ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Thursday, October 6, 2011

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Thursday, October 6, 2011

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Biologists find 'surprising' number of unknown viruses in sewage (October 6, 2011) -- Though viruses are the most abundant life form on Earth, our knowledge of the viral universe is limited to a tiny fraction of the viruses that likely exist. In a new paper, researchers found that raw sewage is home to thousands of novel, undiscovered viruses, some of which could relate to human health. ... > full story

Women exposed to synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) in the womb face increased cancer risk, study finds (October 6, 2011) -- A study of daughters of women given diethylstilbestrol, synthetic estrogen, during pregnancy has found that exposure to the drug while in the womb is associated with many reproductive problems and an increased risk of certain cancers. Beginning in 1940, DES was used to prevent certain pregnancy complications, but was later found to be ineffective in the 1950s. In the 1960s, a rare cancer of the vagina in young women was linked to DES exposure. ... > full story

Controlling silicon evaporation allows scientists to boost graphene quality (October 6, 2011) -- Scientists have for the first time provided details of their "confinement controlled sublimation" technique for growing high-quality layers of epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide wafers. ... > full story

Dietary supplements for patients after lung injury do not appear to improve outcomes; may be harmful, study suggests (October 6, 2011) -- In contrast to findings of previous studies, patients who experienced an acute lung injury, such as from pneumonia or sepsis, and received dietary supplements including omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants had more days on a ventilator, more days in the intensive care unit, and a non-statistically significant increase in the rate of death, according to a new study. ... > full story

Components based on nature’s example (October 6, 2011) -- They are lightweight and yet strong and resilient: straw, bamboo, bones and teeth owe their surprising strength to their cleverly designed internal structures and a judicious combination of materials. The same principles can be applied to produce lighter and more durable plastic products. ... > full story

Research sheds light on origins of greatness (October 6, 2011) -- In a provocative new paper, an expert suggests working memory capacity -- which is closely related to general intelligence -- may sometimes be the deciding factor between being good and being great. ... > full story

Arctic sea ice continues decline, hits second-lowest level (October 6, 2011) -- Last month the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean declined to the second-lowest extent on record. Satellite data from NASA and the the National Snow and Ice Data Center showed that the summertime sea ice cover narrowly avoided a new record low. The near-record ice-melt followed higher-than-average summer temperatures, but without the unusual weather conditions that contributed to the extreme melt of 2007. ... > full story

Progression of lung fibrosis blocked in mouse model (October 6, 2011) -- A new study may lead to a way to prevent the progression, or induce the regression, of lung injury that results from use of the anti-cancer chemotherapy drug bleomycin. Pulmonary fibrosis caused by this drug, as well as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis from unknown causes, affect nearly five million people worldwide. No therapy is known to improve the health or survival of patients. ... > full story

MVA-B Spanish HIV vaccine shows 90 percent immune response in humans (October 6, 2011) -- Phase I clinical trials developed by Spanish researchers reveals MVA-B preventive vaccine's immune efficiency against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). 90% of the volunteers who went through the tests developed an immunological response against the virus and 85% has kept this response for at least one year, according to researchers. ... > full story

Lift weights, eat mustard, build muscles? (October 6, 2011) -- If you want to lean out, add muscle and get ripped, new research suggests to look to your garden for help. Scientists have found that when a specific plant steroid was ingested by rats, it triggered a response similar to anabolic steroids with minimal side effects. The stimulatory effect of homobrassinolide on protein synthesis in muscle cells led to increases in lean body mass, muscle mass, and physical performance. ... > full story

Unlocking jams in fluid materials: A theoretical model to understand how to best avoid jamming of soft matter (October 6, 2011) -- In a new study, a German scientist constructed a theoretical model to understand how to best avoid jamming of soft matter that can be applied in food and cosmetics production. ... > full story

Athletes' winning streaks may not be all in our -- or their -- heads (October 6, 2011) -- When an athlete consistently does well, sports commentators may describe them as being "hot" or "on fire." Scientists have debunked these streaks as being in the eye of the beholder, but a new study supports the "hot hand" phenomenon: that a streak of positive outcomes is likely to continue. ... > full story

Pumice proposed as home to the first life forms (October 5, 2011) -- The glassy, porous, and once gas-rich rock called pumice may have given rise to early life forms, according to a provocative new hypothesis on the origin of life. ... > full story

Seeds of destruction in Parkinson's disease: Spread of diseased proteins kills neurons (October 5, 2011) -- New research suggests that small "seed" amounts of diseased brain proteins can be taken up by healthy neurons and propagated within them to cause neurodegeneration. The research sheds light on the mechanisms associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) and provides a model for discovering early intervention therapeutics that can prevent or slow the devastating loss of neurons that underlies PD. ... > full story

HIV: Cell-penetrating peptides for drug delivery act like a Swiss Army Knife (October 5, 2011) -- Scientists have identified how HIV TAT peptides can have multiple interactions with the membrane, the actin cytoskeleton, and specific cell-surface receptors to produce multiple pathways of translocation under different conditions. Moreover, because they now know how cell penetrating peptides work, it is possible to have a general recipe for reprogramming normal peptides into cell penetrating peptides. ... > full story

Does MRI pose more than minimal risk in pediatric research? (October 5, 2011) -- Shedding light on a question that has baffled research ethics review boards, a new analysis of the use of magnetic resonance imaging in pediatric clinical trials finds that the risks of physical and psychological harm associated with this procedure are no greater than the risks that healthy children face from everyday activities. However, adding an intravenous contrast dye or sedation to an MRI increases the odds of harm to unacceptable levels. ... > full story

Certain biofuel mandates unlikely to be met by 2022; unless new technologies, policies developed (October 5, 2011) -- It is unlikely the United States will meet some specific biofuel mandates under the current Renewable Fuel Standard by 2022 unless innovative technologies are developed or policies change. ... > full story

People as 'sensors': Twitter messages reveal NFL's big plays and fans (October 5, 2011) -- Using millions of Twitter subscribers as living "sensors," engineers have found a way to monitor fans' levels of excitement and to keep track of the action in National Football League games -- without ever switching on a TV. SportSense is a computer program the engineers created to analyze NFL fan tweets in real time. ... > full story

Sociability may depend upon brain cells generated in adolescence (October 5, 2011) -- Mice become profoundly anti-social when the creation of new brain cells is interrupted in adolescence, a surprising finding that may help researchers understand schizophrenia and other mental disorders, researchers report. ... > full story

Rebooting the system: Immune cells repair damaged lung tissues after flu infection (October 5, 2011) -- There's more than one way to mop up after a flu infection. Now, researchers report that a previously unrecognized population of lung immune cells orchestrate the body's repair response following flu infection. ... > full story

Ancient road found at Maya village buried by volcanic ash 1,400 years ago (October 5, 2011) -- A research team excavating a Maya village in El Salvador buried by a volcanic eruption 1,400 years ago has unexpectedly hit an ancient white road that appears to lead to and from the town, which was frozen in time by a blanket of ash. ... > full story

Remitting multiple sclerosis: Natalizumab reduces relapses and disability, review suggests (October 5, 2011) -- Taking the new generation anti-inflammatory drug natalizumab for two years lowers the number of remitting multiple sclerosis patients who experience relapses and progression of disability. ... > full story

Pioneering fingermark technology uses mass spectrometry imaging to provide crime scene investigators with key extra details (October 5, 2011) -- A pioneering technology to detect fingermarks at crime scenes, which provides additional information about a suspect, is a step closer to being incorporated into traditional forensic investigations in the UK. ... > full story

Keeping track of reality: Why some people are better at it (October 5, 2011) -- A structural variation in a part of the brain may explain why some people are better than others at distinguishing real events from those they might have imagined or been told about, researchers have found. ... > full story

Last universal common ancestor more complex than previously thought (October 5, 2011) -- Scientists call it LUCA, the Last Universal Common Ancestor, but they don't know much about this great-grandparent of all living things. Many believe LUCA was little more than a crude assemblage of molecular parts, a chemical soup out of which evolution gradually constructed more complex forms. Some scientists still debate whether it was even a cell. New evidence suggests that LUCA was a sophisticated organism after all, with a complex structure recognizable as a cell, researchers report. ... > full story

Immune mechanism blocks inflammation generated by oxidative stress (October 5, 2011) -- Researchers have identified a key protein that binds to a molecule generated by oxidative stress, blocking any subsequent inflammatory immune response. The scientists say their findings reveal important insights into how the innate immune system responds to oxidative stress and might be exploited to prevent and treat AMD and other chronic inflammatory diseases. ... > full story

Titanic jigsaw challenge: Piecing together a global color map of Saturn’s largest moon (October 5, 2011) -- An international team has pieced together images gathered over six years by the Cassini mission to create a global mosaic of the surface of Titan. ... > full story

One quarter of seniors over 70 have had silent strokes (October 5, 2011) -- A new study found a quarter of seniors over 70 have had silent strokes. Recent imaging studies on the brains of people aged 65 and older show that 95 percent have brain small vessel disease and a quarter of healthy senior volunteers have evidence of small silent strokes. ... > full story

Potential key found for unlocking biomass energy (October 5, 2011) -- Researchers have found a potential key for unlocking the energy potential from non-edible biomass materials such as corn leaves and stalks, or switch grass. ... > full story

Here, there, everywhere: Reward and penalty processing is widespread in the human brain (October 5, 2011) -- Our behavior is often guided by the desire to obtain positive outcomes and avoid negative consequences, and neuroscientists have put a great deal of effort into looking for reward and punishment "centers" in the brain. Now, new research reveals that neural signals related to reinforcement and punishment are far more broadly distributed throughout the entire human brain than was previously thought. ... > full story

Kepler spacecraft discovers new multi-planet solar system (October 5, 2011) -- A team of researchers has used NASA’s Kepler spacecraft to discover an unusual multiple-planet system containing a super-Earth and two Neptune-sized planets orbiting in resonance with each other. ... > full story

Hormone fights fat with fat: Orexin prevents obesity in mice by activating calorie-burning brown fat (October 5, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered that the hormone orexin activates calorie-burning brown fat in mice. Orexin deficiency is associated with obesity, suggesting that orexin supplementation could provide a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of obesity and other metabolic disorders. An orexin-based therapy would represent a new class of fat-fighting drugs -- one that focuses on peripheral fat-burning tissue rather than the brain's appetite control center. ... > full story

A fish's personality may determine how it is captured (October 5, 2011) -- A fish's personality may determine how it is captured. This association between personality difference and capture-technique could have significant evolutionary and ecological consequences for affected fish populations, as well as for the quality of fisheries. ... > full story

This is your brain on estrogen (October 5, 2011) -- It's no secret that women often gain weight as they get older. The sex hormone estrogen has an important, if underappreciated, role to play in those burgeoning waistlines. Now, researchers have traced those hormonal effects on metabolism to different parts of the brain. The findings may lead to the development of highly selective hormone replacement therapies that could be used to combat obesity or infertility in women without the risks for heart disease and breast cancer, the researchers say. ... > full story

A 'carbonizing dragon': Construction drives China's growing CO₂ emissions (October 5, 2011) -- Constructing buildings, power plants and roads has driven a substantial increase in China's carbon dioxide emission growth, according to a new study. ... > full story

Depression uncouples brain's 'hate circuit', MRI study finds (October 5, 2011) -- A new study using MRI scans has found that depression frequently seems to uncouple the brain's 'hate circuit'. ... > full story

Physicists move one step closer to quantum computer (October 5, 2011) -- Physicists have created a tiny "electron superhighway" that could one day be useful for building a quantum computer -- a new type of computer that will use quantum particles in place of the digital transistors found in today's microchips. Researchers now describe how to make a "topological insulator," a much-sought device that could help physicists create elusive pairs of quantum particles that are particularly useful for storing information. ... > full story

Nanoparticles seek and destroy glioblastoma in mice (October 5, 2011) -- Scientists have combined a tumor-homing peptide, a cell-killing peptide, and a nanoparticle. When administered to mice with glioblastoma that could not otherwise be treated, this new nanosystem eradicated most tumors in one model and significantly delayed tumor development in another. ... > full story

Outsmarting algae: Scientist finds the turn-off switch (October 5, 2011) -- Algaecide is no crime. Consider that some strains of algae produce toxins lethal to wildlife, fish and plants. Even the less harmful varieties suck oxygen out of water, suffocating living creatures in lakes, ponds, pools and aquariums. Recent algal blooms in the Great Lakes, for instance, threaten critical ecosystems. Scientists have now deciphered the structure of an essential enzyme in algae, critical to algaecide development. ... > full story

Residential washers may not kill hospital-acquired bacteria (October 5, 2011) -- Residential washing machines may not always use hot enough water to eliminate dangerous bacteria like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter, a Gram-negative bacteria, from hospital uniforms, according to a new study. ... > full story

For common toy breed dog windpipe issue, veterinarians use technology and precision (October 5, 2011) -- Jack, a 12-year-old Yorkshire terrier, was lethargic and gasping for air when he arrived at a veterinary hospital. His tongue and gums were a bluish-purple. But, just one day following an innovative procedure, Jack bounced back to his former youthful exuberance. ... > full story

Growing up in bad neighborhoods has a 'devastating' impact, study finds (October 5, 2011) -- Growing up in a poor neighborhood significantly reduces the chances that a child will graduate from high school, according to a new study. And the longer a child lives in that kind of neighborhood, the more harmful the impact. ... > full story

2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: 'Quasicrystals' once thought impossible have changed understanding of solid matter (October 5, 2011) -- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is awarding the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2011 to Daniel Shechtman for the discovery of quasicrystals: non-repeating regular patterns of atoms that were once thought to be impossible. The breakthrough has fundamentally altered how chemists conceive of solid matter. ... > full story

Preterm infants exposed to stressors in neonatal intensive care unit display reduced brain size, study finds (October 5, 2011) -- New research shows that exposure to stressors in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is associated with alterations in the brain structure and function of very preterm infants. According to the study, infants who experienced early exposure to stress displayed decreased brain size, functional connectivity, and abnormal motor behavior. ... > full story

Hyperactive Hartley 2 has a split history, comet-exploring spacecraft finds (October 5, 2011) -- The latest analysis of data from NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft shows that comet 103P/Hartley 2 is hyperactive in terms of the material it spews out, compared to the other comets observed up close to date. The comet also shows surprising diversity - ice on the comet’s sunlit surface is found in patches that are isolated from areas of dust. In addition, one lobe of the dog-bone shaped comet may have lost much more of the primordial material from the formation of the comet than the other, suggesting that Hartley 2 was originally two comets that came together in a gentle collision. ... > full story

Modeling cancer using ecological principles (October 5, 2011) -- The invasion of a new species into an established ecosystem can be directly compared to the steps involved in cancer metastasis. New research uses the Tilman model of competition between invasive species to study the metastasis of prostate cells into bone. ... > full story

Seaside fortress was a final stronghold of early Islamic power (October 5, 2011) -- Researchers have said that a Roman-influenced bath house at the fortress of Yavneh-Yam, located on a peninsula near present-day Tel Aviv, indicates that Arabic rulers maintained control of the site until the 12th century A.D. Military officers in the fortress, he suggests, were responsible for hostage negotiations between Arabic powers and Christian Crusaders, and the harbor itself was used for prisoner exchange. ... > full story

In reading facial emotion, context is everything (October 5, 2011) -- In a close-up headshot, Serena Williams' eyes are pressed tensely closed; her mouth is wide open, teeth bared. Her face looks enraged. Now zoom out: The tennis star is on the court, racket in hand, fist clenched in victory. She's not angry. She's ecstatic, having just beaten her sister Venus at the 2008 U.S. Open. ... > full story