ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Food fried in olive or sunflower oil is not linked to heart disease, Spanish study finds
• Restored wetlands rarely equal condition of original wetlands
• Space weather arrives: Relatively minor impacts expected from solar storm
• Fungi-filled forests are critical for endangered orchids
• Lab mimics Jupiter's Trojan asteroids inside a single atom
• Increased exposure to compound widely used in food packaging associated with reduced immune response to vaccinations for children
• Women with certain type of ovarian cancer and BRCA gene mutation have improved survival at 5 years
• Marine mammals on the menu in many parts of world
• Bilayer graphene works as an insulator: Research has potential applications in digital and infrared technologies
• Wasp found in upstate New York shows up in Southern California
• Membrane fusion a mystery no more
• New material to remove radioactive gas from spent nuclear fuel
• High levels of fructose consumption by adolescents may put them at cardiovascular risk, evidence suggests
• 'Speed gene' in modern racehorses originated from British mare 300 years ago, scientists claim
• Genetically modified food safe, animal study suggests
• Improving crops from the roots up
• Entry point for hepatitis C infection identified
• It's evolution: Nature of prejudice, aggression different for men and women
• How longstanding conflict influences empathy for others
• Winged dinosaur Archaeopteryx dressed for flight
• Foot and ankle structure differs between sprinters and non-sprinters
• Scientists discover new clue to chemical origins of life
• Neanderthals and their contemporaries engineered stone tools, anthropologists discover
• Spotting dyslexia before a child starts school
• Ancient dinosaur nursery: Oldest nesting site yet found
• New breed of electron interactions in quantum systems
• How Fic proteins regulate their potentially lethal enzyme activity
• The price of your soul: How the brain decides whether to 'sell out'
• Sunshade geoengineering more likely to improve global food security, research suggests
• Unprecedented, human-made trends in ocean's acidity

Food fried in olive or sunflower oil is not linked to heart disease, Spanish study finds Posted: 24 Jan 2012 03:41 PM PST Eating food fried in olive or sunflower oil is not linked to heart disease or premature death, a new study finds. The authors stress, however, that their study took place in Spain, a Mediterranean country where olive or sunflower oil is used for frying and their results would probably not be the same in another country where solid and re-used oils were used for frying.

Restored wetlands rarely equal condition of original wetlands Posted: 24 Jan 2012 03:41 PM PST Half of all wetlands in the US, Europe and China were destroyed during the 20th century, but a thriving restoration effort aims to recreate marshes and other ecosystems lost. A new study cautions, however, that restored wetlands do not recover to the condition of a natural, undamaged wetland for hundreds of years, if ever. This calls into question mitigation banks that allow developers to destroy one wetland if they create another.

Space weather arrives: Relatively minor impacts expected from solar storm Posted: 24 Jan 2012 03:35 PM PST A significant blast of energy from the sun arrived at Earth on Jan. 24, 2012 at 10 a.m. EST, triggering a moderate geomagnetic storm here that's unlikely to cause major problems. But skywatchers take note: the storm could set off bright Northern and Southern lights Tuesday night, possibly visible from as far south as New York and Oregon.

Fungi-filled forests are critical for endangered orchids Posted: 24 Jan 2012 01:23 PM PST When it comes to conserving the world's orchids, not all forests are equal. Ecologists revealed that an orchid's fate hinges on two factors: A forest's age and its fungi.

Lab mimics Jupiter's Trojan asteroids inside a single atom Posted: 24 Jan 2012 01:23 PM PST Physicists have built an accurate model of part of the solar system inside a single atom. Scientists have shown that they could make an electron orbit the atomic nucleus in the same way that Jupiter's Trojan asteroids orbit the sun. The findings uphold a 1920 prediction by physicist Niels Bohr.

Increased exposure to compound widely used in food packaging associated with reduced immune response to vaccinations for children Posted: 24 Jan 2012 01:23 PM PST Elevated exposures in children to perfluorinated compounds, which are widely used in manufacturing and food packaging, were associated with lower antibody responses to routine childhood immunizations, according to a new study.

Women with certain type of ovarian cancer and BRCA gene mutation have improved survival at 5 years Posted: 24 Jan 2012 01:23 PM PST Among women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, patients having a germline (gene change in a reproductive cell that could be passed to offspring) mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes was associated with improved five-year overall survival, with BRCA2 carriers having the best prognosis, according to a new study.

Marine mammals on the menu in many parts of world Posted: 24 Jan 2012 12:19 PM PST The fate of the world's great whale species commands global attention as a result of heated debate between pro and anti-whaling advocates, but the fate of smaller marine mammals is less understood, specifically because the deliberate and accidental catching and killing of dolphins, porpoises, manatees, and other warm-blooded aquatic species are rarely studied or monitored.

Bilayer graphene works as an insulator: Research has potential applications in digital and infrared technologies Posted: 24 Jan 2012 12:04 PM PST Physicists have identified a property of "bilayer graphene" that the researchers say is analogous to finding the Higgs boson in particle physics. The physicists found that when the number of electrons on the BLG sheet is close to 0, the material becomes insulating -- a finding that has implications for the use of graphene as an electronic material in the semiconductor and electronics industries.

Wasp found in upstate New York shows up in Southern California Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:03 AM PST In August 2010, an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside discovered a tiny fairyfly wasp in upstate New York that had never been seen in the United States until then. Nearly exactly a year later, he discovered the wasp in Irvine, Calif., strongly suggesting that the wasp is well established in the country. Called Gonatocerus ater, the 1-millimeter-long wasp was accidentally introduced in North America. It lays its eggs inside the eggs of leafhoppers.

Membrane fusion a mystery no more Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:03 AM PST The many factors that contribute to how cells communicate and function at the most basic level are still not fully understood, but researchers have uncovered a mechanism that helps explain how intracellular membranes fuse, and in the process, created a new physiological membrane fusion model.

New material to remove radioactive gas from spent nuclear fuel Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:03 AM PST Research by chemists could impact worldwide efforts to produce clean, safe nuclear energy and reduce radioactive waste. They have used metal-organic frameworks to capture and remove volatile radioactive gas from spent nuclear fuel.

High levels of fructose consumption by adolescents may put them at cardiovascular risk, evidence suggests Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:03 AM PST Evidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk is present in the blood of adolescents who consume a lot of fructose, a scenario that worsens in the face of excess belly fat, researchers report.

'Speed gene' in modern racehorses originated from British mare 300 years ago, scientists claim Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:01 AM PST Scientists have traced the origin of the 'speed gene' in Thoroughbred racehorses back to a single British mare that lived in the United Kingdom around 300 years ago.

Genetically modified food safe, animal study suggests Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:01 AM PST A three year feeding study has shown no adverse health effects in pigs fed genetically modified (GM) maize.  The maize, which is a Bt-maize bred for its insect resistant properties, was sourced from Spain.

Improving crops from the roots up Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:01 AM PST Scientists have taken us a step closer to breeding hardier crops that can better adapt to different environmental conditions and fight off attack from parasites.

Entry point for hepatitis C infection identified Posted: 24 Jan 2012 10:44 AM PST A molecule embedded in the membrane of human liver cells that aids in cholesterol absorption also allows the entry of hepatitis C virus, the first step in hepatitis C infection, according to new research.

It's evolution: Nature of prejudice, aggression different for men and women Posted: 24 Jan 2012 08:30 AM PST Prejudice against people from groups different than their own is linked to aggression for men and fear for women, suggests new research.

How longstanding conflict influences empathy for others Posted: 24 Jan 2012 08:30 AM PST A young researcher had long been drawn to conflict -- not as a participant, but an observer. In 1994, while doing volunteer work in South Africa, he witnessed firsthand the turmoil surrounding the fall of apartheid; during a 2001 trip to visit friends in Sri Lanka, he found himself in the midst of the violent conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan military. He is now exploring how longstanding conflict influences empathy for others.

Winged dinosaur Archaeopteryx dressed for flight Posted: 24 Jan 2012 08:30 AM PST The iconic, winged dinosaur Archaeopteryx was dressed for flight, an international team of researchers has concluded. The group identified the color of the raven-sized creature's fossilized wing feather, determining it was black. The color and the structures that supplied the pigment suggest that Archaeopteryx's feathers were rigid and durable, which would have helped it to fly.

Foot and ankle structure differs between sprinters and non-sprinters Posted: 24 Jan 2012 08:21 AM PST The skeletal structure of the foot and ankle differs significantly between human sprinters and non-sprinters, according to researchers. Their findings not only help explain why some people are faster runners than others, but also may be useful in helping people who have difficulty walking, such as older adults and children with cerebral palsy.

Scientists discover new clue to chemical origins of life Posted: 24 Jan 2012 06:29 AM PST Organic chemists have made a significant advance towards establishing the origin of the carbohydrates (sugars) that form the building blocks of life. The researchers have re-created a process which could have occurred in the prebiotic world.

Neanderthals and their contemporaries engineered stone tools, anthropologists discover Posted: 24 Jan 2012 06:27 AM PST New published research from anthropologists in the UK supports the long-held theory that early human ancestors across Africa, Western Asia and Europe engineered their stone tools.

Spotting dyslexia before a child starts school Posted: 23 Jan 2012 12:25 PM PST Children at risk for dyslexia show differences in brain activity on MRI scans even before they begin learning to read, finds a new study. Since developmental dyslexia responds to early intervention, diagnosing children at risk before or during kindergarten could head off difficulties and frustration in school, the researchers say.

Ancient dinosaur nursery: Oldest nesting site yet found Posted: 23 Jan 2012 12:25 PM PST An excavation at a site in South Africa has unearthed the 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus -- revealing significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behavior in early dinosaurs.

New breed of electron interactions in quantum systems Posted: 23 Jan 2012 06:48 AM PST Physicists have observed a new kind of interaction that can arise between electrons in a single-atom silicon transistor, offering a more complete understanding of the mechanisms that govern electron conduction in nano-structures at the atomic scale.

How Fic proteins regulate their potentially lethal enzyme activity Posted: 23 Jan 2012 06:44 AM PST Researchers have been able to elucidate a regulatory mechanism conserved throughout evolution which forces the largely unexplored enzyme family of Fic proteins into an inactive resting state. The researchers could demonstrate that through the alteration of one single amino acid this inhibition of enzyme activity can be relieved. Their findings will enable to investigate the physiological role of the potentially lethal function of Fic proteins in bacteria and higher organisms in the future.

The price of your soul: How the brain decides whether to 'sell out' Posted: 22 Jan 2012 05:12 PM PST A neuro-imaging study shows that personal values people refuse to disavow, even when offered cash, are processed differently in the brain than those values that are willingly sold. The experiment found that the realm of the sacred -- whether a strong religious belief, national identity or code of ethics -- is a distinct cognitive process, and prompts greater activation of a brain area associated with rules-based, right-or-wrong thought processes, as opposed to regions linked to costs-versus-benefits thought.

Sunshade geoengineering more likely to improve global food security, research suggests Posted: 22 Jan 2012 12:26 PM PST Carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing over the past decades, causing Earth to get hotter and hotter. There are concerns that a continuation of these trends could have catastrophic effects. This has led some to explore drastic ideas for combating global warming, including the idea of counteracting it by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. However, it has been suggested that reflecting sunlight away from Earth might itself threaten the food supply. New research examines the potential effects that geoengineering the climate could have on global food production and concludes that sunshade geoengineering would be more likely to improve rather than threaten food security.

Unprecedented, human-made trends in ocean's acidity Posted: 22 Jan 2012 12:25 PM PST Recent carbon dioxide emissions have pushed the level of seawater acidity far above the range of the natural variability that existed for thousands of years, affecting the calcification rates of shell-forming organism.

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