ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Screen name matters with online dating: One starting with a letter in top half of alphabet makes a difference Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:21 PM PST Choosing a screen name with a letter starting in the top half of the alphabet is as important as an attractive photo and a fluent headline in the online dating game, reveals an analysis of the best ways of finding love in the digital world.

Stopping at red lights exposes drivers to high levels of air pollution Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:20 PM PST UK commuters spend an average of about 1.5 hours a day at the wheel. Road vehicles in particular are known to emit polluting nanoparticles which contribute to respiratory and heart diseases. Now, researchers have found that where drivers spend just 2% of their journey time passing through traffic intersections managed by lights, this short duration contributes to about 25% of total exposure to these harmful particles.

Potential 'killer blow' to King Richard III revealed Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:19 PM PST New film footage reveals for the first time details of the potential killer blow that claimed the life of King Richard III.

Under pressure: Mechanical stress is a key driver of cell-cell fusion Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:36 PM PST Just as human relationships are a two-way street, fusion between cells requires two active partners: one to send protrusions into its neighbor, and one to hold its ground and help complete the process. Researchers have found that one way the receiving cell plays its role is by having a key structural protein come running in response to pressure on the cell membrane, rather than waiting for chemical signals to tell it that it's needed.

Remoras don't suck: Their iconic clinch is far more complex Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:36 PM PST Researchers have long studied animals like tree frogs, geckos, and spiders for their adhesive abilities, but what makes remoras unique in this group is they combine three key elements: the ability to securely fasten themselves for long periods of time; attach to different types of surfaces; release quickly without harming the surface.

Global rainfall satellites require massive overhaul Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:35 PM PST A new study warns that the existing system of space-based rainfall observation satellites requires a serious overhaul. Particularly in many developing countries, satellite-based flood prediction has weak spots, which could lead to major flooding that catches people by surprise.

New mechanism that controls immune responses discovered Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:35 PM PST Researchers have identified a common signaling mechanism to produce interferon -- one of the main proteins used to signal the immune system when the body needs to defend itself against a virus, tumor, or other diseases.

New research shows possibility of cure for HPV positive throat cancer patients Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:35 PM PST Researchers from Canada have shown for the first time that some patients with HPV positive oropharyngeal cancer can be cured, even after the disease has spread to other organs.

Middle-aged men at highest risk of suicide after breathing poor air Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:33 PM PST Scientists have found an increased risk of suicide associated with short-term air pollution exposure.

The company you keep: Dual role for key T cell factor Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:33 PM PST When fighting chronic viral infections or cancers, a key division of the immune system, known as CD8 T cells, sometimes loses its ability to effectively fight foreign invaders. Overcoming so-called T cell exhaustion is crucial to treating persistent infections but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood.

Exotic states materialize with supercomputers Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:46 PM PST Supercomputers used to find new class of materials that exhibit exotic matter state known as the quantum spin Hall effect. The researchers propose a new type of transistor made from these materials.

A brain system that appears to compensate for autism, OCD, and dyslexia Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:46 PM PST Individuals with five neurodevelopmental disorders -- autism spectrum disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Tourette syndrome, dyslexia, and Specific Language Impairment -- appear to compensate for dysfunction by relying on a single powerful and nimble system in the brain known as declarative memory.

Data-storage for eternity, stored in the form of DNA Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:46 PM PST How can we preserve our knowledge today for the next millennia? Researchers have found a way to store information in the form of DNA, presumably preserving it for nearly an eternity.

Universal access to physical activity could save billions in health costs Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:46 PM PST A little more than half of family health teams in Ontario offer physical activity services such as classes or counselling to encourage exercise among patients, and new research finds that standardizing access could help reduce the $6.8-billion cost associated with a sedentary lifestyle. There is a link between a lack of physical activity and chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

Curious monkeys share our thirst for knowledge Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:46 PM PST Monkeys are notoriously curious, and new research has quantified just how eager they are to gain new information, even if there are not immediate benefits. The findings offer insights into how a certain part of the brain shared by monkeys and humans plays a role in decision making, and perhaps even in some disorders and addictions in humans.

Research defines more behaviors that reveal romantic attraction Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:46 PM PST Jeffrey Hall coded 36 verbal flirting behaviors -- such as making compliments, asking questions and revealing information -- and nonverbal flirting behaviors --such as leg-crossing, palming, leaning forward, playing with objects and nodding. The research team found different verbal and nonverbal cues indicated underlying physical attraction for each style.

Explaining 30-year-old 'hidden order' physics mystery Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:46 PM PST A new explanation for a type of order, or symmetry, in an exotic material made with uranium is a major step toward explaining a puzzle that physicists worldwide have been struggling with for 30 years. This 'hidden order' appears as a subtle change in the material's electrical and magnetic properties when the material is cooled to 17.5 degrees above absolute zero or lower -- a bone-chilling minus 428 degrees Fahrenheit.

Urban pollinators get the job done Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:45 PM PST Native bees in San Francisco provide adequate pollination to crop plants such as tomato plants, new research shows. Plants left open to the air produced more and larger tomatoes than those that self-pollinated only, and even matched the production of artificially pollinated plants. The research also found that the density of flowers in a garden -- and not the garden's size -- is the key factor in attracting more pollinators.

Making teeth tough: Beavers show way to improve our enamel Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:45 PM PST Beavers don't brush their teeth or drink fluoridated water, but a new study reports beavers do have protection against tooth decay built into the chemical structure of their teeth: iron. This pigmented enamel, the researchers found, is both harder and more resistant to acid than regular enamel, including that treated with fluoride. This discovery is among others that could lead to a better understanding of human tooth decay, earlier detection of the disease and improving on current fluoride treatments.

Warming pushes Western U.S. toward driest period in 1,000 years: Unprecedented risk of drought in 21st century Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:45 PM PST During the second half of the 21st century, the US Southwest and Great Plains will face persistent drought worse than anything seen in times ancient or modern, with the drying conditions 'driven primarily' by human-induced global warming, a new study predicts.

An ocean of plastic: Magnitude of plastic waste going into the ocean calculated Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:45 PM PST Ocean currents have been carrying floating debris into all five of the world's major oceanic gyres for decades. The rotating currents of these so-called 'garbage patches' create vortexes of trash, much of it plastic. However, exactly how much plastic is making its way into the world's oceans and from where it originates has been a mystery -- until now.

Application of laser microprobe technology to Apollo samples refines lunar impact history Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:45 PM PST Researchers have now refined the timeline of meteorite impacts on the moon through a pioneering application of laser microprobe technology to Apollo 17 samples.

It takes more than merit: Alma mater's prestige highly predictive of faculty placement Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:44 PM PST A new study finds that small differences in institutional prestige have an enormous impact on the likelihood that a person who graduates with a doctoral degree will land a coveted faculty job.

Switching superconductivity by light Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:44 PM PST A research team has developed a novel superconducting transistor which can be switched reversibly between on and off by light irradiation. This achievement is a milestone for future high-speed switching devices or highly sensitive optical sensors.

Magnitude of plastic waste going into the ocean calculated: 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the oceans per year Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:44 PM PST How much mismanaged plastic waste is making its way from land to ocean has been a decades-long guessing game. Now scientists have put a number on the global problem. Their study found between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean in 2010 from people living within 50 kilometers of the coastline.

First evidence of Seoul hantavirus found in wild rat population in the Netherlands Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:40 PM PST Researchers report discovering the first evidence of Seoul hantavirus (SEOV) in the wild rat population in the Netherlands. The discovery comes on the heels of similar ones in France, Belgium and the United Kingdom in recent years, and has some researchers concerned about the potential spread of the virus to humans.

Lack of ID checks for buying cigarettes in New York City Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:39 PM PST An investigation found that more than a quarter of New York City retailers did not request identification from young adults buying cigarettes. The study was conducted in anticipation of the minimum purchase age for cigarettes rising from 18 to 21.

Common biomarkers of sleep debt found in humans, rats Posted: 12 Feb 2015 11:14 AM PST Researchers found common molecules signifying perturbed metabolism in response to sleep restriction in a comprehensive metabolic profiling of blood from both rats and humans. Their findings point to an overall shift in how lipids are metabolized and evidence of systemic oxidative stress.

New fluorescent protein permanently marks neurons that fire Posted: 12 Feb 2015 11:14 AM PST A new tool lets scientists shine a light on an animal's brain to permanently mark neurons that are active at a particular time. The tool -- a fluorescent protein called CaMPARI -- converts from green to red when calcium floods a nerve cell after the cell fires. The permanent mark frees scientists from the need to focus a microscope on the right cells at the right time to observe neuronal activity.

Step toward rational design of catalysts: Better catalysts, made-to-order Posted: 12 Feb 2015 11:14 AM PST Scientists have captured enough data on crucial steps in a chemical reaction to accurately predict the structures of the most efficient catalysts, those that would speed the process with the least amount of unwanted byproducts. The new approach could help chemists design catalysts that are not just incrementally better, but entirely new.

First glimpse of a chemical bond being born Posted: 12 Feb 2015 11:14 AM PST Scientists have gotten the first glimpse of the transition state where two atoms begin to form a weak bond on the way to becoming a molecule. This fundamental advance, long thought impossible, will have a profound impact on the understanding of how chemical reactions take place and on efforts to design reactions that generate energy, create new products and fertilize crops more efficiently.

Earliest-known arboreal and subterranean ancestral mammals discovered Posted: 12 Feb 2015 11:14 AM PST The fossils of two interrelated ancestral mammals, newly discovered in China, suggest that the wide-ranging ecological diversity of modern mammals had a precedent more than 160 million years ago.

Observing stem cells maturing into blood cells in living mouse Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:18 AM PST In the bone marrow, blood stem cells give rise to a large variety of mature blood cells via progenitor cells at various stages of maturation. Scientists have developed a way to equip mouse blood stem cells with a fluorescent marker that can be switched on from the outside. Using this tool, they were able to observe, for the first time, how stem cells mature into blood cells under normal conditions in a living organism.

People value resources more consistently when they are scarce Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:18 AM PST We tend to be economically irrational when it comes to choosing how we use resources like money and time but scarcity can convert us into economically rational decision makers, according to new research.

Juvenile gang members in US top 1 million, new study finds Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:18 AM PST There are over one million juvenile gang members in the US, more than three times the number estimated by law enforcement, according to a recent study.

Key to blocking influenza virus may lie in a cell's own machinery Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:16 AM PST Researchers have found an unexpected way the immune system fights the flu virus: By targeting cells' protein-cutting enzymes, which the virus needs to mature and spread.

How the Eastern tiger swallowtail got 'scary' Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:16 AM PST Scientists know a lot about Eastern tiger swallowtail -- the state insect in five states -- but they hadn't managed to sequence their genome. Now, researchers have sequenced the complete genome of one wild-caught individual, and they say that it has already told them more than they had anticipated about the butterflies and some of their most intriguing features.

Dogs know that smile on your face Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:16 AM PST Dogs can tell the difference between happy and angry human faces, according to a new study. The discovery represents the first solid evidence that an animal other than humans can discriminate between emotional expressions in another species, the researchers say.

Microbes prevent malnutrition in fruit flies, and maybe humans, too Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:15 AM PST A new study sheds significant new light on a surprising and critical role that microbes may play in nutritional disorders such as protein malnutrition.

Researchers design 'evolutionary trap' to thwart drug resistance Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:15 AM PST Using theoretical and experimental approaches, researchers have developed a two-pronged strategy that uses an evolving cell population’s adaptive nature against it.

A new species of hummingbird? Posted: 12 Feb 2015 09:23 AM PST The Bahama Woodstar is a hummingbird found in the Bahamas, and comprises two subspecies. One of these is found throughout the islands of the Bahamas, and especially in the northern islands. The other is found only among the southern Inaguan islands of the Bahama Archipelago. A research team now argues that the two subspecies should be recognized as two distinct species.

Aggressive form of HIV uncovered in Cuba: HIV to AIDS in three years Posted: 12 Feb 2015 09:22 AM PST Engaging in unprotected sex with multiple partners increases the risk of contracting multiple strains of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Once inside a host, these strains can recombine into a new variant of the virus. One such recombinant variant observed in patients in Cuba appears to be much more aggressive than other known forms of HIV. Patients progress to AIDS within three years of infection -- so rapidly that they may not even realize they were infected.

Bubonic bottleneck: Scientists overturn dogma on the plague Posted: 12 Feb 2015 09:20 AM PST Researchers discover that the accepted theory of how Yersinia pestis microbes travel from fleabite to lymph node is off base. Most bacteria get trapped in a bottleneck and never make it to the lymph node, where infection takes root. Finding out why could lead to new ways to stop the pathogen.

Make like a squid and transform: Squid can recode their genetic make-up on-the-fly to adjust to their surroundings, study finds Posted: 12 Feb 2015 08:43 AM PST A new study showcases the first example of an animal editing its own genetic makeup on-the-fly to modify most of its proteins, enabling adjustments to its immediate surroundings.

Astronomers discover rare planet: Kepler-432b is a dense, massive celestial body with extreme seasons Posted: 12 Feb 2015 08:42 AM PST Two research groups of astronomers have independently of each other discovered a rare planet. The celestial body, called Kepler-432b, is one of the most dense and massive planets known so far. The teams report that the planet has six times the mass of Jupiter, but about the same size. The shape and the size of its orbit are also unusual for a planet like Kepler-432b that is revolving around a giant star. In less than 200 million years, this "red giant" will most likely swallow up the planet.

Mismatched twin stars spotted in the delivery room Posted: 12 Feb 2015 07:28 AM PST The majority of stars in our galaxy come in pairs. In particular, the most massive stars usually have a companion. These fraternal twins tend to be somewhat equal partners when it comes to mass -- but not always. In a quest to find mismatched star pairs known as extreme mass-ratio binaries, astronomers have discovered a new class of binary stars.

Ants are more than just convenience food to young spiders Posted: 12 Feb 2015 07:27 AM PST Southern European spiders are genetically programmed to prefer harvester ants. Harvester ants are more than just a convenient snack for the southern European spider, Euryopis episinoides. The young spiderlings innately have a nose for these ants. Euryopis episinoides is a tiny, 3-mm-long spider that only catches ants - in particular members of the Messor group of which there are more than 100 species. Conveniently laying her egg sacks close to such ant nests is about as much parental care as a female Euryopis episinoides spider gives to her offspring. Once hatched, the spiderlings fend for themselves.

Two cell-signaling molecules found to suppress the spread of melanoma Posted: 12 Feb 2015 07:27 AM PST In what is believed to be the largest epigenetic analysis to date of cell-signaling molecules in early-stage melanoma, researchers have identified two tiny bits of non-coding genetic material in primary tumors that appear critical to stalling the cancer’s spread -- and essentially setting the biological fate of the disease.

Reality is distorted in brain's maps Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:25 AM PST The brain's GPS would be worthless if it simply contained maps of our surroundings that were not aligned to the real world. But we now know how this is done.

Patterns in sky brightness depend very strongly on location Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:25 AM PST At many locations around the world, the night sky shines hundreds of times brighter than it did before the introduction of artificial light. Scientists have now studied variations in the radiance of the night sky and found remarkably large variations in artificial night sky brightness at the different observation sites. The introduction of light into the nighttime environment is one of the most striking changes humans have made to the Earth’s physical environment, and it is associated with several unintended negative consequences.

High seas fishing ban could boost global catches, equality Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:25 AM PST Closing the high seas to commercial fishing could be catch-neutral and distribute fisheries income more equitably among the world's maritime nations, according to new research.

Looking for love? Some use Reddit to give Cupid tech support Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:24 AM PST A new study finds that users on OKCupid and mobile-based Tinder aren’t able to determine social norms or effective match-making techniques on the services, so they use Reddit to learn tips about online dating. Once there, they also find ways that allow them to “cheat the system” to interact with more potential dates.

Cerebral palsy: It can be in your genes Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:24 AM PST Medical researchers have made what they believe could be the biggest discovery into cerebral palsy in 20 years.

Hand washing focus in hospitals has led to rise in worker dermatitis Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:51 AM PST A new study has revealed that the incidence of dermatitis has increased 4.5 times in health care workers following increased hand hygiene as a drive to reduce infections such as MRSA has kicked in.

Bejewelled backdrop to coronations did not cost a king’s ransom Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:50 AM PST Research into England's oldest medieval altarpiece -- which for centuries provided the backdrop to Westminster Abbey coronations -- has revealed that it cost no more than the rather unprincely equivalent of eight cows.

Investigation reveals network of links between public health scientists and sugar industry Posted: 11 Feb 2015 05:40 PM PST Public health scientists and a government committee working on nutritional advice receive funding from the very companies whose products are widely held to be responsible for the obesity crisis, an investigation by The BMJ reveals. Recipients of research funding from sugar and other related industries include members of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), which is currently updating official advice on carbohydrates consumption, and researchers working for the Medical Research Council's Human Nutrition Research unit (HNR).

Order matters: Sequence of genetic mutations determines how cancer behaves Posted: 11 Feb 2015 03:30 PM PST The order in which genetic mutations are acquired determines how an individual cancer behaves, according to new research.

Bacterial armor holds clues for self-assembling nanostructures Posted: 11 Feb 2015 12:39 PM PST Researchers have uncovered key details in the process by which bacterial proteins self-assemble into a protective coating, like chainmail armor. This process can be a model for the self-assembly of 2-D and 3-D nanostructures.