Penguins Marching Into Trouble

Penguins Marching Into Trouble
February 13, 2009 at 11:00 pm
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Magellanic penguins, like most other species of the flightless birds,
are having their survival challenged by wide variability in conditions
and food availability, a biologist has found.
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Anti-HIV Gel Shows Promise In Large-scale Study In Women
February 13, 2009 at 11:00 pm
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An investigational vaginal gel intended to prevent HIV infection in
women has demonstrated encouraging signs of success in a clinical
trial conducted in Africa and the United States.
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Particulate Matter From California Wildfires Is More Toxic Than
Particulate Matter In Ambient Air
February 13, 2009 at 11:00 pm
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A study of coarse and fine particulate matter (PM) generated by the
California wildfires of 2008 suggests a toxicity level greater than
that of an equivalent dose of PM in ambient air. The study adds to
growing literature supporting source and component specific
differences in toxicity of pollutant particles of a given size, and
challenges regulators to consider toxicity as well as mass or size
when regulating particle pollution.
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Few Women Follow Healthy Lifestyle Guidelines Before Pregnancy
February 13, 2009 at 11:00 pm
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Very few women follow the nutritional and lifestyle recommendations
before they become pregnant, even when pregnancy is in some sense
planned, finds a new study.
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Mass Media Often Failing In Its Coverage Of Global Warming, Says
Climate Researcher
February 13, 2009 at 11:00 pm
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What is wrong with reporting on global warming? "The problem is CNN
just fired their science team. Why didn't they fire their economics
team or their sports team?" "Why don't they send their general
assignment reporters out to cover the Superbowl?" one expert said.
Researchers have to do their part, too, he said, by clearly explaining
issues.
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Startling Numbers Of Active-military Personnel Engaging In Frequent
Binge Drinking
February 13, 2009 at 11:00 pm
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Binge drinking is common among active-duty military personnel and is
strongly associated with many health and social problems, including
problems with job performance and alcohol-impaired driving, according
to a new study. More than 30 million binge-drinking episodes were
reported in 2005.
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Ultra-Compact Dwarf Galaxies: Stars Packed Together In Early Universe
A Million Times More Closely
February 13, 2009 at 8:00 pm
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In the early Universe, a newly-discovered type of galaxy,
Ultra-Compact Dwarfs (UCDs) had stars packed together a million times
more closely than anything we see today. Astronomers suggests that the
remnants of these stars still make up most of the mass of UCDs in the
present day.
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Alzheimer's Prevention? New Method To Stimulate Immune System May Be
Effective At Reducing Amyloid Burden In Alzheimer's
February 13, 2009 at 8:00 pm
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Researchers have discovered a novel way to stimulate the innate immune
system of mice with Alzheimer's disease -- leading to reduced amyloid
deposits and the prevention of Alzheimer's disease related pathology
-- without causing toxic side effects.
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Have Migraine? Bigger Waistline May Be Linked
February 13, 2009 at 8:00 pm
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Overweight people who are between the ages of 20 and 55 may have a
higher risk of experiencing migraine headaches, according to a new
study.
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Seeing The Forest And The Trees Helps Cut Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
February 13, 2009 at 8:00 pm
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Putting a price tag on carbon dioxide emitted by different land use
practices could dramatically change the way that land is used,
according to new research. When all carbon emissions -- fossil fuel,
industrial and land-use change emissions -- are included in a global
management plan, deforestation slows and could reverse, managers place
limits on the expansion of biofuels production, and emission control
becomes cheaper.
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Psychoactive Compound Activates Mysterious Receptor
February 13, 2009 at 8:00 pm
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A hallucinogenic compound found in a plant indigenous to South America
and used in shamanic rituals regulates a mysterious protein that is
abundant throughout the body, researchers have discovered.
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Novel Quantum Effect, Quantum Spin Hall Effect, Directly Observed And Explained
February 13, 2009 at 5:00 pm
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Physicists has succeeded in gaining an in-depth insight into a most
unusual phenomenon. They succeeded for the first time in directly
measuring the spin of electrons in a material that exhibits the
quantum spin Hall effect, which was theoretically predicted in 2004
and first observed in 2007. Astonishingly, the spin currents flow
without any external stimulus as a result of the internal structure of
the material.
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Second-hand Smoke May Cause Dementia
February 13, 2009 at 5:00 pm
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Exposure to second-hand smoke could increase the risk of developing
dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment, according to new
research.
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Neural Mapping Paints Haphazard Picture Of Odor Receptors
February 13, 2009 at 5:00 pm
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Despite the striking aromatic differences between coffee, peppermint,
and pine, a new mapping of the nose's neural circuitry suggests a
haphazard patchwork where the receptors for such disparate scents are
as likely as not to be neighbors. Inexplicably, this seemingly random
arrangement is faithfully preserved across individuals and even
species, with cells that process the same scent located in precisely
the same location on the olfactory bulb, the brain's first processing
station for odors.
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Extra Copies Of A Gene Carry Extra Risk
February 13, 2009 at 5:00 pm
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A missing LIS1 gene causes severe mental retardation. New research
shows that extra copies of LIS1 can cause developmental problems, as
well.
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Violent Computer Games Have Role In Fire Safety
February 13, 2009 at 5:00 pm
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The software code underlying violent computer games can be used to
train people in fire safety, new academic research has found.
Commercial games such as Doom 3 and Half Life 2 can be used to build
virtual worlds to train people in fire evacuation procedures by
applying the games' underlying software code, according to
researchers.
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Bar Workers Who Smoke Also Benefit From Smoking Ban, Study Finds
February 13, 2009 at 5:00 pm
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The health of bar workers, who actively smoke cigarettes,
significantly improves after the introduction of a smoking ban,
reveals new research.
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High-tech Tests Allow Anthropologists To Track Ancient Hominids Across
The Landscape
February 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm
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Dazzling new scientific techniques are allowing archaeologists to
track the movements and menus of extinct hominids through the seasons
and years as they ate their way across the African landscape, helping
to illuminate the evolution of human diets.
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How Influenza Virus Hijacks Human Cells
February 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm
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Researchers have now precisely defined an important drug target in
influenza. A new high resolution image details a crucial protein
domain that allows the virus to hijack human cells and multiply in
them.
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New Method Monitors Critical Bacteria In Wastewater Treatment
February 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm
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Researchers have developed a new technique using sensors to constantly
monitor the health of bacteria critical to wastewater treatment
facilities and have verified a theory that copper is vital to the
proper functioning of a key enzyme in the bacteria.
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Marijuana Use Linked To Increased Risk Of Testicular Cancer
February 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm
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Frequent and/or long-term marijuana use may significantly increase a
man's risk of developing the most aggressive type of testicular
cancer. Being a marijuana smoker at the time of diagnosis was
associated with a 70 percent increased risk of testicular cancer. The
risk was particularly elevated (about twice that of those who never
smoked marijuana) for those who used marijuana at least weekly and/or
who had long-term exposure to the substance, beginning in adolescence.
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Test Reveals Genetic Defect That Causes Infertility In Pigs
February 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm
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In the late 1990s the Finnish Yorkshire pig population was threatened
by a genetic defect which spread at an alarming rate and led to
infertility. The defective gene has now been mapped. Sequence analysis
of the candidate gene KPL2 revealed the presence of an inserted
retrotransposon, a DNA sequence which moves around independently in
the host genome.
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New Factor In Teen Obesity: Parents
February 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm
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Researchers have found that adolescents are more likely to eat at
least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day if their parents
do. Contrarily, teens whose parents eat fast food or drink soda are
more likely to do the same.