- 24-04-2008 - Top Science News Stories from Firstscience.com

Concrete examples don't help students learn math, study finds
24 Apr 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study challenges the common practice in many classrooms of teaching mathematical concepts by using “real-world,” concrete examples. Researchers led by Jennifer Kaminski, researcher scientist at Ohio...

Symposium announces great strides in childhood immunization
24 Apr 2008
Yet challenges still remain to combat deadly diseases in the developing world BARCELONA, SPAIN (24 April 2008) –Top vaccine experts and child advocates meeting in Barcelona today hailed dramatic new evidence of the role of immunisation in...

Warming with a whale-centric worldview
24 Apr 2008
NORMAN—Chie Sakakibara, lecturer and University of Oklahoma doctoral graduate, won the 2007 Ph.D. Dissertation Award from the Graduate College. In her dissertation, titled “Cetaceousness and Global Warming Among the Iñupiat...

Princeton scientists discover exotic quantum state of matter
24 Apr 2008
'Quantum Hall-like effect' found in a bulk material without an applied magnetic field A team of scientists from Princeton University has found that one of the most intriguing phenomena in condensed-matter physics -- known as the quantum Hall...

Successful cooperation extends Dragon Program
24 Apr 2008
Following the success of the Dragon Programme, more than 300 leading European and Chinese scientists have gathered from 21 to 25 April 2008 in Beijing in the People’s Republic of China to present their results and to kick off the...

'Discovering Patterns in Mathematics and Poetry' invites readers to make surprising connections
24 Apr 2008
Calculus not required “Why bring together two fields that seem to many people so very disparate" What could mathematics and poetry share, except that the mention of either one is sometimes enough to bring an uneasy chill into a...

New nanotech products hitting the market at the rate of 3-4 per week
24 Apr 2008
Nanotechnology consumer products are in your mouth and on your face Washington, DC: Nano Silver Toothpaste, purchased in local market. Click here for more information. WASHINGTON — New nanotechnology consumer...

Scientists reveal presence of ocean current 'stripes'
24 Apr 2008
More than 20 years of continuous measurements and a dose of “belief” yield discovery of subtle ocean currents that could dramatically improve forecasts of climate, ecosystem changes A worldwide crisscrossing pattern...

What's in your soil?
24 Apr 2008
New updates to the classic text take a modern approach to the ways to examine, analyze the minerals in soil The latest in modern soil mineralogical methods is now available from the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) in their new monograph...

Pathway found that lets mosquitoes fatten up, slow down for winter
24 Apr 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two genes that help insulin regulate mosquitoes’ growth have been identified as key contributors to how the insects enter a dormant state to survive winter’s cold. The research finding broadens the...

A first: Researchers apply efficient coding principle to sense of smell
24 Apr 2008
For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that the efficient coding principle regarding neurobiological processes applies to sense of smell. The team, comprised of researchers from the Czech Academy of Sciences and the French National...

Dawn of human matrilineal diversity
24 Apr 2008
Early human populations evolved separately for 100,000 years WASHINGTON, DC (April 24, 2008) — A team of Genographic researchers and their collaborators have published the most extensive survey to date of African mitochondrial DNA...

Dr. Mei honored by mental health research charity for schizophrenia studies
24 Apr 2008
Dr. Lin Mei, chief of developmental neurobiology at the Medical College of Georgia Click here for more information. Studies of how brain cell communication may be altered in schizophrenia have earned Dr. Lin Mei,...

Specialized white blood cells coordinate first responders to viral infection
24 Apr 2008
Same type of cells might call a halt to immune response when success is near Just as fire engines arrive quickly at the scene to save people and property, the cells that fight viruses have to reach the site of an infection promptly to mount a...

European light research opens door for optical storage and computing
24 Apr 2008
The goal of replacing electronics with optics for processing data in computers is coming closer through cutting edge European research into the mysterious properties of “fast and slow” light. The long term aim is to boost...

Tips from the Journals of the American Society for Microbiology
24 Apr 2008
Protozoa May Enable Food-Borne Pathogens on Leafy Vegetables Protozoa found on lettuce and spinach may sequester harmful food-borne pathogens ultimately contributing to their survival on produce surfaces say researchers from Tennessee...

New lymphoma therapies targets diverse and difficult cancer
24 Apr 2008
Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center expands lymphoma program NEW YORK (April 24, 2008) -- The fifth leading cause of cancer in the United States, lymphoma is made up...

Brown scientists say biodiversity is crucial to ecosystem productivity
24 Apr 2008
Brown University scientists Osvaldo Sala and Pedro Flombaum conducted their studies of the effect of plant species diversity on ecosystem productivity in the Patagonian steppe, a semiarid grassland located on... Click here for...

Desalination can boost US water supplies, but environmental research needed
24 Apr 2008
WASHINGTON -- Recent advances in technology have made removing salt from seawater and groundwater a realistic option for increasing water supplies in some parts of the U.S., and desalination will likely have a niche in meeting the nation's...

American College of Medical Genetics makes genetic testing recommendations in new policy statement
24 Apr 2008
What the public needs to know about direct-to-consumer genetic tests Consumers are increasingly being marketed a broad range of genetic tests. Paternity tests at the drugstore….Personal genome mapping…Gene tests to predict future...

Injecting sulfate particles into stratosphere could have drastic impact on Earth's ozone layer
24 Apr 2008
Much-discussed climate change mitigation strategy may do more harm than good Earth's ozone hole, shown in blue, could be exacerbated by some efforts to mitigate climate change. Click here for more information. A...

Better regional monitoring of CO2 needed as global levels continue rising
24 Apr 2008
More CO2 observatories needed to quantify progress in emission reductions, say researchers A research commentary in Science magazine is calling for a 10-fold increase in global CO2 monitoring efforts to quantify regional...

Austria declares intent to join ESO
24 Apr 2008
At a press conference today at the University of Vienna's Observatory, the Austrian Science Minister Johannes Hahn announced the decision by the Austrian Government to seek membership of ESO from 1 July this year. Said Minister Hahn: "With...

Elusive protein protects malaria parasite from heme
24 Apr 2008
Hemozoin crystals in the food vacuole of the malaria parasite. Color was added to this micrograph using Adobe Photoshop. Click here for more information. Blacksburg, Va. – Researchers at the Virginia...

New technology for boosting vaccine efficiency
24 Apr 2008
One of the most pressing biomedical issues is the development of techniques that increase the efficiency of vaccines. In a paper published on April 24, 2008 in the journal Vaccine, a Massachusetts’s biotechnology company, Cure Lab, Inc....

Ozone hole recovery may reshape southern hemisphere climate change
24 Apr 2008
Recovering Antarctic ozone hole may modify Southern Hemisphere climate change, amplify Antarctic warming, according to new study. Click here for more information. A full recovery of the stratospheric ozone hole...

Cancer researchers receive NIH grant to advance brain tumor therapies from lab to clinical trials
24 Apr 2008
Cancer researchers at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) will further develop novel treatments for brain tumors through a new, five-year, $6.24 million grant to the...

Breast cancer subtypes originate from different biological pathways
24 Apr 2008
There is a biological distinction between breast cancers that depend on hormones and those that do not, according to research published Friday, April 25th in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. Scientists previously thought that hormone...

Stratospheric injections to counter global warming could damage ozone layer
24 Apr 2008
BOULDER--A much-discussed idea to offset global warming by injecting sulfate particles into the stratosphere would have a drastic impact on Earth's protective ozone layer, new research concludes. The study, led by Simone Tilmes of the National...

Earthquake in Illinois could portend an emerging threat
24 Apr 2008
'New Kid on the Block' To the surprise of many, the earthquake on April 18, 2008, about 120 miles east of St. Louis, originated in the Wabash Valley Fault, not the better-known and more-dreaded New Madrid Fault in Missouri’s...

New 3-D ultrasound could improve stroke diagnosis, care
24 Apr 2008
DURHAM, N.C. – Using 3-D ultrasound technology they designed, Duke University bioengineers can compensate for the thickness and unevenness of the skull to see in real-time the arteries within the brain that most often clog up and cause...

University of Alabama team earns HudsonAlpha Innovation Prize
24 Apr 2008
Tuscaloosa-based professors receive inaugural award Huntsville, Ala. – For their groundbreaking research on diseases of the nervous system, especially in relation to Parkinson’s disease, the husband and wife team of Drs. Guy and Kim...

On shaky ground: UH Prof finds geological faults threaten Houston
24 Apr 2008
Geologist Shuhab Khan addresses vulnerability of city’s roads, buildings in light of recent earthquakes Pictured is a Houston-area map showing the locations of salt domes and known active surface faults interpreted on...

Scientists call for more access to biotech crop data
24 Apr 2008
This map shows the 2005 distribution of agricultural fields of any crop in Arizona counties (delimited with thick lines) and townships (delimited with thin lines). The townships average 85.2 square... Click here for more...

Self-referring physicians behind increase in diagnostic imaging
24 Apr 2008
Physicians who refer patients to their own facilities or machines for scans account for much of the increase in diagnostic imaging ordered for privately insured patients said a Baylor College of Medicine expert in a commentary that appears in...

In computer models and observations, researchers see potential for significant 'red tide' season
24 Apr 2008
Conditions are ripe for another large bloom in New England waters; weather and current patterns will determine outcome The end of April usually brings the first signs of harmful algae in New England waters, and this year, researchers from the...

Technological breakthrough in the fight to cut greenhouse gases
24 Apr 2008
Scientists at Newcastle University have pioneered breakthrough technology in the fight to cut greenhouse gases. The Newcastle University team, led by Michael North, Professor of Organic Chemistry, has developed a highly energy-efficient...

NSF awards $1.5M for study of in-home health care via wireless networks
24 Apr 2008
Rice, Methodist, TFA-Wireless study will focus on working-class Houston neighborhood HOUSTON, April 24, 2008 -- Rice University, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute and Technology For All (TFA) have received a $1.5 million federal grant...

Galaxies gone wild!
24 Apr 2008
Interacting galaxies are found throughout the Universe, sometimes as dramatic collisions that trigger bursts of star formation, on other occasions as stealthy mergers that result in new galaxies. A series... Click here for...

Researcher works with European Space Agency to test moisture satellite
24 Apr 2008
One of the instruments Brian Hornbuckle uses to measure soil moisture content is a microwave radiometer. Click here for more information. AMES, Iowa -- Europeans want to peek into our soil and see how dry we...

Montana State researchers study spread of lake trout in Glacier National Park
24 Apr 2008
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Natural barriers like waterfalls play an important role in preventing lake trout from spreading through Glacier National Park, so maintaining those barriers should be a priority, Montana State University researchers said...

Genetic sequencing of protein from T. rex bone confirms dinosaurs' link to birds
24 Apr 2008
Study also shows mastodon link to modern elephants Genetic sequencing show link of T. rex with birds and mastadons with elephants. Click here for more information. Scientists have put more meat on the theory that...

Plan to identify watery Earth-like planets develops
24 Apr 2008
Astronomers are looking to identify Earth-like watery worlds circling distant stars from a glint of light seen through an optical space telescope and a mathematical method developed by researchers at Penn State and the University of...

Refining the date of the K/T boundary and the dinosaur extinction
24 Apr 2008
Improvement in argon-argon method pinpoints dinosaur demise with unprecedented precision Berkeley -- Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Berkeley Geochronology Center have pinpointed the date of the dinosaurs'...

Young and homeless drug-users more likely to exit treatment early
24 Apr 2008
Almost a quarter of the most problematic drug-users in some areas exit drug treatment programmes before they've even completed 30 days reports a new study published in BioMed Central’s open access Harm Reduction Journal. It found that...

UCSF marks a milestone with 500th transplant in heart and lung program
24 Apr 2008
UCSF marked a milestone this week with the 500th procedure in its Thoracic Transplant Program, which specializes in transplantation of the heart and lung. “We’re glad to reach this significant point in our program because it means...

Plethora of interacting galaxies on Hubble's birthday
24 Apr 2008
Arp 148 shows the aftermath of an encounter between two galaxies, resulting in a ring-shaped galaxy and a long-tailed companion. The collision between the two parent galaxies produced a shockwave... Click here for more...

Proteins that stop a major signaling pathway can also generate new proteins
24 Apr 2008
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke University Medical Center researchers have recently discovered that a crucial communications pathway in cells not only stops cells from making proteins, it also makes them go. The team was able to define the way in...

'Paleontology of the Upper Eocene Florissant Formation, Colorado'
24 Apr 2008
Geological Society of America Special Paper 435 Click here for more information. Boulder, CO, USA – The significance of the Florissant fossil beds has been widely recognized for more than a century. A new book...

Molecular analysis confirms T. rex's evolutionary link to birds
24 Apr 2008
Similar study of protein from ancient collagen shows mastodon link to modern elephants CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Putting more meat on the theory that dinosaurs’ closest living relatives are modern-day birds, molecular analysis of a shred...

Different processes govern sight, light detection
24 Apr 2008
Findings could point toward help for SAD, insomnia patients A Johns Hopkins University biologist, in research with implications for people suffering from seasonal affective disorder and insomnia, has determined that the eye uses light to reset...

Study shows positive findings in treating patients with advanced hepatitis C
24 Apr 2008
MILAN, ITALY, April 24, 2008 – The hepatitis C therapy peginterferon alfa-2b, when given as low-dose maintenance therapy, can prevent disease progression in certain patients who failed previous interferon-based hepatitis C therapies and...

National survey reveals 80 percent of Americans claim docs need better bedside manners
24 Apr 2008
Arnold P. Gold Foundation continues commitment to 'keeping the 'care' in health care' ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NJ – April 24, 2008 – As the 2008 national presidential election heats up, one topic remains a voter hot button and a constant...

Las Vegas reveals the riches of geologic history
24 Apr 2008
Field Guide to Plutons, Volcanoes, Faults, Reefs, Dinosaurs, and Possible Glaciation in Selected Areas of Arizona, California, and Nevada Click here for more information. Boulder, CO, USA – The Geological...

Scientists urged to make a stand on climate change
24 Apr 2008
Scientists must work harder at making the public aware of the stark difference between good science and "denialist spin". That's the call from Professor Barry Brook, Director of the Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability at...

Proof that men and women activate stereotypes of competence and sociability respectively
24 Apr 2008
This release is available in Spanish. Are stereotypes and prejudices automatically activated when we notice someone? How do women react when they are faced with the traditional gender roles? A group of scientists from the University of...

Are Ice Age relics the next casualty of climate change?
24 Apr 2008
Wildlife Conservation Society launches new study of musk ox Musk ox are the subject of a new four-year study launched by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups. Click here for more information. NEW YORK...

Metabolic genes tied to inflammatory predictor of heart disease and stroke risk
24 Apr 2008
Two new studies provide evidence that differences in people’s blood levels of C reactive protein (CRP) stem in part from natural variation in known metabolic genes. The researchers report their findings in the May American Journal of...

New gene discovered for new form of intellectual disability
24 Apr 2008
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has discovered a new form of intellectual disability involving mental retardation (MR) along with the eye defect retinitis pigmentosa (RP). CAMH also discovered the previously unidentified gene...

Invention gives improved gene technology analysis
24 Apr 2008
A patent for a system that gives more reliable results in gene technology-based diagnostic tests has been granted to researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). Gene technology analysis is used increasingly in diagnostic...

2007 Softwood log exports from the West coast increase
24 Apr 2008
PORTLAND, Ore. April 24, 2008. A total of 879.9 million board feet of softwood logs was exported from Washington, Oregon, northern California, and Alaska in 2007. The 2007 volume was up 11.6 percent from the 2006 total of 788.4 million board...

Study finds racial disparities in smoking cessation treatment
24 Apr 2008
A new study from the American Cancer Society finds black and Hispanic smokers are less likely than whites to receive and use smoking cessation advice and aids. The study, published in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive...

Two suppressor molecules affect 70 genes in leukemia
24 Apr 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio – By restoring two small molecules that are often lost in chronic leukemia, researchers were able to block tumor growth in an animal model. The research, using human chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells, also showed...

Novel approach to treat Alzheimer's and other diseases offered by targeting cell membrane RAFTS
24 Apr 2008
JADO technologies' scientists and collaborators publish study in Science Dresden, Germany - JADO Technologies GmbH, the leading developer of RAFT intervention therapeutics, announced today the publication of a paper in Science demonstrating a...

AMPK signaling: Got food?
24 Apr 2008
In response to energy stress, AMPK, which acts like a gas gauge by sensing how much energy a cell has, puts a damper on cell proliferation. It muffles a cellular... Click here for more information. A team of...

Study breaks ground in revealing how neurons generate movement
24 Apr 2008
When the eye tracks a bird’s flight across the sky, the visual experience is normally smooth, without interruption. But underlying this behavior is a complex coordination of neurons that has remained mysterious to scientists. Now, UCSF...

A radical suggestion for world improvement
24 Apr 2008
German edition honored as a 'Management Book of 2006' by the Financial Times Germany Intelligence is wasted on problems that themselves have been caused by an excess of intelligence. Lean Brain Management strives toward uncompromising Lean...

Yu Lab offers insight into how the nervous system processes sensory information
24 Apr 2008
The Stowers Institute’s Yu Lab has published the results of large-scale imaging experiments examining how social signals are represented in the sensory system. Working with a newly-developed line of transgenic mice that expresses the...

Smokers have a 41 percent higher risk of suffering depression
24 Apr 2008
This release is available in Spanish. The risk of suffering depression increases 41% in smokers, in comparison with non-smokers. This was the conclusion of a study undertaken with 8,556 participants by scientists of the University of Navarra,...

Higher wealth linked to lower stroke risk from age 50 to 64
24 Apr 2008
American Heart Association rapid access journal report Higher wealth is linked with a lower risk of stroke in Americans between the ages of 50 and 64, but does not predict strokes in those over age 65, researchers reported in Stroke: Journal of...