ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Lung cancer drug could aid plight of ectopic pregnancy patients
• Copper destroys highly infectious norovirus
• Turning to parasites as potential disease fighters
• Microbes help beetles defeat plant defenses
• New camouflage coating fabricated from squid protein
• Butterfly wings inspire new technologies: From fabrics and cosmetics to sensors
• Testes size correlates with men's involvement in toddler care
• The chemistry behind the character of bourbon, scotch and rye
• Indy 500 race cars showcase green fuels
• Toward treating disease the way artificial limbs replace the function of lost arms and legs
• Translating nature's library yields drug leads for aids, cancer, Alzheimer's disease
• NASA's black-hole-hunter catches its first 10 supermassive black holes
• Hubble catches a spiral in the air pump
• Upgrade to Mars rovers could aid discovery on more distant worlds
• Breaking deep-sea waves, as high as a skyscraper, reveal mechanism for global ocean mixing
• Rainfall in South Pacific was more variable before 20th century
• A swarm on every desktop: Robotics experts learn from public
• Researchers read the coffee grounds and find a promising energy resource for the future
• Tool created to avert future energy crisis
• Toward making people invisible to mosquitoes
• Scientists demonstrate new method for harvesting energy from light
• Accidental nanoparticle discovery could hail revolution in manufacturing
• eButton health monitor gets a facelift
• Genome of elastomeric materials creates novel materials
• Bomb-detecting lasers could improve security checkpoints
• New kind of ultraviolet LED could lead to portable, low-cost devices
• Positive interactions vital to pre-K learning
• Vehicle/motorcycle accident regularity possibly linked to brain miscalculating time of impact of smaller objects
• New ten second sourcing technology set to transform archaeology
• Breakthrough in cryptography could result in more secure computing
• Programmable glue made of DNA directs tiny gel bricks to self-assemble
• Parents' genes may influence children's back to school fears
• Ancient golden treasure found at foot of Temple Mount
• How bedbugs shrug off pesticides and simple measures to deal with it
• Surprising underwater-sounds: Humpback whales also spend their winter in Antarctica
• Scientists calculate the energy required to store wind and solar power on the grid
• Early detection of Parkinson’s disease through handwriting
• Artificial lung to remove carbon dioxide -- from smokestacks
• Recycled sewage water is safe for crop irrigation, study suggests
• The new allure of electric cars: Blazing-fast speeds
• First animal model of adult-onset SMA sheds light on disease progression & treatment
• More breast cancer screening needed in younger women
• Wireless network detects falls by the elderly
• Children referred for chest pain rarely have cardiac disease
• Quantum temperature: Scientists study the physics that connects the classical to the quantum world
• Ultra-thin saw wire made of carbon for precision work
• Hubble bubble may explain different measurements of expansion rate of the universe
• Capturing brain activity with sculpted light
• Is bigger really better when it comes to size of labor wards?
• Severity of sleep apnoea predicts aggressiveness of melanoma
• Severe asthma patients less responsive to treatment
• Breath tests could be used to diagnose lung cancer
• New 'artificial nose' device can speed diagnosis of sepsis
• E-cigarettes and nicotine patches have comparable success in helping smokers to quit

Lung cancer drug could aid plight of ectopic pregnancy patients Posted: 09 Sep 2013 05:13 PM PDT Women with ectopic pregnancies could be spared surgery if they are treated with a lung cancer drug, a study suggests. Researchers treated ectopic pregnancies -- where an embryo implants inside the Fallopian tube -- by combining an existing treatment with a lung cancer therapy.

Copper destroys highly infectious norovirus Posted: 09 Sep 2013 05:12 PM PDT Scientists have discovered that copper and copper alloys rapidly destroy norovirus – the highly-infectious sickness bug. Worldwide, norovirus is responsible for more than 267 million cases of acute gastroenteritis every year.

Turning to parasites as potential disease fighters Posted: 09 Sep 2013 05:12 PM PDT Researchers have described exciting progress in harnessing the human immune system's reaction to the presence of parasitic worms, as a way to lessen susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, as well as for use in promoting wound healing.

Microbes help beetles defeat plant defenses Posted: 09 Sep 2013 02:22 PM PDT Some symbiotic bacteria living inside Colorado potato beetles can trick plants into reacting to a microbial attack rather than that of a chewing herbivore, according to a researchers who found that the beetles with bacteria were healthier and grew better.

New camouflage coating fabricated from squid protein Posted: 09 Sep 2013 02:22 PM PDT What can the US military learn from a common squid? A lot about how to hide from enemies, according to researchers.

Butterfly wings inspire new technologies: From fabrics and cosmetics to sensors Posted: 09 Sep 2013 02:22 PM PDT A new study has revealed that the stunning iridescent wings of the tropical blue Morpho butterfly could expand the range of innovative technologies. Scientific lessons learned from these butterflies have already inspired designs of new displays, fabrics and cosmetics.

Testes size correlates with men's involvement in toddler care Posted: 09 Sep 2013 02:20 PM PDT Men with smaller testes are more likely to be involved in hands-on care of their toddlers, a new study by anthropologists finds. Smaller testicular volumes also correlate with more nurturing-related brain activity in fathers. The data suggest that the biology of human males reflects a trade-off between investments in mating versus parenting effort.

The chemistry behind the character of bourbon, scotch and rye Posted: 09 Sep 2013 01:23 PM PDT Whiskeys have long captivated the senses of connoisseurs, whether with smokiness and a whiff of vanilla or a spicy character with hints of caramel, and now, the emerging chemistry of "brown spirits" is proving that they have distinct chemical signatures to match the complex combinations of grains, barrels, aging and other factors that yield the liquid gold poured into each bottle. With sales of boutique bourbons and other small-batch whiskeys booming, scientists have now revealed the chemical fingerprinting of whiskeys.

Indy 500 race cars showcase green fuels Posted: 09 Sep 2013 01:20 PM PDT Mention cars that get barely 3 miles to a gallon and are built for speed rather than cleanliness, and images of gas-guzzling, pollution-belching menaces burning leaded gasoline or nitro may spring to mind. But experts today described how ethanol blends used as fuel in the race cars of the Indianapolis 500 actually make those emissions cleaner than cars on the street.

Toward treating disease the way artificial limbs replace the function of lost arms and legs Posted: 09 Sep 2013 01:20 PM PDT The vision for a new branch of medicine, inspired by the ancient field that began with peg legs and hand hooks has been named "molecular prosthetics." Scientists have described advances toward making molecular prosthetics a reality, including progress in developing a platform that would revolutionize the now-tedious processes of making or synthesizing the ingredients for those drugs.

Translating nature's library yields drug leads for aids, cancer, Alzheimer's disease Posted: 09 Sep 2013 01:20 PM PDT An ingredient in a medicinal tea brewed from tree bark by tribal healers on the South Pacific island of Samoa — studied by scientists over the last 25 years — is showing significant promise as a drug lead in the long-sought goal of eliminating the AIDS virus from its sanctuaries in the body and thus eradicating the disease, a scientist said.

NASA's black-hole-hunter catches its first 10 supermassive black holes Posted: 09 Sep 2013 12:49 PM PDT NASA's black-hole-hunter spacecraft, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has "bagged" its first 10 supermassive black holes. The mission, which has a mast the length of a school bus, is the first telescope capable of focusing the highest-energy X-ray light into detailed pictures.

Hubble catches a spiral in the air pump Posted: 09 Sep 2013 12:46 PM PDT Lying more than 110 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Antlia (The Air Pump) is the spiral galaxy IC 2560, shown in a new image from NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. At this distance it is a relatively nearby spiral galaxy, and is part of the Antlia cluster -- a group of over 200 galaxies held together by gravity. This cluster is unusual; unlike most other galaxy clusters, it appears to have no dominant galaxy within it.

Upgrade to Mars rovers could aid discovery on more distant worlds Posted: 09 Sep 2013 12:30 PM PDT Mars rovers, such as Curiosity, currently can't make science decisions on their own. That has to change if future rover missions are to make discoveries further out in the solar system, scientists say. To help future rover missions spend less time waiting for instructions from Earth, scientists have developed an advanced two-lens camera, called TextureCam, that can think about the pictures it snaps and make science-based decisions.

Breaking deep-sea waves, as high as a skyscraper, reveal mechanism for global ocean mixing Posted: 09 Sep 2013 12:29 PM PDT Oceanographers for the first time recorded an enormous wave breaking miles below the surface in a key bottleneck for global ocean circulation.

Rainfall in South Pacific was more variable before 20th century Posted: 09 Sep 2013 12:29 PM PDT A new reconstruction of climate in the South Pacific during the past 446 years shows rainfall varied much more dramatically before the start of the 20th century than after. The finding, based on an analysis of a cave formation called a stalagmite from the island nation of Vanuatu, could force climate modelers to adjust their models.

A swarm on every desktop: Robotics experts learn from public Posted: 09 Sep 2013 12:29 PM PDT The next experiment from Rice University's Multi-Robot Systems Laboratory (MRSL) could happen on your desktop. Researchers are refining their control algorithms for robotic swarms based upon data from free online games. To demonstrate the kind of complex behaviors the algorithms can achieve, researchers videotaped an experiment in which a single controller used simple group commands to direct 12 robots into a complex shape -- a capital R.

Researchers read the coffee grounds and find a promising energy resource for the future Posted: 09 Sep 2013 12:29 PM PDT What's usually considered old garbage might be a promising asset for our energy supply, according to researchers.

Tool created to avert future energy crisis Posted: 09 Sep 2013 12:29 PM PDT Scientists have created a new measurement tool that could help avoid an energy crisis like the one California endured during the early 2000s and better prepare the electricity market for the era of the smart grid.

Toward making people invisible to mosquitoes Posted: 09 Sep 2013 12:28 PM PDT In an advance toward providing mosquito-plagued people, pets and livestock with an invisibility cloak against these blood-sucking insects, scientists today described discovery of substances that block mosquitoes' ability to smell and target their victims.

Scientists demonstrate new method for harvesting energy from light Posted: 09 Sep 2013 10:12 AM PDT Researchers have demonstrated a new mechanism for extracting energy from light, a finding that could improve technologies for generating electricity from solar energy and lead to more efficient optoelectronic devices used in communications.

Accidental nanoparticle discovery could hail revolution in manufacturing Posted: 09 Sep 2013 10:12 AM PDT A nanoparticle shaped like a spiky ball, with magnetic properties, has been uncovered in a new method of synthesizing carbon nanotubes by physicists.

eButton health monitor gets a facelift Posted: 09 Sep 2013 10:12 AM PDT A wearable, picture-taking health monitor has received a recent facelift. Now, in addition to documenting what a person eats, the eButton prototype can accurately match those images against a geometric-shape library, providing a much easier method for counting calories.

Genome of elastomeric materials creates novel materials Posted: 09 Sep 2013 10:11 AM PDT A wide range of biologically inspired materials may now be possible by combining protein studies, materials science and RNA sequencing, according to an international team of researchers.

Bomb-detecting lasers could improve security checkpoints Posted: 09 Sep 2013 10:11 AM PDT New research has put the possibility of bomb-detecting lasers at security checkpoints within reach.

New kind of ultraviolet LED could lead to portable, low-cost devices Posted: 09 Sep 2013 10:09 AM PDT Commercial uses for ultraviolet (UV) light are growing, and now a new kind of LED under development could lead to more portable and low-cost uses of the technology.

Positive interactions vital to pre-K learning Posted: 09 Sep 2013 10:09 AM PDT A new study shows young children improve self-regulation skills in classrooms where teachers exhibit approving behavior with a positive emotional tone.

Vehicle/motorcycle accident regularity possibly linked to brain miscalculating time of impact of smaller objects Posted: 09 Sep 2013 10:09 AM PDT Results show that small, near objects can appear farther away than larger, farther objects.

New ten second sourcing technology set to transform archaeology Posted: 09 Sep 2013 09:19 AM PDT Researchers have developed a method of sourcing obsidian artifacts that takes only 10 seconds -- dozens of times faster than the current methods -- with a handheld instrument that can be used at archaeological excavations.

Breakthrough in cryptography could result in more secure computing Posted: 09 Sep 2013 09:19 AM PDT New research could result in a change in how to secure computations.

Programmable glue made of DNA directs tiny gel bricks to self-assemble Posted: 09 Sep 2013 09:19 AM PDT A team of researchers has found a way to self-assemble complex structures out of bricks smaller than a grain of salt. The new method could help solve one of the major challenges in tissue engineering: Creating injectable components that self-assemble into intricately structured, biocompatible scaffolds at an injury site to help regrow human tissues.

Parents' genes may influence children's back to school fears Posted: 09 Sep 2013 09:19 AM PDT Many parents may have noticed their children seemed on edge during their first week of school. They may have been agitated, withdrawn or more focused on themselves, rather than what was going on around them. Such behaviors are classic symptoms of high anxiety.

Ancient golden treasure found at foot of Temple Mount Posted: 09 Sep 2013 09:19 AM PDT In summer excavations at the foot of the Temple Mount, archaeologists made a stunning discovery: two bundles of treasure containing thirty-six gold coins, gold and silver jewelry, and a gold medallion with the menorah (Temple candelabrum) symbol etched into it. Also etched into the 10-cm medallion are a shofar (ram's horn) and a Torah scroll.

How bedbugs shrug off pesticides and simple measures to deal with it Posted: 09 Sep 2013 09:18 AM PDT The bedbug's most closely guarded secrets — stashed away in protective armor that enables these blood-sucking little nasties to shrug off insecticides and thrive in homes and hotels. The talk includes implications for millions of people trying to cope with bed bug infestations that have been resurging for more than a decade.

Surprising underwater-sounds: Humpback whales also spend their winter in Antarctica Posted: 09 Sep 2013 08:12 AM PDT Biologists and physicists have discovered that not all of the Southern Hemisphere humpback whales migrate towards the equator at the end of the Antarctic summer.

Scientists calculate the energy required to store wind and solar power on the grid Posted: 09 Sep 2013 07:52 AM PDT Renewable energy holds the promise of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. But there are times when solar and wind farms generate more electricity than is needed by consumers. Storing that surplus energy in batteries for later use seems like an obvious solution. But a new study finds that when you factor in the energetic costs, grid-scale batteries make sense for storing surplus solar energy, but not for wind.

Early detection of Parkinson’s disease through handwriting Posted: 09 Sep 2013 07:50 AM PDT The primary tool for diagnosing Parkinson's is the diagnostic ability of the physician. A new study compares the writing process of 40 sick and healthy subjects and suggests an innovative and noninvasive method of diagnosing Parkinson's at a fairly early stage.

Artificial lung to remove carbon dioxide -- from smokestacks Posted: 09 Sep 2013 07:47 AM PDT After studying the functioning of the lungs of birds and the swim bladders of fish, scientists described how they created an improved method to capture carbon dioxide that acts like a reverse natural lung, breathing in the polluting gas. Their study details the best way to arrange tubes in a carbon dioxide capture.

Recycled sewage water is safe for crop irrigation, study suggests Posted: 09 Sep 2013 07:47 AM PDT The first study under realistic field conditions has found reassuringly low levels of chemicals from pharmaceuticals and personal care products in crops irrigated with recycled sewage water, scientists have reported.

The new allure of electric cars: Blazing-fast speeds Posted: 09 Sep 2013 07:46 AM PDT Already noted for saving gasoline and having zero emissions, electric cars have quietly taken on an unlikely new dimension –– the ability to reach blazing speeds that rival the 0-to-60 performance of a typical Porsche or BMW, and compete on some race courses with the world's best gasoline-powered cars, an authority has said.

First animal model of adult-onset SMA sheds light on disease progression & treatment Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:31 AM PDT A research team has used a recently developed technology they call TSUNAMI to create the first animal model of the adult-onset version of spinal muscular atrophy, a devastating motor-neuron illness.

More breast cancer screening needed in younger women Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:31 AM PDT A new analysis confirms the need for greater use of annual mammography in women ages 40-49. It also confirms that, even with new therapeutics and protocols for treating breast cancer, regular mammography screening is still the best way to significantly reduce breast cancer deaths.

Wireless network detects falls by the elderly Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:31 AM PDT Electrical engineers have developed a network of wireless sensors that can detect a person falling. This monitoring technology could be linked to a service that would call emergency help for the elderly without requiring them to wear monitoring devices.

Children referred for chest pain rarely have cardiac disease Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:31 AM PDT Employing a unique quality improvement methodology, physicians have demonstrated that chest pain in children, rarely caused by heart disease, can be effectively evaluated in the ambulatory setting using minimal resources, even across a diverse patient population.

Quantum temperature: Scientists study the physics that connects the classical to the quantum world Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:28 AM PDT How does a classical temperature form in the quantum world? Scientists have now directly observed the emergence and the spreading of a temperature in a quantum system. Remarkably, the quantum properties are lost, even though the quantum system is completely isolated and not connected to the outside world.

Ultra-thin saw wire made of carbon for precision work Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:28 AM PDT You can't saw without producing sawdust – and that can be expensive if, for example, the "dust" comes from wafer manufacturing in the photovoltaic and semiconductor industries, where relatively high kerf loss has been accepted as an unavoidable, if highly regrettable, fact of life. But now scientists have developed a saw wire that is set to effect dramatic reductions in kerf loss: in place of diamond-impregnated steel wires, the researchers use ultra-thin and extremely stable threads made of carbon nanotubes coated with diamond.

Hubble bubble may explain different measurements of expansion rate of the universe Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:25 AM PDT The observable universe has been expanding since the Big Bang. It still is, causing galaxies beyond our Local Group to appear to be receding from us. The actual speed of this expansion is known as the Hubble constant. Due to its importance in calculating basic properties of the universe, such as its age, modern cosmology is tasked with determining the value of the constant. There are two conventional methods used, although their results are not congruent, according to researchers. Experts may now be able to explain the different measurements of the expansion of the universe.

Capturing brain activity with sculpted light Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:25 AM PDT A major aim of today's neuroscience is to understand how an organism's nervous system processes sensory input and generates behavior. To achieve this goal, scientists must obtain detailed maps of how the nerve cells are wired up in the brain, as well as information on how these networks interact in real time.

Is bigger really better when it comes to size of labor wards? Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:25 AM PDT New research reveals that large labor wards — those handling 3,000 to 3,999 deliveries annually — have better overall approval rates compared to small, intermediate or very large obstetric units. The study suggests that greater access to in-house obstetricians and auxiliary specialists contributes to the lower obstetric injury claims from patients at large labor wards in Denmark

Severity of sleep apnoea predicts aggressiveness of melanoma Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:24 AM PDT The severity of sleep apnoea can independently predict the aggressiveness of malignant skin melanoma, according to a new study.

Severe asthma patients less responsive to treatment Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:24 AM PDT People with severe asthma, who are often described as 'steroid-dependent', are actually less likely to respond to the treatment they depend on, when compared to people with mild asthma.

Breath tests could be used to diagnose lung cancer Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:24 AM PDT Collecting samples of exhaled breath from people at a high risk of lung cancer could be a cheap and non-invasive method of diagnosing the disease, according to new research.

New 'artificial nose' device can speed diagnosis of sepsis Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:23 AM PDT Disease-causing bacteria stink — literally — and the odor released by some of the nastiest microbes has become the basis for a faster and simpler new way to diagnose serious blood infections and finger the specific microbe, scientists have reported.

E-cigarettes and nicotine patches have comparable success in helping smokers to quit Posted: 08 Sep 2013 10:56 AM PDT The first trial to compare e-cigarettes with nicotine patches shows comparable success in helping smokers to quit.

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