Black Holes Are The Rhythm At The Heart Of Galaxies
The powerful black holes at the center of massive galaxies and galaxy clusters act as hearts to the systems, pumping energy out at regular intervals to regulate the growth of the black holes themselves, as well as star formation, according to new data from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
Broccoli May Lower Lung Cancer Risk In Smokers
The cancer preventive properties of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables appear to work specifically in smokers, according to new research.
NASA Tests First Deep-Space Internet
NASA has successfully tested the first deep space communications network modeled on the Internet. Engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory used software called Disruption-Tolerant Networking, or DTN, to transmit dozens of space images to and from a NASA science spacecraft located about more than 32 million kilometers (20 million miles) from Earth.
New Equation Provides More Accurate Estimates Of Kidney Function
A newly developed equation produces more accurate estimates of the glomerular filtration rate, a key indicator of kidney function in patients with chronic kidney disease, according to new research.
What The Social Lives Of Brewer?s Yeast Say About Evolution
An ingenious social behavior that mobilizes yeast cells to cooperate in protecting each other from stress, antibiotics and other dangers is driven by the activity of a single gene, scientists report in the journal Cell. The cooperating cells use the same gene, dubbed FLO1, as a marker for detecting "cheaters:" cells that try to profit from the group's protection without investing in the group's welfare.
The Psychology Of Deja Vu
All of us have experienced being in a new place and feeling certain that we have been there before. A new report published in Current Directions in Psychological Science describes recent findings about deja vu, including the many similarities that exist between déją vu and our understanding of human recognition memory.
Long-lost 'Furby-like' Primate Discovered In Indonesia
Anthropologists have discovered a group of primates not seen alive in 85 years. The pygmy tarsiers, furry Furby-like, or gremlin-looking, creatures about the size of a small mouse and weighing less than two ounces, have not been observed since they were last collected for a museum in 1921.
Ginkgo Biloba Does Not Reduce Dementia Risk, Study Shows
The medicinal herb Ginkgo biloba does not reduce the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease development in either the healthy elderly or those with mild cognitive impairment, according to a large multicenter trial.
Light Inside Sponges: Sponges Invented (and Employed) The First Fiber Optics
Fiber optics as light conductors are obviously not just a recent invention. Sponges (Porifera), the phylogenetically oldest, multicellular organisms (Metazoa) are able to transduce light inside their bodies by employing amorphous, siliceous structures. Already more than ten years ago, the finding of photosynthetically active organisms inside sponges raised the question, how they could survive there in an otherwise presumably dark space. As early as that time, marine biologists have hypothesized, that light might be transferred inside the sponge body.
ECG Tests No Better Than Routine Clinical Assessment At Predicting Future Heart Disease, Study Finds
ECG tests commonly given to people with suspected angina to predict the likelihood future of heart disease have limited accuracy, according to a new study.
Student Achieves Control Of Collagen Nanofibers To Manufacture Synthetic Knee Cartilage
An engineering student reports on the manufacturing of synthetic cartilage similar to human cartilage, for medical use. Protection of the knee for disabled people with prostheses may be one of the first applications.
Necessary Lattes? People Short On Self-control Categorize More Items As Necessities
Why do so many of us give up on those New Year's resolutions to lose weight or curb luxury spending? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says it has to do with the way our goals intersect with our natures.
New Planet Discovered Orbiting Dangerously Close To Giant Star
Astronomers have discovered a new planet that is closely orbiting a red-giant star, HD 102272, which is much older than our own Sun. The planet has a mass that is nearly six times that of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. The research sheds light on the ways in which aging stars can influence nearby planets.
Patient's Own Stem Cells Can Be Used To Treat Heart Failure
Researchers are enrolling people in a new clinical trial that uses a patient's own stem cells to treat ischemic and non-ischemic heart failure. The one-year Cardiac Repair Cell Treatment of Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy study will look at the safety of injecting Cardiac Repair Cells and their ability to improve heart function.
How Cockroaches Keep Their Predators 'Guessing'
When cockroaches flee their predators, they choose, seemingly at random, amongst one of a handful of preferred escape routes, according to a new report.
What Makes An Axon An Axon?
Inside every axon is a dendrite waiting to get out. Scientists converted mature axons into dendrites by banishing a protein crucial for neuron development. The results suggest that this transformation could occur after nerve cell damage.
New System Proposed To Optimize Combined Energy Use
Engineers in Spain have developed an algorithm that can optimize hybrid electricity generation systems through combined use of renewable energies, such as photovoltaic and wind power, and non-renewables, such as diesel. Their study envisions storing the energy in batteries or hydrogen tanks.
Sleep Helps People Learn Complicated Tasks
Sleep helps the mind learn complicated tasks and helps people recover learning they otherwise thought they had forgotten. Using a test that involved learning to play video games, researchers showed for the first time that people who had "forgotten" how to perform a complex task 12 hours after training found that those abilities were restored after a night's sleep.
Antibiotics Can Cause Pervasive, Persistent Changes To Microbiota In Human Gut
Using a novel technique developed at the Marine Biological Laboratory to identify different types of bacteria, scientists have completed the most precise survey to date of how microbial communities in the human gut respond to antibiotic treatment.
Battling Bacteria In The Blood: Mathematical Models Help In Tackling Deadly Infections
It's a leading cause of death, but no one knows for sure how and why it happens. It's a major source of health care costs, adding days or weeks to the hospital stays of millions of people. But no one fully understands how best to fight it. Now, new research is tackling the problem at its most basic level, in hopes of finding new and more effective ways to treat bacteremia and sepsis.
Low-dose Aspirin Does Not Appear To Reduce Risk Of CV Events In Patients With Diabetes
Low-dose aspirin as primary prevention did not appear to significantly reduce the risk of a combined end point of coronary, cerebrovascular and peripheral vascular events in patients with type-2 diabetes, according to a new study. However, aspirin did significantly reduce the combination of fatal coronary and fatal cerebrovascular events.
Step Toward Disease-resistant Crops, Sustainability
A five-year study that could help increase disease resistance, stress tolerance and plant yields is under way. The $4 million project uses a new technique called "mutant-assisted gene identification and characterization," or MAGIC, to identify potentially useful gene combinations in crop species.
Alcohol Sponsorship Linked To Hazardous Drinking In Sportspeople
A new study provides the first evidence of a link between alcohol-industry sponsorship and hazardous drinking among sportspeople.
Comet Particles Provide Glimpse Of Solar System's Birth Spasms
Scientists are tracking the violent convulsions in the giant cloud of gas and dust that gave birth to the solar system 4.5 billion years ago via a few tiny particles from comet Wild 2.
Cell Pathway Driving A Deadly Sub-type Of Breast Cancer Discovered
An intra-cellular pathway not previously linked to breast cancer is driving a sub-type of the disease that is highly lethal and disproportionately over-represented in African-American women.
Pollinator Decline Not Reducing Crop Yields Just Yet
The well-documented worldwide decline in the number of bees and other pollinators is not, at this stage, limiting global crop yields, according to an article in Current Biology.
Heart Failure Hospitalization Rates Rise Among Nation's Seniors
The number of patients over age 65 hospitalized for heart failure increased by 131 percent between 1980 and 2006. Women had a much higher annual increase than men. Among the three major forms of cardiovascular disease (coronary heart disease and stroke being the other two), only heart failure has shown a significant increase in hospitalization rates.
Improved Spectrometer Based On Nonlinear Optics
Scientists have created a new highly sensitive infrared spectrometer. The device converts light from the infrared part of the spectrum to the visible part, where the availability of superior optical detectors results in strongly improved sensing capabilities.
How Often Will You Use That Treadmill?
Why not buy that treadmill? You'll be exercising every day, right? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research examines why our expectations of our behavior so often don't match reality.
Garlic Chemical Tablet Treats Diabetes I And II, Study Suggests
A drug based on a chemical found in garlic can treat diabetes types I and II when taken as a tablet, a new study shows.
'New' Penguin Species In New Zealand Found Using Ancient DNA From Fossils
Australian and New Zealand researchers have used ancient DNA from penguin fossils to make a startling discovery that may change the way we view species extinctions.
Gut Check Reveals Vast Multicultural Community Of Bugs In Bowels
Mention the phrase "diverse ecosystem," and it conjures images of tropical rainforests and endangered coral reefs. It also describes the human colon. A new study reveals in greater detail than ever before the full extent of the bacterial community inhabiting the human bowel -- 10 times more diverse than previous research had suggested.
Over-stressing Already Taxed Cancer Cells May Kill Them
Cancer cells are already stressed by the fast pace they require to grow and spread and scientists believe a little more stress just may kill them.
Genetics For Personalized Coronary Heart Disease Treatment
Identifying a single, common variation in a person's genetic information improves prediction of his or her risk of a heart attack or other heart disease events and thus, choice of the best treatment accordingly, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine.
Quicker, Easier Way To Make Coal Cleaner
Construction of new coal-fired power plants in the United States is in danger of coming to a standstill, partly due to the high cost of the requirement -- whether existing or anticipated -- to capture all emissions of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas. But an MIT analysis suggests an intermediate step that could get construction moving again, allowing the nation to fend off growing electricity shortages using our most-abundant, least-expensive fuel while reducing emissions.
Improving Long-term Learning Through Spacing Of Lessons
Combine the aphorisms that "practice makes perfect" and "timing is everything" into one and you might get something resembling findings published in this month's issue of Psychological Science. Proper spacing of lessons, the researchers report, can dramatically enhance learning. And larger gaps between study sessions result in better recall of facts. Conversely: Cramming is ineffective in the long haul.
Floppy-footed Gibbons Help Us Understand How Early Humans May Have Walked
Early humans roamed the plains long before we evolved our modern inflexible feet. So how did they walk on floppy feet? New research shows how a close relative, the gibbon, manages perfectly well despite their 'floppy' feet. They even use the same energy saving mechanisms when pushing off, despite the foot's different architecture.
Speeding Antarctic Glacier: Scientists Discover Another Reason For Glacial Acceleration
New satellite data have helped scientists crack the case of a speeding Antarctic glacier -- a finding that promises to help improve sea level forecasts.
Cellular Safety Shelters Allow TB Agent To Survive In Infected Individuals
"Foamy" macrophage formation may be the key to persistence of infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis, explains a new study in PLoS Pathogens. These immunity-related cells are shown to be a safety reservoir where the bacterium can hide for years in infected individuals, before inducing an active disease.
Hybrid Cars Too Quiet For Pedestrian Safety? Add Engine Noise, Say Researchers
Hybrid and electric vehicles do not emit the sounds pedestrians and bicyclists are accustomed to hearing as a vehicle approaches them. Human factors/ergonomics researchers examined participants' preferences for sounds that could be added to quiet vehicles to make them easier to detect.
New Bacteria Discovered In Raw Milk
Raw milk is illegal in many countries as it can be contaminated with potentially harmful microbes. Contamination can also spoil the milk, making it taste bitter and turn thick and sticky. Now scientists have discovered new species of bacteria that can grow at low temperatures, spoiling raw milk even when it is refrigerated. It seems the microbial population of raw milk is much more complex than previously thought.
First Detailed 3-D Glimpse Of Bacterial Cell-wall Architecture
The bacterial cell wall that is the target of potent antibiotics such as penicillin is actually made up of a thin single layer of carbohydrate chains, linked together by peptides, which wrap around the bacterium like a belt around a person, according to scientists at the California Institute of Technology. This first-ever glimpse of the cell-wall structure in three dimensions was made possible by new high-tech microscopy techniques.
Individuals With HIV Have Higher Risk Of Non-AIDS Cancers
The risk of non-AIDS cancer is higher for individuals infected with HIV than for the general population, according to a meta-analysis presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.
How Household Bleach Kills Bacteria
Developed more than 200 years ago and found in households around the world, chlorine bleach is among the most widely used disinfectants, yet scientists never have understood exactly how the familiar product kills bacteria.
Kids From Juvenile Justice System 7 Times More Likely To Commit Criminal Acts, Study Finds
A new study shows that juvenile delinquents sentenced to either a juvenile retreat, probation or unsupervised community service were seven times more likely to commit criminal acts as adults than youngsters from the control group who managed to avoid the juvenile justice system.
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