ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Probiotics reduce infections for patients in intensive care, study finds
• Swiss scientist prove durability of quantum network
• Lower antioxidant level might explain higher skin-cancer rate in males
• New evidence of an unrecognized visual process
• Drop in carbon dioxide levels led to polar ice sheet, study finds
• Adult stem cells use special pathways to repair damaged muscle, researchers find
• Sharp decline in pollution from U.S. coal power plants, NASA satellite confirms
• When babies awaken: New study shows surprise regarding important hormone level
• Rise of atmospheric oxygen more complicated than previously thought
• New insights into responses of Yellowstone wolves to environmental changes
• China's demand for oil will equal US demand by 2040, study predicts
• New switch could improve electronics
• Strange new 'species' of ultra-red galaxy discovered
• Not all cellular reprogramming is created equal
• Amplification of multiple cell-growth genes found in some brain tumors
• World's first view of Type 1 diabetes as it unfolds
• Bobsled runs -- fast and yet safe
• Two out of three medical students do not know when to wash their hands
• Cancer cells' DNA repair disrupted to increase radiation sensitivity
• Archaeologists find new evidence of animals being introduced to prehistoric Caribbean
• Aggression prevents the better part of valor ... in fig wasps
• World's first captive breeding of Ozark hellbenders

Probiotics reduce infections for patients in intensive care, study finds Posted: 01 Dec 2011 05:02 PM PST Traumatic brain injury is associated with a profound suppression of the patient's ability to fight infection. At the same time the patient also often suffers hyper-inflammation, due to the brain releasing glucocorticoids. New research shows that including probiotics with nutrients, supplied via the patient's feeding tube, increased interferon levels, reduced the number of infections, and even reduced the amount of time patients spent in intensive care.

Swiss scientist prove durability of quantum network Posted: 01 Dec 2011 05:02 PM PST Scientists and engineers have proven the worth of quantum cryptography in telecommunication networks by demonstrating its long-term effectiveness in a real-time network. Their international network, created in collaboration with ID Quantique and installed in the Geneva metropolitan area and crossing over to the site of CERN in France, ran for more than one-and-a-half years from the end of March 2009 to the beginning of January 2011.

Lower antioxidant level might explain higher skin-cancer rate in males Posted: 01 Dec 2011 02:42 PM PST A new study may help explain why men are three times more likely than women to develop a common form of skin cancer. The study found that male mice had lower levels of an important skin antioxidant than female mice and higher levels of certain cancer-linked inflammatory cells. As a result, men may be more susceptible to oxidative stress in the skin, which may raise their risk of skin cancer compared to women.

New evidence of an unrecognized visual process Posted: 01 Dec 2011 02:42 PM PST We don't see only what meets the eye. The visual system constantly takes in ambiguous stimuli, weighs its options, and decides what it perceives. This normally happens effortlessly. Sometimes, however, an ambiguity is persistent, and the visual system waffles on which perception is right. Such instances interest scientists because they help us understand how the eyes and the brain make sense of what we see.

Drop in carbon dioxide levels led to polar ice sheet, study finds Posted: 01 Dec 2011 02:42 PM PST A drop in carbon dioxide appears to be the driving force that led to the Antarctic ice sheet's formation, according to a recent study of molecules from ancient algae found in deep-sea core samples.

Adult stem cells use special pathways to repair damaged muscle, researchers find Posted: 01 Dec 2011 01:36 PM PST Researchers recently found how even distant satellite cells could help with the repair, and are now learning how the stem cells travel within the tissue. This knowledge could ultimately help doctors more effectively treat muscle disorders such as muscular dystrophy, in which the muscle is easily damaged and the patient's satellite cells have lost the ability to repair.

Sharp decline in pollution from U.S. coal power plants, NASA satellite confirms Posted: 01 Dec 2011 01:36 PM PST A team of scientists have used the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA's Aura satellite to confirm major reductions in the levels of a key air pollutant generated by coal power plants in the eastern United States. The pollutant, sulfur dioxide, contributes to the formation of acid rain and can cause serious health problems.

When babies awaken: New study shows surprise regarding important hormone level Posted: 01 Dec 2011 11:28 AM PST Cortisol may be the Swiss Army knife of hormones in the human body -- just when scientists think they understand what it does, another function pops up. While many of these functions are understood for adults, much less is known about how cortisol operates in babies and toddlers, especially when it comes to an important phenomenon called the cortisol awakening response, or CAR.

Rise of atmospheric oxygen more complicated than previously thought Posted: 01 Dec 2011 11:27 AM PST The appearance of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere probably did not occur as a single event, but as a long series of starts and stops, according to an international team of researchers who investigated rock cores from the FAR DEEP project.

New insights into responses of Yellowstone wolves to environmental changes Posted: 01 Dec 2011 11:27 AM PST A study of the wolves of Yellowstone National Park has improved predictions of how these animals will respond to environmental changes. The study, which is part of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, involved tracking changes in various characteristics of the wolves of Yellowstone National Park ever since these animals were reintroduced to the park in 1995.

China's demand for oil will equal US demand by 2040, study predicts Posted: 01 Dec 2011 10:25 AM PST Despite aggressive demand-management policies announced in recent years, China's oil use could easily reach levels comparable to today's US levels by 2040, according to a new energy study.

New switch could improve electronics Posted: 01 Dec 2011 09:54 AM PST Researchers have invented a new type of electronic switch that performs electronic logic functions within a single molecule. The incorporation of such single-molecule elements could enable smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient electronics.

Strange new 'species' of ultra-red galaxy discovered Posted: 01 Dec 2011 09:53 AM PST In the distant reaches of the universe, almost 13 billion light-years from Earth, a strange species of galaxy lay hidden. Cloaked in dust and dimmed by the intervening distance, even the Hubble Space Telescope couldn't spy it. It took the revealing power of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to uncover not one, but four remarkably red galaxies. And while astronomers can describe the members of this new "species," they can't explain what makes them so ruddy.

Not all cellular reprogramming is created equal Posted: 01 Dec 2011 09:51 AM PST Tweaking the levels of factors used during the reprogramming of adult cells into induced pluriopotent stem (iPS) cells can greatly affect the quality of the resulting iPS cells, according to researchers. This finding explains at least in part the wide variation in quality and fidelity of iPS cells created through different reprogramming methods.

Amplification of multiple cell-growth genes found in some brain tumors Posted: 01 Dec 2011 09:51 AM PST A small percentage of the deadly brain tumors called glioblastomas, which usually resist treatment with drugs targeting mutations in cell-growth genes, appears to contain extra copies of two or three of these genes at the same time. The surprising discovery has major implications for the understanding of tumor biology – including the evolution of tumor cell populations – and for targeted cancer therapies.

World's first view of Type 1 diabetes as it unfolds Posted: 01 Dec 2011 09:51 AM PST A war is being waged in the pancreases of millions of people throughout the world. The siege leads to the development of Type 1 diabetes and has been a battlefield largely hidden from view -- until now. Researchers have created the first cellular movies showing the destruction underlying Type 1 diabetes in real-time in mouse models.

Bobsled runs -- fast and yet safe Posted: 01 Dec 2011 08:26 AM PST They should prove a challenge for the athletes, but not put them in danger: bobsled runs have to be simulated before being built. This simulation is based on the friction levels of the runners on the ice. Now it has become possible to measure these levels accurately. These results will help build the run for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

Two out of three medical students do not know when to wash their hands Posted: 01 Dec 2011 07:54 AM PST Only 21 percent of surveyed medical students could identify five true and two false indications of when and when not to wash their hands in the clinical setting, according to a new study.

Cancer cells' DNA repair disrupted to increase radiation sensitivity Posted: 01 Dec 2011 07:54 AM PST Shortening end caps on chromosomes in human cervical cancer cells disrupts DNA repair signaling, increases the cells' sensitivity to radiation treatment and kills them more quickly, according to a new study. Researchers would to like see their laboratory findings lead to safer, more effective combination therapies for hard-to-treat pediatric brain cancers. To this end, they are starting laboratory tests on brain cancer cells.

Archaeologists find new evidence of animals being introduced to prehistoric Caribbean Posted: 01 Dec 2011 07:54 AM PST An archaeological research team has found one of the most diverse collections of prehistoric non-native animal remains in the Caribbean, on the tiny island of Carriacou. The find contributes to our understanding of culture in the region before the arrival of Columbus, and suggests Carriacou may have been more important than previously thought.

Aggression prevents the better part of valor ... in fig wasps Posted: 01 Dec 2011 07:53 AM PST Researchers have confirmed a unique behavior within the male population of tiny fig wasps that pollinate fig trees -- they team up to help pregnant females, regardless of whether they have mated themselves.

World's first captive breeding of Ozark hellbenders Posted: 01 Dec 2011 06:47 AM PST After a decade-long effort, conservation experts report that Ozark hellbenders have been bred in captivity -- a first! Endangered in the wild, this amphibian has fossil records dating back 15 million years. Today its numbers are rapidly declining.

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