| Detective scientists discover ancient clues in mummy portraits Posted: 14 Feb 2016 05:13 PM PST Researchers have taken CSI to a new level: employing science to investigate details of the materials and methods used by Roman-Egyptian artists to paint mummy portraits more than 2,000 years ago. Clues about the paintings' underlying surface shapes and colors provide very strong evidence as to how many of the portraits and panel paintings were made. The researchers concluded that three of the paintings likely came from the same workshop and may have been painted by the same hand. |
| New hardware to expand fast fiber-to-the-home Posted: 14 Feb 2016 05:13 PM PST The cost of deploying fast fiber connections straight to homes could be dramatically reduced by new hardware. The innovative technology will help address the challenges of providing households with high bandwidths while futureproofing infrastructure against the exponentially growing demand for data. |
| Does living near an oil or natural gas well affect your drinking water? Posted: 14 Feb 2016 05:12 PM PST Does living near an oil or natural gas well affect the quality of your drinking water? 'The answer to that question is usually 'no,' but there are exceptions,' said an expert. He has found very high levels of natural gas in the tap water near active wells, and a surprising number of hydraulically fractured wells that penetrate shallow freshwater aquifers. 'In no other industry would you be allowed to inject chemicals into a source of drinking-quality water,' he said. |
| Hypertensive women with physically demanding jobs at three times risk of heart disease Posted: 14 Feb 2016 05:11 PM PST Hypertensive women with highly active jobs have a nearly three times higher risk of ischaemic heart disease than women with normal blood pressure and moderately active jobs, according to new research. |
| Speech disorder called apraxia can progress to neurodegenerative disease Posted: 14 Feb 2016 05:11 PM PST It may start with a simple word you can't pronounce. Your tongue and lips stumble, and gibberish comes out. Misspeaking might draw a chuckle from family and friends. But, then, it keeps happening. Progressively, more and more speech is lost. Some patients eventually become mute from primary progressive apraxia of speech, a disorder related to degenerative neurologic disease. |
| Progress in fighting cancer and infections with T cell therapy Posted: 14 Feb 2016 05:11 PM PST The quest to bring immunotherapy into widespread clinical use against cancer and infectious diseases has made great strides in recent years. For example, clinical trials of adoptive T cell therapy are yielding highly promising results. |
| What values are important to scientists? Posted: 14 Feb 2016 05:11 PM PST While many people are marking today scrutinizing the virtues of their Valentines, researchers have revealed a first-of-its-kind study on the virtues and values of scientists. The study surveyed nearly 500 astronomers, biologists, chemists, physicists and earth scientists to identify the core traits of exemplary scientists. |
| New appreciation for human microbiome leads to greater understanding of human health Posted: 14 Feb 2016 05:11 PM PST Anthropologists are studying the ancient and modern human microbiome and the role it plays in human health and disease. By applying genomic and proteomic sequencing technologies to ancient human microbiomes, such as coprolites and dental calculus, as well as to contemporary microbiomes in traditional and industrialized societies, Researchers are advancing the understanding of the evolutionary history of our microbial self and its impact on human health today. |
| Market integration could help offset climate-related food insecurity Posted: 14 Feb 2016 05:11 PM PST Global market integration is key to buffering future commodity prices and food security from the negative effects of climate change on agriculture, says an agricultural economist. |
| Food security: Building resilience into the world's food system Posted: 14 Feb 2016 05:11 PM PST The world's food system faces increased exposure to risk from natural disasters to economic and political crises, from climate change to resource degradation. Feeding growing urban populations across the globe presents unprecedented challenges for an already volatile system. Can a holistic approach involving optimization models and big data increase resilience and strengthen food across the entire food value chain? |
| Language juggling rewires bilingual brain in a good way Posted: 13 Feb 2016 03:59 PM PST Bilinguals use and learn language in ways that change their minds and brains, which has consequences -- many positive, according to a cognitive scientist. |
| When machines can do any job, what will humans do? Posted: 13 Feb 2016 03:59 PM PST Computer scientists expects that within 30 years, machines will be capable of doing almost any job that humans can. In anticipation of this development, he is asking his colleagues, "What will humans do?" |
| Loss of sleep during adolescence may be a diabetes danger Posted: 13 Feb 2016 03:57 PM PST How much slow-wave sleep a teenage boy gets may predict whether he is at risk for insulin resistance and other health issues, according to a neuroscience researcher. |
| Planet formation around binary star Posted: 13 Feb 2016 03:57 PM PST Using ALMA, astronomers have taken a new, detailed look at the very early stages of planet formation around a binary star. Embedded in the outer reaches of a double star's protoplanetary disk, the researchers discovered a striking crescent-shape region of dust that is conspicuously devoid of gas. This result provides fresh insights into the planet-forming potential of a binary system. |
| Study of cognitive development in deaf children revisits longstanding debate Posted: 13 Feb 2016 03:57 PM PST With the advent of universal newborn hearing screening and improved technologies such as cochlear implants, more and more deaf children are relying on spoken language and not learning sign language. While some herald this as a victory, others point to variability in developmental outcomes as evidence that eschewing sign language may be a risky approach. |
| Research could inform new therapy for Parkinson’s disease Posted: 13 Feb 2016 04:52 AM PST New research suggests the possibility of the regrowth of dopaminergic neurons in adult mammals, which could have significant impact in treating Parkinson's disease. |
| Top academics warn that without a proactive approach to insecticide resistance, gains made in malaria prevention could be lost Posted: 13 Feb 2016 04:51 AM PST Researchers in the field of vector biology have put together an editorial outlining the need for a more urgent and proactive approach to insecticide resistance, if the gains made in malaria prevention in the 21st century are not to be lost. |
| Eating breakfast could help obese people get more active Posted: 13 Feb 2016 04:51 AM PST Eating breakfast causes obese people to be more active, according to new research. The study analyzed the links between breakfast and health for individuals classed as 'obese', comparing the results from a fasting group with a breakfasting group. |
| Using stories to teach human values to artificial agents Posted: 12 Feb 2016 05:02 PM PST Artificial intelligence technique Quixote teaches 'value alignment' to robots by training them to read stories, learn acceptable sequences of events and understand successful ways to behave in human societies. |
| Most precise measurement of reactor antineutrino spectrum reveals intriguing surprise Posted: 12 Feb 2016 05:02 PM PST Members of the International Daya Bay Collaboration, who track the production and flavor-shifting behavior of electron antineutrinos generated at a nuclear power complex in China, have obtained the most precise measurement of these subatomic particles' energy spectrum ever recorded. |
| From huts to cities: Changes in dwellings impact microbe exposure for human immune system Posted: 12 Feb 2016 05:02 PM PST The shift from living in jungle huts to cities has dramatically changed human exposure to certain microbes, which could have implications for healthy immune function, according to a new study. |
| Caught in the act: Astronomers find a rare supernova 'impostor' in a nearby galaxy Posted: 12 Feb 2016 05:02 PM PST University of Washington astronomers have identified a rare type of supernova 'impostor' in a nearby galaxy, with implications for how scientists look at the short, complex lives of massive stars. |
| A new form of frozen water? Posted: 12 Feb 2016 05:02 PM PST A research team has predicted a new molecular form of ice with a record-low density. If the ice can be synthesized, it would become the 18th known crystalline form of water and the first discovered in the US since before World War II. |
| Pesticide-induced mosquito death outweighs fitness advantage of survivors Posted: 12 Feb 2016 01:42 PM PST A common toxin used to kill yellow fever mosquito larvae – the most prevalent transmitter of dengue, chikungunya and zika viruses – is highly effective. While there are some fitness advantages to surviving adults, this is still an effective way to control the damaging health impacts of these mosquito-borne diseases, a new study shows. |
| Computer models predict right-size heart valves Posted: 12 Feb 2016 01:40 PM PST Children born with a certain congenital heart defect often need a percutaneous pulmonary valve surgically inserted when they are 10 to 15 years old. New computer simulations have been developed to determine if that surgery will be successful and if the necessary valve will fit in the individual's heart -- before the surgery takes place. |
| New experimental test detects signs of Lyme disease near time of infection Posted: 12 Feb 2016 01:39 PM PST An experimental method developed by researchers appears capable of detecting the stealthy culprit Lyme bacteria at the earliest time of infection, when currently available tests are often still negative. |
| Stem cell gene therapy could be key to treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy Posted: 12 Feb 2016 01:39 PM PST Scientists have developed a new approach that could eventually be used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The stem cell gene therapy could be applicable for 60 percent of people with Duchenne, which affects approximately 1 in 5,000 boys in the US and is the most common fatal childhood genetic disease. |
| Researchers identify 'neurostatin' that may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease Posted: 12 Feb 2016 01:39 PM PST An approved anti-cancer drug successfully targets the first step in the toxic chain reaction that leads to Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that treatments may be found to lower the risk of developing the neurodegenerative condition. |
| Researchers create 'mini-brains' in lab to study neurological diseases Posted: 12 Feb 2016 01:39 PM PST Researchers say they have developed tiny 'mini-brains' made up of many of the neurons and cells of the human brain -- and even some of its functionality -- and which can be replicated on a large scale. |
| New app turns smartphones into worldwide seismic network Posted: 12 Feb 2016 01:38 PM PST Sensor networks to detect earthquakes are expensive, and many nations have only rudimentary seismic networks. Seismologists have now developed an app that turns smartphones into sensors to collect ground shaking data for study, and eventually to provide early warning to users. The app is called MyShake. Its greatest value may be in countries without a traditional seismic network. |
| Specimens From George Washington Carver Discovered at university Posted: 12 Feb 2016 11:16 AM PST At least 25 specimens of fungi that infect plants, collected by George Washington Carver more than a century ago, were discovered Feb. 8 in the Wisconsin State Herbarium at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. |
| Tomato genetics study sheds light on plant evolution Posted: 12 Feb 2016 11:16 AM PST A new study of evolution in a diverse group of wild tomatoes is shedding light on the importance of genetic variation in plants. |
| Alliterative product promotions pique purchasers Posted: 12 Feb 2016 10:01 AM PST New research shows that promotional messages that use alliteration -- the phonetic overlap of the beginnings of words -- hold a greater appeal for consumers than non-alliterative messages, even accounting for cost differences. |
| Scientists in Panama call for alert as cobia, a potentially invasive fish, spreads Posted: 12 Feb 2016 10:01 AM PST Like the lionfish in the Caribbean, a large fish called Cobia, which has escaped from an aquaculture facility in Ecuador, has the potential to become an important invasive species in the Central and Eastern Pacific |
| Stability in ecosystems: Asynchrony of species is more important than diversity Posted: 12 Feb 2016 10:01 AM PST Whether an animal or plant community remains stable does not depend on diversity alone: asynchrony across the species is also a crucial factor. The more asynchronous the species in an ecosystem fluctuate in their abundances, the less likely it becomes unstable. As a result, diversity takes second place in terms of the factors to be considered in the context of ecosystem stability. |
| Drones give scientists a new self-service approach Posted: 12 Feb 2016 10:01 AM PST Scientists and engineers are seeing a range of opportunities to enhance their research with use of drones -- i.e., unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The relatively low cost and increasing capabilities of drones have begun making them a popular data-gathering tool. A hydrologist says drones could bring big changes in how ecological and environmental science and engineering is done. |
| X-raying of fossil beetles Posted: 12 Feb 2016 07:24 AM PST The layman considers fossil beetles just stones. Even experts were able to describe the rough, outer shape of the millimeter-sized fossils only. Using the ANKA synchrotron radiation source of KIT, 30 million year' old beetles have now been examined in more detail. The inner anatomy was imaged in such detail that the family tree of the beetles could be analyzed. Hence, latest imaging methods can provide access to the enormous store of knowledge of unused natural history collections. |
