AP - Using fire scars on nearly 5,000 tree stumps dating back 450 years, scientists have found that extended periods of major wildfires in the West occurred when the North Atlantic Ocean was going through periodic warming. Read more…
AP - A leading industry group has given scientists the go-ahead to build genetically engineered peanuts that could be safer, more nutritious and easier to grow than their conventional version. Read more…
AP - Researchers at the University of Washington say all that holiday baking and eating has an environmental impact — Puget Sound is being flavored by cinnamon and vanilla. "Even something as fun as baking for the holiday season has an environmental effect," said Rick Keil, an associate professor of chemical oceanography. "When we bake and change the way we eat, it has an impact on what the environment sees. To me it shows the connectedness." Read more…
Von Economo neurons (VENs) are uniquely shaped brain cells that seem to have evolved in a select group of socially complex species: great apes, humans, and, as reported last month, whales. Across species, VENs are localized to frontal brain regions associated with cognition, emotion and social behavior. Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a common neurodegenerative condition, is characterized by early breakdown in social and emotional awareness and is accompanied by atrophy and dysfunction in the brain areas where VENs are located. Read more…
The natural herb black cohosh is commonly used by women to treat menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, but the molecular mechanisms underlying its action have eluded scientists -- until now. Read more…
Investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a model to identify patients at high risk of developing glaucoma. Their research was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Las Vegas. Read more…
Researchers at NIST and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have demonstrated a simple method of cleaning nanotubes by zapping them with carefully calibrated laser pulses. Read more…
Worldwide, cancer persists as one of the most important diseases that affect the human being. The knowledge on the molecular bases of cancer generated during the last decades has been successfully translated into small but significant gains in overall cancer survival rates due to better primary prevention measures, improved diagnostic methods and the development of more effective and specific therapies, collectively termed "molecular targeted therapies." In the context of these new forms of treatment, epigenetic or transcriptional cancer therapy is clearly promising. Read more…
Whale watchers on board the research icebreaker Polarstern have made a remarkable cetaceans sighting: Four Arnoux's Beaked Whales (Berardius arnuxii), observed from the helicopter. The Arnoux's Beaked Whales is one of the least known species of the Beaked Whales family (Ziphidae), itself poorly known in general. Arnoux's is one of the biggest species amongst beaked whales. The ones observed were probably 9 metre long. These deep-sea feeding whales are particularly sensitive to underwater acoustic disturbances. Read more…
Research published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health casts doubt on the belief that organophosphate poisoning causes symptoms of depression among Gulf War veterans and farmers, who are exposed regularly to these chemicals. Read more…
A Northwestern University study uses a new strategy to show precisely how paying attention alters brain activity. Digging deep to summon that extra ounce of attention engages a symphony of brain activity that comes to your rescue as millions of neurons work together to make the music of a vivid conscious experience. Think of a conductor stepping in to control a large set of unruly musicians in an orchestra so that they can all play together. Read more…
Inflammatory bowel disease roughly doubles the chances of pregnancy complications, reveals research published ahead of print in Gut. Inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD for short, is an umbrella term for the inflammatory disorders of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Read more…
The theorists who first created the mathematics that describe the behavior of the recently announced "invisibility cloak" have revealed a new analysis that may extend the current cloak's powers, enabling it to hide even actively radiating objects like a flashlight or cell phone. Read more…
It is widely hoped that neural stem cells will eventually be useful for replacing nerves damaged by degenerative diseases like Alzheimer disease and multiple sclerosis. But there may also be another use for such stem cells -- delivering anti-cancer drugs to cancer cells. Read more…
A gene variant linked to living a very long life -- to 90 and beyond -- also serves to help very old people think clearly and retain their memories, according to new research by scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Read more…
A new, stunning image of the cosmic spider, the Tarantula Nebula and its surroundings, finally pays tribute to this amazing, vast and intricately sculpted web of stars and gas. The newly released image, made with ESO's Wide Field Imager on the 2.2-m ESO/MPG Telescope at La Silla, covers 1 square degree on the sky and could therefore contain four times the full moon. Read more…
While many of New York's snow birds head south to Puerto Rico for time in the sun, a recent batch of first-time fliers -- born and raised in the city -- are heading down for a different reason -- to save their own species. And tadpoles generally do not fly, unless they are part of a reintroduction program to save the Puerto Rican crested toad, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Read more…
Six percent of obese kidney transplant patients die in the first year and 14 percent suffer transplant failures. The figures for non obese patients are three percent and eight percent. Experts from seven university hospitals in the Netherlands studied 2067 patients. Their finding appear in the November issue of Transplant International. Read more…
The Institute of Medicine estimates that medical errors are the eighth leading cause of death in the United States, and poor communication can be a major source of those errors. Now the Clinical Simulation Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis hopes to improve patient safety by using clinical simulators to find the source of miscommunications during medical treatments. Read more…
Infants and adults who are blind due to a cloudy or damaged cornea are seeing some remarkable results thanks to a new version of an artificial implant that takes the place of the cornea, the clear covering of the eye that serves as our window on the world. Read more…
Montana State University researchers and their collaborators are gaining widespread attention for discoveries involving a common parasite that can threaten everyone from babies to AIDS patients. Toxoplasmosis is normally associated with medical advice that pregnant women avoid changing cat litter, but it's gaining new attention because of the AIDS epidemic and bioterrorism, the researchers said. Severe toxoplasmosis can cause AIDS patients to go into a deep dementia and become unconscious of their surroundings. Read more…
AFP - Belarus has said that about 20 percent of Russian natural gas deliveries to Europe could be threatened if Russian group Gazprom cuts gas to Belarus next week over a pricing dispute. Read more…
Reuters - Animal loving Britons have taken their obsession with furry pets to new lengths -- including many members of the cat family not usually associated with domesticity, according to a survey published Wednesday. Read more…
AFP - A French-made Corot spacecraft designed to search out planets has blasted off on a Russian rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Russia's space agency said. Read more…
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