Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate & environment, computers, engineering, health & medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
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Listening to the early universe just got harder. Astronomers have discovered cosmic radio noise that booms six times louder than expected.
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A new study shows the resistance of the avian flu virus to a major class of antiviral drugs is increasing through positive evolutionary selection, with researchers documenting the trend in more than 30 percent of the samples tested.
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Mercury pollution has already spurred public health officials to advise eating less fish, but it could become a more pressing concern in a warmer world.
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Researchers have produced the first link between a species of bacteria most commonly found in sheep and human illness.
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One of the largest sources of uncertainty in weather prediction involves how microscale structures influence larger-scale phenomena. For instance, previous studies have demonstrated that the structure, dynamics, and evolution of thunderstorms are very sensitive to cloud microphysical parameters.
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Looking at yourself in the mirror every morning, you never think to question whether the person you see is actually you. A new study challenges this common-sense notion about our own self image. The study shows for the first time that the image we hold of our own face can actually change through shared experiences with other people's faces.
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A remarkable new discovery shows the four-eyed spookfish to be the first vertebrate ever found to use mirrors, rather than lenses, to focus light in its eyes.
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Stem cells are the body's primal cells, retaining the youthful ability to develop into more specialized types of cells over many cycles of cell division. How do they do it? Scientists have identified a gene, scrawny, that appears to be a key factor in keeping a variety of stem cells in their undifferentiated state. Understanding how stem cells maintain their potency has implications for basic biology and also for medical applications.
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Two new efforts have taken a famous supernova remnant from the static to the dynamic. A new movie of data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows changes in time never seen before in this type of object. A separate team has produced a dramatic 3-D visualization of the same remnant.
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The maintenance of genome stability is crucial for protecting an organism against the onset of cancer and the study of the mechanisms controlling genome stability represents one of the most promising frontiers in cancer research.
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Surface features common in the northern and southern midlatitudes of Mars and known as lobate debris aprons and lineated valley fill are believed to have formed either as debris flows mobilized by pore ice or as debris-covered glaciers.
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Games like Nintendo's Wii Fit can help promote physical rather than sedentary activities for people of all ages.
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Even some stars go ballistic, racing through interstellar space like bullets and tearing through clouds of gas.
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Mice exposed to low temperatures develop more blood vessels in their adipose tissue and metabolise body fat more quickly, according to a new study. Scientists now hope to learn how to control blood vessel development in humans in order to combat obesity and diabetes.
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Grazinglands in the Asian steppes and the rangelands in the western United States share similar climates, vegetation, land-use practices and problems. So an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist joined a search in Asia to find and preserve native forage plants--and to see if these plants can be used to sustain and restore arid grasslands in other parts of the world.
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Scientists in Japan are reporting an advance toward using a natural disease-fighting protein in pills or syrups that patients can take by mouth rather than injection. Their study is the first to show that coating the protein with a polymer material already in wide medical use can increase its absorption by the intestine.
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Could a concept from information technology familiar to online file sharers be exploited to reduce road congestion and even traffic accidents? That is the question answered in the affirmative by researchers in California.
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Scientists have identified a new line of bacteria they believe add flavor to some of the world's most exclusive cheeses.
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Dwellings in colonies on the moon one day may be built with new, highly durable bricks developed by students from the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.
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Scientists have discovered a new way for bacteria to transfer toxic genes to unrelated bacterial species, a finding that raises the unsettling possibility that bacterial swapping of toxins and other disease-aiding factors may be more common than previously imagined.
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Cellulose is a key component of plant cell walls that can be converted into ethanol and other products. New findings could help make that conversion process easier.
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Adult cystic fibrosis patients can provide important information that helps to predict their prognosis, according to research that asked 223 adult CF patients to assess their own health and well-being.
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Satellite observations during the past decade have shown dramatic changes in flow speed on year-to-year timescales at Greenland's outlet glaciers. Seismic events traced back to glaciers during the same time period have been interpreted to have resulted from calving events at the glacier terminus or surging events lubricated by subglacial meltwater.
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Females of all ages are less active than their male peers. Two new studies reveal the gender difference in activity levels among school children and the over 70s. Both studies show males to be more physically active than females.
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Scientists have succeeded in isolating stem cells from human testes. The cells bear a striking resemblance to embryonic stem cells -- they can differentiate into each of the three main types of tissues of the body -- but the researchers caution against viewing them as one and the same.
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A pilot trial of an oral drug therapy called fenobam has shown promising initial results and could be a potential new treatment option for adult patients with Fragile X syndrome. Findings of the open label, single-dose study are to be published in the Journal of Medical Genetics.
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A new report suggests that treating gum disease in patients who have diabetes with procedures such as cleanings and periodontal scaling is linked to 10 to 12 percent lower medical costs per month.
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Scientists have discovered how the expression of one of the Hox master control genes is regulated in a specific segment of the developing brain. The findings provide important insight into how and where the brain develops some of its unique and important structures.
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A new way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and tackle climate change had been unveiled by leading economists.
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Researchers observed that while young adults enjoy and value time spent eating with others, 35 percent of males and 42 percent of females reported lacking time to sit down and eat a meal. They further noted that "eating on the run" was related to higher consumption of unhealthy items like fast foods and lower consumption of many healthful foods.
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Being physically fit helps the brain function at the top of its game, according to new research. People who are fit have been found it have better blood flow to their brain. New findings also show that better blood flow translates into improved cognition.
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Obesity is known to increase the risk of chronic disorders, such as diabetes (type 2). Scientists have now identified six new obesity genes. Gene expression analyses have shown that all six genes are active in brain cells.
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Treatment with a pharmacological version of the drug ecstasy makes PSTD patients more receptive to psychotherapy, and contributes to lasting improvement. Now researchers explain why.
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Chronic illness can lead to poorer quality of life -- particularly for adolescents. New research shows that spirituality may help teens cope with their conditions.
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Educational psychologists says adolescents are increasingly experiencing both individual and vicarious discrimination online, which in turn triggers stress, depression and anxiety.
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Natural gas, believed to be among the cleanest forms of fuel, does emit ultrafine airborne particulate matter when burned in home appliances such as stove tops and water heaters.
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A newly discovered family of receptors in the fly nose fills in a missing piece of the insect olfactory system -- and also suggests a new role for a class of receptors long believed to be confined to the depths of the brain.
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Masses of immune cells that form as a hallmark of tuberculosis have long been thought to be the body's way of trying to protect itself by literally walling off the bacteria. But a new study in the journal Cell offers evidence that the TB bacteria actually sends signals that encourage the growth of those organized granuloma structures, and for good reason.
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Two previously identified pathways associated with aging in mice are connected, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding reinforces what researchers have recently begun to suspect: The age-related degeneration of tissues, organs and facial skin is an active, deliberate process rather than a gradual failure of tired cells.
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The first people to arrive in America traveled as at least two separate groups to arrive in their new home at about the same time, according to new genetic evidence.
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In ant society, workers normally give up reproducing themselves to care for their queen's offspring, who are their brothers and sisters. When workers try to cheat and have their own kids in the queen's presence, their peers swiftly attack and physically restrain them from reproducing.
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Bladder cancer is much more likely to be deadly for women and African-Americans, but the reasons long believed to explain the phenomenon account for only part of the differences for such patients compared to their white and male counterparts, according to new results.
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When the hydrogen atoms of pyridine are replaced with deuterium, it adopts a crystalline form that can only be achieved under high pressure with "normal" pyridine. Perhaps the minimal differences responsible for this type of effect can be implemented to improve the spectrum of properties available to pharmaceutical agents.
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Students' successes in the first grade can affect more than their future report cards. In a new study researchers found links among students' weak academic performance in the first grade, self-perceptions in the sixth grade, and depression symptoms in the seventh grade.
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The evolutionary history of diatoms -- abundant oceanic plankton that remove billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year -- needs to be rewritten, according to a new study. The findings suggest that after a sudden rise in species numbers, diatoms abruptly declined about 33 million years ago -- trends that coincided with severe global cooling.
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New tires allow race cars to take tight turns at high speeds. Hind wings give moths and butterflies similar advantages: They are not necessary for basic flight but help these creatures take tight turns to evade predators.
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A pre-clinical study found a new nasal spray vaccine to provide complete protection against a major botulism toxin, according to a new study.
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Researchers have analyzed the application of waste sludge from a waste water purification plant to acid soils which have limited capacity for neutralizing the acidity.
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