- 28-05-2008 - Top Science News Stories from Firstscience.com

Fraunhofer and MIT establish research center for renewable energy
28 May 2008
This release is available in German. The Americans are still the world champions in energy consumption, but global warming is causing people to change their way of thinking in the USA too. At renowned universities like MIT in Cambridge,...

Experts to discuss sleep science and the health risks of sleep disorders in Baltimore this June
28 May 2008
Latest findings in sleep research will be presented and discussed by more than 5,000 scientists and doctors at the SLEEP 2008 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies at the Baltimore Convention Center from June...

ASPB engages Latin America colleagues at Annual Meeting in Merida, Mexico June 26-July 1
28 May 2008
The Joint Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) and the Sociedad Mexicana De Bioquimica Rama: Bioquimica y Biologia Molecular de Plantas will be held June 26-July 1, 2008 in the Fiesta Americana Hotel in Merida,...

ASPB engages Latin America colleagues at Annual Meeting in Merida, Mexico June 22-25
28 May 2008
The Joint Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) and the Sociedad Mexicana De Bioquimica Rama: Bioquimica y Biologia Molecular de Plantas will be held June 22–25, 2008 in the Fiesta Americana Hotel in Merida,...

Large methane release could cause abrupt climate change as happened 635 million years ago
28 May 2008
UCR-led research team says methane-triggered global warming ended last 'snowball' ice age; dramatically reorganized Earth system Dolomite cement, formed from oxidized methane as it evolved from melting methane hydrates at the...

Methane release could cause abrupt, far-reaching climate change
28 May 2008
Parallel to catastrophic event of 635 million years ago The ending millions of years ago of the "Snowball Earth " may have clues to climate change today. Click here for more information. An abrupt release of methane,...

$1.3M NIH grant to fund Parkinson's disease study
28 May 2008
Side effects of treatment to be focus Research by Christopher Bishop, assistant professor of psychology at Binghamton University, will focus not only on the treatment of Parkinson's disease but also in the side effects of...

Names of inaugural Kavli Prize winners revealed
28 May 2008
May 28, 2008 – Oslo – SEVEN pioneering scientists who have transformed human knowledge in the fields of nanoscience, neuroscience and astrophysics have become the first recipients of the million-dollar Kavli prizes. The laureates...

'Barren' seafloor teeming with microbial life
28 May 2008
Life at rock bottom great for bacteria Once considered a barren plain with the odd hydrothermal vent, the seafloor appears to be teeming with microbial life, according to a paper being published May 29 in Nature. “A 60,000 kilometer seam...

Sullivan wins NSF Career Award for research on therapeutic drug carriers
28 May 2008
Millicent Sullivan, assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, has received the National Science Foundation's prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award for her research to build...

Bacteria 'feed' on earth's ocean-bottom crust
28 May 2008
Rocks on and under seafloor offer feast for microbes Rocks made of basalt on and under the ocean bottom harbor surprising numbers of deep-sea bacteria. Click here for more information. Seafloor bacteria on...

Professor Brian Greenwood awarded first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Award
28 May 2008
Professor Brian Greenwood, Manson Professor of Clinical Tropical Medicine at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine will be awarded the first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize for research by Prime Minister Fukuda, and will also meet...

Into the wild
28 May 2008
An intrepid team of researchers from The University of Nottingham are venturing into one of the most isolated regions on the planet to study the potentially devastating effects of global warming on natural habitats. Led by ecology lecturer Dr...

Organic corn: Increasing rotation complexity increases yields
28 May 2008
Scientists compare organic and conventional grain yields and address production challenges in organic cropping systems While demand for organic meat and milk is increasing by about 20% per year in the United States, almost all organic grain and...

Key to Angelina-like cheeks? Add volume to deep fat compartment
28 May 2008
ASPS study says discovery of deep fat compartment essential to facial rejuvenation ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Not only are cheeks central to your face – they are central to the American concept of beauty. A study in June’s...

CSI: Milky Way team works scene of dead star
28 May 2008
Vikram Dwarkadas, Senior Research Associate in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. Along with colleagues at NASA and elsewhere, Dwarkadas has been studying a strange ring circling a... Click here for...

Scientists find giant ring encircling exotic dead star
28 May 2008
RIT's Don Figer co-authors study published in Nature One of the most powerful eruptions in the universe might have spun an infrared ring around a rare and exotic star known as a magnetar, a highly magnetized neutron star and the remnant of a...

2 University of Illinois researchers named HHMI investigators
28 May 2008
Two University of Illinois researchers, Phillip A. Newmark, a professor of cell and developmental biology, and Wilfred A. van der Donk, the William H. and Janet Lycan professor of chemistry, have been named Howard Hughes Medical Institute...

A Great Lakes mystery: The case of the disappearing species
28 May 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Throughout the overlooked depths of Lake Michigan and other Great Lakes, a small but important animal is rapidly disappearing. Until recently, the animal - a shrimplike, energy-dense creature called Diporeia - was a...

Where man boldly goes, bacteria follow
28 May 2008
Are we contaminating space? Life in outer space is an absolute certainty, and it is likely to be more familiar than we might think, according to an article in the May issue of Microbiology Today. Ever since the start of the space race we have...

Government use of school league tables completely unjustified
28 May 2008
Research news from 'Significance,' the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society Parents and teachers should not rely on school league tables to judge how good, or bad, a school is, according to research published today. Since the early 1990s...

Fruits, vegetables and teas may protect smokers from lung cancer, UCLA researchers report
28 May 2008
The study is the first to find that plant components called flavonoids may prevent disease Tobacco smokers who eat three servings of fruits and vegetables per day and drink green or black tea may be protecting themselves from lung cancer,...

How like Earth are alien planets?
28 May 2008
AT LAST we are seeing big rewards in the hunt for “super-Earths” - rocky alien worlds a few times more massive than our own. That was the verdict from a landmark meeting of astronomers last week which saw the unveiling of a huge...

Magnetic nanoparticles: Suitable for cancer therapy?
28 May 2008
PTB measuring procedure helps to investigate the characteristics of magnetic nanoparticles This release is available in German. A measuring procedure developed in the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) can help to investigate in some...

Looking tired or angry may have more to do with facial aesthetics than how you feel
28 May 2008
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The old saying, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” has scientifically been proven true. A study in a recent issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the...

European conference addresses increasing demand for EO data
28 May 2008
For more than 40 years, Earth observing satellites have delivered valuable data about our planet and have enabled a better understanding and improved management of the Earth and its environment. Demands for these data are increasing daily as...

Statistical tool could explain gene study variations
28 May 2008
Dr. Hongyan Xu, a Medical College of Georgia biostatistician, is using statistics to explain variations in genome-wide association studies. Click here for more information. While scientists are using the human...

ACC and CRF announce partnership on ACC's Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit
28 May 2008
(MAY 28, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC) – The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) announced today a multi-year partnership to jointly sponsor the ACC i2 interventional cardiology meeting in...

Stretching exercises may reduce risk of pre-eclampsia during pregnancy
28 May 2008
CHAPEL HILL – Stretching exercises may be more effective at reducing the risk of preeclampsia than walking is for pregnant women who have already experienced the condition and who do not follow a workout routine, according to researchers...

X-rays often repeated for patients in developing countries
28 May 2008
IAEA moves to help improve quality of medical radiography Patients in developing countries often need to have X-ray examinations repeated so that doctors have the image quality they need for useful medical diagnosis, the IAEA is learning. The...

Spectral emissivity measurements for radiation thermometry
28 May 2008
Modern emissivity measuring facility for industry-orientated calibrations developed at PTB This release is available in German. Industry and research are increasingly relying on non-contact temperature measurements with the aid of heat...

Gene therapy increases survival for end-stage head and neck cancer
28 May 2008
Drug that restores tumor-suppressor gene expression originated at M. D. Anderson Jack Roth, M.D., professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery. Click here for more...

Protein plays key role in transmitting deadly malaria parasite
28 May 2008
John Adams and his team at the University of South Florida study the complex life cycle of the malaria parasite (on computer screen) to try to find ways to block... Click here for more information. Tampa, FL (May...

Microbial stowaways: Are ships spreading disease?
28 May 2008
Ships are inadvertently carrying trillions of stowaways in the water held in their ballast tanks. When the water is pumped out, invasive species could be released into new environments. Disease-causing microbes could also be released, posing a...

Expansion of high tech materials
28 May 2008
With a new precision interferometer developed in the PTB, changes in length can be determined with highest accuracy in an absolute measurement This release is available in German. Industrial applications are ever more frequently demanding...

Quest for better treatment for effects of menopause
28 May 2008
This release is available in Spanish. During menopause, lack of oestrogens increases the risk of suffering cardiovascular diseases. For her doctoral thesis, University of the Basque Country researcher, Ainhoa Ruiz del Agua, studied the...

Scientists find bacteria thriving on a feast of seafloor rock
28 May 2008
On the deep ocean floor, microbial life is feeding on fresh volcanic rock and flourishing with greater abundance than even the most optimistic scientists thought possible. According to a study published May 28 in the journal Nature, scientists...

Study shows pine bark naturally reduces cardiovascular risk factors in diabetics
28 May 2008
Pycnogenol improved diabetes control and reduced antihypertensive medications Pycnogenol logo Click here for more information. A new study published in the May 2008 (volume 8, issue 25) edition of the journal of...

New vaccine approach prevents/reverses diabetes in lab study at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
28 May 2008
Results of study are published in Diabetes, a journal of the American Diabetes Association Microspheres carrying targeted nucleic acid molecules fabricated in the laboratory have been shown to prevent and even reverse new-onset cases of type 1...

C-sections a critical factor in preterm birth increase
28 May 2008
Some c-sections may not be medically necessary, March of Dimes says MAY 28, 2008, WHITE PLAINS, NY – Cesarean sections account for nearly all of the increase in U.S. singleton preterm births, according to an analysis of nine years of...

Getting warmer: UT Knoxville researchers uncover information on new superconductors
28 May 2008
KNOXVILLE -- The world of physics is on fire about a new kind of superconductor, and a group of researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory led by physicist Pengcheng Dai are in the middle of the...

Mind over matter: Monkey feeds itself using its brain
28 May 2008
Innovation could benefit people with paralysis and spinal cord injuries PITTSBURGH, May 28 – A monkey has successfully fed itself with fluid, well-controlled movements of a human-like robotic arm by using only signals from its brain,...

New vegetarian food with several benefits
28 May 2008
A new vegetarian food that boosts the uptake of iron and offers a good set of proteins. This could be the result of a doctoral dissertation by Charlotte Eklund-Jonsson at the Department of Food Science, Chalmers University of Technology, in...

Long-term hormone replacement therapy increases breast cancer risk
28 May 2008
Results confirmed for Germany as well “Are you taking or did you take hormones? If yes, which hormone medication and for how long? When did you stop taking hormone replacement medication?” 3,464 breast cancer patients and 6,657...

A new way to look at lung cancer and tobacco carcinogens
28 May 2008
Penn researchers find new links in critical chemical pathway Chemical intermediate causes formation of reactive oxygen species in second indirect pathway connecting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to lung cancer. Click here...

When your memories can no longer be trusted
28 May 2008
Milan, Italy, 28 May 2008 - You went to a wedding yesterday. The service was beautiful, the food and drink flowed and there was dancing all night. But people tell you that you are in hospital, that you have been in hospital for weeks, and that...

New insights into cellular reprogramming revealed by genomic analysis
28 May 2008
Research collaboration of Harvard, Whitehead Institute, and Broad Institute uncovers critical molecular events underlying reprogramming of differentiated cells to a stem cell state The ability to drive somatic, or fully differentiated, human...

Cancer survivors are living 'in limbo' with unmet needs for care
28 May 2008
Many long-term survivors of cancer are not receiving the necessary symptom management that they require to help them live with the consequences of their disease, its treatment, or both, according to a leading professor of palliative...

New study reveals brain cell mechanism of alcohol dependence
28 May 2008
Findings support new possible treatment for alcohol abuse A study released today reveals a cellular mechanism involved in alcohol dependence. The study, in the May 28 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, shows that gabapentin, a drug used to...

USC researchers identify genetic markers that predict efficacy of novel cancer drug
28 May 2008
Specific genetic profile within tumor cells may indicate increased patient benefit from drug Chicago, Ill.--Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) and USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified genetic markers in...

Marine chemist says 'not so fast' to quick oil detection method
28 May 2008
A new method for assessing environmental contamination after oil spills is in danger of being applied in situations where it doesn't work and might produce false conclusions, a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has...

Kavli Prize awarded to Pasko Rakic, pioneering Yale neuroscientist
28 May 2008
Pasko Rakic, MD, PhD. Click here for more information. New Haven, Conn. — Today Pasko Rakic, professor of neurobiology and neurology at Yale University School of Medicine, was named one of the inaugural...

Scripps Research scientists find seizure drug reverses cellular effects
28 May 2008
Study supports promise of gabapentin as potential therapy for alcoholism In the new research, published in the May 28, 2008 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, the scientists found that gabapentin normalizes the action of certain brain...

Researchers from 5 countries to test hygiene hypothesis with EU funding
28 May 2008
Why do Finnish children have type 1 diabetes and allergic symptoms approximately 5 times more often than children in Russian Karelia? High living standards and the life style connected to them seem to promote the development of autoimmune...

Life, but not as we know it?
28 May 2008
Researchers at The University of Nottingham have taken some important first steps to creating a synthetic copycat of a living cell, a leading science journal reports. Dr Cameron Alexander and PhD student George Pasparakis in the University's...

News briefs from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons
28 May 2008
June 2008 Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® is the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and the most widely read plastic surgery journal in the world. It provides information on the latest techniques and...

Mice mothers devote energies to offspring when life is threatened
28 May 2008
AMES, Iowa -- An Iowa State University researcher has found that sick female deer mice devote their energy to producing healthier offspring. Lisa Schwanz, a researcher in the department of ecology, evolution and organismal biology, studied...

Fruit fly protein acts as decoy to capture tumor growth factors, find Penn researchers
28 May 2008
Implications for designing drugs to inhibit cancer How Argos, a fruit fly protein, acts as a "decoy " receptor, binding and neutralizing growth factor molecules (green) that promote the progression of cancer Click here for more...

Powerful superconductor is in a class all its own
28 May 2008
A hybrid scanning laser plus color confocal microscope image of a cleaved fluorine-doped lanthanum oxide iron arsenide sample. Click here for more information. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Superconductivity has perplexed,...

World's fastest-growing mud volcano is collapsing, says new research
28 May 2008
The world’s fastest-growing mud volcano is collapsing and could subside to depths of more than 140 metres with consequences for the surrounding environment, according to new research. As the second anniversary (May 29) of the eruption...

How fairness is wired in the brain
28 May 2008
PASADENA, Calif.--In the biblical story in which two women bring a baby to King Solomon, both claiming to be the mother, he suggests dividing the child so that each woman can have half. Solomon's proposed solution, meant to reveal the real...

Protein fibrils as alternative plastics?
28 May 2008
Amyloids are not just pathological agents, they are interesting nanomaterials This release is available in German. Amyloid structures, some beneficial, some detrimental, exist in nature. Now that these protein assemblies have...

Kew Gardens provides climate for agricultural change
28 May 2008
A device to help some of the most impoverished farmers in Africa maximise their crop yields is being tested at London’s Kew Gardens. Developed by engineers at the University of Leeds, the sensor device gathers data on air temperature,...

Scientists in Japan design first optical pacemaker for laboratory research
28 May 2008
Laser controls beating of heart muscle cells in cell culture WASHINGTON, May 28 — The world's first optical pacemaker is described in an article published today in Optics Express, the Optical Society’s open-access journal. A team of...

New study shows sedentary high school girls are at significant risk for future osteoporosis
28 May 2008
Significant numbers of female high school athletes and non-athletes suffer from one or more components of the female athlete triad, a combination of three conditions that can lead to cardiovascular disease, according to a new study by Medical...

New iron-based and copper-oxide high-temperature
28 May 2008
NIST's neutron facilities reveal intriguing similarities The magnetic structure of the new iron-based superconductors was determined at the thermal triple-axis spectrometer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology...

USC study finds sex, age and ethnicity assciated with colorectal cancer survival
28 May 2008
Findings call for futher study into role of hormonal status in survival, researcher says Chicago, Ill.--The interaction of sex, age and ethnicity has a significant impact on overall survival in metastatic colorectal cancer (MCRC) patients, a...

Why some treatments rescue aging skin
28 May 2008
Retinoic acid and some other existing treatments aid key process of collagen repair Wrinkles form because the skin's collagen breaks down with age and sun exposure. Some treatments encourage new collagen to form. Left:...

Getting better with a little help from our 'micro' friends
28 May 2008
PASADENA, Calif.-- A naturally occurring molecule made by symbiotic gut bacteria may offer a new type of treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, according to scientists at the California Institute of Technology. "Most people tend to think...

Study: Child maltreatment victims lose 2 years of quality of life
28 May 2008
Athens, Ga. - Child maltreatment is associated with reductions in quality of life even decades later, according to a new University of Georgia study that finds that—on average—victims lose at least two years of quality of...

Securing the future of Europe's biological data resources
28 May 2008
New EC-funded effort to create a sustainable infrastructure for biological data launched In a contract signed today, the European Commission has awarded €4.5 million to a pan-European consortium to decide upon the best way to unite...

Intestinal bacteria promote -- and prevent! -- inflammatory bowel disease
28 May 2008
BOSTON, Mass. (May 28, 2008)—Scientists search for drug candidates in some very unlikely places. Not only do they churn out synthetic compounds in industrial-scale laboratories, but they also scour coral reefs and scrape tree bark in the...

Sugar-coated antibiotics
28 May 2008
Researchers from the John Innes Centre and the University of East Anglia have recently elucidated the structure and function of an enzyme which is involved in decorating antibiotics with sugar molecules. Many antibiotics have a variety of...

New impetus for applied research: Fraunhofer posts 11 percent growth
28 May 2008
This release is available in German. “We can look back on a successful business year of above-average growth,” states Dr. Alfred Gossner, Senior Vice President Finance at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. “The finance volume grew...

Fraunhofer -- a truly multinational partner
28 May 2008
This release is available in German. Five research centers in the United States, representative offices in Brussels, Moscow, Seoul, Beijing, Dubai, Tokyo and Jakarta – Fraunhofer’s international presence knows no bounds....

Medication shows promise for patients with severe chronic constipation
28 May 2008
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A new medication appears to offer significant relief to patients with severe chronic constipation while minimizing the likelihood of cardiac-related side effects, according to results of a study published this week in the...

Ibuprofen, aspirin, naproxen may be equally effective at reducing risk of Alzheimer's disease
28 May 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Different types of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin, appear to be equally effective in lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, according to the largest...

A snack for the armchair economist
28 May 2008
New book Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies explains fascinating pricing enigmas Moviegoers are regularly astounded by the astronomical prices they’re asked to pay for popcorn. They know that the actual cost of making popcorn at home...