ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Simple score predicts risk of death for middle-aged adults in the UK
• Research points to future test for ALS
• NASA's Operation IceBridge concludes 2015 Arctic campaign
• Draining lakes unlikely to worsen Greenland's contribution to sea levels
• Avian ecologists combine bird survey data to ID vulnerable boreal species
• Mixing liquid in microchannels: How to cut a vortex into slices
• High levels of moral reasoning correspond with increased gray matter in brain
• Physicists eager for new, high-energy Large Hadron Collider run
• Homing in on what's wearing out T cells
• Years of good blood sugar control helps diabetic hearts, study finds
• Eukaryotes: A new timetable of evolution
• Algal blooms: Trouble in the tide pools
• BPA can adversely affect parenting behavior in mice
• Revolutionary microbe for biofuel production developed
• Researchers find speedometer in the brain
• Sudden draining of glacial lakes explained
• Two chaotically tumbling Pluto moons
• What musical taste tells us about social class
• Ultra-tough fiber imitates structure of spider silk
• Visualizing the 'matrix': App provides insight into the quantum world of coupled nuclear spins
• Cracking the function of the fly olfactory system to understand how neural circuits work
• Helping robots handle uncertainty
• How did the chicken cross the road...safely?
• Increased risks in pregnancy for obese mothers and their babies, says study
• Study supports IDH gene as prognostic marker in anaplastic astrocytoma
• Protein identified in certain microalgae changes conversation about climate change
• A smelling bee? Deadly mite would be a favorite to win
• Alcohol use disorder is widespread, often untreated in the United States
• MRI technology reveals deep brain pathways in unprecedented detail
• Fond memories make fragrances a favorite
• Are rogue waves predictable?
• Large majority of Americans—including gun owners—support stronger gun policies
• Scientists produce strongest evidence yet of schizophrenia's causes
• Long-term memory formation
• Gone fishing? Box jellyfish catch fish deliberately
• Triple treatment keeps cancer from coming back
• New knowledge about parental break-up, conflicts
• World's smallest spirals could guard against identity theft
• Scientists use new 'tool sled' to collect sea sponges that have potential to combat various diseases
• Cyberbullying less emotionally harmful to kids than traditional in-person harassment, study finds
• 'Highly effective' new biomarker for lung cancer discovered
• Early bird catches more than just the worm
• Paleo study shows how elevation may affect evolution
• Intravenous nutrition source could reduce side effects of chemotherapy
• Cooking up cognition: Study suggests chimps have cognitive capacity for cooking
• Hippocampus: In search of memory storage
• Fast charging electric bus does overtime
• Varroa destructor mite mimics two types of bee
• A first in tree research: European trees planted in China to identify potentially invasive species in our forests
• Cytoskeletons shaking hands: Defects in cytoskeletal structures lead to various diseases
• New beetle emerges from Gran Canaria's subsoil
• Large Hadron Collider experiments are back in business at a new record energy
• Arterial thrombosis: Cloaking of collagen frees up the flow
• How natural channel proteins move in artificial membranes
• Cat got your tongue? New research says 'no'
• Helping pregnant moms with depression doesn't help kids, study shows
• Endurance athletes should be tested while exercising for potentially fatal heart condition
• No evidence that smoking drug linked to increased risk of suicide or traffic accidents
• Nearly one-third of early adulthood depression could be linked to bullying in teenage years
• Are commercial conflicts of interests justifiable in medical journals?

Simple score predicts risk of death for middle-aged adults in the UK Posted: 03 Jun 2015 04:19 PM PDT A simple score test can predict the risk of death for middle-aged adults, a British study suggests. Information for the test can be obtained by questionnaires without the need for physical examination.

Research points to future test for ALS Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:20 PM PDT Researchers have uncovered new insights on the genetic causes of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. These findings could uncover a new way to detect a genetic predisposition to ALS before the disease strikes, they say.

NASA's Operation IceBridge concludes 2015 Arctic campaign Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:20 PM PDT Operation IceBridge wrapped up its seventh Arctic deployment on May 21, when NASA's C-130 research aircraft with the mission's researchers and instruments on board departed Thule Air Base in Greenland and headed to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Draining lakes unlikely to worsen Greenland's contribution to sea levels Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:20 PM PDT Each summer, Greenland's ice sheet -- the world's second-largest expanse of ice, measuring three times the size of Texas -- begins to melt. Pockets of melting ice form hundreds of large, 'supraglacial' lakes on the surface of the ice. Many of these lakes drain through cracks and crevasses in the ice sheet, creating a liquid layer over which massive chunks of ice can slide. This natural conveyor belt can speed ice toward the coast, where it eventually falls off into the sea. Now researchers have found that while warming temperatures are creating more inland lakes, these lakes cannot drain their water locally, as lakes along the coast do, and are not likely to change the amount of water reaching the ground in inland regions.

Avian ecologists combine bird survey data to ID vulnerable boreal species Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:20 PM PDT Continent-wide bird surveys play an important role in conservation, says an avian ecologist, but they can miss rare or isolated species whose habitat is off the beaten path, such as at high elevation or in a dense bog. Now the researchers are combining data from local point counts to know how birds in hard-to-reach habitats are faring report for the first time how birds in hard-to-reach habitats are faring.

Mixing liquid in microchannels: How to cut a vortex into slices Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:19 PM PDT A group of physicists came up with a way to stir up a liquid in a microchannel. Physicists managed to find a sophisticated solution to the problem based on the use of superhydrophobic surfaces.

High levels of moral reasoning correspond with increased gray matter in brain Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:18 PM PDT Individuals with a higher level of moral reasoning skills showed increased gray matter in the areas of the brain implicated in complex social behavior, decision making, and conflict processing as compared to subjects at a lower level of moral reasoning, according to new research.

Physicists eager for new, high-energy Large Hadron Collider run Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:17 PM PDT When experiments at the Large Hadron Collider collect the first 13-teraelectronvolt particle collisions data today, a long wait will be over for physicists who now begin some of the most exciting years of their careers searching for new particles, extra dimensions and the nature of dark matter.

Homing in on what's wearing out T cells Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:17 PM PDT When the T cells of your immune system are forced to deal over time with cancer or a chronic infection they become exhausted - less effective at attacking and destroying invaders. While the PD-1 protein pathway has long been implicated as a primary player in T cell exhaustion, a major question has been whether PD-1 actually directly causes exhaustion. A new paper seems to, at least partially, let PD-1 off the hook.

Years of good blood sugar control helps diabetic hearts, study finds Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:17 PM PDT Day in and day out, millions of people with diabetes test their blood sugar levels. And many may wonder if all the careful eating, exercise and medication it takes to keep those levels under control is really worth it. A major new study should encourage them to keep going -- and prompt them to work with their doctors on reducing their cardiovascular risk.

Eukaryotes: A new timetable of evolution Posted: 03 Jun 2015 11:36 AM PDT The first single-celled organisms with a nucleus originated more than a billion years later than biogeochemical evidence had previously indicated. In contrast to prokaryotes such as bacteria, eukaryotes have a nucleus. Some researchers thought they had discovered molecular remnants of living organisms in rock samples up to 2.8 billion years old. However, as the current study shows, these molecular traces were introduced by contamination.

Algal blooms: Trouble in the tide pools Posted: 03 Jun 2015 11:36 AM PDT A harmful algal bloom is the suspected culprit of a die-off in 2011 of millions of purple sea urchins and six-starred sea stars in Northern California. Their disappearance is predicted to have long-term ecological consequences on their populations. As algal blooms are expected to increase with climate change and ocean acidification, similar mass mortality events are expected to increase, experts say.

BPA can adversely affect parenting behavior in mice Posted: 03 Jun 2015 11:36 AM PDT Biparental care of offspring occurs in only a minority of species. Studies have shown that maternal care can be negatively affected when females are exposed to BPA; however, no studies have shown how this chemical can affect maternal and paternal care. Researchers have used biparental California mice to prove that offspring born to parents who are exposed to BPA receive decreased parental care by both the mother and father.

Revolutionary microbe for biofuel production developed Posted: 03 Jun 2015 10:54 AM PDT A revolutionary strain of yeast has been developed by scientists that could help significantly accelerate the development of biofuels from nonfood plant matter.

Researchers find speedometer in the brain Posted: 03 Jun 2015 10:22 AM PDT Neural circuits in the brains of mice that are pivotal for movement and navigation in space have been identified. These nerve cells that are presumed to exist in a similar form in humans, give the start signal for locomotion and also supply the brain with speed-related information.

Sudden draining of glacial lakes explained Posted: 03 Jun 2015 10:22 AM PDT In 2008 scientists documented for the first time how the icy bottoms of lakes atop the Greenland Ice Sheet can crack open suddenly -- draining the lakes completely within hours and sending torrents of water to the base of the ice sheet thousands of feet below. Now they have found a surprising mechanism that triggers the cracks.

Two chaotically tumbling Pluto moons Posted: 03 Jun 2015 10:04 AM PDT If you lived on one of Pluto's moons Nix or Hydra, you'd have a hard time setting your alarm clock. That's because you could not know for sure when, or even in which direction, the sun would rise. Comprehensive analysis of data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows that two of Pluto's moons, Nix and Hydra, wobble unpredictably.

What musical taste tells us about social class Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:45 AM PDT Love the opera? Hungry for hip hop? It turns out that your musical likes and dislikes may say more about you than you think, according to research.

Ultra-tough fiber imitates structure of spider silk Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:45 AM PDT These researchers are not related to Spiderman. Nevertheless, a group of scientists has produced an ultra-tough polymer fiber directly inspired by spiders. Their project involves making micrometric-sized microstructured fibres that have mechanical properties similar to those of spider silk.

Visualizing the 'matrix': App provides insight into the quantum world of coupled nuclear spins Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:45 AM PDT Magnetic resonance tomography images are an important diagnostic tool. The achievable contrast depends on how well the nuclear spins that form the basis of the imaging signals can be controlled. Mathematically, the properties of nuclear spins are described by special matrices. Now a team of researchers has developed an intuitive graphical representation of the information contained in these matrices for coupled spins in arbitrary quantum states.

Cracking the function of the fly olfactory system to understand how neural circuits work Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:45 AM PDT Scientists have undertaken to map the neural circuitry involved in the conversion of olfactory inputs into navigational behaviors in the fruit fly larva. The work is a new example on how systems biology allows scientists to approach complex questions such as brain functions.

Helping robots handle uncertainty Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:44 AM PDT Decentralized partially observable Markov decision processes are a way to model autonomous robots' behavior in circumstances where neither their communication with each other nor their judgments about the outside world are perfect. Now researchers note that an algorithm for planning robot collaborations makes complex models practical.

How did the chicken cross the road...safely? Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:44 AM PDT Protecting animals from speeding vehicles doesn't have a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, a more detailed understanding of preventive measures should be gained through scientific experiments, experts say.

Increased risks in pregnancy for obese mothers and their babies, says study Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:44 AM PDT Women with obesity have a range of increased health risks in pregnancy, both for them and their babies, compared with those in the healthy weight category, according to a new systematic review of research.

Study supports IDH gene as prognostic marker in anaplastic astrocytoma Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:43 AM PDT The mutation status of a gene called IDH1 might have prognostic value for anaplastic astrocytomas, and that it may be worth exploring further whether IDH1 status can predict the best chemotherapy for these patients, a new study suggests.

Protein identified in certain microalgae changes conversation about climate change Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:43 AM PDT High-profile science behind climate change and carbon recycling takes a new turn as researchers find a protein in a major group of phytoplankton that keeps them alive in stressed environments in the ocean.

A smelling bee? Deadly mite would be a favorite to win Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:43 AM PDT If there were an international smelling bee, a deadly mite would be a favorite to win. New research has revealed that Varroa mites, the most-serious threat to honeybees worldwide, are infiltrating hives by smelling like bees.

Alcohol use disorder is widespread, often untreated in the United States Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:43 AM PDT Alcohol use disorder as defined by a new diagnostic classification was widespread and often untreated in the United States, with a lifetime prevalence of 29.1 percent but only 19.8 percent of adults were ever treated, according to a new article.

MRI technology reveals deep brain pathways in unprecedented detail Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:43 AM PDT A 3-D map of the human brain stem has been produced at an unprecedented level of detail using MRI technology. In a new study, the researchers unveil an ultra high-resolution brain stem model that could better guide brain surgeons treating conditions such as tremors and Parkinson's disease with deep brain stimulation.

Fond memories make fragrances a favorite Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:41 AM PDT When the scent of a fragrant product triggers a fond memory that a customer holds, it is more likely to be a hit, research shows. Its results indicate how a product's scent often evokes personal emotional memories and influences its appeals to customers.

Are rogue waves predictable? Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:41 AM PDT A comparative analysis of rogue waves in different physical systems comes to the surprising conclusion that these rare events are not completely unpredictable.

Large majority of Americans—including gun owners—support stronger gun policies Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:39 AM PDT A large majority of Americans—including gun owners—continue to support stronger policies to prevent gun violence than are present in current federal and most state law, according to a new national public opinion survey.

Scientists produce strongest evidence yet of schizophrenia's causes Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:39 AM PDT The strongest evidence yet of what causes schizophrenia - a condition that affects around 1% of the global population -- has been provided by an international group of scientists. The work strongly suggests that disruption of a delicate chemical balance in the brain is heavily implicated in the disorder. The symptoms of schizophrenia can be extremely disruptive, and have a large impact on a person's ability to carry out everyday tasks, such as going to work, maintaining relationships and caring for themselves or others.

Long-term memory formation Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:39 AM PDT A team of neuroscientists has determined how a pair of growth factor molecules contributes to long-term memory formation. In their study, the researchers examined GFs in Aplysia californica, the California sea slug. Aplysia is a model organism that is quite powerful for this type of research because its neurons are 10 to 50 times larger than those of higher organisms, such as vertebrates, and it possesses a relatively small network of neurons -- characteristics that readily allow for the examination of molecular signaling during memory formation.

Gone fishing? Box jellyfish catch fish deliberately Posted: 03 Jun 2015 06:39 AM PDT The first feeding study of tropical Australia's Irukandji box jellyfish has found that they actively fish. They attract larval fish by twitching their extended tentacles, highlighting their nematocyst clusters (stinging structures) and using them as lures. It's an impressive feat by any standards, but particularly so for an animal that doesn't have a defined brain.

Triple treatment keeps cancer from coming back Posted: 03 Jun 2015 06:39 AM PDT Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, responsible for some 1.59 million deaths a year. That figure is due, in part, to the fact that the cancer often returns after what, at first, seems to be successful treatment, with recurring cancer often resistant to chemotherapy. A new strategy involving a three-pronged approach might keep an aggressive form of lung cancer from returning, scientists say.

New knowledge about parental break-up, conflicts Posted: 03 Jun 2015 06:38 AM PDT Do maternal couple relationships change throughout the child-rearing years and can the likelihood of parental break-up be predicted? A new doctoral study has investigated these questions.

World's smallest spirals could guard against identity theft Posted: 03 Jun 2015 06:37 AM PDT Researchers have made the world's smallest spirals and found they have unique optical properties that are nearly impossible to counterfeit if they were added to identity cards, currency and other objects.

Scientists use new 'tool sled' to collect sea sponges that have potential to combat various diseases Posted: 03 Jun 2015 06:37 AM PDT Sea sponges appeared more than 600 million years ago, and many of the genes they have are the same as those involved in cancer. Scientists have developed a new 'tool sled' to collect these sponges to take advantage of the similarity in human and sponge genomes to develop medicines for the treatment of human diseases.

Cyberbullying less emotionally harmful to kids than traditional in-person harassment, study finds Posted: 03 Jun 2015 06:37 AM PDT Contrary to popular belief, cyberbullying that starts and stays online is no more emotionally harmful to youngsters than harassment that only occurs in-person and may actually be less disturbing because it's likelier to be of shorter duration and not involve significant power imbalances, according to a study.

'Highly effective' new biomarker for lung cancer discovered Posted: 03 Jun 2015 06:37 AM PDT Scientists have found a protein that circulates in the blood that appears to be more accurate at detecting non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than currently available methods used for screening.

Early bird catches more than just the worm Posted: 03 Jun 2015 06:37 AM PDT Compared with early birds, late risers are more likely to be cuckolded, a group of international researchers has found. The study's lead author said they found that early risers used that time to mate with birds not in their social pair. Melatonin-implanted birds did not sire as many birds and later cared for nestlings fathered by an early riser in their nest. Study results provide insight into the evolution of the body clock.

Paleo study shows how elevation may affect evolution Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:33 AM PDT About 34 million years ago, global temperatures took a dive, causing a sudden wave of extinctions among European mammals. In North America, however, life went on largely unscathed. A new study explains why: the rise of the Rocky Mountains had forced North American mammals to adapt to a colder, drier world.

Intravenous nutrition source could reduce side effects of chemotherapy Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:33 AM PDT A single dose of an FDA-approved intravenous nutrition source may be able to significantly reduce the toxicity and increase the bioavailability of platinum-based cancer drugs, according to a study.

Cooking up cognition: Study suggests chimps have cognitive capacity for cooking Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:33 AM PDT Many of the cognitive capacities that humans use for cooking -- a preference for cooked food, the ability to understand the transformation of raw food into cooked food, and even the ability to save and transport food over distance for the purposes of cooking -- are also shared with chimpanzees, new research suggests.

Hippocampus: In search of memory storage Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:32 AM PDT The hippocampus plays a crucial role in memory formation. However, it is not yet fully understood in what way that brain structure's individual regions are involved in the formation of memories. Neuroscientists have recreated this process with the aid of computer simulations. Their findings challenge the model of memory forming in the hippocampus established to date.

Fast charging electric bus does overtime Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:32 AM PDT Electric buses are an eco-friendly alternative to diesel. Researchers have developed a concept to swiftly recharge buses while they operate routes. System testing in Dresden has been underway since November, 2014, with encouraging results.

Varroa destructor mite mimics two types of bee Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:32 AM PDT The parasitic bee mite Varroa destructor, which can mimic the chemical composition of its host's cuticle, is also capable of adapting this composition according to the bee species that it infests. Such remarkable adaptability could explain how this parasite of the Asian bee was able to colonize the European bee during the 20th century, contributing to the decline of the latter species.

A first in tree research: European trees planted in China to identify potentially invasive species in our forests Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:32 AM PDT The expansion of international trade, rapid transport, increasing sales of decorative plants and agricultural goods, and global warming are all factors that contribute to the unintentional introduction and survival of organisms, fungi and insects in new geographical zones far from their region of origin. European scientists worked with colleagues in China to study the ability of Chinese insect and fungal pathogens to colonize European trees.

Cytoskeletons shaking hands: Defects in cytoskeletal structures lead to various diseases Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:32 AM PDT Animal cells harbor three types of cytoskeletal elements: actin filaments, intermediate filaments and microtubules. Despite their name, cytoskeletons are very dynamic structures, which undergo rapid reorganization in cells and thus contribute to numerous cellular processes, such as morphogenesis, motility, intracellular transport, and cell division. Consequently, defects in cytoskeletal structures lead to various diseases, including cancer and neurological disorders.

New beetle emerges from Gran Canaria's subsoil Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:31 AM PDT Thanks to research carried out since 2003 on the subsoil of Gran Canaria (Spain), two scientists have discovered a new species of beetle, which they have called Oromia thoracica. This blind weevil shares the same brownish-grey color as the subsoil fauna and has a flattened body and thorax almost covering its head, an adaptation to life underground. In recent years the underground environment of the Canary Islands has revealed many of its best guarded secrets. Spiders, millipedes, psuedoscorpions, cockroaches and beetles have emerged mainly from the depths of the Agaete valley, on the north-west of Gran Canaria. This area has some of the oldest soil on the island originating from the Miocene epoch, between 23 and 5 million years ago.

Large Hadron Collider experiments are back in business at a new record energy Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:31 AM PDT Today, CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) started delivering physics data for the first time in 27 months. After an almost two year shutdown and several months re-commissioning, the LHC is now providing collisions to all of its experiments at the unprecedented energy of 13 TeV, almost double the collision energy of its first run. This marks the start of season 2 at the LHC, opening the way to new discoveries. The LHC will now run round the clock for the next three years.

Arterial thrombosis: Cloaking of collagen frees up the flow Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:30 AM PDT Blood clots often form when lipid-rich plaques on the inner surface of arteries rupture and platelets aggregate at the site of injury. Cardiologists have now compared the effects of two new platelet aggregation inhibitors.

How natural channel proteins move in artificial membranes Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:30 AM PDT Natural channel proteins are integrated into artificial membranes to facilitate the transport of ions and molecules. Researchers have now been able to measure the movement of these channel proteins for the first time. They move up to ten times slower than in their natural environment, namely the cell membrane. These study results may prove useful to the ongoing development of new applications such as nanoreactors and artificial organelles.

Cat got your tongue? New research says 'no' Posted: 02 Jun 2015 06:56 PM PDT Cat taste receptors respond in a unique way to bitter compounds compared with human receptors, according to research. The study represents the first glimpse into how domestic cats perceive bitterness in food at a molecular level, and could explain why cats are sometimes such picky eaters.

Helping pregnant moms with depression doesn't help kids, study shows Posted: 02 Jun 2015 05:05 PM PDT A long-term study of mother-child pairs in Pakistan has found that the children turn out pretty much the same, whether or not their mothers received treatment for depression during pregnancy. An earlier study of the same population found that the mothers themselves benefited from the treatment with less depression, and demonstrating related healthy behaviors with their newborns, such as breastfeeding. But those improvements were short-lived.

Endurance athletes should be tested while exercising for potentially fatal heart condition Posted: 02 Jun 2015 05:05 PM PDT Some athletes who take part in endurance exercise such as marathon running, endurance triathlons or alpine cycling can develop heartbeat irregularities that can, occasionally, lead to their sudden death. New evidence shows that doctors who try to detect these irregularities by focusing on the left ventricle of the heart, or on the right ventricle while an athlete is resting, will miss important signs of right ventricular dysfunction that can only be detected during exercise and that could be fatal.

No evidence that smoking drug linked to increased risk of suicide or traffic accidents Posted: 02 Jun 2015 05:05 PM PDT There is no strong evidence that the popular smoking cessation drug varenicline is associated with increased risks of suicidal behaviors, criminal offending, transport accidents, traffic-related offenses, and psychoses, finds a study.

Nearly one-third of early adulthood depression could be linked to bullying in teenage years Posted: 02 Jun 2015 05:05 PM PDT Bullying in teenage years is strongly associated with depression later on in life, suggests new research. Depression is a major public health problem with high economic and societal costs. There is a rapid increase in depression from childhood to adulthood and one contributing factor could be bullying by peers. But the link between bullying at school and depression in adulthood is still unclear due to limitations in previous research.

Are commercial conflicts of interests justifiable in medical journals? Posted: 02 Jun 2015 05:05 PM PDT A group of former senior editors criticize a 'seriously flawed and inflammatory attack' by The New England Journal of Medicine on what that journal believes have become overly stringent policies on conflicts of interest.

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