ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

A new way to view Titan: 'Despeckle' it Posted: 13 Feb 2015 03:02 PM PST During 10 years of discovery, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has pulled back the smoggy veil that obscures the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Cassini's radar instrument has mapped almost half of the giant moon's surface; revealed vast, desert-like expanses of sand dunes; and plumbed the depths of expansive hydrocarbon seas. What could make that scientific bounty even more amazing? Well, what if the radar images could look even better?

'Pale Blue Dot' images turn 25 Posted: 13 Feb 2015 03:00 PM PST Valentine's Day is special for NASA's Voyager mission. It was on Feb. 14, 1990, that the Voyager 1 spacecraft looked back at our solar system and snapped the first-ever pictures of the planets from its perch at that time beyond Neptune.

Would you take dieting advice from a friend? Posted: 13 Feb 2015 01:50 PM PST Is a new diet or exercise program working for a friend? If so, there's a good chance that you will try it, too. A person who finds success in a wellness program is more influential in getting friends to sign up than a charismatic, but less successful pal, according to a new study.

HPV vaccine highly effective against multiple cancer-causing strains Posted: 13 Feb 2015 01:50 PM PST According to a multinational clinical trial involving nearly 20,000 young women, the human papilloma virus vaccine, Cervarix, not only has the potential to prevent cervical cancer, but was effective against other common cancer-causing human papillomaviruses, aside from just the two HPV types, 16 and 18, which are responsible for about 70 percent of all cases. That effectiveness endured for the study's entire follow-up, of up to four years.

Marijuana use is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness in adolescents Posted: 13 Feb 2015 01:47 PM PST A new study found 10 percent of adolescents sent to a Sleep Center for evaluation of excessive daytime sleepiness with testing results consistent with narcolepsy had urine drug screens positive for marijuana.

Winter weather depriving city dwellers of vitamin D Posted: 13 Feb 2015 01:47 PM PST Residents of snowy, northern U.S. cities are at risk of vitamin D deficiency and worse, may not even know it. During Buffalo's winter months, nearly 50 percent of people have insufficient amounts of vitamin D and 25 percent may be considered deficient.

Female pumas kill more, eat less when humans are near Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:51 AM PST Female pumas kill more prey but consume less when their territories bump into human development, researchers report in a new study based on monitoring more than two dozen pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Researchers use isotopic analysis to explore ancient Peruvian life Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:50 AM PST Bioarchaeologists and archaeologists have been able to study the diets of 14 individuals dating back almost 2,000 years. The mummies were unearthed from one of the most famous sites in Peru: the Paracas Necropolis of Wari Kayan, two densely populated collections of burials off the southern coast.

Distant species produce 'love child' fern after 60-million-year breakup Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:50 AM PST A delicate woodland fern discovered in the mountains of France is the love child of two distantly-related groups of plants that haven't interbred in 60 million years, genetic analyses show. Reproducing after such a long evolutionary breakup is akin to an elephant hybridizing with a manatee, or a human with a lemur, the researchers say.

See here now: Telescopic contact lenses and wink-control glasses Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:50 AM PST Optics specialist Eric Tremblay from EPFL in Switzerland unveils the latest prototype in the telescopic contact lens and debuts accessory wink-controlled glasses that switch between normal and 2.8x magnified vision.

Auditory brainstem implant: Hearing experts break sound barrier for children born without hearing nerve Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:50 AM PST Medical researchers are breaking sound barriers for children born without a hearing nerve. Hearing loss manifests in various forms, most of which can be partially restored through hearing aids and cochlear implants. Those devices cannot help a small population of individuals who do not have a cochlear, or hearing, nerve -- these people are unable to perceive sound, no matter how loud, outside of feeling vibration. The ABI is considered revolutionary because it stimulates neurons directly at the human brainstem, bypassing the inner ear entirely.

Self-stretching material: No limit to number of times material can change shape Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:42 AM PST Although most materials slightly expand when heated, there is a new class of rubber-like material that not only self-stretches upon cooling; it reverts back to its original shape when heated, all without physical manipulation.

Higher opioid doses associated with increase in depression Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:42 AM PST Patients who increased doses of opioid medicines to manage chronic pain were more likely to experience an increase in depression, according to new findings.

Type 2 diabetes linked to worse performance on cognitive testing Posted: 13 Feb 2015 08:23 AM PST Type 2 diabetes is associated with worse performance on cognitive tests measuring abilities involved in the control of emotions, behaviors and thought, says a new study.

Correlations of quantum particles help in distinguishing physical processes Posted: 13 Feb 2015 08:21 AM PST Communication security and metrology could be enhanced through a study of the role of quantum correlations in the distinguishability of physical processes, scientists say.

Historic tide gauge data to shed light on ancient tsunamis Posted: 13 Feb 2015 08:21 AM PST By restoring historic tide gauge data from Malta and making it available to the public, researchers hope to shed new light on past tsunamis and climate change in the Mediterranean.

Google-style ranking used to describe gene connectivity Posted: 13 Feb 2015 08:21 AM PST Coining the term "Gene Rank" (GR), a researcher has captured a new characterization of gene connectivity by using a computer algorithm to compare tissues across or within organisms at great speed with a simple laptop computer.

Harm and response: Plants recognize and respond to different insects Posted: 13 Feb 2015 07:47 AM PST In one of the broadest studies of its kind, scientists recently looked at all plant genes and their response to the enemy. Their results showed that the model Arabidopsis plant recognizes and responds differently to four insect species. The insects cause changes on a transcriptional level, triggering proteins that switch on and off plant genes to help defend against more attacks.

Transforming silver into any color of the rainbow: Silver-glass sandwich structure acts as inexpensive color filter Posted: 13 Feb 2015 07:47 AM PST The engineering world just became even more colorful. Researchers have created a new technique that can transform silver into any color of the rainbow. Their simple method is a fast, low-cost alternative to color filters currently used in electronic displays and monitors.

Seven genes for X-linked intellectual disability: New mutations on the X chromosome Posted: 13 Feb 2015 07:47 AM PST X-linked intellectual disability is a disorder that predominantly affects men and can have highly variable clinical manifestations. Scientists have found seven new genes that can cause this genetic disease: Mutations of these genes on the X chromosome lead to various forms of intellectual disability. In their work, the researchers used a method of genetic analysis that significantly simplifies the search for rare genetic defects.

Distortions glimpsed in atomic structure of materials Posted: 13 Feb 2015 07:47 AM PST Researchers are using a technique they developed to observe minute distortions in the atomic structure of complex materials, shedding light on what causes these distortions and opening the door to studies on how such atomic-scale variations can influence a material's properties.

Interstellar technology throws light on spinning black holes Posted: 13 Feb 2015 05:16 AM PST The team responsible for the Oscar-nominated visual effects at the center of Christopher Nolan's epic 'Interstellar' have turned science fiction into science fact by providing new insights into the powerful effects of black holes.

Promising results for new Alzheimer's therapy Posted: 13 Feb 2015 05:15 AM PST Scientists have evaluated a new Alzheimer’s therapy in which the patients receive an implant that stimulates the growth of a certain type of nerve cell. The results suggest that the introduction of a nerve growth factor can prevent neuronal degradation in Alzheimer’s patients.

Gold nanotubes launch a three-pronged attack on cancer cells Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:19 PM PST Scientists have shown that gold nanotubes have many applications in fighting cancer: internal nanoprobes for high-resolution imaging; drug delivery vehicles; and agents for destroying cancer cells.

Short-term use of hormone replacement therapy associated with increased ovarian cancer risk Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:19 PM PST Taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopause, even for just a few years, is associated with a significantly increased risk of developing the two most common types of ovarian cancer, according to a detailed re-analysis of all the available evidence.

Puerto Rican officials blame parents of children with obesity, consider fines Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:32 PM PST In an attempt to address the significant problem of childhood obesity in the United States territory, Puerto Rican officials have proposed a $500 - $800 fine for parents whose children have obesity and have not improved after parent-focused education. While some public and pediatric health organizations have called the bill "unfair," others go further to call it a misguided policy that ignores the core scientific understanding of obesity as a disease.