ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Stealth behavior allows cockroaches to seemingly vanish
• Stress may delay brain development in early years
• Variations in sex steroid gene expression can predict aggressive behaviors, bird study shows
• Three types of fetal cells can migrate into maternal organs during pregnancy: Some mothers literally carry pieces of their children in their bodies
• Baby's genome deciphered prenatally from parents' lab tests
• Role of fungus in digestive disorders explored
• Arctic ice melt is setting stage for severe winters
• Evidence of impending tipping point for Earth
• The real culprit behind hardened arteries? Stem cells, says landmark study
• Warming climate sees tundra turn to forest
• Statistical model attempting to estimate level of alcohol consumption that is 'optimal' for health
• Complex world of gut microbes fine-tune body weight
• First complete sequencing of pear genome
• Legendary lost city of Ciudad Blanca may have been found with airborne LiDAR
• Geoengineering could disrupt rainfall patterns
• Calorie-restricted diet keeps heart young
• Dinosaurs lighter than previously thought

Stealth behavior allows cockroaches to seemingly vanish Posted: 06 Jun 2012 04:38 PM PDT Cockroaches, known for their stealth behavior, have a strategy up their sleeve only recently discovered by biologists. They are able to quickly disappear under ledges by flinging themselves off at full speed, grabbing the edge with hook-like claws on their hind legs, and swinging like a pendulum to land upside down underneath. Such a behavior was reproduced by a six-legged robot using Velcro strips.

Stress may delay brain development in early years Posted: 06 Jun 2012 01:49 PM PDT Stress may affect brain development in children, altering growth of a specific piece of the brain and abilities associated with it, according to new research.

Variations in sex steroid gene expression can predict aggressive behaviors, bird study shows Posted: 06 Jun 2012 01:49 PM PDT A biologist has shown that natural variation in measures of the brain's ability to process steroid hormones predicts functional variation in aggressive behavior. The new work has found strong and significant relationships between aggressive behavior in free-living birds and the abundance of messenger RNA in behaviorally relevant brain areas for three major sex steroid processing molecules: androgen receptor, estrogen receptor and aromatase.

Three types of fetal cells can migrate into maternal organs during pregnancy: Some mothers literally carry pieces of their children in their bodies Posted: 06 Jun 2012 12:58 PM PDT A pregnant woman's blood stream contains not only her own cells, but a small number of her child's, as well, and some of them remain in her internal organs long after the baby is born. Understanding the origin and identity of these cells is vital to understanding their potential effects on a mother's long-term health.

Baby's genome deciphered prenatally from parents' lab tests Posted: 06 Jun 2012 11:28 AM PDT Maternal blood sampled at 18 weeks into a pregnancy and a paternal saliva specimen contained enough information for scientists to map the fetus' whole genome. Fetal DNA is in a pregnant women's bloodstream starting a few weeks after conception. Scientists assessed many and more subtle variations in the fetus' genome, down to a one-letter change in the DNA code, compared to current tests that screen for only a few major genetic errors.

Role of fungus in digestive disorders explored Posted: 06 Jun 2012 11:27 AM PDT Researchers say their examination of the fungi in the intestines suggests an important link between these microbes and inflammatory diseases such as ulcerative colitis. In the new study researchers identified and characterized the large community of fungi inhabiting the large intestine in a model of the disease.

Arctic ice melt is setting stage for severe winters Posted: 06 Jun 2012 10:24 AM PDT A dramatic melt-off of Arctic sea ice due to climate change is hitting closer to home than millions of Americans might think – triggering a domino effect leading to increased odds of severe winter weather outbreaks in the Northern Hemisphere's middle latitudes, according to new research.

Evidence of impending tipping point for Earth Posted: 06 Jun 2012 10:23 AM PDT A group of 22 scientists worldwide argue that the Earth is frighteningly close to a tipping point that would send the globe irreversibly into a state that could spell disaster for humans. The group note that human pressures and climate change can irreversibly change local ecosystems. The fear is that Earth faces planet-wide change that will disrupt global animal and plant communities as well as water and food supplies.

The real culprit behind hardened arteries? Stem cells, says landmark study Posted: 06 Jun 2012 10:23 AM PDT Vascular diseases are actually a type of stem cell disease, according to a new study. The discovery challenges a long-standing belief that smooth muscle cells contribute to clogged blood vessels, and could revolutionize research into therapies for heart attacks and strokes, which account for one in three deaths in the United States.

Warming climate sees tundra turn to forest Posted: 06 Jun 2012 08:31 AM PDT In just a few decades shrubs in the Arctic tundra have turned into trees as a result of the warming Arctic climate, creating patches of forest which, if replicated across the tundra, would significantly accelerate global warming.

Statistical model attempting to estimate level of alcohol consumption that is 'optimal' for health Posted: 06 Jun 2012 08:18 AM PDT Scientists have carried out a complex analysis in an attempt to determine the "optimal" level of alcohol consumption that is associated with the lowest rates of chronic disease in the UK. They conclude that the intake of about one-half of a typical drink per day would result in the healthiest outcomes, and the authors conclude that the recommended alcohol intake for the UK should be reduced from the current advised level of drinking.

Complex world of gut microbes fine-tune body weight Posted: 06 Jun 2012 07:27 AM PDT Gut microbes have a significant effect on nutrient absorption and energy regulation. The composition of microbial communities is shown to vary with age, body weight, and variety of food ingested; as well as in response to bariatric surgery for obesity, use of antibiotics and many other factors. Based on current findings, the authors suggest that therapeutic modification of the gut microbiome may offer an attractive approach to future treatment of nutrition-related maladies, including obesity and a range of serious health consequences linked to under-nutrition.

First complete sequencing of pear genome Posted: 06 Jun 2012 07:26 AM PDT Scientists have announced the first complete sequencing of pear genome. Pear (Pyrus spp.) is one of the major and oldest cultivated fruit trees in the temperate regions, which is likely to have originated during the Tertiary period (65-55 million years ago) in southwestern China. It is genetically diverse with more than 5,000 cultivars and accessions present all over the world that could be divided into two major groups, the European or "Occidental" pears and the Asiatic or "Oriental" pears.

Legendary lost city of Ciudad Blanca may have been found with airborne LiDAR Posted: 06 Jun 2012 06:27 AM PDT Archaeologists have used airborne laser mapping to unveil archaeological ruins in a Honduran rainforest. An initial analysis of the LiDAR survey has identified ruins that could be those of Ciudad Blanca or other long-hidden sites.

Geoengineering could disrupt rainfall patterns Posted: 06 Jun 2012 06:27 AM PDT A geoengineering solution to climate change could lead to significant rainfall reduction in Europe and North America, a team of European scientists concludes. The researchers studied how models of the Earth in a warm, CO2-rich world respond to an artificial reduction in the amount of sunlight reaching the planet's surface.

Calorie-restricted diet keeps heart young Posted: 06 Jun 2012 06:25 AM PDT People who restrict their caloric intake in an effort to live longer have hearts that function more like those in people who are 20 years younger. Researchers have found that a key measure of the heart's ability to adapt to physical activity, stress and other factors, doesn't decline nearly as rapidly in people who have significantly restricted their caloric intake.

Dinosaurs lighter than previously thought Posted: 06 Jun 2012 04:53 AM PDT Scientists have developed a new technique to accurately measure the weight and size of dinosaurs and discovered they are not as heavy as previously thought.

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