ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Scientists find mechanism to reset body clock
• Nearly complete 'chicken from hell,' from mysterious dinosaur group
• Earth's radiation belt: Van Allen probes reveal 'zebra stripes' in space
• Goldilocks principle: Earth's continued habitability due to geologic cycles that act as climate control
• Radiation damage at the root of Chernobyl's ecosystems
• Low doses of antianxiety drugs rebalance autistic brain, study shows
• Lied-to children more likely to cheat, lie
• Fried foods may interact with genes to influence body weight, say experts
• Building heart tissue that beats: Engineered tissue closely mimics natural heart muscle
• Mental health on the go: Reducing anxiety with smartphone app
• Climate change will reduce crop yields sooner than thought
• Plastic shopping bags make a fine diesel fuel
• Magic mushrooms' effects illuminated in brain imaging studies

Scientists find mechanism to reset body clock Posted: 20 Mar 2014 09:19 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a new mechanism that governs how body clocks react to changes in the environment. The discovery could provide a solution for alleviating the detrimental effects of chronic shift work and jet-lag.

Nearly complete 'chicken from hell,' from mysterious dinosaur group Posted: 19 Mar 2014 04:58 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a bizarre, bird-like dinosaur, named Anzu wyliei, that provides paleontologists with their first good look at a dinosaur group that has been shrouded in mystery for almost a century. Anzu was described from three specimens that collectively preserve almost the entire skeleton, giving scientists a remarkable opportunity to study the anatomy and evolutionary relationships of Caenagnathidae -- the long-mysterious group of theropod dinosaurs to which Anzu belongs.

Earth's radiation belt: Van Allen probes reveal 'zebra stripes' in space Posted: 19 Mar 2014 12:32 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a new, persistent structure in one of two radiation belts surrounding Earth. NASA's twin Van Allen Probes spacecraft have shown that high-energy electrons in the inner radiation belt display a persistent pattern that resembles slanted zebra stripes. Surprisingly, this structure is produced by the slow rotation of Earth, previously considered incapable of affecting the motion of radiation belt particles, which have velocities approaching the speed of light.

Goldilocks principle: Earth's continued habitability due to geologic cycles that act as climate control Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:39 AM PDT Scientists have shown how geologic process regulates the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Researchers have documented evidence suggesting that part of the reason that Earth has become neither sweltering like Venus nor frigid like Mars lies with a built-in atmospheric carbon dioxide regulator -- the geologic cycles that churn up the planet's rocky surface.

Radiation damage at the root of Chernobyl's ecosystems Posted: 19 Mar 2014 09:48 AM PDT Radiological damage to microbes near the site of the Chernobyl disaster has slowed the decomposition of fallen leaves and other plant matter in the area, according to a new study. The resulting buildup of dry, loose detritus is a wildfire hazard that poses the threat of spreading radioactivity from the Chernobyl area.

Low doses of antianxiety drugs rebalance autistic brain, study shows Posted: 19 Mar 2014 09:48 AM PDT New research in mice suggests that autism is characterized by reduced activity of inhibitory neurons and increased activity of excitatory neurons in the brain, but balance can be restored with low doses of a well-known class of drugs currently used in much higher doses to treat anxiety and epileptic seizures. The findings point to a new therapeutic approach to managing autism.

Lied-to children more likely to cheat, lie Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:38 AM PDT A new experiment is the first to show a connection between adult dishonesty and children's behavior, with kids who have been lied to more likely to cheat and then to lie to cover up the transgression. Research has documented that the majority of parents admit to lying to their children even as they maintain that honesty is an important value. "The actions of parents suggest that they do not believe that the lies they tell their children will impact the child's own honesty. The current study casts doubt on that belief," the authors say. The study has implications not only for parenting but also for teaching scenarios and for forensic situations, said Carver: "All sorts of grown-ups may have to re-examine what they say to kids. Even a 'little white lie' might have consequences."

Fried foods may interact with genes to influence body weight, say experts Posted: 18 Mar 2014 04:00 PM PDT Individuals who are genetically predisposed to obesity may be more susceptible to the adverse effects of eating fried foods, concludes a study. The results of a new study show that eating fried food more than four times a week had twice as big an effect on body mass index (BMI) for those with the highest genetic risk scores compared with lower scores. In other words, genetic makeup can inflate the effects of bad diet.

Building heart tissue that beats: Engineered tissue closely mimics natural heart muscle Posted: 18 Mar 2014 12:47 PM PDT When a heart gets damaged, such as during a major heart attack, there's no easy fix. But scientists working on a way to repair the vital organ have now engineered tissue that closely mimics natural heart muscle that beats, not only in a lab dish but also when implanted into animals.

Mental health on the go: Reducing anxiety with smartphone app Posted: 18 Mar 2014 08:19 AM PDT Playing a science-based mobile gaming app for 25 minutes can reduce anxiety in stressed individuals, according to research. The study suggests that 'gamifying' a scientifically-supported intervention could offer measurable mental health and behavioral benefits for people with relatively high levels of anxiety. The game is based on an emerging cognitive treatment for anxiety called attention-bias modification training. The treatment involves training patients to ignore a threatening stimulus (such as an angry face) and to focus instead on a non-threatening stimulus (such as a neutral or happy face). This type of training has been shown to reduce anxiety and stress among people suffering from high anxiety.

Climate change will reduce crop yields sooner than thought Posted: 16 Mar 2014 12:33 PM PDT Global warming of only 2 degrees Celsius will be detrimental to crops in temperate and tropical regions, researchers have determined, with reduced yields from the 2030s onwards. In the study, the researchers created a new data set by combining and comparing results from 1,700 published assessments of the response that climate change will have on the yields of rice, maize and wheat. Due to increased interest in climate change research, the new study was able to create the largest dataset to date on crop responses.

Plastic shopping bags make a fine diesel fuel Posted: 12 Feb 2014 10:28 AM PST Plastic shopping bags, an abundant source of litter on land and at sea, can be converted into diesel, natural gas and other useful petroleum products, researchers report. The conversion produces significantly more energy than it requires and results in transportation fuels -- diesel, for example -- that can be blended with existing ultra-low-sulfur diesels and biodiesels.

Magic mushrooms' effects illuminated in brain imaging studies Posted: 23 Jan 2012 12:20 PM PST Brain scans of people under the influence of the psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, have given scientists the most detailed picture to date of how psychedelic drugs work. The findings of two new studies identify areas of the brain where activity is suppressed by psilocybin and suggest that it helps people to experience memories more vividly.

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