Science News



    In laboratory studies, researchers say they have found that stem cells from a patient's own fat may have the potential to deliver new treatments directly into the brain after the surgical removal of a glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain tumor.
    Among adults without diabetes, quitting smoking, compared with continuing smoking, was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease despite subsequent weight gain, according to a new study.
    Brain imaging soon after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or mild concussion can detect tiny lesions that may eventually provide a target for treating people with mTBI.
    Vincetoxicum rossicum, commonly known as dog-strangling vine, is an alien invasive plant from the Ukraine and southwestern Russia that has now established itself in the northeastern United States and southern Ontario, Canada. This species successfully displaces local native plants, demonstrating high tolerance for environmental variables such as light and soil moisture.                                                                                  
    NOAA and NASA's next generation weather satellite may provide earlier warnings
    A new satellite that will detect the lightning inside storm clouds may lead to valuable improvements in tornado detection. The GOES-R satellite is currently being built with new technology that may help provide earlier warnings for severe weather.
    A new article describes how a quantum space race is under way to create the world's first global quantum-communication network.
    A second contracted flight for the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station will be twice as nice for researchers working with investigations on the orbiting laboratory. While other cargo ships can bring research payloads to the station, only the Dragon and the Russian Soyuz can safely get the cargo home. Scientists in the United States, Canada, France and Japan -- and several high school students -- are awaiting the return of their research studying a wide range of subjects, from plants to liquid crystals.
    The first spacecraft NASA has designed to fly astronauts beyond Earth orbit since the Apollo era is well on its way to making a flight test next year, agency officials said Wednesday. The mission is planned for launch in September 2014, and will see an Orion capsule orbit Earth without a crew and return through the atmosphere at speeds unseen since astronauts last returned from the moon in 1972.
    When researcher Alberto Behar from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., joined an international Antarctic expedition last month on a trek to investigate a subglacial lake, he brought with him a unique instrument designed and funded by NASA to help the researchers study one of the last unexplored aquatic environments on Earth.
    As the U.S. national power-grid network becomes larger and more complex, achieving reliability across the network is increasingly difficult. Now scientists have identified conditions and properties that power companies can consider using to keep power generators in the desired synchronized state. The design could help reduce both the frequency of blackouts and the cost of electricity as well as offer an improved plan for handling the intermittent power sources of renewable energy, which can destabilize the network.
    Researchers have succeeded in gaining new insights into the causes of certain movement disorders and forms of dementia. Scientists were able to reproduce disease symptoms typical of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia in zebrafish.
    A new technique for solving 'graph Laplacians' is drastically simpler than its predecessors, with implications for a huge range of practical problems.

      Running cockroaches start to recover from being shoved sideways before their dawdling nervous system kicks in to tell their legs what to do, researchers have found. These new insights on how biological systems stabilize could one day help engineers design steadier robots and improve doctors' understanding of human gait abnormalities.
      A new cli­mate model pre­dicts an increase in snow­fall for Earth's polar regions and high­est alti­tudes, but an over­all drop in snow­fall for the globe, as car­bon diox­ide lev­els rise over the next century.
      Studies at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are shedding some light on the microbes that dwell in cattle manure -- what they are, where they thrive, where they struggle, and where they can end up.
      Researchers have now found stem cells inside the parasite that cause schistosomiasis, one of the most common parasitic infections in the world. These stem cells can regenerate worn-down organs, which may help explain how they can live for years or even decades inside their host.
      A study published February 21st in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) provides clinical evidence of the safety and effectiveness of a new magnetic medical device to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Santiago Horgan, MD, professor of surgery at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and study co-author, was the first surgeon in the United States to implant the FDA-approved device.

      Inflammatory response plays a major role in both health protection and disease generation. While the symptoms of disease-related inflammatory response have been know, scientists have not understood the mechanisms that underlie it. In new research, scientists mapped the complex interactions of proteins that control inflammation at the molecular level.
      Rocket attacks in Sderot, Israel significantly increase the likelihood of miscarriages, according to a new study. The study compared 1,341 pregnancies of women (exposed group) who resided in Sderot, an area exposed to frequent rocket fire, with 2,143 pregnancies of women who lived in Kiryat Gat (unexposed group), which is out of range of missiles.
      State supreme court justices who don't face voters are generally more effective than their elected counterparts, according to new research.
      Despite years of research, the genetic factors behind many human diseases and characteristics remain unknown, and has been called the "missing heritability" problem. A new study, however, suggests that heritability in humans may be hidden due only to the limitations of modern research tools, but could be discovered if scientists know where (and how) to look.
      Humans have at least two functional networks in their cerebral cortex not found in rhesus monkeys. This means that new brain networks were likely added in the course of evolution from primate ancestor to human.
      Sometimes the best discoveries come by accident. A team of researchers unexpectedly found the mechanism by which tiny single molecules spontaneously grow into centimeter-long microtubes by leaving a dish for a different experiment in the refrigerator.
      Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer, now have a new, effective and less toxic therapeutic option. On Feb., 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the new treatment drug, Kadcyla (trastuzumab emtansine), also known as TDM-1, which combines Traztuzumab, also called Herceptin, with the powerful chemotherapy drug emtansine.
      The first scientific examinations of data recorded during a record-setting expedition have yielded new insights about the diversity of creatures that live and thrive in the cold, dark, and highly pressurized habitats of the world's deepest points and their vastly unexplored ecosystems.
      When fruit flies sense parasitic wasps in their environment, they lay their eggs in an alcohol-soaked environment, essentially forcing their larvae to consume booze as a drug to combat the deadly wasps. The finding adds to the evidence that using toxins in the environment to medicate offspring may be common across the animal kingdom.
      The commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should be allocated based on countries’ historic responsibility for the emissions. This logic was recognized early on in climate negotiations. But the countries are still disputing how it should be interpreted and applied.
      Tiny molecular tweezers have a remarkable impact on bustling proteins: Scientists have found that molecular tweezers can be used to regulate protein-protein interactions by selectively trapping certain residues of the protein -- and stick like a clothespin.
      Parents know that one day they will have to talk to their children about drug use. The hardest part is to decide whether or not talking about ones own drug use will be useful in communicating an antidrug message. Recent research found that children whose parents did not disclose drug use, but delivered a strong antidrug message, were more likely to exhibit antidrug attitudes.
      In Jan. 2012, the United States Department of Agriculture passed a series of regulations designed to make school lunches more nutritious, which included requiring schools to increase whole grain offerings and making students select either a fruit or vegetable with their purchased lunch. However, children cannot be forced to eat these healthier lunches. In a new study, researchers determined that small, inexpensive changes to school cafeterias influenced the choice and consumption of healthier foods.
      Concepts in our minds -- from Luke Skywalker to our grandmother -- are represented by their own distinct group of neurons, according to new research.
      Humanity came one step closer in January to being able to replicate itself, thanks to the EU's approval of funding for the Human Brain Project. Danica Kragic, a robotics researcher and computer science professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, says that while the prospect of living among humanoid robots calls to mind terrifying scenarios from science fiction, the reality of how humans cope with advances in robotics will be more complex, and subtle.
      Scientists have launched a new research project to develop next-generation materials able to operate in the most extreme environments.
      In a new study, scientists suggest that the pattern of ocean circulation was radically altered in the past when climates were warmer.
      High battery costs still prevent many people from buying an electric vehicle. Is it possible to save money by using an electric vehicle instead of a conventional reference car? This question is studied by the companies of Michelin and Siemens in cooperation with research partners at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI.
      Silicon nanocrystals have a size of a few nanometers and possess a high luminous potential. Scientists have now succeeded in manufacturing silicon-based light-emitting diodes (SiLEDs). They are free of heavy metals and can emit light in various colors.
      Atmospheric aerosol particles affect our climate by slowing down the global warming, research suggests. Scientists have succeeded in developing measurement techniques that allow detection of aerosol nucleation starting from the formation of clusters from vapor molecules, and the growth of these clusters into aerosol particles.
      Electrodes have been permanently implanted in nerves and muscles of an amputee to directly control an arm prosthesis, for the first time. The result allows natural control of an advanced robotic prosthesis, similarly to the motions of a natural limb.
      Researchers in Sweden conclude that public opposition to dam removal is not based on knowledge deficiency, as is sometimes argued in dam removal science. It is instead a case of different understandings and valuation of the environment and the functions it provides.
      Many diseases are caused by malfunction of the mTOR signaling network. Accurate knowledge of network protagonists could therefore provide new therapeutic targets. Researchers have now identified a number of new mTOR-regulated proteins, including an enzyme that is essential for the production of the building blocks of DNA


        • Flipping the 'Off' Switch On Cell Growth: Protein Uses Multiple Means to Help Cells Cope When Oxygen Runs Low
          A protein known for turning on genes to help cells survive low-oxygen conditions also slows down the copying of new DNA strands, thus shutting down the growth of new cells, Johns Hopkins researchers report. Their discovery has wide-ranging implications, they say, given the importance of this copying -- known as DNA replication -- and new cell growth to many of the body's functions and in such diseases as cancer.
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        • Race Linked to Childhood Food Allergies, Not Environmental Allergies

          Research conducted at Henry Ford Hospital shows that race and possibly genetics play a role in children's sensitivity to developing allergies. Researchers found: 

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        • Reprogramming Cells to Fight Diabetes

          For years researchers have been searching for a way to treat diabetics by reactivating their insulin-producing beta cells, with limited success. The "reprogramming" of related alpha cells into beta cells may one day offer a novel and complementary approach for treating type 2 diabetes. Treating human and mouse cells with compounds that modify cell nuclear material called chromatin induced the expression of beta cell genes in alpha cells, according to a new study that appears online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.  

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        • Particle Physics Research Sheds New Light on Possible 'Fifth Force of Nature'

        In a breakthrough for the field of particle physics, Professor of Physics Larry Hunter and colleagues at Amherst College and The University of Texas at Austin have established new limits on what scientists call "long-range spin-spin interactions" between atomic particles. These interactions have been proposed by theoretical physicists but have not yet been seen. Their observation would constitute the discovery of a "fifth force of nature" (in addition to the four known fundamental forces: gravity, weak, strong and electromagnetic) and would suggest the existence of new particles, beyond those presently described by the Standard Model of particle physics.
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        • New Report: Responding to the Challenge of Climate and Environmental Change 
        NASA's Plan for a Climate-Centric Architecture for Earth Observations and Applications from Space
        Earth is a complex, dynamic system we do not yet fully understand. The Earth system, like the human body, comprises diverse components that interact in complex ways. We need to understand the Earth's atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere as a single connected system. Our planet is changing on all spatial and temporal scales. The purpose of NASA's Earth science program is to develop a scientific understanding of Earth's system and its response to natural or human-induced changes, and to improve prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards.

        A major component of NASA’s Earth Science Division is a coordinated series of satellite and airborne missions for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans. This coordinated approach enables an improved understanding of the Earth as an integrated system. NASA is completing the development and launch of a set of Foundational missions, new Decadal Survey missions, and Climate Continuity missions.
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        • Milky Way grew by 'cannibalising' other smaller galaxies

        Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered tantalising evidence for the possible existence of a shell of stars that are a relic of the Milky Way's past cannibalism of other galaxies.

        Peering deep into the vast stellar halo that envelops our Milky Way galaxy, a team of astronomers led by Alis Deason, from UC Santa Cruz, used Hubble observations to precisely measure, for the first time ever, the sideways motions of a small sample of stars located far from the galaxy's center.

        Their unusual lateral motion is circumstantial evidence that the stars may be the remnants of a shredded galaxy that was gravitationally ripped apart by the Milky Way billions of years ago. These stars support the idea that the Milky Way grew through the accretion of smaller galaxies.

        "Hubble's unique capabilities are allowing astronomers to uncover clues to the galaxy's remote past," said coauthor Roeland van der Marel of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore.

        "The more distant regions of the galaxy have evolved more slowly than the inner sections. Objects in the outer regions still bear the signatures of events that happened long ago," Marel said in a statement.

        They also offer a new opportunity for measuring the "hidden" mass of our galaxy, which is in the form of dark matter -- an invisible form of matter that does not emit or reflect radiation.

        "Our ability now to measure the motions of these stars opens up a whole new territory we haven't explored yet," Deason said.
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