ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Saturday, July 16, 2011

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Saturday, July 16, 2011

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High social rank comes at a price, wild baboon study finds (July 15, 2011) -- Being at the very top of a social hierarchy may be more costly than previously thought, according to a new study of wild baboons. The findings have implications in the study of social hierarchies and of the impact of social dominance on health and well-being, a subject of interest among researchers who study human and other animal populations. ... > full story

The genome guardian's dimmer switch: Regulating p53 is a matter of life or death (July 15, 2011) -- Scientists have found clues to the functioning of an important damage response protein in cells. The protein, p53, can cause cells to stop dividing or even to commit suicide when they show signs of DNA damage, and it is responsible for much of the tissue destruction that follows exposure to ionizing radiation or DNA-damaging drugs such as the ones commonly used for cancer therapy. ... > full story

Strong El Niño could bring increased sea levels, storm surges to US East Coast (July 15, 2011) -- Coastal communities along the US East Coast may be at risk to higher sea levels accompanied by more destructive storm surges in future El Niño years, according to a new study. The study was prompted by an unusual number of destructive storm surges along the East Coast during the 2009-2010 El Niño winter. ... > full story

Maternal nutrition: What impact does it have on gene expression? (July 15, 2011) -- During intrauterine life and lactation, undernutrition brings about modifications involving DNA, leading to metabolic pathologies at the adult age. Researchers have demonstrated for the first time, through an animal-based study, such repercussions at the level of the leptin gene, the hormone that regulates satiety and metabolism. This work could, in the longer term, have an impact on the prevention of metabolic diseases, medically assisted procreation and care for premature infants. ... > full story

Your brain on androids (July 15, 2011) -- Cognitive scientist have taken a peek inside the brains of people viewing videos of a humanoid robot. The functional MRI study suggests that what may be going on in the "uncanny valley" phenomenon is due to a perceptual mismatch between appearance and motion. ... > full story

Shop when you're happy: Positive feelings improve consumer decision-making abilities (July 15, 2011) -- Consumers who are in a positive mood make quicker and more consistent judgments than unhappy people, according to a new study. ... > full story

Dramatic climate swings likely as world warms: Ancient El Niño clue to future floods (July 15, 2011) -- Dramatic climate swings behind both last year's Pakistan flooding and this year's Queensland floods in Australia are likely to continue as the world gets warmer, scientists predict. Researchers have discovered that the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the sloshing of the warmest waters on the planet from the West Pacific towards the East Pacific every 2-7 years, continued during Earth's last great warm period, the Pliocene. Their results suggest that swings between the two climatic extremes, known as El Niño and La Niña, may even have occurred more frequently in the warmer past and may increase in frequency in the future. ... > full story

Diabetes drug may prevent or delay development of polycystic ovary syndrome, the most common cause of infertility in women (July 15, 2011) -- A recent study found that early, prolonged treatment with the diabetes drug metformin may prevent or delay the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in adolescence. PCOS affects 7 to 10 percent of women of childbearing age and is the most common cause of infertility, affecting an estimated 5 to 6 million women in the United States. ... > full story

Novel compound selectively kills cancer cells by blocking their response to oxidative stress (July 15, 2011) -- Scientists have discovered a novel compound that selectively kills cancer cells by blocking their response to oxidative stress, with an effectiveness that surpassed a chemotherapy drug currently used to treat breast cancer. Their findings are based on experiments in cell culture and in mice. ... > full story

Weight-loss surgery cost-effective for all obese, study suggests (July 15, 2011) -- Bariatric surgery is not only cost-effective for treating people who are severely obese, but also for those who are mildly obese, according to a new study. The findings support making bariatric surgery available to all obese people, the researchers say. ... > full story

Virtual natural environments and benefits to health (July 15, 2011) -- Researchers have compared the benefits of interaction with actual and virtual natural environments and concluded that the development of accurate simulations are likely to be beneficial to those who cannot interact with nature because of infirmity or other limitations: but virtual worlds are not a substitute for the real thing. ... > full story

Size matters: Why do people eat less when they have big forks? (July 15, 2011) -- Larger portion sizes usually mean we eat more food, but according to new study, bigger bites lead to eating less -- in restaurant settings. ... > full story