how strongly patients differ in their tolerance and upon which factors it depends.

'Honeybee' robots replicate swarm behavior

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 08:11 AM PDT

Computer scientists have created a low-cost, autonomous micro-robot which in large numbers can replicate the behavior of swarming honeybees.

Melanoma risk found to have genetic determinant

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 08:11 AM PDT

Longer telomeres increase the risk of melanoma, researchers report, suggesting that melanoma risk has a genetic determinant. Telomeres are a part of the genome that function like the plastic caps of your shoelaces, which prevent the laces from fraying. Instead they protect the ends of chromosomes from environmental damage, such as exposure to smoke or sunlight, which can harm them.

Students' reporting of weapons at school: Factors that influence decision to 'tell'

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 07:16 AM PDT

As a result of outbreaks of violence in the nation's schools, concerns have grown about school safety and the overall well-being of students. Now, criminology researchers discovered that academic achievement and knowledge of security measures increased the likelihood that high school students would report a knife or gun at school.

Second look at glaucoma surgery: Anti-inflammatory medications after glaucoma laser surgery not helpful or necessary

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 07:16 AM PDT

Using anti-inflammatory medications after glaucoma laser surgery is not helpful or necessary, new research concludes. Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible blindness in the world, and is mainly caused by pressure within the eye being high enough to damage the optic nerve. The optic nerve is responsible for sending messages from the eye to the brain and is a vital part of vision.

Tropical rabbitfish a threat to Mediterranean Sea ecosystems

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 07:16 AM PDT

The tropical rabbitfish, which have devastated algal forests in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, pose a major threat to the entire Mediterranean basin if their distribution continues to expand as the climate warms, a new study warns. Researchers surveyed more than 1000 kilometers of coastline in Turkey and Greece, where two species of plant-eating rabbitfish have become dominant, and found regions with abundant rabbitfish had become rocky barrens.

Dogs can be pessimists, too

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 07:16 AM PDT

Dogs generally seem to be cheerful, happy-go-lucky characters, so you might expect that most would have an optimistic outlook on life. In fact some dogs are distinctly more pessimistic than others, new research shows.

Kids eat better if their parents went to college

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 07:16 AM PDT

Children of college-educated parents eat more vegetables and drink less sugar, according to a new study. But it's still not enough, the study goes on to say, as all kids are falling short when it comes to eating healthier at school. The research suggests a parent's educational attainment, an indicator of socioeconomic status, may inform a child's diet.

Americans rate losing eyesight as having greatest impact on their lives

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 07:16 AM PDT

Many Americans across racial and ethnic groups describe losing eyesight as potentially having the greatest impact on their day-to-day life, more so than other conditions including: loss of limb, memory, hearing and speech, a survey shows.

Getting to grips with the Research Councils UK policy on open access

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 07:15 AM PDT

Over a year has passed since the Research Councils UK policy on open access came into effect, requiring all articles and datasets arising from Research Councils funded projects to be published either gold or green open access. But how aware are authors of its implications, and do they understand it? Does a researcher working in a traditional science discipline have a better grasp of what the policy means than someone researching in the humanities or social sciences?

Professional recommendations against routine prostate cancer screening have little effect

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 07:14 AM PDT

The effect of guidelines recommending that elderly men should not be routinely screened for prostate cancer "has been minimal at best," according to a new study. The review focused on the use of PSA – prostate-specific antigen – to test for prostate cancer.

Lone wolf terrorists target police more, but attacks not more frequent

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 07:14 AM PDT

Lone wolf terrorist attacks are not on the rise as popular culture might lead one to believe — but the attacks are more personal, use high-velocity firearms and targeting military and police, a researcher concludes.