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Sunday, November 18, 2012

ScienceDaily: Top News

ScienceDaily: Top News


DNA packaging discovery reveals principles by which CRC mutations may cause cancer

Posted: 17 Nov 2012 03:46 PM PST

A new discovery concerning a fundamental understanding about how DNA works will produce a "180-degree change in focus" for researchers who study how gene packaging regulates gene activity, including genes that cause cancer and other diseases.

Anxiety linked to chest pain in children

Posted: 17 Nov 2012 03:46 PM PST

Psychological factors can have as much -- or more -- impact on pediatric chest pain as physical ones, a new study found recently. Psychologists discovered pediatric patients diagnosed with non-cardiac chest pain have higher levels of anxiety and depression than patients diagnosed with innocent heart murmurs -- the noise of normal turbulent blood flow in a structurally normal heart.

Wandering minds associated with aging cells: Attentional state linked to length of telomeres

Posted: 17 Nov 2012 03:45 PM PST

Scientific studies have suggested that a wandering mind indicates unhappiness, whereas a mind that is present in the moment indicates well-being. Now, a preliminary study suggests a possible link between mind wandering and aging, by looking at a biological measure of longevity.

New model reveals how huddling penguins share heat fairly

Posted: 17 Nov 2012 03:45 PM PST

Penguins that face the bitter cold and icy winds of Antarctica often huddle together in large groups for warmth during storms. Mathematicians have created a model that shows how the penguins share heat fairly in the huddle.

Basketball teams offer insights into building strategic networks

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 01:11 PM PST

What started out as a project to teach undergraduate students about network analysis, turned into an in-depth study of whether it was possible to analyze a National Basketball Association basketball team's strategic interactions as a network.Researchers discovered it is possible to quantify both a team's cohesion and communication structure.

Hepatitis C treatment's side effects can now be studied in the lab

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 01:10 PM PST

Adverse side effects of certain hepatitis C medications can now be replicated in the lab, thanks to a research team. The new method aids understanding of recent failures of hepatitis C antiviral drugs in some patients, and could help to identify medications that eliminate adverse effects. The findings may aid the development of safer and more effective treatments for hepatitis C and other pathogens such as SARS and West Nile virus.

Exercise benefits found for pregnancies with high blood pressure, researchers say

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 01:10 PM PST

Contrary to popular thought, regular exercise before and during pregnancy could have beneficial effects for women that develop high blood pressure during gestation, a human physiology professor said.

Level up: Study reveals keys to gamer loyalty

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 01:09 PM PST

Online role-playing game developers can get ahead of the competition by giving gamers more opportunities to get social, collaborate and take control of their online personas, according to a new study.

Reconsidering cancer's bad guy

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:46 AM PST

Researchers have found that a protein, known for causing cancer cells to spread around the body, is also one of the molecules that trigger repair processes in the brain.

Important progress for spintronics: Spin amplifier works at room temperature

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:46 AM PST

A fundamental cornerstone for spintronics that has been missing up until now has been constructed by a team of physicists. A newly developed spin amplifier can be used at room temperature.

New research explores why we remember and why we forget

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:45 AM PST

Psychological scientists are exploring the mechanisms that underlie memory to understand why we remember certain things and why we forget others.

How does groundwater pumping affect streamflow?

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:45 AM PST

Groundwater provides drinking water for millions of Americans and is the primary source of water to irrigate cropland in many of the nations most productive agricultural settings. Although the benefits of groundwater development are many, groundwater pumping can reduce the flow of water in connected streams and rivers.

Teenagers urged to exercise to ward off bone disease

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:45 AM PST

Playing soccer or running for at least three hours a week could help teenagers counteract the potential damage to their bone health caused by prolonged spells of sitting.

Gene distinguishes early birds from night owls and helps predict time of death

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:45 AM PST

New research shows that a gene is responsible for a person's tendency to be an early riser or night owl -- and helps determine the time of day a person is most likely to die.

Application of smartphone technology to economic and environmental analysis of building energy conservation strategies

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:44 AM PST

They can help us pass the time, socialize and yes, even work, but can smartphones also help us save the planet? A new article suggests they can.

Recipe for oxide interface perfection opens path to novel materials

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:43 AM PST

By tweaking the formula for growing oxide thin films, researchers have achieved virtual perfection at the interface of two insulator materials.

New whale shark study used metabolomics to help understand shark and ray health

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:43 AM PST

New research provides evidence that a suite of techniques called "metabolomics" can be used to determine the health status of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), the world's largest fish species.

Mixing processes could increase impact of biofuel spills on aquatic environments

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 07:41 AM PST

Ethanol, a component of biofuel made from plants such as corn, is blended with gas in many parts of the country, but has significantly different fluid properties than pure gasoline. A group of researchers wondered how ethanol-based fuels would spread in the event of a large aquatic spill. They found that ethanol-based liquids mix actively with water, very different from how pure gasoline interacts with water and potentially more dangerous to aquatic life.

Indirect effects of climate change could alter landscapes

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:56 AM PST

Studies of a northern hardwood forest in New England point to unexpected ecological trends resulting from documented changes in the climate over 50 years. Some of the changes now taking place can be expected to alter the composition of the forest and the wildlife present. The observations may have implications for other northern forests and suggest directions for future research and monitoring.

Measuring 'the cloud: 'Performance could be better

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:56 AM PST

Storing information "in the Cloud" is rapidly gaining in popularity. Yet just how do these services really work? Researchers have completed the first comprehensive analysis of Dropbox, a popular service that already has 100 million users. One shortcoming of this service is that performance is greatly dependent on the physical distance to the Dropbox servers.

GOCE’s second mission improving gravity map

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:55 AM PST

ESA's GOCE gravity satellite has already delivered the most accurate gravity map of Earth, but its orbit is now being lowered in order to obtain even better results. The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) has been orbiting Earth since March 2009, reaching its ambitious objective to map our planet's gravity with unrivaled precision.

Improving quality of life for the bedridden: Textile pressure ulcer prevention

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:55 AM PST

Immobile patients are in constant danger of developing pressure ulcers on the skin. Medical researchers have worked together to develop a special sheet that is gentle on the skin and helps to make patients more comfortable.

Largest resolution immersive visualization facility

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:52 AM PST

A new Reality Deck, a 416 screen super-high resolution virtual reality four-walled surround-view theater, is the largest resolution immersive display ever built driven by a graphic supercomputer. Its purpose and primary design principle is to enable scientists, engineers and physicians to tackle modern-age problems that require the visualization of vast amounts of data.

Mechanism of breathing muscle 'paralysis' in dreaming sleep identified

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:52 AM PST

A novel brain mechanism mediating the inhibition of the critical breathing muscles during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep has been identified for the first time in a new study.

Probing the mystery of the venus fly trap's botanical bite

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:52 AM PST

Plants lack muscles, yet in only a tenth of a second, the meat-eating Venus fly trap hydrodynamically snaps its leaves shut to trap an insect meal. This astonishingly rapid display of botanical movement has long fascinated biologists. Commercially, understanding the mechanism of the Venus fly trap's leaf snapping may one day help improve products such as release-on-command coatings and adhesives, electronic circuits, optical lenses, and drug delivery.

What's behind the success of the soccer 'knuckleball'

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:52 AM PST

What makes soccer star Christiano Ronaldo's "knuckleball" shot so unpredictable and difficult to stop?

Visualizing floating cereal patterns to understand nanotechnology processes

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:51 AM PST

Small floating objects change the dynamics of the surface they are on. This is an effect every serious student of breakfast has seen as rafts of floating cereal o's arrange and rearrange themselves into patterns on the milk. Now scientists have suggested that this process may offer insight into nanoscale engineering processes.

Creating a coating of water-repellent microscopic particles to keep ice off airplanes

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:51 AM PST

To help planes fly safely through cold, wet, and icy conditions, a team of Japanese scientists has developed a new super water-repellent surface that can prevent ice from forming in these harsh atmospheric conditions. Unlike current inflight anti-icing techniques, the researchers envision applying this new anti-icing method to an entire aircraft like a coat of paint.

Sports-related injuries requiring surgery on the rise among high school athletes

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:51 AM PST

As the nearly 8 million U.S. high school students who participate in sports every year suit up this season, scientists are encouraging them to focus on something more valuable than winning – their health. New research shows fracture and ACL prevention programs are essential in ensuring injuries don't sideline players.

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