According to a new study in Nature that analyzed large sets of ozone data captured since 1984, springtime ozone levels above western North America are rising primarily due to air flowing eastward from the Pacific Ocean, a trend that is largest when the air originates in Asia. These increases in ozone could make it more difficult for the United States to meet Clean Air Act standards for ozone pollution at ground level.

Some pyschologists suggests that too many choices can negatively impact our health. But a meta-analysis of 50 published and unpublished experiments that investigated choice overload  found that consumers generally respond positively to having many choices.

Across the 50 experiments, which depict the choices of 5,036 individual participants, the authors found that the overall effect of choice overload was virtually zero. "This suggests that adverse consequences do not necessarily follow from increases in the number of options," the authors write. "In fact, contrary to the notion of choice overload, these results suggest that having many options to choose from will, on average, not lead to a decrease in satisfaction or motivation to make a choice."

The most common form of  brain tumor in adults, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is not in fact a single disease but appears to be four distinct molecular subtypes, according to a study by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network. The researchers in this study also found

Join The Navy : See A Nuke

There was a time when a navy, merchant or military,  consisted of hundreds of ships, each manned by hundreds of crew.  When I was a child in the 1950s, Sheerness was a thriving dockyard town.  Everyone in town knew at least one soldier or sailor, either as a relative or as a friend.

Children learn basic mathematical rules such as 'less than' and 'greater than' because they are the foundation of mathematical operations.  As adults, intelligent behavior requires strategic processing of numbers and abstract quantity information, such as when we adopt a 'less than' strategy when shopping for a product to pay the smallest amount of money.   When searching for a job our plan of action is 'greater than' and we strive to earn the largest sum of money.

Neurobiologists in the laboratory of Andreas Nieder at the University of Tübingen writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) (January 18.-24. 2010) say they have shown for the first time how brain cells process simple mathematical rules.

 Iowa State University researchers say they have discovered how the Ebola Virus is able to elude the immune response of host cells that it invades. The problem has stumped scientists for many years, and in a new study published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, the Iowa team says that host cells can't recognize and respond to the virus because of a dirty little trick it plays.

When most viruses invade cells, they begin producing RNA in order to replicate. In response,  the healthy host cells activate anti-viral defenses that halt replication and eventually help clear the viral infections

Stem cell-derived neurons can fully integrate into the brains of young animals, according to new research published in the the Journal of Neuroscience. Healthy brains have stable and precise connections between cells that are necessary for normal behavior, and the new study suggests that stem cells can be directed not only to become specific brain cells, but to link correctly. The finding may have long term implications for the treatment of spinal cord injuries and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Hard workers who are motivated to achieve generally excel on specific tasks when they are reminded of the benefits of their hard work. But when a task is presented as fun, researchers report in a new Journal of Personality and Social Psychology study, the same hard-working individuals are often outperformed by those less motivated to achieve.

The findings suggest that two students may respond quite differently to a teacher's exhortation that they strive for excellence, said University of Illinois psychology professor Dolores Albarracín, who conducted the research with William Hart, of the University of Florida. One may be spurred to try harder, while another may become less motivated.

The next time you want to convince someone to vote for your favored political candidate, or to buy a certain product, use abstract language, say the authors of a new study published in the The Journal of Consumer Research. The study found that consumers respond  better to product descriptions when they are framed in abstract as opposed to concrete terms.

"Our finding that abstract messages have a stronger impact on buying intentions can be translated straightforwardly into the recommendation to use abstract language if you try to convince someone of the (positive or negative) consequences of buying a product, or of following your advice," the authors explain.

Results from a study recently published in the Lancet Oncology found that testing for high-risk types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA is significantly more effective in preventing invasive cervical cancer than cytology (Pap testing) alone.

Two rounds of screening were performed in more than 90,000 women age 25-60. In phase one, women were randomly assigned to a control group with conventional cytology (Pap) only or to an intervention group where women had HPV DNA testing plus liquid-based cytology. In phase two, which was conducted two years later, with three to five years of follow-up, the control group received conventional cytology and the women in the intervention group received HPV testing alone.