ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Mediterranean diet helps cut risk of heart attack, stroke: Results of PREDIMED study presented
• Higher levels of several toxic metals found in children with autism
• Liver stem cells grown in culture, transplanted with demonstrated therapeutic benefit
• Weather extremes provoked by trapping of giant waves in the atmosphere
• Clues to climate cycles dug from South Pole snow pit
• Maize in diets of people in coastal Peru dates to 5,000 years ago
• BPA may affect the developing brain by disrupting gene regulation
• Future evidence for extraterrestrial life might come from dying stars
• Moments of spirituality can induce liberal attitudes, researchers find
• New maps depict potential worldwide coral bleaching by 2056
• Ultrasound reveals autism risk at birth, study finds
• March of the pathogens: Parasite metabolism can foretell disease ranges under climate change
• Mouse mothers induce parenting behaviors in fathers with ultra-sonic noises
• Scientists develop a whole new way of harvesting energy from the sun

Mediterranean diet helps cut risk of heart attack, stroke: Results of PREDIMED study presented Posted: 25 Feb 2013 03:15 PM PST Results of a major study aimed at assessing the efficacy of the Mediterranean diet in the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases show that such a diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or tree nuts reduces by 30 percent the risk of suffering a cardiovascular death, a myocardial infarction or a stroke.

Higher levels of several toxic metals found in children with autism Posted: 25 Feb 2013 01:22 PM PST Researchers have found significantly higher levels of toxic metals in children with autism, compared to typical children. They hypothesize that reducing early exposure to toxic metals may help lessen symptoms of autism, though they say this hypotheses needs further examination.

Liver stem cells grown in culture, transplanted with demonstrated therapeutic benefit Posted: 25 Feb 2013 12:31 PM PST For decades scientists around the world have attempted to regenerate primary liver cells known as hepatocytes because of their numerous biomedical applications, including hepatitis research, drug metabolism and toxicity studies, as well as transplantation for cirrhosis and other chronic liver conditions. But no lab in the world has been successful in identifying and growing liver stem cells in culture -- using any available technique -- until now.

Weather extremes provoked by trapping of giant waves in the atmosphere Posted: 25 Feb 2013 12:31 PM PST The world has suffered from severe regional weather extremes in recent years, such as the heat wave in the United States in 2011. Behind these devastating individual events there is a common physical cause, propose scientists in a new study. It suggests that human-made climate change repeatedly disturbs the patterns of atmospheric flow around the globe's Northern hemisphere through a subtle resonance mechanism.

Clues to climate cycles dug from South Pole snow pit Posted: 25 Feb 2013 12:31 PM PST Particles from the upper atmosphere trapped in a deep pile of Antarctic snow hold clear chemical traces of global meteorological events, climate scientists from France have found. Anomalies in oxygen found in sulfate particles coincide with several episodes of the world-wide disruption of weather known as El Nino and can be distinguished from similar signals left by the eruption of huge volcanoes, the team reports.

Maize in diets of people in coastal Peru dates to 5,000 years ago Posted: 25 Feb 2013 12:31 PM PST Scientists have concluded that during the Late Archaic, maize (corn) was a primary component in the diet of people living in the Norte Chico region of Peru, an area of remarkable cultural florescence in 3rd millennium B.C. Up until now, the prevailing theory was that marine resources, not agriculture and corn, provided the economic engine behind the development of civilization in the Andean region of Peru.

BPA may affect the developing brain by disrupting gene regulation Posted: 25 Feb 2013 12:31 PM PST Environmental exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a widespread chemical found in plastics and resins, may suppress a gene vital to nerve cell function and to the development of the central nervous system, according to a new study.

Future evidence for extraterrestrial life might come from dying stars Posted: 25 Feb 2013 10:16 AM PST Even dying stars could host planets with life -- and if such life exists, we might be able to detect it within the next decade. This encouraging result comes from a new theoretical study of Earth-like planets orbiting white dwarf stars. Researchers found that we could detect oxygen in the atmosphere of a white dwarf's planet much more easily than for an Earth-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star.

Moments of spirituality can induce liberal attitudes, researchers find Posted: 25 Feb 2013 10:15 AM PST People become more politically liberal immediately after practising a spiritual exercise such as meditation, researchers have found.

New maps depict potential worldwide coral bleaching by 2056 Posted: 25 Feb 2013 09:20 AM PST New maps by scientists show how rising sea temperatures are likely to affect all coral reefs in the form of annual coral bleaching events under different emission scenarios. If carbon emissions stay on the current path most of the world's coral reefs (74 percent) are projected to experience coral bleaching conditions annually by 2045, results of the study show.

Ultrasound reveals autism risk at birth, study finds Posted: 25 Feb 2013 08:25 AM PST Low-birth-weight babies with a particular brain abnormality are at greater risk for autism, according to a new study that could provide doctors a signpost for early detection of the still poorly understood disorder.

March of the pathogens: Parasite metabolism can foretell disease ranges under climate change Posted: 25 Feb 2013 08:25 AM PST Researchers developed a model that can help determine the future range of nearly any disease-causing parasite under climate change, even if little is known about the organism. Their method calculates how the projected temperature change for an area would alter the creature's metabolism and life cycle.

Mouse mothers induce parenting behaviors in fathers with ultra-sonic noises Posted: 25 Feb 2013 07:21 AM PST Researchers have demonstrated the existence of communicative signalling from female mice that induces male parental behavior.

Scientists develop a whole new way of harvesting energy from the sun Posted: 24 Feb 2013 11:29 AM PST A new method of harvesting the sun's energy is emerging. Though still in its infancy, the research promises to convert sunlight into energy using a process based on metals that are more robust than many of the semiconductors used in conventional methods.

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