ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Extinctions during human era one thousand times more than before
• Benefits for babies exposed to two languages found in Singaporean birth cohort study
• Spinach extract decreases cravings, aids weight loss
• Scientists create renewable fossil fuel alternative using bacteria
• Neurons in human skin perform advanced calculations
• Why sibling stars look alike: Early, fast mixing in star-birth clouds
• Antarctic sea level rising faster than global rate
• Wine only protects against cardiovascular disease in people who exercise, study finds
• Drinking tea reduces non-cardiovascular mortality by 24 percent, study finds
• Energy drinks can cause heart problems, study suggests
• New horizon in heart failure: Investigational drug poised to change cardiology
• Astrophysicists report radioactive cobalt in supernova explosion
• Danish museum discovers unique gift from Charles Darwin
• New type of cell movement discovered
• HIV lessons from the Mississippi baby
• Marine protected areas inadequate for protecting fish and ocean ecology, study finds
• Neuroscientists watch imagination happening in the brain
• Ancient metal workers were not slaves but highly regarded craftsmen
• Spanking children slows cognitive development and increases risk of criminal behavior, expert says

Extinctions during human era one thousand times more than before Posted: 02 Sep 2014 12:11 PM PDT The gravity of the world's current extinction rate becomes clearer upon knowing what it was before people came along. A new estimate finds that species die off as much as 1,000 times more frequently nowadays than they used to. That's 10 times worse than the old estimate of 100 times.

Benefits for babies exposed to two languages found in Singaporean birth cohort study Posted: 02 Sep 2014 08:50 AM PDT There are advantages associated with exposure to two languages in infancy, as team of investigators and clinician-scientists in Singapore and internationally have found. The findings reveal a generalized cognitive advantage that emerges early in bilingual infants, and is not specific to a particular language.

Spinach extract decreases cravings, aids weight loss Posted: 02 Sep 2014 08:49 AM PDT A spinach extract containing green leaf membranes called thylakoids decreases hedonic hunger with up to 95 percent -- and increases weight loss with 43 percent, research concludes.

Scientists create renewable fossil fuel alternative using bacteria Posted: 02 Sep 2014 08:44 AM PDT Researchers have engineered the harmless gut bacteria E.coli to generate renewable propane. The development is a step towards commercial production of a source of fuel that could one day provide an alternative to fossil fuels. Propane is an appealing source of cleaner fuel because it has an existing global market.

Neurons in human skin perform advanced calculations Posted: 01 Sep 2014 06:03 AM PDT Neurons in human skin perform advanced calculations, previously believed that only the brain could perform. A characteristic of neurons that extend into the skin and record touch, is that they branch in the skin so that each neuron reports touch from many highly-sensitive zones on the skin. According to researchers, this branching allows first-order tactile neurons not only to send signals to the brain that something has touched the skin, but also process geometric data about the object touching the skin.

Why sibling stars look alike: Early, fast mixing in star-birth clouds Posted: 31 Aug 2014 12:03 PM PDT Early, fast, turbulent mixing of gas within giant molecular clouds -- the birthplaces of stars -- means all stars formed from a single cloud bear the same unique chemical 'tag' or 'DNA fingerprint,' write astrophysicists. Could such chemical tags help astronomers identify our own Sun's long-lost sibling stars?

Antarctic sea level rising faster than global rate Posted: 31 Aug 2014 12:02 PM PDT A new study of satellite data from the last 19 years reveals that fresh water from melting glaciers has caused the sea level around the coast of Antarctica to rise by 2cm more than the global average of 6cm. Researchers detected the rapid rise in sea-level by studying satellite scans of a region that spans more than a million square kilometers. The melting of the Antarctic ice sheet and the thinning of floating ice shelves has contributed an excess of around 350 gigatonnes of freshwater to the surrounding ocean.

Wine only protects against cardiovascular disease in people who exercise, study finds Posted: 31 Aug 2014 09:52 AM PDT Wine only protects against cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people who exercise, according to results from the a study. Evidence suggesting that mild to moderate consumption of wine protects against cardiovascular disease has been accumulating since the early 1990s. In particular, retrospective studies have found that wine increases levels of HDL, the "good" cholesterol. But until now there has been no long-term, prospective, randomised study comparing the effects of red and white wine on HDL cholesterol and other markers of atherosclerosis.

Drinking tea reduces non-cardiovascular mortality by 24 percent, study finds Posted: 31 Aug 2014 09:52 AM PDT Drinking tea reduces non-cardiovascular mortality by 24 percent, reveals a study in 131,000 people. "Tea has antioxidants which may provide survival benefits. Tea drinkers also have healthier lifestyles so does tea drinking reflect a particular person profile or is it tea, per se, that improves outcomes -- for me that remains an open question. Pending the answer to that question, I think that you could fairly honestly recommend tea drinking rather than coffee drinking and even rather than not drinking anything at all," one researcher said.

Energy drinks can cause heart problems, study suggests Posted: 31 Aug 2014 09:52 AM PDT Energy drinks can cause heart problems according to research. "So-called 'energy drinks' are popular in dance clubs and during physical exercise, with people sometimes consuming a number of drinks one after the other. This situation can lead to a number of adverse conditions including angina, cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and even sudden death," researchers report.

New horizon in heart failure: Investigational drug poised to change cardiology Posted: 30 Aug 2014 08:18 AM PDT An investigational new heart failure drug could be poised to change the face of cardiology based on Hot Line results. The new agent, known as LCZ696, has already been granted Fast Track status by the FDA -- a designation which can expedite the review of new medicines intended to treat serious or life-threatening conditions. Fast Track designation also allows for rolling submission in the US. "To say that we are excited is an understatement. We are absolutely thrilled," said one investigator.

Astrophysicists report radioactive cobalt in supernova explosion Posted: 29 Aug 2014 07:34 AM PDT Astrophysicists have detected the formation of radioactive cobalt during a supernova explosion, lending credence to a corresponding theory of supernova explosions.

Danish museum discovers unique gift from Charles Darwin Posted: 29 Aug 2014 05:39 AM PDT The Natural History Museum of Denmark recently discovered a unique gift from one of the greatest-ever scientists. In 1854, Charles Darwin – father of the theory of evolution – sent a gift to his Danish colleague Japetus Steenstrup, director of the Royal Museum of Natural History. Until very recently, no one at the museum knew that it possessed a piece of scientific history of this caliber. Just a few weeks ago, the head of exhibitions was studying the correspondence between Steenstrup and Darwin as part of her search for objects to include in an upcoming exhibition. She started to suspect a treasure lay hidden somewhere, and soon a hunt was launched among the museum's 14 million objects.

New type of cell movement discovered Posted: 28 Aug 2014 11:27 AM PDT Scientists have used an innovative technique to study how cells move in a three-dimensional matrix, similar to the structure of certain tissues, such as the skin. They discovered an entirely new type of cell movement whereby the nucleus helps propel cells through the matrix like a piston in an engine.

HIV lessons from the Mississippi baby Posted: 28 Aug 2014 11:26 AM PDT The news in July, 2014 that HIV had returned in a Mississippi toddler after a two-year treatment-free remission dashed the hopes of clinicians, HIV researchers and the public at large tantalized by the possibility of a cure. But a new commentary by two leading HIV experts argues that despite its disappointing outcome, the Mississippi case and two other recent HIV "rebounds" in adults, have yielded critical lessons about the virus' most perplexing — and maddening — feature: its ability to form cure-defying viral hideouts.

Marine protected areas inadequate for protecting fish and ocean ecology, study finds Posted: 28 Aug 2014 10:58 AM PDT A new study reports that an expansion of marine protected areas is needed to protect fish species that perform key ecological functions. According to investigators, previous efforts at protecting fish have focused on saving the largest numbers of species, often at the expense of those species that provide key and difficult-to-replace ecological functions.

Neuroscientists watch imagination happening in the brain Posted: 28 Aug 2014 08:09 AM PDT By showing people their own photos during MRI sessions, neuroscientists distinguished between brain activity that is specific to memory and activity that is specific to imagination.

Ancient metal workers were not slaves but highly regarded craftsmen Posted: 28 Aug 2014 08:09 AM PDT In the course of ongoing excavations at Timna Valley, archaeologists analyzed remnants of food eaten by copper smelters 3,000 years ago. This analysis indicates that the laborers operating the furnaces were in fact skilled craftsmen who enjoyed high social status and adulation. They believe their discovery may have ramifications for similar sites across the region.

Spanking children slows cognitive development and increases risk of criminal behavior, expert says Posted: 11 Dec 2013 07:39 AM PST A scientist makes a definitive case against spanking, including how it slows cognitive development and increases antisocial and criminal behavior.

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