ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• New study sheds light on link between dairy intake and bone health: Not all dairy products are equal
• Some plants are altruistic, too, new study suggests
• Routes towards defect-free graphene
• Treatment to prevent Alzheimer's disease moves a step closer
• Increases in extreme rainfall linked to global warming
• Amazon freshwater ecosystems are vulnerable to degradation
• Engineered oncolytic herpes virus inhibits ovarian and breast cancer metastases
• Bioelectric signals can be used to detect early cancer
• Planting trees may not reverse climate change, but it will help locally
• Discovery in synthetic biology takes us a step closer to new 'industrial revolution'
• Invasion of feral cats could see the end of a seabird endemic to the Mediterranean
• Getting fit fast: Inactive people can achieve major health and fitness gains in a fraction of the time
• How do corals survive in the hottest reefs on the planet?
• Astronomers ask 'where are all the dwarf galaxies?'
• An ideal material: Solving a mystery leads to the discovery of a true topological insulator
• The effective collective: Grouping could ensure animals find their way in a changing environment
• Ozone depletion trumps greenhouse gas increase in jet-stream shift
• Virus study may signal trouble for animal populations facing climate change
• New target for treating wide range of cancers: Promising binding site on mutant p53 protein
• New park protects 15,000 gorillas

New study sheds light on link between dairy intake and bone health: Not all dairy products are equal Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:23 AM PST A new study has found that dairy intake -- specifically milk and yogurt -- is associated with higher bone mineral density in the hip, but not the spine.

Some plants are altruistic, too, new study suggests Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:23 AM PST We've all heard examples of animal altruism: Dogs caring for orphaned kittens, chimps sharing food or dolphins nudging injured mates to the surface. Now, a new study suggests some plants are altruistic, too.

Routes towards defect-free graphene Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:23 AM PST A new way of growing graphene without the defects that weaken it and prevent electrons from flowing freely within it could open the way to large-scale manufacturing of graphene-based devices with applications in fields such as electronics, energy, and healthcare.

Treatment to prevent Alzheimer's disease moves a step closer Posted: 01 Feb 2013 07:01 AM PST A new drug to prevent the early stages of Alzheimer's disease could enter clinical trials in a few years' time, according to scientists.

Increases in extreme rainfall linked to global warming Posted: 01 Feb 2013 07:00 AM PST A worldwide review of global rainfall data has found that the intensity of the most extreme rainfall events is increasing across the globe as temperatures rise.

Amazon freshwater ecosystems are vulnerable to degradation Posted: 01 Feb 2013 07:00 AM PST Broadening of forest-centric focus to river catchment-based conservation framework is required: A new study found that freshwater ecosystems in the Amazon are highly vulnerable to environmental degradation. River, lake and wetland ecosystems —- encompassing approximately one-fifth of the Amazon basin area -- are being increasingly degraded by deforestation, pollution, construction of dams and waterways, and over-harvesting of plant and animal species.

Engineered oncolytic herpes virus inhibits ovarian and breast cancer metastases Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:08 AM PST A genetically reprogrammed Herpes simplex virus (HSV) can cure metastatic diffusion of human cancer cells in the abdomen of laboratory mice, according to a new study.

Bioelectric signals can be used to detect early cancer Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:08 AM PST Biologists have discovered a bioelectric signal that can identify cells that are likely to develop into tumors. The researchers also found that they could lower the incidence of cancerous cells by manipulating the electrical charge across cells' membranes.

Planting trees may not reverse climate change, but it will help locally Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:06 AM PST Afforestation, planting trees in an area where there have previously been no trees, can reduce the effect of climate change by cooling temperate regions, a new study finds.

Discovery in synthetic biology takes us a step closer to new 'industrial revolution' Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:06 AM PST Scientists report that they have developed a method that cuts down the time it takes to make new 'parts' for microscopic biological factories from 2 days to only 6 hours. The scientists say their research brings them another step closer to a new kind of industrial revolution, where parts for these biological factories could be mass-produced. These factories have a wealth of applications including better drug delivery treatments for patients, enhancements in the way that minerals are mined from deep underground and advances in the production of biofuels.

Invasion of feral cats could see the end of a seabird endemic to the Mediterranean Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:06 AM PST The population of Yelkouan Shearwater of the French island of Le Levant is seriously under threat due to the invasion of feral cats, according to a French and Spanish joint study. The archipelago is home to the main colonies of this species. Feral cats are considered one of the most dangerous invading species for animals native to Mediterranean Islands.

Getting fit fast: Inactive people can achieve major health and fitness gains in a fraction of the time Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:04 AM PST With many of us struggling to get enough exercise, sport and exercise scientists have been working on a time-saving solution.

How do corals survive in the hottest reefs on the planet? Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:04 AM PST Coral reefs are predicted to decline under the pressure of global warming. However, a number of coral species can survive at seawater temperatures even higher than predicted for the tropics during the next century. How they survive, while most species cannot, is being investigated.

Astronomers ask 'where are all the dwarf galaxies?' Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:03 AM PST Astronomers have identified "Cosmic Web Stripping" as a new way of explaining the famous missing dwarf problem: the lack of observed dwarf galaxies compared with that predicted by the theory of Cold Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

An ideal material: Solving a mystery leads to the discovery of a true topological insulator Posted: 01 Feb 2013 05:22 AM PST Experimentalists have recently confirmed that SmB6 is the first true 3D topological insulator —- as originally predicted by theorists in 2010. Topological insulators have been discussed widely as a new area of material science, with the potential to study quantum Hall physics and exotic states such as Majorana fermions. While this finding provides a conclusion to one mystery, it is also the beginning of a new chapter that will certainly lead to a clearer understanding of this strange physics and even new quantum devices.

The effective collective: Grouping could ensure animals find their way in a changing environment Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:44 AM PST Researchers report that collective intelligence is vital to certain animals' ability to evaluate and respond to their environment. The results should prompt a close examination of how endangered group or herd animals are preserved and managed because wild animals that depend on collective intelligence for migration, breeding and locating essential resources could be imperiled by any activity that diminishes or divides the group, such as overhunting and habitat loss.

Ozone depletion trumps greenhouse gas increase in jet-stream shift Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:43 AM PST Depletion of Antarctic ozone is a more important factor than increasing greenhouse gases in shifting the Southern Hemisphere jet stream in a southward direction, according to researchers.

Virus study may signal trouble for animal populations facing climate change Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:41 AM PST A new study suggests that some organisms, such as manatees, polar bears or cheetahs, may be in for a rough time as they try to adapt to climate change.

New target for treating wide range of cancers: Promising binding site on mutant p53 protein Posted: 31 Jan 2013 09:13 AM PST Biologists, chemists and computer scientists have identified an elusive pocket on the surface of the p53 protein that can be targeted by cancer-fighting drugs. The finding heralds a new treatment approach, as mutant forms of this protein are implicated in nearly 40 percent of diagnosed cases of cancer, which kills more than half a million Americans each year.

New park protects 15,000 gorillas Posted: 31 Jan 2013 09:06 AM PST The Republic of Congo has declared a new national park that protects a core population of the 125,000 western lowland gorillas discovered by WCS in 2008.

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