ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Sunday, July 3, 2011

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Sunday, July 3, 2011

Welcome to another edition of ScienceDaily's email newsletter. You can change your subscription options or unsubscribe at any time.

'Odd couple' binary star system makes dual gamma-ray flares (July 2, 2011) -- In December 2010, a pair of mismatched stars in the southern constellation Crux whisked past each other at a distance closer than Venus orbits the sun. The system possesses a so-far unique blend of a hot and massive star with a compact fast-spinning pulsar. The pair's closest encounters occur every 3.4 years and each is marked by a sharp increase in gamma rays, the most extreme form of light. ... > full story

Key immune substance linked to asthma, study finds (July 2, 2011) -- Medical researchers have linked a master molecule of the immune system, gamma-interferon, to the pathology of asthma, in a study of mice. ... > full story

Web weaving skills provide clues to aging, spider study reveals (July 2, 2011) -- Young house spiders weave webs with perfect angles and regular patterns, but as they reach old age their webs deteriorate, showing gaping holes and erratic weaving. By using spiders as a simple model, new research may provide insight into how age affects behavior in other organisms, including humans. ... > full story

In pilot study, screening detects potentially serious heart conditions in healthy children (July 2, 2011) -- A pilot study in healthy children and adolescents shows that it is feasible to screen for undiagnosed heart conditions that increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Adding a 10-minute, relatively low-cost electrocardiogram to a history and physical examination identified unsuspected cases of potentially serious heart conditions. ... > full story

Hawaii is not an evolutionary dead end for marine life, snail study finds (July 2, 2011) -- The question of why there are so many species in the sea and how new species form remains a central question in marine biology. Below the waterline, about 30% of Hawaii's marine species are endemic – being found only in Hawaii and nowhere else on Earth – one of the highest rates of endemism found worldwide. But where did this diversity of species come from? In a new study of limpets, cone-shaped marine snails, researchers have demonstrated that Hawaii is not an evolutionary dead end for marine species. ... > full story

Good communication in early years key to success at school, UK study shows (July 2, 2011) -- Researchers in the UK have shown that although social background has a noticeable effect on a child’s readiness for school, what parents do with their children, even before they begin to talk, is actually much more important. The results of the study showed that children who were taken to the library more often and owned more books at two-years-old achieved higher scores on the school assessment tests when they began primary school. ... > full story

New theory on origin of birds: Enlarged skeletal muscles (July 2, 2011) -- A new theory of the origin of birds, traditionally believed to be driven by the evolution of flight, is now being credited to the emergence of enlarged skeletal muscles in birds. Their upright two-leggedness, he says, led to the opportunity for other adaptive changes like flying or swimming. ... > full story

Potential of simple injection on patients with head injury (July 2, 2011) -- New research has suggested that tranexamic acid has the potential to prevent people dying from head injuries. It is a cheap, off-patent drug with the potential to help people suffering from brain trauma. ... > full story

Flapping micro air vehicles inspired by swifts (July 2, 2011) -- A new design of micro air vehicle (MAV) will be able to flap, glide and hover. Researchers have been inspired by birds to design a MAV that combines flapping wings, which will allow it to fly at slow speeds and hover, with the ability to glide, ensuring good quality images from any on-board camera. ... > full story

More sensitive test for cardiac biomarker may better identify patients who experienced heart attack (July 2, 2011) -- In patients with a suspected acute coronary syndrome (or ACS, such as heart attack or unstable angina), use of a more sensitive test to detect the protein troponin in blood was associated with increased diagnosis of a heart attack and improved identification of patients at high risk of another heart attack and death in the following year, according to new study. ... > full story

Breaking Kasha's rule: Scientists find unique luminescence in tetrapod nanocrystals (July 2, 2011) -- Researchers created tetrapod molecules of semiconductor nanocrystals and watched them break a fundamental principle of photoluminescence known as "Kasha's rule." The discovery holds promise for multi-color light emission technologies, including LEDs. ... > full story

'Goat plague' threat to global food security and economy must be tackled, experts warn (July 2, 2011) -- "Goat plague," or peste des petits ruminants, is threatening global food security and poverty alleviation in the developing world, say leading veterinarians and animal health experts. ... > full story