ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Without swift influx of substantial aid, Ebola epidemic in Africa poised to explode
• 3-D map of the adolescent universe
• Florida lizards evolve rapidly, within 15 years and 20 generations
• Highest altitude archaeological sites in the world explored in the Peruvian Andes: Survival in extreme environments
• Genomic data support early contact between Easter Island and Americas
• If you're over 60, drink up: Alcohol associated with better memory
• Titan glowing at dusk and dawn
• Finally: Missing link between vitamin D, prostate cancer
• Highly effective new anti-cancer drug shows few side effects in mice
• Two families of comets found around nearby star: Biggest census ever of exocomets around Beta Pictoris
• Human skin cells reprogrammed directly into brain cells
• A 'Star Wars' laser bullet -- this is what it really looks like
• Olive oil more stable and healthful than seed oils for frying food
• Immersed in violence: How 3-D gaming affects video game players
• Let there be light: Evolution of complex bioluminescent traits may be predictable
• Survey shows what Americans fear most
• Ocean's living carbon pumps: When viruses attack giant algal blooms, global carbon cycles are affected
• Smoking during pregnancy alters newborn stress hormones, DNA, study finds
• Prostate cancer's penchant for copper may be a fatal flaw

Without swift influx of substantial aid, Ebola epidemic in Africa poised to explode Posted: 23 Oct 2014 04:35 PM PDT The Ebola virus disease epidemic already devastating swaths of West Africa will likely get far worse in the coming weeks and months unless international commitments are significantly and immediately increased, new research predicts.

3-D map of the adolescent universe Posted: 23 Oct 2014 12:41 PM PDT Using extremely faint light from galaxies 10.8-billion light years away, scientists have created one of the most complete, three-dimensional maps of a slice of the adolescent universe. The map shows a web of hydrogen gas that varies from low to high density at a time when the universe was made of a fraction of the dark matter we see.

Florida lizards evolve rapidly, within 15 years and 20 generations Posted: 23 Oct 2014 11:23 AM PDT Scientists working on islands in Florida have documented the rapid evolution of a native lizard species -- in as little as 15 years -- as a result of pressure from an invading lizard species, introduced from Cuba.

Highest altitude archaeological sites in the world explored in the Peruvian Andes: Survival in extreme environments Posted: 23 Oct 2014 11:23 AM PDT Research conducted at the highest-altitude Pleistocene archaeological sites yet identified in the world sheds new light on the capacity of humans to survive in extreme environments. The findings were taken from sites in the Pucuncho Basin, located in the Southern Peruvian Andes.

Genomic data support early contact between Easter Island and Americas Posted: 23 Oct 2014 10:16 AM PDT People may have been making their way from Easter Island to the Americas well before Dutch commander Jakob Roggeveen arrived in 1722, according to new genomic evidence showing that the Rapanui people living on that most isolated of islands had significant contact with Native American populations hundreds of years earlier. The findings lend the first genetic support for such an early trans-Pacific route between Polynesia and the Americas, a trek of more than 4,000 kilometers.

If you're over 60, drink up: Alcohol associated with better memory Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:20 AM PDT For people 60 and older who do not have dementia, light alcohol consumption during late life is associated with higher episodic memory -- the ability to recall memories of events -- researchers report.

Titan glowing at dusk and dawn Posted: 22 Oct 2014 02:01 PM PDT New maps of Saturn's moon Titan reveal large patches of trace gases shining brightly near the north and south poles. These regions are curiously shifted off the poles, to the east or west, so that dawn is breaking over the southern region while dusk is falling over the northern one.

Finally: Missing link between vitamin D, prostate cancer Posted: 22 Oct 2014 01:40 PM PDT A new study offers compelling evidence that inflammation may be the link between vitamin D and prostate cancer. Specifically, the study shows that the gene GDF-15, known to be upregulated by vitamin D, is notably absent in samples of human prostate cancer driven by inflammation.

Highly effective new anti-cancer drug shows few side effects in mice Posted: 22 Oct 2014 11:35 AM PDT A new drug, OTS964, can eradicate aggressive human lung cancers transplanted into mice, scientists report. It inhibits the action of a protein that is overproduced by several tumor types but is rarely expressed in healthy adult tissues. Without it, cancer cells fail to complete the cell-division process and die.

Two families of comets found around nearby star: Biggest census ever of exocomets around Beta Pictoris Posted: 22 Oct 2014 10:06 AM PDT The HARPS instrument at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile has been used to make the most complete census of comets around another star ever created. Astronomers have studied nearly 500 individual comets orbiting the star Beta Pictoris and has discovered that they belong to two distinct families of exocomets: old exocomets that have made multiple passages near the star, and younger exocomets that probably came from the recent breakup of one or more larger objects.

Human skin cells reprogrammed directly into brain cells Posted: 22 Oct 2014 09:30 AM PDT Scientists have described a way to convert human skin cells directly into a specific type of brain cell affected by Huntington's disease, an ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disorder. Unlike other techniques that turn one cell type into another, this new process does not pass through a stem cell phase, avoiding the production of multiple cell types, report researchers.

A 'Star Wars' laser bullet -- this is what it really looks like Posted: 22 Oct 2014 07:35 AM PDT Action-packed science-fiction movies often feature colourful laser bolts. But what would a real laser missile look like during flight, if we could only make it out? How would it illuminate its surroundings?

Olive oil more stable and healthful than seed oils for frying food Posted: 22 Oct 2014 07:35 AM PDT Frying is one of the world's most popular ways to prepare food -- think fried chicken and french fries. Even candy bars and whole turkeys have joined the list. But before dunking your favorite food in a vat of just any old oil, consider using olive. Scientists report that olive oil withstands the heat of the fryer or pan better than several seed oils to yield more healthful food.

Immersed in violence: How 3-D gaming affects video game players Posted: 21 Oct 2014 11:53 AM PDT Playing violent video games in 3-D makes everything seem more real -- and that may have troubling consequences for players, a new study reveals. Researchers found that people who played violent video games in 3-D showed more evidence of anger afterward than did people who played using traditional 2-D systems -- even those with large screens.

Let there be light: Evolution of complex bioluminescent traits may be predictable Posted: 21 Oct 2014 10:50 AM PDT A longstanding question among scientists is whether evolution is predictable. A team of researchers from University of California Santa Barbara may have found a preliminary answer. The genetic underpinnings of complex traits in cephalopods may in fact be predictable because they evolved in the same way in two distinct species of squid.

Survey shows what Americans fear most Posted: 21 Oct 2014 09:59 AM PDT The Chapman Survey on American Fears included 1,500 participants from across the nation and all walks of life. The research team leading this effort pared the information down into four basic categories: personal fears, crime, natural disasters and fear factors.

Ocean's living carbon pumps: When viruses attack giant algal blooms, global carbon cycles are affected Posted: 21 Oct 2014 07:15 AM PDT By some estimates, almost half of the world's organic carbon is fixed by marine organisms called phytoplankton -- single-celled photosynthetic organisms that account for less than one percent of the total photosynthetic biomass on Earth. When giant algal blooms get viral infections, global carbon cycles are affected, scientists have now discovered.

Smoking during pregnancy alters newborn stress hormones, DNA, study finds Posted: 17 Oct 2014 03:37 PM PDT The effects of smoking during pregnancy, and its impact on the stress response in newborn babies, has been the focus of recent study. The research indicates that newborns of mothers who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy show lower levels of stress hormones, lowered stress response, and alterations in DNA for a gene that regulates passage of stress hormones from mother to fetus.

Prostate cancer's penchant for copper may be a fatal flaw Posted: 15 Oct 2014 05:45 AM PDT Like discriminating thieves, prostate cancer tumors scavenge and hoard copper that is an essential element in the body. But such avarice may be a fatal weakness, scientists report. Researchers have found a way to kill prostate cancer cells by delivering a trove of copper along with a drug that selectively destroys the diseased cells brimming with the mineral, leaving non-cancer cells healthy.

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