ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Combination of sensory signals draw mosquitoes in for a bite
• 'Tree of life' distances are no shortcut to conservation
• Atomically thin, flexible, semi-transparent solar cells created
• Spread of antibiotic resistance understood by unravelling bacterial secretion system
• Mutations in leukemia gene linked to new childhood growth disorder
• First animals oxygenated the ocean
• New bioinformatics tool to visualize transcriptomes
• In grasslands remade by humans, animals may protect biodiversity: Grazers let in the light, rescue imperiled plants
• Four new human-made ozone depleting gases found in the atmosphere
• Blood test identifies those at-risk for cognitive decline, Alzheimer's within three years
• Can the blind 'hear; colors, shapes? Yes, show researchers
• Sun's energy influences 1,000 years of natural climate variability in North Atlantic
• Stem Cell Study Opens Door to Undiscovered World of Biology
• New tool to unravel mysteries of metastasis created
• New guidelines employ a team approach to autism diagnosis, care

Combination of sensory signals draw mosquitoes in for a bite Posted: 09 Mar 2014 02:24 PM PDT It may seem like mosquitoes will bite anything with a pulse, but they're actually quite strategic in picking their victims. A new study looked at the interaction of different sensory cues -- carbon dioxide, heat and odor -- that attract mosquitoes to humans, and found that it takes a combination of at least two of these to send the bugs biting.

'Tree of life' distances are no shortcut to conservation Posted: 09 Mar 2014 02:16 PM PDT Some conservation strategies assume that the evolutionary distances between species on a phylogenetic 'tree of life' (a branching diagram of species popularized by Charles Darwin) can be used to predict how diverse their biological features will be. These distances are then used to select which species to conserve in order to maximize interesting biological features -- such as potentially useful drug compounds and resilience to climate change. But a new analysis of data from 223 studies of animals, plants, and fungi, shows that methods based on such distances are often no better at conserving interesting biological features than picking species at random.

Atomically thin, flexible, semi-transparent solar cells created Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:05 PM PDT A lot of research has been done on graphene recently -- carbon flakes, consisting of only one layer of atoms. As it turns out, there are other materials too which exhibit remarkable properties if they are arranged in a single layer. One of them is tungsten diselenide, which could be used for photovoltaics. Ultrathin layers made of Tungsten and Selenium have now been created; experiments show that they may be used as flexible, semi-transparent solar cells.

Spread of antibiotic resistance understood by unravelling bacterial secretion system Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:05 PM PDT The system that allows the sharing of genetic material between bacteria -- and therefore the spread of antibiotic resistance -- has been uncovered by a team of scientists. Understanding the structure of the secretion system will help scientists uncover the mechanism by which it moves substances across the inner and outer membranes. It could eventually help scientists develop new tools for the genetic modification of human cells, as the bacteria could act as a carrier for genetic material, which could then be secreted into cells.

Mutations in leukemia gene linked to new childhood growth disorder Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:05 PM PDT Mutations in a gene associated with leukemia cause a newly described condition that affects growth and intellectual development in children, new research reports. A study identified mutations in the DNA methyltransferase gene, DNMT3A, in 13 children.

First animals oxygenated the ocean Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:05 PM PDT The evolution of the first animals may have oxygenated the earth's oceans -- contrary to the traditional view that a rise in oxygen triggered their development. New research contests the long held belief that oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans was a pre-requisite for the evolution of complex life forms. The study builds on the recent work of scientists in Denmark who found that sponges -- the first animals to evolve -- require only small amounts of oxygen.

New bioinformatics tool to visualize transcriptomes Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:05 PM PDT ZENBU, a new, freely available bioinformatics tool enables researchers to quickly and easily integrate, visualize and compare large amounts of genomic information resulting from large-scale, next-generation sequencing experiments. Next-generation sequencing has revolutionized functional genomics.

In grasslands remade by humans, animals may protect biodiversity: Grazers let in the light, rescue imperiled plants Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:05 PM PDT A study of grasslands on six continents suggests a way to counteract the human-made overdose of fertilizer that threatens the biodiversity of the world's prairies. The solution originates in nature: let grazing animals crop fast growing grasses, which have a competitive advantage in an over-fertilized world. The grasses block sunlight from ground level, but herbivores make light available to other plants.

Four new human-made ozone depleting gases found in the atmosphere Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:05 PM PDT New research reveals that four new human-made gases have been discovered in the atmosphere. 74,000 tons of these new CFCs and HCFCs are all contributing to the destruction of the ozone layer. Emission increases of this scale have not been seen for any other CFCs since controls were introduced during the 1990s.

Blood test identifies those at-risk for cognitive decline, Alzheimer's within three years Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:05 PM PDT A blood test that can predict with greater than 90 percent accuracy if a healthy person will develop mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease within three years has been discovered and validated.

Can the blind 'hear; colors, shapes? Yes, show researchers Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:04 PM PDT What if you could "hear" colors? Or shapes? These features are normally perceived visually, but using sensory substitution devices (SSDs) they can now be conveyed to the brain noninvasively through other senses. SSDs are non-invasive sensory aids that provide visual information to the blind via their existing senses. For example, using a visual-to-auditory SSD in a clinical or everyday setting, users wear a miniature camera connected to a small computer (or smart phone) and stereo headphones. The images are converted into "soundscapes," using a predictable algorithm, allowing the user to listen to and then interpret the visual information coming from the camera.

Sun's energy influences 1,000 years of natural climate variability in North Atlantic Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:04 PM PDT Changes in the sun's energy output may have led to marked natural climate change in Europe over the last 1000 years, according to researchers. The study found that changes in the Sun's activity can have a considerable impact on the ocean-atmospheric dynamics in the North Atlantic, with potential effects on regional climate.

Stem Cell Study Opens Door to Undiscovered World of Biology Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:03 PM PDT For the first time, researchers have shown that an essential biological process known as protein synthesis can be studied in adult stem cells – something scientists have long struggled to accomplish. Many diseases, including degenerative diseases and certain types of cancers, are associated with mutations in the machinery that makes proteins. However, why this is the case has yet to be understood. Discoveries such as this raise the possibility that changes in protein synthesis are necessary for the development of those diseases.

New tool to unravel mysteries of metastasis created Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:03 PM PDT Kinases are proteins that play vital roles in disease, but scientists have struggled to study how they interact in real time. A team of scientists has now developed a new technique to make these interactions occur and then watch them in real time to reveal some underlying causes of metastasis.

New guidelines employ a team approach to autism diagnosis, care Posted: 08 Mar 2014 06:55 AM PST Improving diagnosis and treatment for individuals with autism has been the focus of a growing body of research. New information from these studies led the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry to revise key parameters for evaluating and treating autism. Researchers have published the new practice parameters, which stress a team approach to managing the disease.

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