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Genomic Diversity And Admixture Differs For Stone-Age Scandinavian Foragers And Farmers

Genomic Diversity And Admixture Differs For Stone-Age Scandinavian Foragers And Farmers

Apr 27 2014 | comment(s)

Scholars say they have created a breakthrough on understanding the demographic history of Stone-Age humans.

A genomic analysis of eleven Stone-Age human remains from Scandinavia revealed that expanding Stone-age farmers assimilated local hunter-gatherers and that the hunter-gatherers were historically in lower numbers than the farmers. 

PS1-10afx Cosmic Illusion Revealed

PS1-10afx Cosmic Illusion Revealed

Apr 27 2014 | comment(s)

A team of researchers led by Robert Quimby at the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) has announced the discovery of a galaxy that magnified a background, Type Ia supernova thirtyfold through gravitational lensing. This is the first example of strong gravitational lensing of a supernova confirms the team's previous explanation for the unusual properties of this supernova. 

Corals Adjust Quickly To Rising Ocean Temperatures

Corals Adjust Quickly To Rising Ocean Temperatures

Apr 27 2014 | comment(s)

86-degree Fahrenheit water is quite comfortable for humans, but to many sea creatures it's deadly. If climate change heats up ocean temperatures, the future of species such as coral, which provides sustenance and livelihoods to a billion people, is threatened.

An experiment found that some corals can – on the fly – adjust their internal functions to tolerate hot water 50 times faster than they would adapt through evolutionary change alone. 

Ocean Microbes Display Remarkable Genetic Diversity

Ocean Microbes Display Remarkable Genetic Diversity

Apr 27 2014 | comment(s)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- The smallest, most abundant marine microbe, Prochlorococcus, is a photosynthetic bacteria species essential to the marine ecosystem. An estimated billion billion billion of the single-cell creatures live in the oceans, forming the base of the marine food chain and occupying a range of ecological niches based on temperature, light and chemical preferences, and interactions with other species. But the full extent and characteristics of diversity within this single species remains a puzzle.

Untangling Brazil's Controversial New Forest Code

Untangling Brazil's Controversial New Forest Code

Apr 27 2014 | comment(s)

Approved in 2012, Brazil's new Forest Code has few admirers. Agricultural interests argue that it threatens the livelihoods of farmers. Environmentalists counter that it imperils millions of hectares of forest, threatening to release the billions of tons of carbon they contain. A new study, co-authored by Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) scientists Michael Coe, Marcia Macedo and Brazilian colleagues, published this week in Science, aims to clarify the new law. Entitled "Cracking Brazil's Forest Code," the article is the first to quantify the implications of recent changes to the Forest Code and identify new opportunities and challenges for conservation.

Many Patients Who Could Benefit From Home Dialysis Are Receiving Care In Dialysis Centers

Many Patients Who Could Benefit From Home Dialysis Are Receiving Care In Dialysis Centers

Apr 27 2014 | comment(s)

Washington, DC (April 24, 2014) — Many kidney failure patients in Australia who could benefit from undergoing dialysis at home are being treated in hospitals and dialysis units, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). This is creating significant costs for healthcare providers and causing unnecessary disruptions to patients' lives.

12 Ways To Further Reduce Agriculture's Climate Footprint

12 Ways To Further Reduce Agriculture's Climate Footprint

Apr 27 2014 | comment(s)

If you really care about the climate, you can stop filling out surveys and complaining about what people believe and do something more meaningful than buy carbon credits - you can give up meat. 

And 11 other things that can separate you from the pack that are more interested in uniform bans and mitigation. Those won't work. Take the initiative and it doesn't matter what anyone else does.

A new report, Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change in Agriculture by Mitigation 2014, says it can eliminate the climate nosedive that will occur if people continue to eat meat and use air conditionin. It just needs people in richer countries who claim they care about emissions to show it.

New Sensor Molecules Have Potential For Early Cancer Detection

New Sensor Molecules Have Potential For Early Cancer Detection

Apr 27 2014 | comment(s)

A research team lead by Academy Professor Kari Rissanen at the University of Jyväskylä has discovered a new water-soluble fluorescent detection system that is extremely sensitive to pyrophosphate (PPi).

Pyrophosphate has a key role in energy transduction, DNA replication and other metabolic processes that are dysregulated in cancer cells.

The discovery might lead to the development of a method for early detection of cancer cells.

Tsetse Fly Genetic Code Sequenced

Tsetse Fly Genetic Code Sequenced

Apr 26 2014 | comment(s)

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have been part of a ten-year project which has successfully sequenced the genetic code of the tsetse fly – making major advances in disease control possible.

Tsetse flies are unique to Africa and can infect people bitten by them with sleeping sickness, a disease which damages the nervous system and is fatal if untreated. This kills over 250,000 people each year.

Traditional methods of control such as releasing sterile males, trapping and pesticide spraying are expensive and difficult to implement. Sleeping sickness can also evade the immune system, making a vaccine hard to create, so the genetic information will allow researchers to develop alternative strategies to control the disease.

Are Almonds An Optimal Snack?

Are Almonds An Optimal Snack?

Apr 26 2014 | comment(s)

Modesto, CA (April 25, 2014) - Six new almond-related research studies will be presented next week in San Diego at the American Society of Nutrition (ASN)'s Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with Experimental Biology 2014 (EB). The conference attracts an international audience of approximately 13,000 leading scientists specializing in various health disciplines.

The science presented will reveal new insights on the effects of almond consumption on overall diet quality and health status, abdominal adiposity, measures of appetite and satiety, and cardiovascular risk factors.

WISE J085510.83-071442.5: Brown Dwarf Is Close Neighbor Of The Sun And The Coolest Of Its Kind

WISE J085510.83-071442.5: Brown Dwarf Is Close Neighbor Of The Sun And The Coolest Of Its Kind

Apr 26 2014 | comment(s)

A "brown dwarf" star with the catchy name of  WISE J085510.83-071442.5 appears to be the coldest of its kind.

When people think of stars, they think of hot fusion plasma bubbling and erupting.  WISE J085510.83-071442.5,  7.2 light-years away, making it the fourth closest system to our sun, is instead as frosty as Earth's North Pole.

The locations of the star systems that are closest to the Sun.
The year when each star was discovered to be a neighbor of  the
Sun is indicated. The brown dwarf WISE J085510.83-071442.5
is the fourth nearest system to the Sun. Credit: Janella Williams,

Researchers Generate Immunity Against Tumor Vessel Protein

Researchers Generate Immunity Against Tumor Vessel Protein

Apr 26 2014 | comment(s)

PHILADELPHIA - Sometimes a full-on assault isn't the best approach when dealing with a powerful enemy. A more effective approach, in the long run, may be to target the support system replenishing the supplies that keep your foe strong and ready for battle. A group of researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania is pursuing this strategy by employing a novel DNA vaccine to kill cancer, not by attacking tumor cells, but targeting the blood vessels that keep them alive. The vaccine also indirectly creates an immune response to the tumor itself, amplifying the attack by a phenomenon called epitope spreading. The results of the study were published this month in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The Dead Mouse Argument

The Dead Mouse Argument

Apr 26 2014 | comment(s)

The Dead Mouse Argument

By whatever choice of words it is often argued that because one thing leads to another, adverse consequences must inevitably follow if the opponent's proposed course of action is taken.

By whatever choice of words, the above purely rhetorical "proof" is a complete load of codswallop.
Specialized Yoga Program Could Help Women With Urinary Incontinence

Specialized Yoga Program Could Help Women With Urinary Incontinence

Apr 25 2014 | comment(s)

An ancient form of meditation and exercise could help women who suffer from urinary incontinence, according to a new study from UC San Francisco.

In a study scheduled to be published on April 25, 2014 in Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery, the official journal of the American Urogynecologic Society, UCSF researchers discovered that a yoga training program, designed to improve pelvic health, can help women gain more control over their urination and avoid accidental urine leakage.

Kids On Welfare More Likely To Be On Psychiatric Medication Than Privately Insured Ones

Kids On Welfare More Likely To Be On Psychiatric Medication Than Privately Insured Ones

Apr 25 2014 | comment(s)

Mental health diagnoses have become common in children raised in developed nations.

Medication is often prescribed to treat the symptoms of these conditions but few population-based studies have examined the use of prescription medication to treat mental health problems among younger as well as older school-aged children (8–10). A new CDC report describes the sociodemographic characteristics of children aged 6–17 years prescribed medication or taking medication during the past 6 months for emotional or behavioral difficulties, and describes parental reports of the perceived benefit of this medication.
In The Ancient Ocean, Did Metabolism Precede The Origin Of Life?

In The Ancient Ocean, Did Metabolism Precede The Origin Of Life?

Apr 25 2014 | comment(s)

A new report in Molecular Systems Biology speculates about how primitive cells learned to synthesize their organic components – the molecules that form RNA, lipids and amino acids. The paper also suggests an order for the sequence of events that led to the origin of life. 

A simulated reconstruction of Earth's earliest ocean in the laboratory revealed the spontaneous occurrence of the chemical reactions used by modern cells to synthesize many of the crucial organic molecules of metabolism. Previously, it was assumed that these reactions were carried out in modern cells by metabolic enzymes, highly complex molecular machines that came into existence during the evolution of modern organisms.

Soy-Dairy Protein Blend Increases Muscle Mass

Soy-Dairy Protein Blend Increases Muscle Mass

Apr 25 2014 | comment(s)

A new study finds benefits to consuming a blend of soy and dairy proteins after resistance exercise for building muscle mass.

The researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch found that using a protein blend of soy, casein and whey post-workout prolongs the delivery of select amino acids to the muscle for an hour longer than using whey alone.

It also showed a prolonged increase in amino acid net balance across the leg muscle during early post-exercise recovery, suggesting prolonged muscle building.  

The War On Food: New Government Report Wants Meat And Dairy In Europe Halved

The War On Food: New Government Report Wants Meat And Dairy In Europe Halved

Apr 25 2014 | comment(s)

A new executive summary of an upcoming report adds to vegetarian claims that a normal human diet affects pollutant nitrogen emissions, climate change and land-use across Europe.

Evidence Of Liquid Water On Mars

Evidence Of Liquid Water On Mars

Apr 25 2014 | comment(s)

The southern hemisphere of Mars is home to a crater that contains very well-preserved gullies and debris flow deposits and he geomorphological attributes of these landforms provide evidence that they were formed by the action of liquid water in geologically recent time.

It's Not All Wedded Bliss: Marital Stress Linked To Depression

It's Not All Wedded Bliss: Marital Stress Linked To Depression

Apr 25 2014 | comment(s)

MADISON, Wis. – Marital stress may make people more vulnerable to depression, according to a recent study by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and their colleagues.

The long-term study, published in the April 2014 Journal of Psychophysiology, shows that people who experience chronic marital stress are less able to savor positive experiences, a hallmark of depression. They are also more likely to report other depressive symptoms.

The findings are important, says study leader Richard Davidson, UW-Madison William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, because they could help researchers understand what makes some people more vulnerable to mental and emotional health challenges.