ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Laser 'ruler' holds promise for hunting exoplanets

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:29 PM PST

The hunt for Earth-like planets around distant stars could soon become a lot easier thanks to a technique developed by researchers in Germany.

Napping beyond age of two linked to poorer sleep quality in young children

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:29 PM PST

Napping beyond the age of 2 is linked to poorer sleep quality in young children, although the impact on behavior and development is less clear-cut, finds an analysis of the available evidence.

Tadpole model links drug exposure to autism-like effects

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:29 PM PST

In utero exposure to the epilepsy drug VPA appears to elevate the risk to babies of developing an autism spectrum disorder. A new study used a tadpole model to investigate VPA's effects on developing neural physiology and behavior. Researchers now hope to use the model to develop an intervention and to learn more about the underlying causes of neurodevelopmental disorders more broadly.

Scientists find strongest natural material known to humans

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:27 PM PST

Limpet teeth might be the strongest natural material known to humans, a new study has found. Limpets -- small aquatic snail-like creatures with conical shells -- have teeth with biological structures so strong they could be copied to make cars, boats and planes of the future.

New insight into how our brain performs 'mental time travel'

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:27 PM PST

New brain mapping study pinpoints the areas of the brain responsible for "mental time travel."

New solder for semiconductors creates technological possibilities

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 12:40 PM PST

Scientists have demonstrated how semiconductors can be soldered and still deliver good electronic performance.

Impact of Deepwater Horizon Oil on beach microbial communities

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 12:40 PM PST

Using advanced genomic identification techniques, researchers studying the impact of the Deepwater Horizon spill on communities of beach microbes saw a succession of organisms and identified population changes in specific organisms that marked the progress of the oil's breakdown.

Voltage tester for beating cardiac cells

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 11:43 AM PST

For the first time, scientists have succeeded in recording the current in membrane channels of contracting cardiac cells. To do this, the scientists combined an atomic force microscope with a widely used method for measuring electrical signals in cells.

Violations in pharmaceutical industry self-regulation of medicines promotion

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 11:43 AM PST

A discrepancy exists between the ethical standard codified in the pharmaceutical industry Codes of Practice and the actual conduct of the pharmaceutical industry in the UK and Sweden, according to a new study.

Primary care nurse-delivered interventions can increase physical activity in older adults

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 11:43 AM PST

A primary care nurse-delivered intervention can lead to sustained increases in physical activity among older adults, according to a new article .

New desalination technology could answer state drought woes

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 11:42 AM PST

Could desalination be the answer to California's drought? As parts of the state become drier, scientists are looking at ways to turn seawater into drinkable water.

A rapid extension of nanographene sheets from readily available hydrocarbons

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:13 AM PST

The rapid and uniform construction of nanographene sheets has now become possible in a precisely controlled manner from a new catalytic system developed by a team of chemists at the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), Nagoya University and the JST-ERATO Project led by Professor Kenichiro Itami.

Bone-loss score may tip off doctors to gum disease in postmenopausal women

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:13 AM PST

A link between postmenopausal women with high scores on a Fracture Assessment Risk Tool, and symptoms of severe gum disease, has been found by researchers.

Unhealthy choices boosted mortality rates for blacks who migrated north

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:12 AM PST

Millions of African-Americans left the rural South during the 20th century in search of greater opportunities for work, education and overall quality of life in the urban North, Midwest and West. But the gains many made were clouded by an increased mortality rate, likely the result of unhealthy habits picked up by vices common in the big city, finds a new study.

Novel crumpling method takes flat graphene from 2-D to 3-D

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:12 AM PST

Researchers have developed a unique single-step process to achieve three-dimensional texturing of graphene and graphite. Using a commercially available thermally activated shape-memory polymer substrate, this 3-D texturing, or 'crumpling,' allows for increased surface area and opens the doors to expanded capabilities for electronics and biomaterials.

Building a more versatile frequency comb: Newly developed frequency combs can operate at higher power

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:12 AM PST

Researchers have developed a room temperature frequency comb with increased power based on quantum cascade lasers. Since the discovery of optical frequency combs in the 1990s, many applications in metrology, spectroscopy, and frequency synthesis have emerged. Similar to the way a grandfather clock's pendulum ticks off the seconds before signaling the gears to turn its hands, frequency combs count oscillations and convert them into useful electronic signals.

With new data, satellite brings early universe into focus

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:12 AM PST

The latest data release from the Planck space telescope offers insight into everything from the fabric of space to dark matter -- and may even still have a shot at detecting gravitational waves, says an expert.

Humans altering Adriatic ecosystems more than nature, study shows

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:12 AM PST

The ecosystems of the Adriatic Sea have weathered natural climate shifts for 125,000 years, but humans could be rapidly altering this historically stable biodiversity hot spot, a new study shows.

Insight into inner magnetic layers

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:12 AM PST

Research teams from Paris, Madrid and Berlin have observed for the first time how magnetic domains mutually influence one another at interfaces of spintronic components. Using measurements taken at BESSY II, they could demonstrate that what are known as spin filters form between the outer ferromagnetic layers and the inner anti-ferromagnetic insulating layer, influencing tunnel magnetoresistance.

Tau-associated MAPT gene increases risk for Alzheimer's disease

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:11 AM PST

The microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) gene has been identified as increasing the risk for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), scientists report. The MAPT gene encodes the tau protein, which is involved with a number of neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease and AD. These findings provide novel insight into Alzheimer's neurodegeneration, possibly opening the door for improved clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Cancer experience presents time for lifestyle changes in both survivors and family members

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 09:28 AM PST

After studying cancer survivors and their family caregivers, researchers conclude that the period between the final cancer treatment and first post-treatment checkup may be an ideal time for the entire household to jumpstart a healthy lifestyle.

Women seek greater variety in men and consumer products near ovulation

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 09:28 AM PST

New research suggests women seek more options in dating partners near ovulation -- when they are most fertile -- which may lead them to also seek a greater variety of products and services.

Shy babies need secure parent bond to help prevent potential teen anxiety

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 09:28 AM PST

Shy babies need to have a strong bond with their parents to avoid developing anxiety disorders in their teens, according to a new study. Attachment is especially vital, the researchers found, when a baby shows behavioral inhibition or shyness to new situations or people.

Time for a bold dingo experiment, researchers say

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 09:27 AM PST

Sturt National Park in Australia is the ideal site to test whether dingoes can play a role in restoring biodiversity and degraded rangelands. The future survival of large carnivores depends on our understanding of their role, researchers say.

Recent research provides new data on chemical gardens, whose formation is a mystery for science

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 09:27 AM PST

Recent research has yielded new data on chemical gardens, mysterious formations produced when certain solid salts -- copper sulfate, cobalt chloride -- are added to an aqueous solution of sodium silicate.

Even animals compose: What it means to be a musical species

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 09:27 AM PST

Music is found in all human cultures and thus appears to be part of our biology and not simply a cultural phenomenon. One approach to studying the biology of music is to examine other species to see if they share some of the features that make up human musicality.

Tool can help assess cognitive impairment in multicultural populations

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 09:26 AM PST

The ability to assess cognitive impairment in multicultural older populations will become more important as demographics change worldwide. A new study reports that the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale is particularly effective in multicultural populations where English is not a patient's first language.

In lab research, team halts NASH liver damage

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 09:25 AM PST

Scientists have developed a drug that stops fatty liver disease from causing inflammation and scarring. Doctors believe that up to 30 percent of the U.S. population may have fat accumulation in the liver, known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), that can lead to a range of damaging health consequences.

Potential new breathalyzer for lung cancer screening

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 09:25 AM PST

Chinese researchers have developed a simple, rapid device for detecting volatile organic compounds on the breath, demonstrating potential for early cancer detection.

Some bilinguals use emoticons more when chatting in non-native language

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:46 AM PST

One group of bilingual speakers used emoticons more often when typing in their second language in casual, online communication than they did when typing in their native tongue, a study has found.

Molecular inhibitor breaks cycle that leads to Alzheimer's

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:45 AM PST

A molecular chaperone has been found to inhibit a key stage in the development of Alzheimer's disease and break the toxic chain reaction that leads to the death of brain cells, a new study shows. The research provides an effective basis for searching for candidate molecules that could be used to treat the condition.

New pathways discovered to prevent blindness

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:44 AM PST

Scientists have made a major new discovery detailing how areas of the brain responsible for vision could potentially adapt to injury or trauma and ultimately prevent blindness. The study sheds new light on the relationship between vision loss and brain plasticity -- the extraordinary ability of the brain to modify its own structure and function as a result of change or damage.

Mapping seascapes in the deep ocean

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:43 AM PST

A new, automated method for classifying hundreds of kilometres of the deep sea floor in a way that is more cost efficient, quicker and more objective than previously possible has been developed by researchers.

Modular anatomical structure of human head described for first time

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:43 AM PST

A new mathematical analysis tool has allowed a deeper understanding of the anatomy of the human head thanks to describing the skull as an extended network structured in ten modules. For the first time ever, the researchers added the head muscles and cartilages to the study of the skull bones (including the inner ear bones, the jaw and the bones that connect with head muscles, such as cervical vertebrae and clavicles).

Speech disorders: Crowdsourcing a valid option for gathering speech ratings

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:41 AM PST

Crowdsourcing -- where responses to a task are aggregated across a large number of individuals recruited online -- can be an effective tool for rating sounds in speech disorders research, according to a study.

Can virtual reality help treat anxiety in older people?

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:41 AM PST

Up to 25% of people aged 65 and over experience varying degrees of anxiety. Although cognitive behavioral therapy is a preferred treatment approach, it has limitations as people age (decreased mobility and visualization skills). Could virtual reality be an effective therapy for anxiety in older people? Some researchers say yes.

Closest known flyby of star to our solar system: Dim star passed through Oort Cloud 70,000 years ago

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:41 AM PST

Astronomers from the US, Europe, Chile and South Africa have determined that 70,000 years ago a recently discovered dim star is likely to have passed through the solar system's distant cloud of comets, the Oort Cloud. No other star is known to have ever approached our solar system this close -- five times closer than the current closest star, Proxima Centauri. They analyzed the velocity and trajectory of a low-mass star system nicknamed "Scholz's star."

Science behind commonly used anti-depressants appears to be backwards, researchers say

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:41 AM PST

The science behind many anti-depressant medications appears to be backwards, say the authors of a paper that challenges the prevailing ideas about the nature of depression and some of the world's most commonly prescribed medications.

A new spin on spintronics

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:40 AM PST

A team of researchers is exploring new materials that could yield higher computational speeds and lower power consumption, even in harsh environments.

Novel solid-state nanomaterial platform enables terahertz photonics

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:40 AM PST

Compact, sensitive and fast nanodetectors are considered to be somewhat of a "Holy Grail" sought by many researchers around the world. And now a team of scientists in Italy and France has been inspired by nanomaterials and has created a novel solid-state technology platform that opens the door to the use of terahertz (THz) photonics in a wide range of applications.

Drug improves measures of genetic disease that affects liver, spleen

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:40 AM PST

Among previously untreated adults with Gaucher disease type 1, a genetic disease in which there is improper metabolism due to a defect in an enzyme, treatment with the drug eliglustat resulted in significant improvements in liver and spleen size hemoglobin level, and platelet count, according to a new study.

Beneficial effect of electric fans in extreme heat and humidity

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:40 AM PST

Although some public health organizations advise against the use of electric fans in severe heat, a new study demonstrated that electric fans prevent heat-related elevations in heart rate and core body temperature.

Corticosteroid decreases treatment failure for patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia and high inflammatory response

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:40 AM PST

Among patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia and high initial inflammatory response, the use of the corticosteroid methylprednisolone decreased treatment failure, compared with placebo, according to a new study.

Anticoagulant Linked With Lower Risk of Death Following Heart Attack Compared to Heparin

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:39 AM PST

Patients who experienced a certain type of heart attack who received the anticoagulant fondaparinux had a lower risk of major bleeding events and death both in the hospital and after six months compared to patients who received low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH), although both groups had similar rates of subsequent heart attack or stroke, according to a new study.

Medication effective in helping smokers quit gradually

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:39 AM PST

Among cigarette smokers not willing or able to quit smoking in the next month but willing to reduce with the goal of quitting in the next 3 months, use of the nicotine addiction medication varenicline for 24 weeks compared with placebo produced greater reductions in smoking prior to quitting and increased smoking cessation rates at the end of treatment and at 1 year, according to a new study.

New study reveals how to improve chemotherapy use in prostate cancer

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:40 AM PST

Next generation chemotherapy for prostate cancer has unique properties that could make it more effective earlier in treatment if confirmed in clinical trials, researchers report. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer for men in the United States. Only one class of chemotherapy called taxanes is currently effective against the disease.

Plants survive better through mass extinctions than animals

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:39 AM PST

At least five mass extinction events have profoundly changed the history of life on Earth. But a new study shows that plants have been very resilient to those events.

Injuries of professional soccer players twelve times more frequent in competition than during training sessions?

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:39 AM PST

The risk of injury during competition matches is twelve times higher than during training sessions in players of the "Professional Football League." The most common ones are muscular injuries and those resulting from overexertion, which imply recovery periods of around one week. These findings follow an extensive epidemiological study that analyses the characteristics of injuries to professional soccer players in Spain.

Workplace bullying a vicious circle

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:39 AM PST

Bullying at work grinds victims down and makes them an 'easy target' for further abuse according to new research. The research suggests that employers should not only crack down on workplace bullies, but also help victims gain the skills to cope with difficult situations.

Bacteria jump between species more easily than previously thought

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST

Bacteria may be able to jump between host species far easier than was previously thought, a new study suggests. Researchers discovered that a single genetic mutation in a strain of bacteria infectious to humans enables it jump species to also become infectious to rabbits. The discovery has major implications for how we assess the risk of bacterial diseases that can pass between humans and animals. It is well known that relatively few mutations are required to support the transmission of viruses -- such as influenza -- from one species to another. Until now it was thought that the process was likely to be far more complicated for bacteria.

Schizophrenia: Impaired activity of the selective dopamine neurons

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST

Schizophrenia is not only associated with positive symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, but also with negative symptoms e.g. cognitive deficits and impairments of the emotional drive. Until now, the underlying mechanisms for these negative symptoms have not been well characterized. Now a team of researchers reports that a selective dopamine midbrain population that is crucial for emotional and cognitive processing shows reduced electrical in vivo activity in a disease mouse model.

Sending a rocket through the northern lights

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST

The combination of American electron clouds and Norwegian northern lights spells trouble for navigation and communication in the Northern regions. The ICI4 rocket will provide knowledge that can help us predict the weather in space.

Aranda's Baltic Sea monitoring cruise observations

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST

A special focus of Aranda's monitoring cruise this year was monitoring the major Baltic inflow that occurred in the Baltic Sea around the turn of the year. So far, the inflow has traveled approximately 200 km in the southern part of the Baltic Sea. "The inflow is not yet affecting the condition of the deepest parts of the main basin or the Gulf of Finland", the leader of the cruise explains.

Improved fire detection with new ultra-sensitive, ultraviolet light sensor

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST

A new study has discovered that a material traditionally used in ceramics, glass and paint, can be manipulated to produce an ultra-sensitive UV light sensor, paving the way for improved fire and gas detection.

Amyloid formation may link Alzheimer disease and type 2 diabetes

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST

The pathological process amyloidosis, in which misfolded proteins (amyloids) form insoluble fibril deposits, occurs in many diseases, including Alzheimer disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). However, little is known about whether different forms of amyloid proteins interact or how amyloid formation begins in vivo. A new study has found evidence that amyloid from the brain can stimulate the growth of fibrils in the murine pancreas and pancreatic-related amyloid can be found along with brain-related amyloid in human brain senile plaques.

Questionnaire helps identify patients' risks of disability after surgery

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:36 AM PST

Freedom from disability is one of the most important patient-centered outcomes after surgery, but there is currently no validated instrument to measure postoperative disability. However, a new study suggests that a simple-to-use patient questionnaire can help doctors measure the risk of disability in patients following surgery and should be used as an outcomes measure in perioperative studies.

Researchers discover potential new therapy for opioid tolerant patients

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:36 AM PST

While opioids are a widely used treatment for pain, patients who take them on a regular basis can become tolerant, requiring a higher dose for continued pain relief. Researchers have now identified a compound that appears to play a role in the development of opioid tolerance. It may be possible to lessen the development of opioid tolerance if that compound is neutralized or blocked in patients taking opioids chronically for severe pain.