ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Presdisposition to common heart disease 'passed on from father to son'
• Tiny primate is ultrasonic communicator
• Memory strengthened by stimulating key site in brain
• January 2012 fourth warmest for contiguous United States, but Alaska extremely cold
• DNA sequencing helps identify cancer cells for immune system attack
• Transformational fruit fly genome catalog completed
• Fasting weakens cancer in mice
• Gene therapy for inherited blindness succeeds in patients' other eye
• Sound rather than sight can activate 'seeing' for the blind, say researchers
• New image captures 'stealth merger' of dwarf galaxies
• Milky Way's black hole found grazing on asteroids
• Report on Texas fire urges firefighters to consider wind effects
• Octagonal window of opportunity for carbon capture
• Flipping a light switch in the cell: Quantum dots used for targeted neural activation
• Unusual 'collapsing' iron superconductor sets record for its class
• Heart disease may be a risk factor for prostate cancer
• Arsenic criticality poses concern for modern technology
• 'Shish kebab' structure provides improved form of 'buckypaper'
• Lull in ship noise after Sept. 11 attacks eased stress on right whales
• Bubble-powered microrockets zoom have potential to zoom through the human stomach, other acidic environments
• Obstacles no barrier to higher speeds for worms
• Growing up on a farm directly affects regulation of the immune system, study finds
• Tuna and mackerel populations have reduced by 60% in the last century
• Most detailed infrared image of the Carina Nebula ever
• Preventing bacteria from falling in with the wrong crowd could help stop gum disease
• New tool for analyzing solar-cell materials

Presdisposition to common heart disease 'passed on from father to son' Posted: 08 Feb 2012 07:02 PM PST A common heart disease which kills thousands each year may be passed genetically from father to son, according to a new study.

Tiny primate is ultrasonic communicator Posted: 08 Feb 2012 07:02 PM PST Tarsiers' ultrasonic calls -- among the most extreme in the animal kingdom -- give them a "private channel" of communication, says an anthropologist.

Memory strengthened by stimulating key site in brain Posted: 08 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST Ever gone to the movies and forgotten where you parked the car? New research may one day help you improve your memory. Neuroscientists have demonstrated that they can strengthen memory in human patients by stimulating a critical junction in the brain.

January 2012 fourth warmest for contiguous United States, but Alaska extremely cold Posted: 08 Feb 2012 12:34 PM PST During January, warmer-than-average conditions enveloped most of the contiguous United States, with widespread below-average precipitation. The overall weather pattern for the month was reflected in the lack of snow for much of the Northern Plains, Midwest, and Northeast. This scenario was in stark contrast to Alaska where several towns had their coldest January on record.

DNA sequencing helps identify cancer cells for immune system attack Posted: 08 Feb 2012 12:23 PM PST DNA sequences from tumor cells can be used to direct the immune system to attack cancer, according to scientists. The immune system relies on an intricate network of alarm bells, targets and safety brakes to determine when and what to attack. The new results suggest that scientists may now be able to combine DNA sequencing data with their knowledge of the triggers and targets that set off immune alarms to more precisely develop vaccines and other immunotherapies for cancer.

Transformational fruit fly genome catalog completed Posted: 08 Feb 2012 12:23 PM PST Scientists searching for the genomics version of the holy grail – more insight into predicting how an animal's genes affect physical or behavioral traits – now have a reference manual that should speed gene discoveries in everything from pest control to personalized medicine.

Fasting weakens cancer in mice Posted: 08 Feb 2012 12:22 PM PST New study finds that short fasting cycles can work as well as chemotherapy, and the two combined greatly improve survival.

Gene therapy for inherited blindness succeeds in patients' other eye Posted: 08 Feb 2012 12:22 PM PST Gene therapy for congenital blindness took another step forward, as researchers further improved vision in three adult patients previously treated in one eye. The patients were better able to see in dim light, with no adverse effects.

Sound rather than sight can activate 'seeing' for the blind, say researchers Posted: 08 Feb 2012 11:59 AM PST Scientists have tapped onto the visual cortex of the congenitally blind by using sensory substitution devices (SSDs), enabling the blind in effect to "see" and even describe objects. SSDs are non-invasive sensory aids that provide visual information to the blind via their existing senses. For example, using a visual-to-auditory SSD in a clinical or everyday setting, users wear a miniature video camera connected to a small computer (or smart phone) and stereo headphones. The images are converted into "soundscapes," using a predictable algorithm, allowing the user to listen to and then interpret the visual information coming from the camera.

New image captures 'stealth merger' of dwarf galaxies Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:30 AM PST New images of a nearby dwarf galaxy have revealed a dense stream of stars in its outer regions, the remains of an even smaller companion galaxy in the process of merging with its host. The host galaxy, known as NGC 4449, is the smallest primary galaxy in which a stellar stream from an ongoing merger has been identified and studied in detail.

Milky Way's black hole found grazing on asteroids Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:30 AM PST The giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way may be vaporizing and devouring asteroids, which could explain the frequent flares observed, according to astronomers.

Report on Texas fire urges firefighters to consider wind effects Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:28 AM PST Wind conditions at a fire scene can make a critical difference on the behavior of the blaze and the safety of firefighters, even indoors, according to a new report.

Octagonal window of opportunity for carbon capture Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:28 AM PST Scientists have gathered new insight into the performance of a material called a zeolite that may filter carbon dioxide far more efficiently than current industrial "scrubbers" do.

Flipping a light switch in the cell: Quantum dots used for targeted neural activation Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:27 AM PST By harnessing quantum dots, researchers have developed a new and vastly more targeted way to stimulate neurons in the brain. Being able to switch neurons on and off and monitor how they communicate with one another is crucial for understanding -- and, ultimately, treating -- a host of brain disorders.

Unusual 'collapsing' iron superconductor sets record for its class Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:27 AM PST Scientists have found an iron-based superconductor that operates at the highest known temperature for a material in its class. The discovery inches iron-based superconductors closer to being useful in many practical applications.

Heart disease may be a risk factor for prostate cancer Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:27 AM PST In a large analysis of men participating in a prostate drug trial, researchers found a significant correlation between coronary artery disease and prostate cancer, suggesting the two conditions may have shared causes.

Arsenic criticality poses concern for modern technology Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:27 AM PST Risks related to the critical nature of arsenic -- used to make high-speed computer chips that contain gallium arsenide -- outstrip those of other substances in a group of critical materials needed to sustain modern technology, a new study has found. Scientists evaluated the relative criticality of arsenic and five related metals.

'Shish kebab' structure provides improved form of 'buckypaper' Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:27 AM PST Scientists are reporting development of a new form of buckypaper, which eliminates a major drawback of these sheets of carbon nanotubes -- 50,000 times thinner than a human hair, 10 times lighter than steel, but up to 250 times stronger -- with potential uses ranging from body armor to next-generation batteries.

Lull in ship noise after Sept. 11 attacks eased stress on right whales Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:27 AM PST Exposure to low-frequency ship noise may be associated with chronic stress in whales, according to a new study. The study, conducted in Canada's Bay of Fundy, has implications for all baleen whales in areas with heavy ship traffic, and for the recovery of the endangered North Atlantic right whale population.

Bubble-powered microrockets zoom have potential to zoom through the human stomach, other acidic environments Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:26 AM PST Scientists have developed a new kind of tiny motor -- which they term a "microrocket" -- that can propel itself through acidic environments, such as the human stomach, without any external energy source, opening the way to a variety of medical and industrial applications. Their report describes the microrockets traveling at virtual warp speed for such devices. A human moving at the same speed would have to run at a clip of 400 miles per hour.

Obstacles no barrier to higher speeds for worms Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:25 AM PST Obstacles in an organism's path can help it to move faster, not slower, researchers have found through a series of experiments and computer simulations. Their findings have implications for a better understanding of basic locomotion strategies found in biology, and the survival and propagation of the parasite that causes malaria.

Growing up on a farm directly affects regulation of the immune system, study finds Posted: 08 Feb 2012 10:25 AM PST A new study has shown, for the first time, that growing up on a farm directly affects the regulation of the immune system and causes a reduction in the immunological responses to food proteins.

Tuna and mackerel populations have reduced by 60% in the last century Posted: 08 Feb 2012 07:32 AM PST A new study shows that the impact of fishing for tuna and similar species during the last 50 years has lessened the abundance of all these populations by an average of 60%. Experts add that the majority of tuna fish have been exploited to the limits of sustainability.

Most detailed infrared image of the Carina Nebula ever Posted: 08 Feb 2012 05:24 AM PST ESO's Very Large Telescope has delivered the most detailed infrared image of the Carina Nebula stellar nursery taken so far. Many previously hidden features, scattered across a spectacular celestial landscape of gas, dust and young stars, have emerged. This is one of the most dramatic images ever created by the VLT.

Preventing bacteria from falling in with the wrong crowd could help stop gum disease Posted: 07 Feb 2012 05:26 PM PST Stripping some mouth bacteria of their access key to gangs of other pathogenic oral bacteria could help prevent gum disease and tooth loss. The study suggests that this bacterial access key could be a drug target for people who are at high risk of developing gum disease.

New tool for analyzing solar-cell materials Posted: 07 Feb 2012 10:36 AM PST An online tool called "Impurities to Efficiency" (known as I2E) allows companies or researchers exploring alternative manufacturing strategies to plug in descriptions of their planned materials and processing steps. After about one minute of simulation, I2E gives an indication of exactly how efficient the resulting solar cell would be in converting sunlight to electricity.

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