ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Early-life traffic-related air pollution exposure linked to hyperactivity
• 'Whodunnit' of Irish potato famine solved
• Resistance to last-line antibiotic makes bacteria resistant to immune system
• New NOAA report examines national oil pollution threat from shipwrecks
• The mammoth's lament: How cosmic impact sparked devastating climate change
• Women who smoke during pregnancy increase the risk of both obesity and gestational diabetes in their daughters
• Bed sharing leads to fivefold increase in risk of crib death for babies whose parents do not smoke
• NASA Mars rover Curiosity drills second rock target
• Practice makes perfect? Not so much, new research finds
• Human-like opponents lead to more aggression in video game players
• Iron-platinum alloys could be new-generation hard drives
• How bilinguals switch between languages
• Parasitic wasps use calcium pump to block fruit fly immunity
• Do salamanders' immune systems hold the key to regeneration?
• Non-wetting fabric that drains sweat invented
• New source of kidneys for transplant suggested
• Gym class reduces probability of obesity, study finds for first time
• Timing of cancer radiation therapy may minimize hair loss
• Protein study suggests drug side effects are inevitable
• Ant study could help future robot teams work underground
• Less sleep associated with increased risk of crashes for young drivers
• Compound in Mediterranean diet makes cancer cells 'mortal'
• Amazon River exhales virtually all carbon taken up by rainforest
• Fastest measurements ever made of ion channel proteins
• Opening doors to foldable electronics with inkjet-printed graphene
• Coming into existence: Lab sets a new record for creating heralded photons
• Leading explanations for whooping cough's resurgence don't stand up to scrutiny
• Intestinal bacteria protect against E. coli O157:H7
• Molecular trigger for Alzheimer's disease identified
• Nanoantennas improve infrared sensing
• Not just blowing in the wind: Compressing air for renewable energy storage
• Combined wood and tobacco smoke exposure increases risk and symptoms of COPD
• Prenatal exposure to traffic is associated with respiratory infection in young children
• Air pollution and noise pollution increase cardiovascular risk
• Breakup of physician, drug company relationship could improve health care, cut cost
• Far-reaching, microvascular damage found in uninjured side of brain after stroke
• Telerehabilitation allows accurate assessment of patients with low back pain
• Advance in nanotech gene sequencing technique
• Slow earthquakes: It's all in the rock mechanics
• Fossil brain teaser: New study reveals patterns of dinosaur brain development
• Link between childhood ADHD and obesity revealed in first long-term study
• Immune protein could stop diabetes in its tracks, discovery suggests
• Predicting infectious influenza
• Earth's iron core is surprisingly weak
• Mechanism linking key inflammatory marker to cancer identified
• Archaeological genetics: It's not all as old as it at first seems
• Lovelorn frogs bag closest crooner
• Discovery of a novel medicine for the treatment of chronic wounds
• Echolocation: Blind people have the potential to use their 'inner bat' to locate objects, study finds
• Anabolic steroids may affect future mental health
• Genetic diversity within tumors predicts outcome in head and neck cancer
• One in 10 teens using 'study drugs,' but parents aren't paying attention
• Bionimbus protected data cloud to enable researchers to analyze cancer data
• Competition in the quantum world
• Why we need to put the fish back into fisheries
• Molecular marker from pancreatic 'juices' helps identify pancreatic cancer
• Commonly used catheters double risk of blood clots in ICU and cancer patients
• Engineered microbes grow in the dark
• Bacteria use hydrogen, carbon dioxide to produce electricity
• Kinks and curves at the nanoscale: New research shows 'perfect twin boundaries' are not so perfect

Early-life traffic-related air pollution exposure linked to hyperactivity Posted: 20 May 2013 10:12 PM PDT Early-life exposure to traffic-related air pollution was significantly associated with higher hyperactivity scores at age 7, according to new research.

'Whodunnit' of Irish potato famine solved Posted: 20 May 2013 10:12 PM PDT An international team of scientists reveals that a unique strain of potato blight they call HERB-1 triggered the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th century.

Resistance to last-line antibiotic makes bacteria resistant to immune system Posted: 20 May 2013 10:12 PM PDT Bacteria resistant to the antibiotic colistin are also commonly resistant to antimicrobial substances made by the human body, according to a new study. Cross-resistance to colistin and host antimicrobials LL-37 and lysozyme, which help defend the body against bacterial attack, could mean that patients with life-threatening multi-drug resistant infections are also saddled with a crippled immune response.

New NOAA report examines national oil pollution threat from shipwrecks Posted: 20 May 2013 04:31 PM PDT NOAA presented to the U.S. Coast Guard a new report that finds that 36 sunken vessels scattered across the U.S. seafloor could pose an oil pollution threat to the nation's coastal marine resources. Of those, 17 were recommended for further assessment and potential removal of both fuel oil and oil cargo.

The mammoth's lament: How cosmic impact sparked devastating climate change Posted: 20 May 2013 03:55 PM PDT Researchers have found evidence of a major cosmic event near the end of the Ice Age. The ensuing climate change forced many species to adapt or die.

Women who smoke during pregnancy increase the risk of both obesity and gestational diabetes in their daughters Posted: 20 May 2013 03:54 PM PDT Women who smoke during pregnancy increase the risk of both obesity and gestational diabetes, in their daughters.

Bed sharing leads to fivefold increase in risk of crib death for babies whose parents do not smoke Posted: 20 May 2013 03:54 PM PDT Parents who share a bed with their breastfed baby could face a fivefold increase in the risk of crib death, even if the parents do not smoke, according to a new study.

NASA Mars rover Curiosity drills second rock target Posted: 20 May 2013 02:32 PM PDT NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has used the drill on its robotic arm to collect a powdered sample from the interior of a rock called "Cumberland." Plans call for delivering portions of the sample in coming days to laboratory instruments inside the rover. This is only the second time that a sample has been collected from inside a rock on Mars.

Practice makes perfect? Not so much, new research finds Posted: 20 May 2013 01:39 PM PDT Turns out, that old "practice makes perfect" adage may be overblown. New research finds that a copious amount of practice is not enough to explain why people differ in level of skill in two widely studied activities, chess and music.

Human-like opponents lead to more aggression in video game players Posted: 20 May 2013 01:39 PM PDT Video games that pit players against human-looking characters may be more likely to provoke violent thoughts and words than games where monstrous creatures are the enemy, according to a new study.

Iron-platinum alloys could be new-generation hard drives Posted: 20 May 2013 01:39 PM PDT Researchers have found a convenient way to make layered iron-platinum alloys and tailor their properties, a promising material for a potential new generation of data storage media.

How bilinguals switch between languages Posted: 20 May 2013 01:38 PM PDT Individuals who learn two languages at an early age seem to switch back and forth between separate "sound systems" for each language, according to new research. The research addresses enduring questions in bilingual studies about how bilingual speakers hear and process sound in two different languages.

Parasitic wasps use calcium pump to block fruit fly immunity Posted: 20 May 2013 01:37 PM PDT Parasitic wasps switch off the immune systems of fruit flies by draining calcium from the flies' blood cells, a finding that offers new insight into how pathogens break through a host's defenses. Researchers say their findings have uncovered an important component of cellular immunity, one that parasites have learned to take advantage of.

Do salamanders' immune systems hold the key to regeneration? Posted: 20 May 2013 01:37 PM PDT Salamanders' immune systems are key to their remarkable ability to regrow limbs, and could also underpin their ability to regenerate spinal cords, brain tissue and even parts of their hearts, scientists have found. In new research, scientists have found that when immune cells known as macrophages were systemically removed, salamanders lost their ability to regenerate a limb and instead formed scar tissue.

Non-wetting fabric that drains sweat invented Posted: 20 May 2013 01:36 PM PDT Waterproof fabrics that whisk away sweat could be the latest application of microfluidic technology developed by bioengineers.

New source of kidneys for transplant suggested Posted: 20 May 2013 01:36 PM PDT Nearly 20 percent of kidneys that are recovered from deceased donors in the U.S. are refused for transplant due to factors ranging from scarring in small blood vessels of the kidney's filtering units to the organ going too long without blood or oxygen. But, what if instead of being discarded, these organs could be "recycled" to help solve the critical shortage of donor organs?

Gym class reduces probability of obesity, study finds for first time Posted: 20 May 2013 01:36 PM PDT Little is known about the effect of physical education on child weight, but a new study finds that increasing the amount of time that elementary schoolchildren spent in gym class reduces the probability of obesity.

Timing of cancer radiation therapy may minimize hair loss Posted: 20 May 2013 01:36 PM PDT Discovering that mouse hair has a circadian clock - a 24-hour cycle of growth followed by restorative repair - researchers suspect that hair loss in humans from toxic cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy might be minimized if these treatments are given late in the day.

Protein study suggests drug side effects are inevitable Posted: 20 May 2013 01:36 PM PDT A new study of both computer-created and natural proteins suggests that the number of unique pockets – sites where small molecule pharmaceutical compounds can bind to proteins – is surprisingly small, meaning drug side effects may be impossible to avoid.

Ant study could help future robot teams work underground Posted: 20 May 2013 01:32 PM PDT Future teams of subterranean search and rescue robots may owe their success to the lowly fire ant, a much-despised insect whose painful bites and extensive networks of underground tunnels are all-too-familiar to people living in the southern United States.

Less sleep associated with increased risk of crashes for young drivers Posted: 20 May 2013 01:32 PM PDT A new study suggests less sleep per night is associated with a significant increase in the risk for motor vehicle crashes for young drivers.

Compound in Mediterranean diet makes cancer cells 'mortal' Posted: 20 May 2013 12:43 PM PDT New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells' "superpower" to escape death.

Amazon River exhales virtually all carbon taken up by rainforest Posted: 20 May 2013 12:43 PM PDT Woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River. This tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river's breath. The finding has implications for global carbon models, and for the ecology of the Amazon and the world's other rivers. Until recently, people believed much of the rainforest's carbon floated down the Amazon River and ended up deep in the ocean.

Fastest measurements ever made of ion channel proteins Posted: 20 May 2013 12:42 PM PDT Engineers have used miniaturized electronics to measure the activity of individual ion-channel proteins with temporal resolution as fine as one microsecond, producing the fastest recordings of single ion channels ever performed. They designed a custom integrated circuit to perform these measurements, in which an artificial cell membrane and ion channel are attached directly to the surface of the amplifier chip.

Opening doors to foldable electronics with inkjet-printed graphene Posted: 20 May 2013 12:42 PM PDT Imagine a bendable tablet computer or an electronic newspaper that could fold to fit in a pocket. The technology for these devices may not be so far off, thanks to new research.

Coming into existence: Lab sets a new record for creating heralded photons Posted: 20 May 2013 12:42 PM PDT A new experiment establishes a heralding efficiency that might allow loopholes to be eliminated in the validation of spooky action-at-a-distance in quantum reality.

Leading explanations for whooping cough's resurgence don't stand up to scrutiny Posted: 20 May 2013 12:42 PM PDT Whooping cough has exploded in the United States and some other developed countries in recent decades, and many experts suspect ineffective childhood vaccines for the alarming resurgence.

Intestinal bacteria protect against E. coli O157:H7 Posted: 20 May 2013 12:42 PM PDT A cocktail of non-pathogenic bacteria naturally occurring in the digestive tract of healthy humans can protect against a potentially lethal E. coli infection in animal models according to new research.

Molecular trigger for Alzheimer's disease identified Posted: 20 May 2013 12:42 PM PDT Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease -- when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons in the brain.

Nanoantennas improve infrared sensing Posted: 20 May 2013 11:29 AM PDT Engineers have used a pattern of nanoantennas to develop a new way of turning infrared light into mechanical action, opening the door to more sensitive infrared cameras and more compact chemical-analysis techniques.

Not just blowing in the wind: Compressing air for renewable energy storage Posted: 20 May 2013 11:28 AM PDT A comprehensive study into the potential for compressed air energy storage in the Pacific Northwest has identified two locations in Washington state that could store enough Northwest wind energy combined to power about 85,000 homes each month.

Combined wood and tobacco smoke exposure increases risk and symptoms of COPD Posted: 20 May 2013 11:27 AM PDT People who are consistently exposed to both wood smoke and tobacco smoke are at a greater risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for experiencing more frequent and severe symptoms of the disease, as well as more severe airflow obstruction, than those who are exposed to only one type of smoke.

Prenatal exposure to traffic is associated with respiratory infection in young children Posted: 20 May 2013 11:27 AM PDT Living near a major roadway during the prenatal period is associated with an increased risk of respiratory infection developing in children by the age of 3, according to a new study.

Air pollution and noise pollution increase cardiovascular risk Posted: 20 May 2013 11:27 AM PDT Both fine-particle air pollution and noise pollution may increase a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to new research.

Breakup of physician, drug company relationship could improve health care, cut cost Posted: 20 May 2013 10:37 AM PDT A new report suggests that improved health care and significant reductions in drug costs might be attained by breaking up the age-old relationship between physicians and drug company representatives who promote the newest, more costly and often unnecessary prescription drugs.

Far-reaching, microvascular damage found in uninjured side of brain after stroke Posted: 20 May 2013 10:37 AM PDT An animal-model study finds far-reaching microvascular damage in the uninjured side of the brain after a stroke. The findings suggest repair of the protective blood-brain barrier may help prevent this breach in the days following the acute injury.

Telerehabilitation allows accurate assessment of patients with low back pain Posted: 20 May 2013 10:37 AM PDT A new "telerehabilitation" approach lets physical therapists assess patients with low back pain over the Internet, with good accuracy compared with face-to-face examinations, reports a new study.

Advance in nanotech gene sequencing technique Posted: 20 May 2013 10:37 AM PDT The allure of personalized medicine has made new, more efficient ways of sequencing genes a top research priority. One promising technique involves reading DNA bases using changes in electrical current as they are threaded through a nanoscopic hole. Now, physicists has used solid-state nanopores to differentiate single-stranded DNA molecules containing sequences of a single repeating base.

Slow earthquakes: It's all in the rock mechanics Posted: 20 May 2013 08:40 AM PDT Earthquakes that last minutes rather than seconds are a relatively recent discovery, according to an international team of seismologists. Researchers have been aware of these slow earthquakes, only for the past five to 10 years because of new tools and new observations, but these tools may explain the triggering of some normal earthquakes and could help in earthquake prediction.

Fossil brain teaser: New study reveals patterns of dinosaur brain development Posted: 20 May 2013 08:40 AM PDT A new study sheds light on how the brain and inner ear developed in dinosaurs. Using high-resolution CT scanning and 3D computer imaging, it was possible to reconstruct and visualise the brain and inner ear of Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki -- a small, plant-eating dinosaur, which lived 150 million years ago, in what is now Tanzania.

Link between childhood ADHD and obesity revealed in first long-term study Posted: 20 May 2013 08:39 AM PDT A new study found men diagnosed as children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were twice as likely to be obese in a 33-year follow-up study compared to men who were not diagnosed with the condition.

Immune protein could stop diabetes in its tracks, discovery suggests Posted: 20 May 2013 07:49 AM PDT Researchers have identified an immune protein that has the potential to stop or reverse the development of type 1 diabetes in its early stages, before insulin-producing cells have been destroyed. The discovery has wider repercussions, as the protein is responsible for protecting the body against excessive immune responses, and could be used to treat, or even prevent, other immune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Predicting infectious influenza Posted: 20 May 2013 07:49 AM PDT A new computer model could help scientists predict when a particular strain of avian influenza might become infectious from bird to human, according to a new report.

Earth's iron core is surprisingly weak Posted: 20 May 2013 06:54 AM PDT Researchers have used a diamond anvil cell to squeeze iron at pressures as high as 3 million times that felt at sea level to recreate conditions at the center of Earth. The findings could refine theories of how the planet and its core evolved.

Mechanism linking key inflammatory marker to cancer identified Posted: 20 May 2013 06:53 AM PDT Researchers have revealed how a key player in cell growth, immunity and the inflammatory response can be transformed into a primary contributor to tumor growth.

Archaeological genetics: It's not all as old as it at first seems Posted: 20 May 2013 06:51 AM PDT Genomic analyses suggest that patterns of genetic diversity which indicate population movement may not be as ancient as previously believed, but may be attributable to recent events.

Lovelorn frogs bag closest crooner Posted: 20 May 2013 06:51 AM PDT What lures a lady frog to her lover? Good looks, the sound of his voice, the size of his pad or none of the above? After weighing up their options, female strawberry poison frogs (Oophaga pumilio) bag the closest crooner they can. This seemingly short-sighted strategy turns out to be the optimal mate choice strategy for these colorful frogs.

Discovery of a novel medicine for the treatment of chronic wounds Posted: 20 May 2013 06:50 AM PDT Every 20 seconds, a limb is lost as a consequence of diabetic foot ulcer that does not heal. To date, medical solutions that can change this situation are very limited. A researchers has now presented a novel medicine for chronic wound treatment that may completely change the lives of millions of patients.

Echolocation: Blind people have the potential to use their 'inner bat' to locate objects, study finds Posted: 20 May 2013 06:48 AM PDT New research shows that blind and visually impaired people have the potential to use echolocation, similar to that used by bats and dolphins, to determine the location of an object. The study examined how hearing, and particularly the hearing of echoes, could help blind people with spatial awareness and navigation.

Anabolic steroids may affect future mental health Posted: 20 May 2013 06:48 AM PDT There is a link between use of anabolic-androgenic steroids and reduced mental health later in life. This is the main conclusion of a new study on elite male strength athletes. Twenty per cent of the subjects in the study admitted steroid use.

Genetic diversity within tumors predicts outcome in head and neck cancer Posted: 20 May 2013 06:46 AM PDT A new measure of the heterogeneity – the variety of genetic mutations – of cells within a tumor appears to predict treatment outcomes of patients with the most common type of head and neck cancer.

One in 10 teens using 'study drugs,' but parents aren't paying attention Posted: 20 May 2013 06:44 AM PDT Just one in 100 parents believe their kids have used prescription stimulants to boost grades, according to a new poll.

Bionimbus protected data cloud to enable researchers to analyze cancer data Posted: 20 May 2013 05:32 AM PDT The University of Chicago has launched the first secure cloud-based computing system that enables researchers to access and analyze human genomic cancer information without the costly and cumbersome infrastructure normally needed to download and store massive amounts of data.

Competition in the quantum world Posted: 19 May 2013 04:48 PM PDT Physicists have gained a deep insight into the nature of quantum mechanical phase transitions. Scientists have simulated the competition between two rival dynamical processes at a novel type of transition between two quantum mechanical orders.

Why we need to put the fish back into fisheries Posted: 19 May 2013 04:48 PM PDT Overfishing has reduced fish populations and biodiversity across much of the world's oceans. In response, fisheries are increasingly reliant on a handful of highly valuable shellfish. However, new research shows this approach to be extremely risky.

Molecular marker from pancreatic 'juices' helps identify pancreatic cancer Posted: 19 May 2013 04:14 PM PDT Researchers have developed a promising method to distinguish between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis — two disorders that are difficult to tell apart. A molecular marker obtained from pancreatic "juices" can identify almost all cases of pancreatic cancer, their study shows.

Commonly used catheters double risk of blood clots in ICU and cancer patients Posted: 19 May 2013 04:14 PM PDT Peripherally inserted central catheters – an often preferred route for delivery of IV medications — increase risk of blood clots in sickest patients.

Engineered microbes grow in the dark Posted: 19 May 2013 04:11 PM PDT Scientists have engineered a strain of photosynthetic cyanobacteria to grow without the need for light.

Bacteria use hydrogen, carbon dioxide to produce electricity Posted: 19 May 2013 04:11 PM PDT Researchers have engineered a strain of electricity-producing bacteria that can grow using hydrogen gas as its sole electron donor and carbon dioxide as its sole source of carbon.

Kinks and curves at the nanoscale: New research shows 'perfect twin boundaries' are not so perfect Posted: 19 May 2013 04:04 PM PDT Since 2004, materials scientists and nanotechnology experts have been excited about a special of arrangement of atoms called a "coherent twin boundary" that can add enormous strength to metals like gold and copper. The CTBs are described as "perfect," appearing like a one-atom-thick plane in models and images. New research shows that these boundaries are not perfect. Even more surprising, the newly discovered kinks and defects appear to be the cause of the CTB's strength.

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