ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Stink bugs have strong taste for ripe fruit

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 03:01 PM PDT

The brown marmorated stink bug has a bad reputation. Every summer, this pest attacks crops and invades homes, causing both sizable economic losses and a messy, smelly nuisance. A new study by entomologists shows that these pests, known simply as stink bugs, have a strong preference for ripe fruit. Moreover, stink bugs track their favorite fruits throughout the growing season in an effort to maximize their access to food.

Stuck on you: Research shows fingerprint accuracy stays the same over time

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 03:01 PM PDT

Fingerprints have been used by law enforcement and forensics experts to successfully identify people for more than 100 years. Though fingerprints are assumed to be infallible personal identifiers, there has been little scientific research to prove this claim to be true. As such, there have been repeated challenges to the admissibility of fingerprint evidence in courts of law.

Talk is cheap: New study finds words speak louder than actions

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 03:01 PM PDT

When it comes to the art of persuasion, you can attract more followers if you turn conventional wisdom on its head and stress what you like, not what you do. The researchers found that people conform to others' preferences at last partially because they adopt others' judgments as their own. They further found that when people behave as if they are not conforming, their motivation could be to coordinate or complement their actions with others' actions.

Researchers define unique group of high-risk lymphoma patients

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 03:01 PM PDT

About 20 percent of follicular lymphoma patients consistently experience their disease coming back within two years of being treated with the latest therapies. New research confirms that patients in this group have very poor survival outcomes; 50 percent die in five years. People who relapse early may have a disease with distinctly different biology and should not be approached the same at diagnosis nor at the time of relapse in terms of therapies, scientists report.

Clot-removal devices now recommended for some stroke patients

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 02:59 PM PDT

Updated stroke treatment recommendations include using a stent retrieval device to remove blood clots from large arteries in select patients. Clot-busting medication -- tPA -- continues to be the gold standard for treating clot-caused stroke. Clot busters and/or clot-removal procedures must be administered within a few hours of stroke symptoms, so everyone needs to know to call 9-1-1 and seek immediate help if they occur.

Blood test for lung cancer a step closer

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:26 PM PDT

Two oncologists and a research scientist are helping pave the way to an easier, more accurate, less invasive way to screen for the most common form of lung cancer. Lung cancer is the most common cancer in men worldwide and the number one cancer killer in the United States.

First-ever possible treatments for MERS; two promising candidates

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:26 PM PDT

As the South Korean MERS outbreak continues, researchers have discovered and validated two therapeutics that show early promise in preventing and treating the disease, which can cause severe respiratory symptoms, and has a death rate of 40 percent.

Children from high conflict homes process emotion differently, could face social challenges

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:26 PM PDT

Children of parents who are frequently in conflict process emotional interactions differently and may face social challenges later in life compared with children from low conflict homes. The findings are based on measuring research subjects' brain activity during a psychological test.

Sugary drinks linked to high death tolls worldwide

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:26 PM PDT

Consumption of sugary drinks may lead to an estimated 184,000 adult deaths each year worldwide, according to research. In the first detailed global report on the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages, researchers estimated deaths and disabilities from diabetes, heart disease, and cancers in 2010. In this analysis, sugar sweetened beverages were defined as any sugar-sweetened sodas, fruit drinks, sports/energy drinks, sweetened iced teas, or homemade sugary drinks such as frescas, that contained at least 50 kcal per 8oz serving. 100 percent fruit juice was excluded.

Huge congregations view racial inequality differently than others do, study shows

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:26 PM PDT

Congregation size has an impact on how people view the reasons for racial inequality in America, according to a new study. Those who attend very large congregations do not tend to attribute social divisions between blacks and whites to discrimination, but to something other than structural failings in society, the authors suggest.

Largest freshwater lake on Earth was reduced to desert dunes in just a few hundred years

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:25 PM PDT

Researchers used satellite images to map abandoned shore lines around Palaeolake Mega-Chad, and analyzed sediments to calculate the age of these shore lines, producing a lake level history spanning the last 15,000 years.

Helium leakage from Earth's mantle in Los Angeles Basin

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:22 PM PDT

Geologists have found evidence of helium leakage from Earth's mantle along a 30-mile stretch of the Newport-Inglewood Fault Zone in the Los Angeles Basin. Using samples of casing gas from two dozen oil wells ranging from LA's Westside to Newport Beach in Orange County, researchers discovered that more than one-third of the sites -- some of the deepest ones -- show evidence of high levels of helium-3 (3He).

Vaccine to protect global communities from malaria under development

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:22 PM PDT

A professor studying malaria mosquito interaction has discovered a new mosquito protein for the development of a vaccine that is expected to stop the spread of the disease in areas where it is considered endemic. Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, and it infects millions of people in Africa, Asia and South America every year, causing a global health crisis. Local populations, US military personnel stationed in these areas and travelers to these malaria-prone areas are at risk of becoming infected.

Atmospheric mysteries unraveling

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:22 PM PDT

It's been difficult to explain patterns of toxic mercury in some parts of the world, such as why there's so much of the toxin deposited into ecosystems from the air in the southeastern United States, even upwind of usual sources. Now, a new analysis shows that one key to understanding mercury's strange behavior may be the unexpected reactivity of naturally occurring halogen compounds from the ocean.

How petunias know when to smell good

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:22 PM PDT

A team of biologists has identified a key mechanism plants use to decide when to release their floral scents to attract pollinators. Their findings connect the production and release of these fragrant chemicals to the innate circadian rhythms that pulse through all life on Earth.

Humans around the world dance to the same beat

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:22 PM PDT

A new study has found that songs from around the world tend to share features, including a strong rhythm, that enable coordination in social situations and encourage group bonding.

Treatment with PI3K inhibitors may cause cancers to become more aggressive and metastatic

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:27 PM PDT

The enzyme PI3K appears to be exploited in almost every type of human cancer, making it the focus of considerable interest as a therapeutic target. However, PI3K inhibitors have only shown modest clinical activity. Now, new research shows that treatment with PI3K inhibitors alone may actually make a patient's cancer even worse by promoting more aggressive tumor cell behavior and increasing the cancer's potential of spreading to other organs.

New family of small RNAs boosts cell proliferation in cancer

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:27 PM PDT

Rather than cellular trash, half of a transfer RNA (tRNA) molecule appears to actively spur cell proliferation in breast and prostate cancers, suggesting a new role for tRNA and a possible target for a new class of therapy.

Genes responsible for increased activity during the summer

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:24 PM PDT

A thermosensory gene changes behavior in warmer climates, new research reveals. Researchers have explored how the biological clock can be affected by the environment by examining the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, which shows 24 hour biological cycles and is used as a model organism for studies into human rhythms.

Spiky monsters: New species of 'super-armored' worm

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:24 PM PDT

A newly-identified species of spike-covered worm with legs, which lived 500 million years ago, was one of the first animals on Earth to develop armor for protection.

How your brain knows it's summer

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:24 PM PDT

Researchers have discovered a key mechanism underlying how animals keep track of the seasons. The study shows how circadian clock machinery in the brain encodes seasonal changes in daylight duration through GABA activity along with changes in the amount of chloride located inside certain neurons.

Experts cover Korean MERS outbreak in new article

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:22 PM PDT

An overview and analysis of the factors underlying the recent Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus outbreak in Korea has been published by experts.

Recommendations for left atrial appendage occlusion

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:22 PM PDT

Experts have released a new overview on the implantation of left atrial appendage occlusion devices. The implantation of left atrial appendage occlusion devices may lower the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, researchers note.

Key element of human language discovered in bird babble

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:22 PM PDT

Stringing together meaningless sounds to create meaningful signals was previously thought to be the preserve of humans alone, but a new study has revealed that babbler birds are also able to communicate in this way.

Discovery could lead to personalized colon cancer treatment approach

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:22 AM PDT

Researchers report their findings of just how a certain tumor-suppressing protein helps prevent colon cancer. With this discovery, researchers believe they've found a possible drug target for colon cancer patients who lack the tumor suppressor.

Flatworms could replace mammals for some toxicology tests

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:21 AM PDT

Laboratories that test chemicals for neurological toxicity could reduce their use of laboratory mice and rats by replacing these animal models with tiny aquatic flatworms known as freshwater planarians, scientists say.

Upsetting a fragile alliance triggers a deadly childhood disease

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:21 AM PDT

SMA is a devastating neuromuscular disorder that robs children of their ability to walk, eat, or breathe. Mostly caused by an inherited flaw in the Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) gene, SMA is presently without a cure. Scientists have shown that fruit flies and brewer's yeast can reveal clues about this disorder.

Using bacterial 'fight clubs' to find new drugs

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:21 AM PDT

Chemists have demonstrated that creating bacterial 'fight clubs' is an effective way to discover natural molecules with the potential to become new drugs. The "fight club" approach applies analytical tools to analyze what happens when microbes compete.

Specialized therapy can aid traumatized children in developing nations

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:21 AM PDT

A specific type of talk therapy dispensed in the developing world to orphans and other vulnerable children who experienced trauma such as sexual and domestic abuse showed dramatic results, despite being administered by workers with little education, new research shows.

Recent mercury pollution on the rise, but quick to change, study shows

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:21 AM PDT

A study using a 600-year-old ice core shows that global mercury pollution increased dramatically during the 20th century, but that mercury concentrations in the atmosphere decreased faster than previously thought beginning in the late 1970s when emissions started to decline.

Soil water, microbes influence carbon in world's coldest desert, study finds

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:21 AM PDT

Soil water and microbes' respiration contribute to fluctuations of carbon dioxide in the world's coldest desert, where climate change is expected to increase underground moisture and microorganisms, a study finds.

When times are tough, parents favor daughters over sons

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:21 AM PDT

In tough economic times, parents financially favor daughters over sons, according to researchers. The study found participants preferred to enroll a daughter rather than a son in beneficial programs, preferred to give a U.S. Treasury bond to a daughter rather than a son, and bequeathed a greater share of their assets to female offspring in their will when they perceived economic conditions to be poor.

Microplastics entering ocean food web through zooplankton, researchers find

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:38 AM PDT

Tiny microscopic animals called zooplankton are ingesting plastic particles at an alarming rate, according to a new study. That could not only pose a risk to salmon but also spell trouble for the entire aquatic food web -- from zooplankton to humpback whales.

New role for Twitter: Early warning system for bad drug interactions

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:25 AM PDT

A new technique for discovering potentially dangerous drug interactions--before they show up in medical databases like PubMed-- has been developed by researchers. It includes the searching millions of tweets on Twitter.

Physicists shatter stubborn mystery of how glass forms

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:25 AM PDT

Scientists have described how glasses form at the molecular level and provided a possible solution to a problem that has stumped scientists for decades.

Scoring system can help trauma centers improve care during surges in trauma cases

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT

A scoring system that can identify periods of high activity and increased trauma patient deaths in hospital emergency rooms may help hospitals better prepare for surges in trauma patient volume that come with catastrophic events like the Boston Marathon bombing (April 2013) or disasters like the Amtrak train crash (May 2015) in Philadelphia, according to a study.

New knowledge on bone tissue, its role in bone strength or weakness

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT

Leading experts in the field present the latest research on material properties of bone and how these can impart resilience or fragility to the skeleton. This new knowledge will aide in understanding both the hierarchical structure of bone and its importance to overall bone health.

Up, up and away, in the name of science education

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT

The virtues of high-altitude balloons for science education in a new research paper have been outlined in a new research paper. High altitude balloons are ripe for exploitation in science education and beyond, the author says, noting that there is a need for a formal design framework for high-altitude ballooning. There is also a need for a framework to make this technology more effective in undergraduate university courses, for instance, through a standard approach to improving payload design.

Aerodynamic effects can save tens of seconds in cycling time trials

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT

Will the Tour de France prologue in Utrecht get the winner it deserves? New aerodynamic research shows that riders in a time trial can save vital seconds by riding closer to the following team car. Over a short distance like the prologue of the Tour de France, that can save as much as 6 seconds: enough to make the difference between winning and losing.

Scientists develop more accurate whole genome variant discovery, interpretation

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT

Conventional next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques are able to accurately detect certain types of variation, such as single nucleotide variants and small insertions or deletions, but miss many large or complex forms of genomic variation that are associated with human disease. Now, a new approach to build nearly complete genomes by combining high-throughput DNA sequencing with genome mapping has been developed by researchers.

Wait times for health care services differ greatly throughout US

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT

Tremendous variability in wait times for health care appointments exists throughout the United States, ranging from same day service to several months, says a new report.

Automatic computer bug repair

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a new system that repairs dangerous software bugs by automatically importing functionality from other, more secure applications.

Tamper-resistant opioids will not solve opioid addiction problem, study suggests

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT

Governments in Canada and the United States are promoting tamper-resistant drugs, which are more difficult to crush, snort or inject, to prevent addiction and other harms. Opioid users may tamper with prescribed tablets, capsules or patches for a faster "high." However, a research group argues, tamper-resistant formulations of drugs will not solve the problems of opioid addiction and overdose.

New nanogenerator harvests power from rolling tires

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:46 AM PDT

Engineers have developed a nanogenerator that harvests energy from a car's rolling tire friction.

The fear you experience playing video games is real, and you enjoy it

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:45 AM PDT

With the advent of video games, a frequently asked question has been whether we get as engrossed in them emotionally as we do when we see a scary movie. The answer is yes and in new ways, according to new research.

Predicting which glioblastoma patients may benefit from drug treatment

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:45 AM PDT

Clinicians testing the drug dasatinib, approved for several blood cancers, had hoped it would slow the aggressive growth of the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma; however, clinical trials to date have not found any benefit. Researchers who conducted one of those clinical trials, believe they know why dasatinib failed — and what to do about it.

Muscial classification system: Computers get with the beat

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:42 AM PDT

As yet another music streaming service comes online to rival the countless available outlets for so many different genres, a new approach to classifying music to make archiving, sorting and music discovery easier.

Is Facebook the next frontier for online learning?

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:42 AM PDT

Social-networking sites such as Facebook can help students learn scientific literacy and other complex subjects that often receive short shrift in today's time-strapped classrooms.

Food for thought: Use more forages in livestock farming

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:41 AM PDT

Small-scale livestock farming in the tropics can become more intensive yet sustainable if more and better forage is used to feed the animals being reared. This could benefit farming endeavors in rural South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, and see a move away from the increased reliance on grain-based feeds, say scientists.

Freshwater and ocean acidification stunts growth of developing pink salmon

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:34 AM PDT

Pink salmon that begin life in freshwater with high concentrations of carbon dioxide, which causes acidification, are smaller and may be less likely to survive, according to a new study.

More than a third of children were physically assault in the last year

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:34 AM PDT

More than a third of children and teens 17 and younger experienced a physical assault in the last year, primarily at the hands of siblings and peers, according to a new article.

Neighborhood environments and risk for type 2 diabetes

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:34 AM PDT

Neighborhood resources to support greater physical activity and, to a lesser extent, healthy diets appear to be associated with a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes, although the results vary by the method of measurement used, according to a new article.

Indonesian mud volcano likely human-caused, study suggests

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:34 AM PDT

New research hopes to close the debate on whether a major mud volcano disaster in Indonesia was triggered by an earthquake or had human-made origins.

Retreating sea ice linked to changes in ocean circulation, could affect European climate

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:34 AM PDT

Retreating sea ice in the Iceland and Greenland Seas may be changing the circulation of warm and cold water in the Atlantic Ocean, and could ultimately impact the climate in Europe, says a new study.

Rare gene variant associated with middle ear infections

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:34 AM PDT

Researchers may have taken the first step on the road to understanding why only some people get frequent painful or chronic middle ear infections. The culprit may be rare genetic variants in a gene called A2ML1.

Feeling impulsive or frustrated? Take a nap

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:10 AM PDT

It's becoming increasingly common for people, especially adults, to not sleep an entire night. This can negatively impair a person's attention span and memory, as well as contribute to fatigue. Now researchers report that taking a nap may be an effective strategy to counteract impulsive behavior and to boost tolerance for frustration.

Most plastic surgeons now use fat grafting as part of facelift surgery

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:10 AM PDT

In recent years, a large majority of US plastic surgeons have adopted fat grafting techniques as part of their approach to facelift surgery, reports a study. Fat grafting—transferring small amounts of the patient's own fat in strategic areas—has become a common technique utilized by most surgeons today performing facial rejuvenation, researchers report.

Two techniques of temporal migraine surgery are 'equally effective'

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:10 AM PDT

Two migraine surgery techniques targeting a specific "trigger site" are both highly effective in reducing the frequency and severity of migraine headaches, according to a randomized trial.

Even stars older than 11 billion years have Earth-like planets

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:10 AM PDT

33 Kepler stars have been selected for their solar like oscillations and a set of basic parameters have been determined with high precision showing that stars even older than 11 billion years have Earth-like planets.

Researchers map important enzyme in fight against cancer

Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:10 AM PDT

Researchers have discovered what regulates an enzyme that is central to the growth of cancer tumors. This could be of great value to future cancer treatment, they suggest.