ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Sunday, January 1, 2012

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Sunday, January 1, 2012

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'Head-first' diversity shown to drive vertebrate evolution (December 31, 2011) -- A new analysis of two adaptive radiations in the fossil record found that these diversifications proceeded "head first." Head features diversified before body shapes and types. This suggests that feeding-related evolutionary pressures are the initial drivers of diversification. ... > full story

Global view of how HIV/AIDS hijacks cells during infection (December 31, 2011) -- Scientists have identified how HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- hijacks the body's own defenses to promote infection. This discovery could one day help curb the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. ... > full story

Debris scatters in the Pacific Ocean, possibly heading to US (December 31, 2011) -- Debris from the tsunami that devastated Japan in March could reach the United States as early as this winter, according to new predictions. However, they warn there is still a large amount of uncertainty over exactly what is still floating, where it's located, where it will go, and when it will arrive. Responders now have a challenging, if not impossible situation on their hands: How do you deal with debris that could now impact US shores, but is difficult to find? ... > full story

Gene identified in increasing pancreatic cancer risk (December 31, 2011) -- Mutations in the ATM gene may increase the hereditary risk for pancreatic cancer, according to new research. ... > full story

Record conductivity achieved in strained lattice organic semiconductor (December 31, 2011) -- By packing molecules closer together, chemical engineers have dramatically improved the electrical conductivity of organic semiconductors. The advance could herald flexible electronics, more efficient solar panels, and perhaps even better television screens. ... > full story

Elderly can be as fast as young in some brain tasks, study shows (December 31, 2011) -- Both children and the elderly have slower response times when they have to make quick decisions in some settings. But recent research suggests that much of that slower response is a conscious choice to emphasize accuracy over speed. In fact, healthy older people can be trained to respond faster in some decision-making tasks without hurting their accuracy -- meaning their cognitive skills in this area aren't so different from younger adults. ... > full story

Are superluminal neutrinos possible? Pions don't want to decay into faster-than-light neutrinos, study finds (December 30, 2011) -- Physicists have put their finger on a problem with the now-famous OPERA experiment that reported faster-than-light, or superluminal, neutrinos. They raise theoretical considerations that would make the creation of superluminal neutrinos impossible. ... > full story

Alzheimer's: Diet patterns may keep brain from shrinking (December 30, 2011) -- People with diets high in several vitamins or in omega 3 fatty acids are less likely to have the brain shrinkage associated with Alzheimer's disease than people whose diets are not high in those nutrients, according to a new study. ... > full story

New synthetic molecules treat autoimmune disease in mice (December 30, 2011) -- A team of scientists has turned the tables on an autoimmune disease. In such diseases, including Crohn's and rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's tissues. But the scientists managed to trick the immune systems of mice into targeting one of the body's players in autoimmune processes, an enzyme known as MMP9. ... > full story

Targeted therapy extends progression-free survival of patients with advanced ovarian cancer (December 30, 2011) -- Targeted drugs, which block or disrupt particular molecules involved in the growth of tumors, have been shown to be effective treatments against many types of cancer. A new Phase 3 clinical trial has shown that a targeted therapy called bevacizumab (Avastin) effectively delayed the progression of advanced ovarian cancer. Patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer now typically undergo surgery and chemotherapy, but the new research suggests an additional avenue of treatment. ... > full story

Weather deserves medal for clean air during 2008 Olympics (December 30, 2011) -- New research suggests that China's impressive feat of cutting Beijing's pollution up to 50 percent for the 2008 Summer Olympics had some help from Mother Nature. Rain just at the beginning and wind during the Olympics likely contributed about half of the effort needed to clean up the skies, scientists found. The results also suggest emission controls need to be more widely implemented than in 2008 if pollution levels are to be reduced permanently. ... > full story

Children don't give words special power to categorize their world (December 30, 2011) -- New research challenges the conventional thinking that young children use language just as adults do to help classify and understand objects in the world around them. In a new study involving 4- to 5-year-old children, researchers found that the labels adults use to classify items -- words like "dog" or "pencil" -- don't have the same ability to influence the thinking of children. ... > full story