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Sunday, April 20, 2014

ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

ScienceDaily: Most Popular News


Vitamin B3 might have been made in space, delivered to Earth by meteorites

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 04:17 PM PDT

Ancient Earth might have had an extraterrestrial supply of vitamin B3 delivered by carbon-rich meteorites, according to a new analysis. The result supports a theory that the origin of life may have been assisted by a supply of key molecules created in space and brought to Earth by comet and meteor impacts.

Gene variant increases risk of colorectal cancer from eating processed meat

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 04:16 PM PDT

A common genetic variant that affects one in three people appears to significantly increase the risk of colorectal cancer from the consumption of processed meat, according to a new study.

Inhibited children become anxious adults: Examining the causes and effects of early shyness

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 12:59 PM PDT

Three little girls sit together in a room, playing with the toys surrounding them. One of the girls -- "Emma" -- has clearly taken charge of the group, and the others happily go along with her. A fourth girl -- "Jane" -- enters the room, hiding her face while clinging to her mother. The first three continue to play, while mom sits Jane down with some toys a few feet away from the group. After mom leaves, however, Jane sits alone against the wall. Emma makes her way over to Jane, inviting her to play with the rest of the group. Jane -- looking trapped -- starts to cry, then stands up and tries desperately to open the door.

Boosting depression-causing mechanisms in brain increases resilience, surprisingly

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 11:18 AM PDT

New research uncovers a conceptually novel approach to treating depression. Instead of dampening neuron firing found with stress-induced depression, researchers demonstrated for the first time that further activating these neurons opens a new avenue to mimic and promote natural resilience.

Fear of the cuckoo mafia: In fear of retaliation, birds accept and raise brood parasites' young

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 09:45 AM PDT

If a restaurant owner fails to pay the 'protection money' demanded of him by the mob, he can expect his premises to be trashed. Warnings like these are seldom required, however, as fear of the consequences is enough to make restaurant owners pay up. Similarly, mafia-like behavior is observed in parasitic birds, which lay their eggs in other birds' nests. If the host birds throw the cuckoo's egg out, the brood parasites take their revenge by destroying the entire nest. Consequently, it is beneficial for hosts to be capable of learning and to cooperate. Previously seen only in field observations, scientists have now modeled this behavior mathematically to confirm it as an effective strategy.

The story of animal domestication retold: Scientists now think wild animals interbred with domesticated ones until quite recently

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 06:08 AM PDT

A review of recent research on the domestication of large herbivores suggests that neither intentional breeding nor genetic isolation were as significant as traditionally thought. "Our findings show little control of breeding, particularly of domestic females, and indicate long-term gene flow, or interbreeding, between managed and wild animal populations," a co-author said.

Surprising consequences of banning chocolate milk

Posted: 16 Apr 2014 02:22 PM PDT

Eliminating chocolate milk from elementary schools decreased total milk sales by 10 percent, and increased milk waste by 29 percent, a study has shown. Additionally, the ban may have been a factor in a 7 percent decrease in Lunch Program participation. Nutritionally, after the milk substitution, students on average consumed less sugar and fewer calories, but also consumed less protein and calcium.

How a Silly Putty ingredient could advance stem cell therapies

Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT

The sponginess of the environment where human embryonic stem cells are growing affects the type of specialized cells they eventually become, a study shows. The researchers coaxed human embryonic stem cells to turn into working spinal cord cells more efficiently by growing the cells on a soft, utrafine carpet made of a key ingredient in Silly Putty.

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