ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Wednesday, January 4, 2012

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Wednesday, January 4, 2012

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Great apes make sophisticated decisions: Research suggests that great apes are capable of calculating the odds before taking risks (January 3, 2012) -- Chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos make more sophisticated decisions than was previously thought. Great apes weigh their chances of success, based on what they know and the likelihood to succeed when guessing, according to a new study. The findings may provide insight into human decision-making as well. ... > full story

Novel compound to halt virus replication identified (January 3, 2012) -- Researchers have identified a novel compound to halt virus replication. The findings could lead to the development of highly targeted compounds to block the replication of poxviruses, such as the emerging infectious disease monkeypox. ... > full story

Quadrantids meteor shower will create brief, beautiful show on Jan. 4 (January 3, 2012) -- The 2012 Quadrantids, a little-known meteor shower named after an extinct constellation, will present an excellent chance for hardy souls to start the year off with some late-night meteor watching. ... > full story

Smaller sibling protein calls the shots in cell division (January 3, 2012) -- Scientists have found at least one instance when the smaller sibling gets to call the shots and cancer patients may one day benefit. ... > full story

Amplifier helps diamond spy on atoms (January 3, 2012) -- An 'amplifier' molecule placed on the tip of a diamond could help scientists locate and identify individual atoms, scientists believe. ... > full story

What are emotion expressions for? (January 3, 2012) -- That cartoon scary face -- wide eyes, ready to run -- may have helped our primate ancestors survive in a dangerous wild, according to a new article. The authors present a way that fear and other facial expressions might have evolved and then come to signal a person's feelings to the people around him. ... > full story

Beast with four tails: Milky Way devouring neighboring dwarf galaxies (January 3, 2012) -- The Milky Way galaxy continues to devour its small neighboring dwarf galaxies and the evidence is spread out across the sky. ... > full story

New way to ensure effectiveness of TB treatment? (January 3, 2012) -- A new study using a sophisticated "glass mouse" research model has found that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is more likely caused in patients by speedy drug metabolism rather than inconsistent doses, as is widely believed. ... > full story

Sunlight and bunker oil a fatal combination for Pacific herring (January 3, 2012) -- The 2007 Cosco Busan disaster, which spilled 54,000 gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay, had an unexpectedly lethal impact on embryonic fish, devastating a commercially and ecologically important species for nearly two years, reports a new study. ... > full story

Another potential risk factor for developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease in women (January 3, 2012) -- A hormone derived from visceral fat called adiponectin may play a role as a risk factor for development of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease in women, according to a new study. ... > full story

Graphene gives protection from intense laser pulses (January 3, 2012) -- Single-sheet graphene dispersion when substantially spaced apart in liquid cells or solid film matrices can exhibit novel excited state absorption mechanism that can provide highly effective broadband optical limiting well below the onset of microbubble or microplasma formation. ... > full story

Schizophrenia diagnosis associated with progressive brain changes among adolescents (January 3, 2012) -- Adolescents diagnosed with schizophrenia and other psychoses appear to show greater decreases in gray matter volume and increases in cerebrospinal fluid in the frontal lobe compared to healthy adolescents without a diagnosis of psychosis, according to a new report. ... > full story

New aortic valve replacement procedure (January 3, 2012) -- Some individuals with severe aortic stenosis -- also known as narrowing of the aortic valve in the heart -- who are not well enough to undergo open heart surgery have a new treatment option thanks to a new procedure now available. ... > full story

Home monitoring may help manage and reduce costs for heart failure (January 3, 2012) -- Experts have discussed the importance of heart failure disease-management and early identification, as well as the treatment of body-fluid congestion, using a number of home-monitoring strategies. ... > full story

I know something you don't know! Wild chimpanzees inform ignorant group members of danger (January 2, 2012) -- Many animals produce alarm calls to predators, and do this more often when kin or mates are present than other audience members. So far, however, there has been no evidence that they take the other group members' knowledge state into account. Researchers set up a study with wild chimpanzees in Uganda and found that chimpanzees were more likely to alarm call to a snake in the presence of unaware than in the presence of aware group members, suggesting that they recognize knowledge and ignorance in others. ... > full story

New clues as to why some older people may be losing their memory (January 2, 2012) -- New research links 'silent strokes,' or small spots of dead brain cells, found in about one out of four older adults to memory loss in the elderly. ... > full story

NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft reunite in lunar orbit (January 2, 2012) -- The second of NASA's two Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft has successfully completed its planned main engine burn and is now in lunar orbit. Working together, GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B will study the moon as never before. ... > full story

More complete picture of kidney cancer: Cancer subtypes distinguished and promising new drug targets suggested (January 2, 2012) -- Scientists are providing a foundation for a more complete understanding of distinct kidney cancer subtypes, which could pave the way for better treatments. ... > full story

Molecular mechanism links temperature with sex determination in some fish species (January 2, 2012) -- Researchers have found the epigenetic mechanism that links temperature and gonadal sex in fish. High temperature increases DNA methylation of the gonadal aromatase promoter in females. ... > full story

People don't just think with their guts: Logic plays a role, too (January 2, 2012) -- For decades, science has suggested that when people make decisions, they tend to ignore logic and go with the gut. But a psychological scientist has a new suggestion: Maybe thinking about logic is also intuitive. ... > full story

Jumping droplets take a lot of heat, as long as it comes in a cool way (January 1, 2012) -- Microscopic water droplets jumping from one surface to another may hold the key to a wide array of more energy efficient products. ... > full story

Brain's connective cells are much more than glue: Glia cells also regulate learning and memory (January 1, 2012) -- New research indicates that glia cells are "the brain's supervisors." By regulating the synapses, they control the transfer of information between neurons, affecting how the brain processes information. This new finding could be critical for technologies based on brain networks, as well as provide a new avenue for research into disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy. ... > full story

Heritage site under attack by flowers (January 1, 2012) -- The Belgrade fortress is not only threatened by the effects of coal burning, as was assumed until now, but also by flower beds. The deterioration of the fortress walls could be partially caused by the large quantities of potassium present in fertilizers used by gardeners and could be responsible for the formation of black crusts on the ramparts. ... > full story

Inside look at face transplantation (January 1, 2012) -- Researchers describe details of patient preparation, novel design and execution of the operation as well as unique immunosuppression protocol allowing for lowest long-term maintenance drug regimen. ... > full story

Helping wild horses and livestock survive extreme weather in Gobi desert (January 1, 2012) -- Winters in the Gobi desert are usually long and very cold but the winter of 2009/2010 was particularly severe, a condition Mongolians refer to as "dzud". Millions of livestock died in Mongolia and the re-introduced wild Przewalski's horse population crashed dramatically. Researchers have used spatially explicit loss statistics, ranger survey data and GPS telemetry to provide insights into the effect of a catastrophic climate event on wild horses, wild asses and livestock that share the same habitat but show different patterns of spatial use. ... > full story

Key to school improvement: Reading, writing, arithmetic ... and character? (January 1, 2012) -- A study of 20 elementary schools in Hawaii has found that a focused program to build social, emotional and character skills resulted in significantly improved overall quality of education, as evaluated by teachers, parents and students. ... > full story

'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

First of NASA's GRAIL spacecraft enters moon orbit (December 31, 2011) -- The first of two NASA spacecraft to study the moon in unprecedented detail has entered lunar orbit. ... > full story

New super-resolution microscope (December 31, 2011) -- Optical microscopes are still second to none when it comes to analyzing biological samples. However, their low resolution, improved only in recent years in STED microscopes, continues to be a problem. ... > 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

New theory emerges for where some fish became four-limbed creatures (December 29, 2011) -- A small fish crawling on stumpy limbs from a shrinking desert pond is an icon of can-do spirit, emblematic of a leading theory for the evolutionary transition between fish and amphibians. This theorized image of such a drastic adaptation to changing environmental conditions, however, may, itself, be evolving into a new picture. ... > full story

Brain cell malfunction in schizophrenia identified (December 29, 2011) -- Scientists have discovered that DNA stays too tightly wound in certain brain cells of schizophrenic subjects. The findings suggest that drugs already in development for other diseases might eventually offer hope as a treatment for schizophrenia and related conditions in the elderly. ... > full story

2012: Shadow of the Dark Rift (December 29, 2011) -- One of the most bizarre theories about 2012 has built up with very little attention to facts. This idea holds that a cosmic alignment of the sun, Earth, the center of our galaxy -- or perhaps the galaxy's thick dust clouds -- on the winter solstice could for some unknown reason lead to destruction. Such alignments can occur but these are a regular occurrence and can cause no harm (and, indeed, will not even be at its closest alignment during the 2012 solstice.) ... > full story

Scientists map susceptibility to type 2 diabetes (December 29, 2011) -- New research has provided the first proof of molecular risk factors leading to type 2 diabetes, providing an "early warning" sign that could lead to new approaches to treating this and other human disease conditions. ... > full story

Subtle electronic effect in magnetite discovered: Long-standing puzzle in study of magnetism finally solved (December 29, 2011) -- A fundamental problem that has long puzzled scientists has been solved after more than 70 years. An international team of researchers has discovered a subtle electronic effect in magnetite, the most magnetic of all naturally occurring minerals. The effect causes a dramatic change to how this material conducts electricity at very low temperatures. ... > full story

Using MP3 players at high volume puts teens at risk for early hearing loss, say researchers (December 29, 2011) -- Today's ubiquitous MP3 players permit users to listen to crystal-clear tunes at high volume for hours on end -- a marked improvement on the days of the Walkman. But according to new research, these advances have also turned personal listening devices into a serious health hazard, with teenagers as the most at-risk group. ... > full story

Community Conservation in Zanzibar: Not just mangroves and monkeys (December 29, 2011) -- The sustainable development goals of community conservation in Zanzibar raise more complex issues than just protecting monkeys and mangroves. Contingent socio-economic and cultural factors must be taken into account when planning and implementing conservation initiatives if they are to endure, let alone succeed. ... > full story

Badwater Basin: Death Valley microbe may spark novel biotech and nanotech uses (December 28, 2011) -- Nevada, the "Silver State," is well-known for mining precious metals. But some scientists do a different type of mining. They sluice through every water body they can find, looking for new forms of microbial magnetism. ... > full story