
Slew of Rare DNA Changes Following Population Explosion May Hold Clues to Common Diseases
Scientists have taken a first step
toward understanding how rare
genetic differences among people
contribute to leading chronic
illnesses. One-letter DNA code
changes occur frequently in human
... > full story
- more on:

Suspicion Resides in Two Regions of the Brain: Our Baseline Level of Distrust Is Distinct and Separable from Our Inborn Lie Detector
Scientists have found that
suspicion resides in two distinct
regions of the brain: the
amygdala, which plays a central
role in processing fear and
emotional memories, and the
... > full story
- more on:

RNA Modification Influences Thousands of Genes: Revolutionizes Understanding of Gene Expression
Over the past decade, research in
the field of epigenetics has
revealed that chemically modified
bases are abundant components of
the human genome and has forced us
to abandon the notion we've had
... > full story
- more on:

Giant Galaxy-Packed Filament Revealed
Astronomers have discovered a
giant, galaxy-packed filament
ablaze with billions of new stars.
The filament is the first
structure of its kind spied in a
critical era of cosmic buildup
when colossal collections of
galaxies called superclusters
... > full story
- more on:

In Chemical Reactions, Water Adds Speed Without Heat
Scientists have discovered how
adding trace amounts of water can
tremendously speed up chemical
reactions -— such as
hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis
—- in which hydrogen is one
of the reactants, or starting
materials. ... > full story
- more on:

Forest Diversity from Canada to the Sub-Tropics Influenced by Family Proximity
How species diversity is
maintained is a fundamental
question in biology. Biologists
have shown for the first time that
diversity is influenced on a
spatial scale of unparalleled
... > full story
- more on:

Extended Daily Fasting Overrides Harmful Effects of a High-Fat Diet: Study May Offer Drug-Free Intervention to Prevent Obesity and Diabetes
It turns out that when we eat may
be as important as what we eat.
Scientists have found that regular
eating times and extending the
daily fasting period may override
the adverse health effects of a
... > full story
- more on:

Ancient Giant Turtle Fossil Was Size of Smart Car
Picture a turtle the size of a
Smart car, with a shell large
enough to double as a kiddie pool.
Paleontologists have found just
such a specimen -- the fossilized
remains of a 60-million-year-old
South American giant that lived in
what is now Colombia. ... > full story
- more on:

Parents Are Happier People: Parents Experience Greater Happiness and Meaning in Life Than Nonparents, Psychologists Find
Contrary to recent scholarship and
popular belief, parents experience
greater levels of happiness and
meaning in life than people
without children, according to
researchers. Parents also are
... > full story
- more on:

Three-Telescope Interferometry Allows Astrophysicists to Observe How Black Holes Are Fueled
By combining the light of three
powerful infrared telescopes,
scientists have observed the
active accretion phase of a
supermassive black hole in the
center of a galaxy tens of
... > full story
- more on:

Damaged Connections in Phineas Gage's Brain: Famous 1848 Case of Man Who Survived Accident Has Modern Parallel
In 1848, Phineas Gage survived an
accident that drove an iron rod
through his head. Researchers, for
the first time, used images of
Gage’s skull combined with
modern-day brain images to suggest
... > full story
- more on:

The Rhine Is Five Million Years Older Than First Thought: Age of the River Corrected Based on Fossils
Scientists have examined the age
of the Rhine based on fossils.
They have discovered that the
river is five million years older
than previously believed. ... > full story
- more on:
Roll over headlines to view top news summaries:
- Slew of Rare DNA Changes After Population Jump
- Suspicion Resides in Two Regions of the Brain
- RNA Modification Influences 1000s of Genes
- Giant Galaxy-Packed Filament Revealed
- Chemical Reactions: Water Adds Speed, No Heat
- How Do Forests Maintain Species Diversity?
- Eat at the Right Time to Prevent Obesity
- Ancient Giant Turtle Fossil Revealed
- Parents Are Happier People, Psychologists Find
- Astrophysicists See How Black Holes Are Fueled
- Phineas Gage's Iron Rod Through Head Examined
- The Rhine Is 5 Million Years Old Than Thought
- more top science stories
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Top Medical News
Untangling the Development of Breast Cancer: Evolution of 21 Breast Cancers
The team created a catalogue of all the mutations in the genomes of the 21 breast cancer genomes. They identified entirely new mutational processes that drive breast cancer development, including one remarkable process defined by localized regions ... > full story
Top Technology News
Getting in Tune: Researchers Solve Tuning Problem for Wireless Power Transfer Systems
Researchers have developed a new way to fine-tune wireless power transfer (WPT) receivers, making the systems more efficient and functional. WPT systems hold promise for charging electric vehicles, electronic devices and other ... > full story
Top Environment News
Fighting Bacteria’s Strength in Numbers
Scientists have opened the way for more accurate research into new ways to fight dangerous bacterial infections by proving a long-held theory about how bacteria communicate with each ... > full story
More Science Headlines
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2 am EDT
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Pharmacology; Diseases and Conditions; Healthy Aging; Foodborne Illness; Alzheimer's Research; Cancer;
Potential New Drugs for Fox Tapeworm Infection in Humans
May 16, 2012 Scientists are reporting development and testing of a new series of drugs that could finally stop the fox tapeworm -- which causes a rare but life-threatening disease in humans -- dead in its tracks. The report shows that specific organometallic ... > full story -
Religion Is a Potent Force for Cooperation and Conflict, Research Shows
May 17, 2012 Across history and cultures, religion increases trust within groups but also may increase conflict with other groups, according to a new ... > full story -
Babies' Susceptibility to Colds Linked to Immune Response at Birth
May 17, 2012 Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth, according to new research. And babies with a better innate response to viruses have fewer respiratory illnesses in the first year of ... > full story -
Prosthetic Retina Offers Simple Solution for Restoring Sight
May 17, 2012 A device which could restore sight to patients with one of the most common causes of blindness in the developed world is being ... > full story -
Pain Relief Through Distraction: It's Not All in Your Head
May 17, 2012 Mental distractions make pain easier to take, and those pain-relieving effects aren't just in your head, according to a new ... > full story
11 pm EDT
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Unexpected Source for Diabetic Neuropathy Pain
May 15, 2012 Nearly half of all diabetics suffer from neuropathic pain, an intractable, agonizing and still mysterious companion of the disease. Now researchers have identified an unexpected source of the pain and a potential target to alleviate ... > full story -
Gene Therapy; Birth Defects; Children's Health; Diseases and Conditions; Personalized Medicine; Child Development;
Children With Rare, Incurable Brain Disease Improve After Gene Therapy
May 16, 2012 Taiwanese doctors have restored some movement in four children bedridden with a rare, life-threatening neurological disease using gene transfer. The first-in-humans achievement may also be helpful for more common diseases such as ... > full story -
Nutrition; Staying Healthy; Diet and Weight Loss; Public Health; Diseases and Conditions; Health Policy;
20 Percent 'Fat Tax' Needed to Improve Population Health, Experts Say
May 15, 2012 Taxes on unhealthy food and drinks would need to be at least 20 percent to have a significant effect on diet-related conditions such as obesity and heart disease, say experts on bmj.com today. Ideally, this should be combined with subsidies on ... > full story -
Cholesterol; Heart Disease; Diseases and Conditions; Vioxx; Personalized Medicine; Stroke Prevention;
Not All 'Good Cholesterol' Is 'Good': Raising HDL Not a Sure Route to Countering Heart Disease
May 16, 2012 Medical researchers explored naturally occurring genetic variations in humans to test the connection between HDL levels and heart attack. By studying the genes of roughly 170,000 individuals, the team discovered that, when examined together, the 15 ... > full story -
Children With Cancer Have Complete Responses in a COG Phase 1 Trial: Pills Zero in on Abnormal Genes That Drive Specific Cancers
May 16, 2012 A pill designed to zero in on abnormal genes that drive specific cancers has produced encouraging early results in children with an uncommon but aggressive type of lymphoma, as well as in children with a rare form of ... > full story
8 pm EDT
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Nine New Breast Cancer Risk Genes: Landscape of Cancer Genes and Mutational Processes in Breast Cancer Complicated
May 16, 2012 Researchers have described nine new genes that drive the development of breast cancer. This takes the tally of all genes associated with breast cancer development to ... > full story -
Sunscreens Remain Safe, Effective Form of Sun Protection, Experts Say
May 15, 2012 The American Academy of Dermatology today reiterated the safety and effectiveness of sunscreens to protect against the damaging effects from exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. As one component of a daily sun-protection strategy, sunscreen is an ... > full story -
Health Policy; HIV and AIDS; Public Health; Diseases and Conditions; World Development; Sexual Health;
740,000 Lives Saved: Benefits of AIDS Relief Program
May 15, 2012 The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the government's far-reaching health-care foreign aid program, has contributed to a significant decline in adult death rates from all causes in Africa, according to a new ... > full story -
Why Omega-3 Oils Help at the Cellular Level
May 15, 2012 For the first time, researchers have peered inside a living mouse cell and mapped the processes that power the celebrated health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. More profoundly, they say their findings suggest it may be possible to manipulate these ... > full story -
High Doses of Certain Dietary Supplements Increase Cancer Risk
May 15, 2012 Beta-carotene, selenium and folic acid -- taken up to three times their recommended daily allowance, these supplements are probably harmless. But taken at much higher levels as some supplement manufacturers suggest, these three supplements have now ... > full story
5 pm EDT
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New Biomarker Test Predicts Arthritis Before Symptoms Appear
May 15, 2012 A research team has found a way to detect and predict arthritis before patients begin suffering from ... > full story -
All Cancer Cells Are Not Created Equal: Some Cell Types Control Continued Tumor Growth, Others Prepare the Way for Metastasis
May 15, 2012 New researchers suggests that specific populations of tumor cells have different roles in the process by which tumors make new copies of themselves and ... > full story -
Ancient Plant-Fungal Partnerships Reveal How the World Became Green
May 15, 2012 Prehistoric plants grown in state-of-the-art growth chambers recreating environmental conditions from more than 400 million years ago have shown scientists how soil dwelling fungi played a crucial role in the evolution of ... > full story -
Protein Inhibitor Points to Potential Medical Treatments for Skull and Skin Birth Defects
May 15, 2012 Researchers have found new clues in the pathogenesis of skull and skin birth defects associated with a rare genetic disorder, Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata syndrome ... > full story -
Maps of Miscanthus Genome Offer Insight Into Grass Evolution
May 15, 2012 Miscanthus grasses are used in gardens, burned for heat and energy, and converted into liquid fuels. They also belong to a prominent grass family that includes corn, sorghum and sugarcane. Two new, independently produced chromosome maps of ... > full story
2 pm EDT
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Palpitations Are Predictive of Future Atrial Fibrillation
May 15, 2012 A large cohort study has found that the strongest risk factors for atrial fibrillation in both men and women were a history of palpitations and hypertension. While hypertension is a well known risk factor for AF, the investigators note that "the ... > full story -
'Fertilizing' Bone Marrow Helps Answer Why Some Cancers Spread to Bones
May 15, 2012 Researchers found that administering a common chemotherapy drug before bone tumors took root actually fertilized the bone marrow, enabling cancer cells, once introduced, to seed and grow more ... > full story -
When Does Planning Interfere With Achieving Our Goals?
May 16, 2012 It seems really simple: If you want to achieve something, set a goal and then make specific plans to implement it. But according to a new study consumers get overwhelmed while juggling multiple ... > full story -
Sports; Sports Medicine; Intelligence; Educational Policy; Educational Psychology; Alternative Medicine;
Head Impacts in Contact Sports May Reduce Learning in College Athletes
May 16, 2012 A new study suggests that head impacts experienced during contact sports such as football and hockey may worsen some college athletes’ ability to acquire new ... > full story -
Internet Usage Patterns May Signify Depression
May 16, 2012 In a new study analyzing Internet usage among college students, researchers have found that students who show signs of depression tend to use the Internet differently than those who show no symptoms of ... > full story
11 am EDT
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Biologists Produce Potential Malarial Vaccine from Algae
May 16, 2012 Biologists have succeeded in engineering algae to produce potential candidates for a vaccine that would prevent transmission of the parasite that causes ... > full story -
You Are What You Eat: Why Do Male Consumers Avoid Vegetarian Options?
May 16, 2012 Why are men generally more reluctant to try vegetarian products? According to a new study consumers are influenced by a strong association of meat with ... > full story -
Listening to Chickens Could Improve Poultry Production
May 16, 2012 Listening to squawks and other chicken "vocalizations" using digital signal processing techniques may help farmers better manage growing conditions, contributing to both healthier birds and more productive poultry ... > full story -
Humanmade Pollutants May Be Driving Earth's Tropical Belt Expansion: May Impact Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation
May 16, 2012 Black carbon aerosols and tropospheric ozone, both humanmade pollutants emitted predominantly in the Northern Hemisphere's low- to mid-latitudes, are most likely pushing the boundary of the tropics further poleward in that hemisphere, new research ... > full story -
People With Paralysis Control Robotic Arms to Reach and Grasp Using Brain Computer Interface
May 16, 2012 Two people with tetraplegia were able to reach for and grasp objects in three-dimensional space with robotic arms that they controlled directly with brain activity. They used the BrainGate neural interface system, an investigational device currently ... > full story
8 am EDT
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Sumatra Faces Yet Another Risk: Major Volcanic Eruptions
May 16, 2012 The early April earthquake of magnitude 8.6 that shook Sumatra was a grim reminder of the devastating earthquakes and tsunami that killed tens of thousands of people in 2004 and 2005. Now a new study shows that the residents of that region are at ... > full story -
Alzheimer's Gene Causes Brain's Blood Vessels to Leak Toxins and Die
May 16, 2012 ApoE4, a well-known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease triggers a cascade of signaling that ultimately results in leaky blood vessels in the brain, allowing toxic substances to pour into brain tissue in large amounts, scientists ... > full story -
Human Genes Transplanted Into Zebrafish: Helps Identify Genes Related to Autism, Schizophrenia and Obesity
May 16, 2012 Researchers have transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then used it to identify genes responsible for head size at birth. This finding also is related to some cases of autism and possibly schizophrenia and childhood ... > full story -
Colorful Butterflies Increase Their Odds of Survival by Sharing Traits
May 16, 2012 Bright black-and-red butterflies that flit across the sunlit edges of Amazonian rain forests are natural hedonists, and it does them good, according to new genetic ... > full story -
Let's Get Moving: Unraveling How Locomotion Starts
May 16, 2012 Scientists have shed new light on one of the great unanswered questions of neuroscience: How the brain initiates rhythmic movements like walking, running and ... > full story
5 am EDT
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Microscope Looks Into Cells of Living Fish
May 16, 2012 Microscopes provide valuable insights in the structure and dynamics of cells, in particular when the latter remain in their natural environment. However, this is very difficult especially for higher organisms. Researchers have now developed a new ... > full story -
Plant Growth Without Light Control
May 16, 2012 Plants are dependent on the sun. Sunlight does not only supply them with energy, but also controls their development steps. So-called photoreceptors activate the processes of germination, leaf development, bud formation, and blossoming in the cells. ... > full story -
Character Traits Determined Genetically? Genes May Hold the Key to a Life of Success, Study Suggests
May 16, 2012 Genes play a greater role in forming character traits -- such as self-control, decision making or sociability -- than was previously thought, new research ... > full story -
Ancient Tree-Ring Records from Southwest U.S. Suggest Today's Megafires Are Truly Unusual
May 16, 2012 Today's mega forest fires of the southwestern U.S. are truly unusual and exceptional in the long-term record, suggests an unprecedented study that examined 1,500 years of ancient tree ring and fire data from two distinct climate periods. Researchers ... > full story -
Common Fungicide Wreaks Havoc on Freshwater Ecosystems
May 16, 2012 A new study on chlorothalonil, one of the world's most common fungicides, shows it was lethal to a wide variety of freshwater ... > full story
Health & Biomedical Sciences
Health & Medicine
Study Combines Lapatinib With Cetuximab to Overcome Resistance in EGFR-Driven Tumors, New Research Suggests
Targeted therapies have been studied for years, but recent laboratory research is providing robust clues about drugs that might work better in combination, particularly in treating cancers that have become resistant to therapy. That kind of ... > full story
Mind & Brain
Mystery Gene Reveals New Mechanism for Anxiety Disorders
A novel mechanism for anxiety behaviors, including a previously unrecognized inhibitory brain signal, may inspire new strategies for treating psychiatric disorders, researchers report. By testing the controversial role of a gene called Glo1 in ... > full story
Living Well
Can Consumers 'Fit In' Yet Remain Unique?
Most consumers want to fit in while still asserting their individuality -- and they balance these conflicting desires when choosing products, according to a new ... > full story
- Trusting Tiger Woods: How Do Facial Cues Affect Preference and Trust?
- OMG! Texting Ups Truthfulness, New iPhone Study Suggests
- 'Gaydar' Automatic and More Accurate for Women's Faces; Accurate Even When Faces Were Upside Down, Psychologists Find
- People See Sexy Pictures of Women as Objects, Not People; Sexy-Looking Men as People
- more stories
Biological & Earth Sciences
Plants & Animals
Drugs from Gila Monster Lizard Saliva Reduces Cravings for Chocolate and Ordinary Food
A drug made from the saliva of the Gila monster lizard is effective in reducing the craving for food. Researchers have tested the drug on rats, who after treatment ceased their cravings for both food and ... > full story
- This Is Your Brain on Sugar: Study in Rats Shows High-Fructose Diet Sabotages Learning, Memory
- Mice With Big Brains Provide Insight Into Brain Regeneration and Developmental Disorders
- Arctic Seabirds Adapt to Climate Change
- Animal Disease Research Misses the Human Perspective, Say Researchers
- more stories
Earth & Climate
Sulfur Finding May Hold Key to Gaia Theory of Earth as Living Organism
Is Earth really a sort of giant living organism as the Gaia hypothesis predicts? A new discovery may provide a key to answering this question. This key of sulfur could allow scientists to unlock heretofore hidden interactions between ocean ... > full story
Fossils & Ruins
Ancient Sea Reptile With Gammy Jaw Suggests Dinosaurs Got Arthritis Too
Imagine having arthritis in your jaw bones ... if they're over 2 meters long! A new study has found signs of a degenerative condition similar to human arthritis in the jaw of a pliosaur, an ancient sea reptile that lived 150 million years ago. Such ... > full story
Physical & Applied Sciences
Space & Time
A Supernova Cocoon Breakthrough
Astronomers have the first X-ray evidence of a supernova shock wave breaking through a cocoon of gas surrounding the star that exploded. This discovery may help astronomers understand why some supernovas are much more powerful than ... > full story
Matter & Energy
Chocolate and Diamonds: Why Volcanoes Could Be 'a Girl's Best Friend'
Scientists have discovered a previously unrecognized volcanic process, similar to one that is used in chocolate manufacturing, which gives important new insights into the dynamics of volcanic eruptions. The scientists investigated how a process ... > full story
Computers & Math
Elusive Capacity of Networks: Calculating Data Network's Total Capacity Notoriously Difficult, but Theorists Making Some Headway
In its early years, information theory was dominated by research on error-correcting codes: How do you encode information so as to guarantee its faithful transmission, even in the presence of the corrupting influences engineers call "noise"? ... > full story

