ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Understanding graphene's electrical properties on an atomic level
• Real price of steak: Comparing environmental costs of livestock-based foods
• Transiting exoplanet with longest known year: 704 Earth days
• Epigenetic tie to neuropsychiatric disorders found
• Try, try again? Study says no: Trying harder makes it more difficult to learn some aspects of language, neuroscientists find
• Parents rank their obese children as 'very healthy'
• Chemists eye improved thin films with metal substitution
• Stem cells aid muscle repair, strengthening after resistance exercise
• Carbyne morphs when stretched: Calculations show carbon-atom chain would go metal to semiconductor
• Climate: Meat turns up the heat as livestock emit greenhouse gases
• More than glitter: How gold nanoparticles easily penetrate cells, making them useful for delivering drugs
• Mammals metabolize some pesticides to limit their biomagnification
• New research links bad diet to loss of smell
• Replacing coal, oil with natural gas will not help fight global warming, expert argues
• Process to purify water using seed extracts now simplified
• New meteorological insight into mid-level clouds
• Genes that contribute to radiation resistance identified
• Seals forage at offshore wind farms
• Science and art bring back to life 300-million-year-old specimens of a primitive reptile-like vertebrate
• Philosopher uses game theory to understand how words, actions acquire meaning
• Mysterious dance of dwarf galaxies may force a cosmic rethink
• Diagnostic criteria for Christianson Syndrome
• Missing sleep may hurt your memory
• Brain waves show learning to read does not end in 4th grade, contrary to popular theory
• Human platelets successfully generated using next-generation bioreactor
• Technology tracks the elusive Nightjar
• Age-related macular degeneration occurs much earlier than previously assumed
• First study worldwide to show higher concentration of trace elements in bone cancer
• Children as young as three recognize 'cuteness' in faces of people, animals
• Fecal transplants let packrats eat poison
• Large twin study suggests that language delay due more to nature than nurture
• When temperatures get cold, newly-discovered process helps fruit flies cope
• Enzyme linked to Alzheimer’s disease
• Healing the heart with fat? 18-HEPE might help, study suggests
• Sea level rising in western tropical Pacific anthropogenic as result of human activity, study concludes

Understanding graphene's electrical properties on an atomic level Posted: 21 Jul 2014 12:19 PM PDT For the first time, researchers have used a cutting-edge microscope to study the relationship between the atomic geometry of a ribbon of graphene and its electrical properties.

Real price of steak: Comparing environmental costs of livestock-based foods Posted: 21 Jul 2014 12:19 PM PDT New research reveals the comparative environmental costs of livestock-based foods. While we are told that eating beef is bad for the environment, do we know its real cost? Are the other animal or animal-derived foods better or worse? New research compared the environmental costs of various foods and came up with some surprisingly clear results. The findings will hopefully not only inform individual dietary choices, authors say, but also those of governmental agencies that set agricultural and marketing policies.

Transiting exoplanet with longest known year: 704 Earth days Posted: 21 Jul 2014 11:22 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered a transiting exoplanet with the longest known year. Kepler-421b circles its star once every 704 days. In comparison, Mars orbits our Sun once every 780 days. Most of the 1,800-plus exoplanets discovered to date are much closer to their stars and have much shorter orbital periods.

Epigenetic tie to neuropsychiatric disorders found Posted: 21 Jul 2014 11:22 AM PDT Dysfunction in dopamine signaling profoundly changes the activity level of about 2,000 genes in the brain's prefrontal cortex and may be an underlying cause of certain complex neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, according to scientists. This epigenetic alteration of gene activity in brain cells that receive this neurotransmitter showed for the first time that dopamine deficiencies can affect a variety of behavioral and physiological functions regulated in the prefrontal cortex.

Try, try again? Study says no: Trying harder makes it more difficult to learn some aspects of language, neuroscientists find Posted: 21 Jul 2014 11:22 AM PDT Neuroscientists find that trying harder makes it more difficult to learn some aspects of language. When it comes to learning languages, adults and children have different strengths. Adults excel at absorbing the vocabulary needed to navigate a grocery store or order food in a restaurant, but children have an uncanny ability to pick up on subtle nuances of language, sometimes speaking a second language like a native speaker within months. Brain structure plays an important role in this "sensitive period" for learning language, which is believed to end around adolescence.

Parents rank their obese children as 'very healthy' Posted: 21 Jul 2014 11:21 AM PDT Parents of obese children often do not recognize the potentially serious health consequences of childhood weight gain or the importance of daily physical activity in helping their child reach a healthy weight, a study shows. "Parents have a hard time changing their child's dietary and physical activity behaviors," said the study's lead author. "Our study tells us what factors may be associated with a parent's motivation to help their child become more healthy."

Chemists eye improved thin films with metal substitution Posted: 21 Jul 2014 10:20 AM PDT The yield so far is small, but chemists have developed a low-energy, solution-based mineral substitution process to make a precursor to transparent thin films that could find use in electronics and alternative energy devices.

Stem cells aid muscle repair, strengthening after resistance exercise Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:40 AM PDT By injecting mesenchymal stem cells into mouse leg muscles prior to several bouts of eccentric exercise (similar to the lengthening contractions performed during resistance training in humans), researchers were able to increase the rate of repair and enhance the growth and strength of those muscles in the exercising mice.

Carbyne morphs when stretched: Calculations show carbon-atom chain would go metal to semiconductor Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:40 AM PDT Applying just the right amount of tension to a chain of carbon atoms can turn it from a metallic conductor to an insulator. The research has implications for mechanically activated nanoscale electronics and optics.

Climate: Meat turns up the heat as livestock emit greenhouse gases Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:40 AM PDT Eating meat contributes to climate change, due to greenhouse gasses emitted by livestock. New research finds that livestock emissions are on the rise and that beef cattle are responsible for far more greenhouse gas emissions than other types of animals. "That tasty hamburger is the real culprit," the lead researcher said. "It might be better for the environment if we all became vegetarians, but a lot of improvement could come from eating pork or chicken instead of beef."

More than glitter: How gold nanoparticles easily penetrate cells, making them useful for delivering drugs Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:39 AM PDT A special class of tiny gold particles can easily slip through cell membranes, making them good candidates to deliver drugs directly to target cells. Scientists can now explain how gold nanoparticles easily penetrate cells, making them useful for delivering drugs.

Mammals metabolize some pesticides to limit their biomagnification Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:39 AM PDT The concentrations of many historically used, and now widely banned, pesticides and other toxic chemicals -- called legacy contaminants -- can become magnified in an animal that eats contaminated food. However, a new study has found that Arctic mammals metabolize some currently used pesticides, preventing such 'biomagnification.'

New research links bad diet to loss of smell Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:39 AM PDT Could stuffing yourself full of high-fat foods cause you to lose your sense of smell? A new study by neuroscientists says so, and it has researchers taking a closer look at how our diets could impact a whole range of human functions that were not traditionally considered when examining the impact of obesity.

Replacing coal, oil with natural gas will not help fight global warming, expert argues Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:39 AM PDT Both shale gas and conventional natural gas have a larger greenhouse gas footprint than do coal or oil, especially for the primary uses of residential and commercial heating. "While emissions of carbon dioxide are less from natural gas than from coal and oil, methane emissions are far greater. Methane is such a potent greenhouse gas that these emissions make natural gas a dangerous fuel from the standpoint of global warming over the next several decades," said the author of a new article.

Process to purify water using seed extracts now simplified Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:38 AM PDT Researchers have streamlined and simplified a process that uses extracts from seeds of Moringa oleifa trees to purify water, reducing levels of harmful bacteria by 90 percent to 99 percent. The hardy trees that are drought resistant are cultivated widely throughout many countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

New meteorological insight into mid-level clouds Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:38 AM PDT At medium altitudes ranging from 6,000 feet to 20,000 feet above mean sea level, water droplets in altocumulus clouds can remain in a supercooled liquid phase that cannot be reasonably resolved in current atmospheric models. New meteorological research characterizes mid-level, mixed phase altocumulus clouds in unprecedented detail.

Genes that contribute to radiation resistance identified Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:38 AM PDT Forty-six genes in Escherichia coli have been discovered that are necessary for its survival at exceptionally high levels of radiation, researchers report in a new article. "The research has revealed new pathways of cellular self-repair, including DNA pathways that in humans that may help protect us from cancer," says a corresponding author.

Seals forage at offshore wind farms Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:38 AM PDT By using sophisticated GPS tracking to monitor seals' every movement, researchers have shown for the first time that some individual seals are repeatedly drawn to offshore wind farms and pipelines. Those human-made structures probably serve as artificial reefs and attractive hunting grounds, according to a study.

Science and art bring back to life 300-million-year-old specimens of a primitive reptile-like vertebrate Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:37 AM PDT Paleontologists have recreated the cranial structure of a 308-million-year-old lizard-like vertebrate that could be the earliest example of a reptile and explain the origin of all vertebrates that belong to reptiles, birds and mammals.

Philosopher uses game theory to understand how words, actions acquire meaning Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:37 AM PDT Why does the word "dog" have meaning? If you say "dog" to a friend, why does your friend understand you? A philosopher aims to address these types of questions in his latest research, which focuses on long-standing philosophical questions about semantic meaning. Philosophers and a mathematician are collaborating to use game theory to analyze communication and how it acquires meaning.

Mysterious dance of dwarf galaxies may force a cosmic rethink Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:04 AM PDT The discovery that many small galaxies throughout the universe do not 'swarm' around larger ones like bees do but 'dance' in orderly disc-shaped orbits is a challenge to our understanding of how the universe formed and evolved. The researchers believe the answer may be hidden in some currently unknown physical process that governs how gas flows in the universe, although, as yet, there is no obvious mechanism that can guide dwarf galaxies into narrow planes.

Diagnostic criteria for Christianson Syndrome Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:04 AM PDT A new study provides the most definitive characterization of the autism-like intellectual disability disorder Christianson Syndrome and provides the first diagnostic criteria to help doctors and families identify and understand the condition. Initial evidence suggests CS could affect tens of thousands of boys worldwide.

Missing sleep may hurt your memory Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:04 AM PDT Lack of sleep, already considered a public health epidemic, can also lead to errors in memory, finds a new study that found participants deprived of a night's sleep were more likely to flub the details of a simulated burglary they were shown in a series of images. "People who repeatedly get low amounts of sleep every night could be more prone in the long run to develop these forms of memory distortion," one researcher said. "It's not just a full night of sleep deprivation that puts them at risk."

Brain waves show learning to read does not end in 4th grade, contrary to popular theory Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:03 AM PDT Teachers-in-training have long been taught that fourth grade is when students stop learning to read and start reading to learn. But a new study tested the theory by analyzing brain waves and found that fourth-graders do not experience a change in automatic word processing, a crucial component of the reading shift theory. Instead, some types of word processing become automatic before fourth grade, while others don't switch until after fifth.

Human platelets successfully generated using next-generation bioreactor Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:03 AM PDT A scalable, next-generation platelet bioreactor has been created to generate fully functional human platelets in vitro. The work is a major biomedical advancement that will help address blood transfusion needs worldwide.

Technology tracks the elusive Nightjar Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:01 AM PDT Bioacoustic recorders could provide us with vital additional information to help us protect rare and endangered birds such as the European nightjar, new research has shown. The study found that newly developed remote survey techniques were twice as effective at detecting rare birds as conventional survey methods.

Age-related macular degeneration occurs much earlier than previously assumed Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:01 AM PDT Even individuals under the age of 50 years can suffer early forms of age-related macular degeneration, researchers say. With the help of their findings, the researchers were also able to gain insights into how frequently the various forms of age-related macular degeneration occur. On average, about 12 percent of the examined 35- to 74-year-olds had early stage AMD, but only 0.2 percent of the study participants exhibited symptoms of late stage AMD, which is often associated with severe visual impairment.

First study worldwide to show higher concentration of trace elements in bone cancer Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:01 AM PDT In a study that is the only one of its kind worldwide, researchers have investigated the distribution of trace elements in the tissue of bone tumors. The result: tumor tissue contains higher concentrations of trace elements. This could represent a starting point for the development of targeted therapies for bone cancer.

Children as young as three recognize 'cuteness' in faces of people, animals Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:01 AM PDT Children as young as three are able to recognize the same 'cute' infantile facial features in humans and animals which encourage caregiving behavior in adults, new research has shown. A study investigating whether youngsters can identify baby-like characteristics – a set of traits known as the 'baby schema' – across different species has revealed for the first time that even pre-school children rate puppies, kittens and babies as cuter than their adult counterparts.

Fecal transplants let packrats eat poison Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:00 AM PDT Woodrats lost their ability to eat toxic creosote bushes after antibiotics killed their gut microbes. Woodrats that never ate the plants were able to do so after receiving fecal transplants with microbes from creosote-eaters, biologists found.

Large twin study suggests that language delay due more to nature than nurture Posted: 21 Jul 2014 06:59 AM PDT A study of 473 sets of twins followed since birth found twins have twice the rate of language delay as do single-born children. Moreover, identical twins have greater rates of language delay than do non-identical twins, strengthening the case for the heritability of language.

When temperatures get cold, newly-discovered process helps fruit flies cope Posted: 21 Jul 2014 06:59 AM PDT Cold-blooded animals cannot regulate their body temperature, so their cells are stressed when facing temperature extremes. Worse still, even at slightly colder temperatures, some biological processes in the cell are slowed down more than others, which should throw the cells' delicate chemical balance out of whack. Yet, those cells manage to keep their biological processes coordinated. Now researchers have found out how they do that.

Enzyme linked to Alzheimer’s disease Posted: 21 Jul 2014 06:59 AM PDT Unclogging the body's protein disposal system may improve memory in patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers.

Healing the heart with fat? 18-HEPE might help, study suggests Posted: 21 Jul 2014 06:59 AM PDT Too much dietary fat is bad for the heart, but the right kind of fat keeps the heart healthy, according to a new paper. Scientists in Japan have shown that mice engineered to produce their own EPA are protected against heart disease and have improved cardiac function. One particular EPA metabolite, called 18-hydroxyeicosapentaenoic acid (18-HEPE), was required for this protection.

Sea level rising in western tropical Pacific anthropogenic as result of human activity, study concludes Posted: 20 Jul 2014 05:43 PM PDT Sea levels likely will continue to rise in the tropical Pacific Ocean off the coasts of the Philippines and northeastern Australia as humans continue to alter the climate, a study concludes. The study authors combined past sea level data gathered from both satellite altimeters and traditional tide gauges as part of the study. The goal was to find out how much a naturally occurring climate phenomenon called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or PDO, influences sea rise patterns in the Pacific.

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